Buster Keaton plays a mid-19th century train conductor who desperately wants to join the Confederate army to impress a girl. That determined drive, plus a set of unusual circumstances, sends him deep behind enemy lines amidst of a pair of wild railway chases, said girl on his arm, on an indirect route to finally earning that gray uniform.

Keaton's strength here is in both the delightful quandaries he digs for himself and the vivid reality of his work, often throwing caution to the wind and putting his body in the path of legitimate danger. His style is more grounded than Charlie Chaplin, a contemporary and rival, less flowery and expressive but equally inventive and influential. Where one can see the matte painting at the edge of Chaplin's roller skates in Modern Times, Keaton casually showboats mere inches from the wheels of a three-hundred ton steam engine in motion. He hurls a speeding train off a rickety wooden bridge, leaving much of the cast unaware to capture a more honest reaction. His stunts are more practical, if perhaps less showy.

The plot is sufficiently interesting, but uneven at points. Curious to see a film shot entirely from the southern perspective in this scenario, with the Yankees playing the dastardly saboteurs, though the rebels aren't quite seen as heroes themselves. It's possibly more meaningful as a piece of historical influence than as a standalone film.

Just amazing.

Really, really impressive scenes with the railway engines and a physically incredible Keaton.

This is Keaton’s masterpiece, a flawed one, yes. It’s not funny enough and the story could be developed more. But it is significant, flaws and all. The closest a film will ever get to flawed perfection.

There's quite a lot going on here - it is certainly comedic, but there is also plenty of action and even some romance in this American Civil War story. Keaton ("Johnnie") has been deemed more important as a railroad engineer so was rejected as a soldier - but this causes his girlfriend "Annabelle" and her family to think he is yella'! When the Yankees concoct a plan to steal his engine "The General" whilst she is travelling on it; he must use all his wits and guile to get them both back and is soon caught being enemy lines where he learns of their dastardly plan to attack. Can he get back with his gal and tell his confederates of the Unionist plans? There is something about the quality of the images - they are pretty much prefect; even when the train in rattling along a-pace. There are loads of skirmishes supporting a properly constructed, and exciting, story with plenty of drama and sometimes some quite scary bits too, all jammed into just over an hour. The version I saw had been re-scored by Carl Davis and that added immeasurably to the pace and tension - and the romance - and helped create a superb piece of cinema.