![]() ![]() The excitement of the chase does not prevent her from taking out a broom to sweep the dusty floor of the engine. Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn were never thrown around, trod upon or knocked about the way Marion Mack was. She deserves credit mainly for being willing and able to take it. Marion Mack leaves no mark of her personality on the screen. Now Johnnie must contend with Annabelle Lee. We move to the second chase, where Johnnie has The General and the Unionists are the ones pursuing him. Of courseof course!he loses his own shoe in the pile and must stop to hunt for it. In a throwaway gag, Johnnie empties a burlap sack full of shoes because he urgently needs the sack. Comic logic is important to "The General." In no other movie do hyperbolic slapstick gags seem so plausible and inevitable. We see the logical circumstances that lead to the car's seeming magic act, and the equally logical situations that keep Keaton occupied, preventing him from seeing what we see. At one point, the car, which Johnnie thought he had switched to another track, reappears in front of the baffled engineer, only to disappear later just as mysteriously. I love it when the Unionists break off the rail car to hinder The Texas. Now the movie changes its quiet pace for almost nonstop action. What follows is the true joy of the movie: two long chases (separated by an important plot twist). Through a mishap he becomes the sole person aboard The Texas, but the Unionists think they're outnumbered and continue to run. ![]() He pursues the engine by taking another, The Texas. But Johnnie only knows his beloved General has been stolen, possibly by deserters. Annabelle, a passenger herself, was still on board. When (nearly) everyone is off the train having dinner, the Unionists climb back aboard and take the engine. Time passes and we learn that a group of Unionists are secretly passengers on The General. He's so miserable that he doesn't notice when he starts moving up and down, until just before the train enters a tunnel. What follows is a classic moment: Johnnie sits on the connecting rod of his engine. She refuses to speak to him again until he's in uniform. Later, Annabelle believes that Johnnie didn't even try to enlist. Johnnie is more valuable to the South as an engineer. He gives the enlistment officer his name and occupation, but the man rejects him. The door to the office is opened and Johnnie comes marching inonly he and the rest of the line go in two different directions, and he has to jump over several tables to get in front again. Taking a shortcut he manages to be the first in line. Johnnie races to the general store, which is now a makeshift recruitment office. This so overwhelms Johnnie that he flings out his arm in a farewell gesture and falls off the porch. Before he can run out the door, Annabelle kisses him. She asks, "Aren't you going to enlist?" Realization hits him, and he leaps off the seat. Annabelle kisses her father and brother as they go to enlist, then turns expectantly to Johnnie, who cocks his head like a confused puppy. Annabelle's father sees them from another room and is about to break things up when her brother enters and announces that Fort Sumter has been fired upon: the War Between the States has begun. At Keystone both boys would have gotten kicked in the pants. This is a gentle ruse in the world of silent comedy. ![]() The hero-worshippers are ready to follow, but Johnnie lets them out first, then closes the door on them. Johnnie stands up, puts on his hat and opens the door as if to leave. Now Johnnie and Annabelle are together in her parlor, but the boys are there, too. Any other comedian would have done an explosive double-take. Keaton's understated reaction is a testament to his uniqueness. He and his entourage arrive at the door Johnnie polishes his shoes on the back of his pants legs, slicks back his hair, and gently taps the door with the door knocker. Johnnie goes to visit Annabelle, followed by two engineer-worshipping boys and, unknown to him, Annabelle Lee herself. A title card tells us that Johnnie Gray (Keaton) has two loves in his life: his engine and his girlrespectively, The General and Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack). From major comic situations to throwaway gags, "The General" always knows what to do. Buster Keaton's "The General," about a man and his engine, puts you in a world where the most comically inventive situation that could happen will happen. ![]()
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