The General is an old old old movie. To the point that it bothers me. While I enjoyed watching some of Charlie Chaplin's movies, I'm still not a big silent film fan, as silent films require a lot more attention, and sometimes they're not worth this attention. This story takes place during the Civil War, and it is about an engineer who is turned down for service, which makes his girlfriend think that he didn't enlist because he's a coward, so he does all this crazy stuff trying to impress his girl.
Don't get me wrong, The General is not a bad film. As a matter of fact, at the beginning it is very interesting and even funny. However, it is not a pure comedy, there's a lot of action and romance in this movie. I can't say that this combination made the film look disharmonious. But it's hard for me to watch long sequences of action in the first place, and it's even harder when all of this action is shot in black-and-white. It was fun to watch the first train chase, but then there's another train chanse at the end, and it feels too much like deja vu. I got really bored towards the end of the film.
What makes this movie more valuable is that it's based on a true story of the Great Locomotive Chase. I always feel like adding one star to the movie's rating when I find out that it was based on a true story. This is just my thing. Not bad at all for something that was made in 1926, but I'd fall asleep if I had to watch it again.
No favorite quote in a silent film.
Interesting fact: Florida State University commissioned composer Jeff Beal to write a brand-new soundtrack for this silent film. It was premiered by the University Philharmonia along with the original film playing just above the orchestra.
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