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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 166

The General

192679 minUnited States
Comedy

Synopsis

A railway engineer values his locomotive and the woman he hopes to marry. War disrupts both attachments, sending him into a pursuit in which railway machinery becomes a succession of obstacles and opportunities. His practical ingenuity matters more than the military status he lacks.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs
78:52
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · https://archive.org/details/TheGeneral1926 · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsBuster KeatonClyde Bruckman

Inspirations

The story draws on the Civil War's Great Locomotive Chase through William Pittenger's account. It reverses the historical memoir's Union perspective to follow a fictional Confederate hero, an important distinction between its comedy and its source.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

WikipediaInternet Archive

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 13, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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