Customer Reviews

The General [VHS]

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It was with some trepidation and annoyance that I found myself plunking down more hard-earned money for my fourth copy of Buster Keaton's immortal silent comedy,"The General." I am pleased to report that the investment was a worthy one.

The public domain versions of this film are undeserving of comment and should be avoided at all costs. I made the misfortune mistake of buying one of these hack jobs first and was rewarded with a poor transfer with completely inappropriate music. I then purchased the double feature of "The General" and "Steamboat Bill, Jr." offered by Image. The picture quality was greatly improved in regards to clarity and contrast. My personal complaint regarding the Image version is the musical accompaniment provided by the Alloy Orchestra. Clanky and mechanical, their score is more a cacophany than a symphony and works against, rather than complements, much of the action in the film. Next, I procured Kino's original version of "The General", which, to my disappointment, was softer and less sharp than the one offered by Image. It does feature a more pleasing score by Robert Israel. This brings me to Kino's updated and restored version, and I can affirm that my quest for the best version of this film has come to an end.

Why go into such nauseating detail regarding the purchasing process? For one, it demonstrates how much I appreciate this film and how important it is to obtain it in its preeminent form. I also hope it will convince those mulling over the different available versions of this film that the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition is the version to buy.

Other reviewers have mentioned the techniques used to restore the film, and it is indeed the most lustrous version I have seen. The nighttime sequences are suffused with a rich dark blue, and the sepia tone used give this version the appearance of a Matthew Brady daguerrotype more than ever before.

Special mention should be made of the three musical scores. Robert Israel's orginal score has been retained, and a fine organ score by Lee Erwin is also an option. But for my money, the film is best enjoyed with Carl Davis' 1987 score for Thames Television. Those familiar with his scores for "Ben-Hur", "The Crowd", "The Big Parade", and many others know how he can elevate the emotion of a silent film. He does the same here, interweaving distinctly Amercian music that works perfectly.

As for the film itself, it is not mere hyperbole to state that it is one of the undisputed masterworks of American cinema and not just the silent period. It was derided by the critics of its age as not being funny. To be honest, it's not funny in a conventional sense, rather it is sublime. Some have criticized Keaton's film as too mechanical, but there is always an insistent humanity fighting against the mighty contraptions Keaton is laboring to free both himself and the woman he loves from.

"The General" is in many ways a cinematic obstacle course. The first half finds Johnnie Gray being deprived of his two loves: Annabelle and his locomotive. He has to negotiate all manner of hardships in order to be reunited with both of them. The second half has him fleeing for home and employing the same sorts of means to discouarage his pursuers that were once used against him.

In terms of narrarive, chronology, and geometry, "The General" is a mirror image. It is also a film that must be watched closely and patiently in order to be fully appreciated. Beause of this, it merits repeat viewings and provides new insights each time. It is a film for the ages that has at last received the proper format to be fully enjoyed and appreciated.

The General was not terribly popular when first released, but is now generally recognized as being Keaton's finest film. It has a combination of comedy and drama which made it a radical departure from previous silent films. It is perhaps this fact that contemporary audiences found difficult. After all, it was unexpected to see people actually killed in a comedy.

Keaton went to great lengths to make his film as authentic as possible. His stunts are real and really dangerous. He made great efforts to have trains that looked as if they were from the Civil War and to clothe his extras in period costumes. In this regard he perhaps tried a little too hard. The southern soldiers look just a little too tidy. They all seem to have the same hats and they all seem to have shoes. This does not quite fit in with the history of the period. It does not matter however, for Keaton was not making a history film. There are critics who emphasize the historical accuracy of The General, but this emphasis can go too far. Keaton is not suggesting that we believe that the actual historical event, that his film is based on, happened this way. His film is a comic version of the events not a representation of the events themselves. It is thus that he can successfully find laughter in the most tragic conflict of American history.

The print on the Kino DVD is very good. Most importantly it is shown at the correct speed. I have seen a video version of The General which ran 107 minutes, but it did not include any more material than this DVD. Rather it was shown at the wrong speed, so that everything ran slowly. This was disastrous for Keaton's films depend on speed, for his comedy depends on his quickness of thought and action. The print on the Kino DVD is furthermore, well tinted mainly in sepia with night scenes appearing blue/grey.

The music which is played during the film is on the whole fine. It is mainly a selection of tunes from the Civil War period. The only time I found the music questionable was when `The Teddy Bears Picnic' accompanies Buster's meeting with a bear. The childlike imagery it evokes is quite wrong.

This DVD is good value for it also includes two of Keaton's best short films. The Playhouse is very funny, but is also noteworthy for being technically ingenious. Cops is another chase film, but in the end is more pessimistic than The General. It includes the famous image of Buster's hat on a gravestone which, in way, sums up his whole comic career.

This is a good sampler if you are just getting started on viewing Buster Keaton films. "The General" is a classic, and "The Playhouse" and "Cops" are among his best shorts.

Film #1 is "The General", a Civil War tale involving trains, one of Keaton's obvious real life obsessions. "The General" was filmed in 1926 in the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon. He stars as the engineer of a train who tries to join the Southern Army but is rejected as being too important to the southern cause as an engineer to be sacrificed as an infantryman. Keaton helps out anyway and is chased throughout the film by the mean Yankees. There's a scene where the engine of one of the trains collapses a bridge and tumbles into the river, which happens to be the most expensive scene filmed in the entire silent film era, and it's kind of thrilling. Keaton took great pains in making sure that authenticity of the Civil War era (1861-65) was shown throughout the film, but I wish he didn't dress the Confederates in matching uniforms, like their counterparts, the Yankees. With the limited resource material he had at the time, it is understandable; however, the reality was that matching uniforms in the Confederacy was rare, for reasons too long and detailed to go into here.

Film #2 is "The Playhouse" (1921). Although this isn't as fun as the Keaton shorts that involve his being chased around Los Angeles, I found it unique and interesting. In one scene, Keaton falls asleep and dreams that he is every person inside a live theater, from the spectators (women, too), the actors - including a monkey!, the guys in the orchestra pit, and backstage help. It was hilarious to see him take every part in a minstrel show, a softshoe act (my favorite), and he had the monkey act down perfectly. Just from seeing how Keaton imitates the precise details of the various acts shows us that he absorbed A LOT from watching the other performers when he toured in vaudeville his first 20 years of life.

Film #3 is "Cops". This is one of Keaton's all-time classics. Keaton is swindled out of a wad of money by a con man who sells him some poor family's junky-looking furniture, who think Keaton was hired to be their mover. When a bomb is thrown at a policemen's parade and ends up on Keaton's wagon full of furniture, Keaton uses it to light his cigarette and then tosses it out, landing in the parade and exploding. This, of course, causes a million cops to chase Keaton through the streets. We get to see a lot of 1922 Los Angeles in this film, and sometimes you may find yourself getting too distracted at looking at the interesting streets instead of him. If you're interested in seeing more 1920's L.A. in Keaton's films, try "Sherlock Jr." and "The Goat".

When the average person thinks of famous silent movie stars, Buster Keaton takes an undeserved backseat to Charlie Chaplin. Neither was better than the other, which is why they were both so popular.

Chaplin's movies had better stories with more original plot points, and they were able to get more emotions out of us. Chaplin could make us cry as well as laugh.

Keaton, however, had more comic invention. His movies were funnier, because he had better ideas of how to get an full laugh out of an audience.

Never is this more evident than in the DVD release of Keaton's greatest film, "The General". Watching the film for the first time, I noticed something unusual about the film. The entire film took place on a train. This is something that Chaplin would not do. He would have left the train 30 minutes into it. I think that the reason he would have left the train would be because he would have run out of ideas, whereas Keaton did not.

"The General" takes place during the Civil War, and Keaton plays a train engineer who is rejected from the Enlistment Office because of the necessity of his job. He is discouraged and his girlfriend will no longer talk to him.

Then, Union spies take his train and the girl, two things that are described in the film as "the loves in his life". He goes out to set things straight...and ends up helping the war effort in the process.

This film features the perfect example of the attraction to the silent comedy. We get the scrawny underdog, wanting to help but rejected every step of the way. Suddenly, he is thrown into a situation that under any other circumstances would be out of his league, and pulls through with flying colors. This is a dream fulfilled.

And all the while, Keaton handles the subject matter with humor that is original, inventive, tasteful, and laugh-out-loud funny. His deadpan reactions hold up better over time than Chaplin's overdone expressions.

The DVD also has some extra treats. Two shorts are included. One is "The Playhouse", which contains, if nothing else, an opening sequence that is a marvel of optical camerawork, as Keaton plays numerous characters at once, many of them interacting with each other (compare this to "The Parent Trap" and you'll see how revolutionary Keaton was).

The second is "Cops", and the film's ending is one long, fantasic chase scene. Even to this day, ideas are borrowed from this hilarious short.

If your experience with silent comedies consists only of watching characters called "The Tramp", and you want to be a Keaton fan, the DVD of "The General" is the perfect place to start.

Buster Keaton has always been a personal favorite and I'm EXTREMELY HAPPY that Kino International is putting out such high quality DVDs of his work. Since many of the copyrights are now public domain, there are many garbage DVD transfers out there. Fortunately the Kino Buster Keaton series is gorgeously preserved.

If you are new to Buster Keaton's work, I recommend starting with The General DVD. It is his most seminal work and rated as one of the 10 Greatest Films of all time by Sight and Sound. The scene with the trainwreck is a cinema classic, and one of the biggest budget effects of it's day.

2 20 minute extras, 'The Playhouse' and 'Cops' are on this DVD as well, and are an excellent and welcome addition. 'The Playhouse' uses film trickery to simulate multiple Buster Keatons at the same time and stretches the technology of the day to new creative heights. 'Cops' is a great slapstick chase flick which all ages can equally enjoy.

For many years, there was Raymond Rohauer's print of "The General," and there were one or two others. Like Chaplin's "The Gold Rush," the original elements had fallen into public domain. But where Chaplin retained a copyrighted version by re-editing, simplifying, and scoring the original, more or less creating a different movie, the chief differences between the versions of "The General" were in print quality. The non-Rohauer prints were a generation or two from the original negative, were missing a few intertitles, and were missing a few snippets of other footage.

KINO's "ultimate edition" is taken from the original camera negative and looks as fresh as today, highly appropriate for a period comedy that hasn't dated at all since its release in 1926. The clarity of detail is stunning and isn't a bit dampened by the color tinting. There are three scores to choose from: the Carl Davis orchestral score in 5.1 stereo surround; the Bob Israel score; or the Lee Erwin organ score. All of them are excellent, though the organ score may conjure-up more of a silent film era ambience than the other scores.

The extras on the second disk range from a tour of the original "General" locomotive (which Buster was denied the use of), to fascinating home movie footage showing how the traveling shots were filmed, to a montage of Buster's "railroad" sight gags from his silents. Newcomers to Keaton should enjoy the excerpts from the Fatty Arbuckle short "Coney Island" that accompanies Orson Welles' introduction to "The General." Overall, these extras are enjoyable but not essential.

One caveat: as I watched the first half of this movie, I found myself more caught up with the technical expertise and timing than I did the humor. I have seen "The General" in a movie palace with an appreciative audience in attendance; the gags still evoke big laughs. But watching this crystal-clear print on a smaller screen, I was more caught-up with the machinations than the payoffs. Even so, the genius of this movie is undiminished. It's finally available in an edition worthy of its greatness. Even if you have KINO's boxed Keaton set with its "General," this ultimate edition is a must.

Chase, rescue girl, get chased, return home.

You can dress it up some but that's more or less the plot of Buster Keaton's silent classic THE GENERAL. Keaton plays Johnny Gray, a southern lad and railroad engineer who tries, and fails, to enlist in the Confederate army shortly after the first shots of the Civil War are fired. The recruitment officers believe he'll be of more use as a train engineer, but Keaton's sweetheart mistakenly accuses him of cowardice. She refuses to have anything to do with him until he appears under arms and in uniform. It's a serviceable enough premise, and when the plot manages to have the sweetheart kidnapped things really fall into place.

THE GENERAL isn't about plot, anyway. In fact, there's not more than just enough to provide character motivation. Keaton was clearly inspired by the big-gag possibilities of train chasing train, not kidnapped love. And some of the sight gags are simply amazing. I won't give any of them away (a worse sin, in this case, then to tell you how the movie ends,) but many are done on a moving train, in long range, unedited shots. When Keaton jumps from one moving train car to another you know there's no, or at most minimal, trickery involved. When he has to clear debris off the track, from a moving train, mind you, you see that the train's moving and there's no net underneath him. If it's not quite as intense as watching Harold Lloyd dangle off the edge of a skyscraper (why were some silent comedians into extreme daredevil stunts, anyway?) it's pretty close.

THE GENERAL is one of the great films of cinema. Its only serious competition as the greatest silent comedy is Charlie Chaplin's `City Lights' and `Modern Times.' For those who find Chaplin a little more cloying than endearing it's no competition. Also included on the Kino disk are a couple of Keaton shorts. `Cops' (1922- 18min.) finds Keaton as a young man jilted by his sweetheart - she'll take him back when he becomes a successful businessman - who, through a series of misadventures, manages to have hundreds, if not thousands, of big city policeman chase him. In an opening dream sequence in `Playhouse' (1921 - 20min.) Keaton plays all the characters - performers, orchestra members, stagehands, audience. It's a technological tour-de-force, with Keaton appearing in double-, triple-, and more exposures throughout.

All prints are in very good condition, and anyone interested in cinema history HAS to see THE GENERAL. Also recommended for those who aren't familiar with silent movies and want to start with one that's "easy to read." Sight gags are pretty self-explanatory, and THE GENERAL is loaded with brilliantly conceived and flawlessly executed sight gags. My only beef with this disk is the on screen menus. The three titles are not on the opening page, and you have to scroll through pages of scenes if you want to watch `Cops' or `Playhouse' before THE GENERAL.

Up until now, the definitive version of Keaton's 1926 silent masterpiece, "The General", has been part of the The Art of Buster Keaton (The General / Sherlock, Jr. / Our Hospitality / The Navigator / Steamboat Bill Jr. / College / Three Ages / Battling Butler / Go West / The Saphead / Seven Chances / 21 Short Films) DVD set. That release is close to ten years old, which is quite aged in terms of DVD technology. Thus Kino is updating their release of "The General" in November. I thought that the version in Art of Buster Keaton was OK, but apparently this version should enable us to see detail we formerly could not.

This film flopped when it was released in late 1926 for several reasons. First, its premiere was delayed because "Flesh and the Devil" was such a sensation that it was held over an extra couple of weeks. Second, people came to the movies to see Buster Keaton the comedian, not Buster the filmmaker and director, which is more of the role he played here. The film was funny, but it was not gag after gag, like so many of Keaton's other films. Keaton plays a railroad engineer living in the South. A title card declares he has two loves - his girl and his engine. when the Civil War starts he tries to enlist, but is considered too valuable to be in the Army due to his profession. His girlfriend misunderstands, thinks him a coward, and says she won't speak to him again until he is in uniform.

Meanwhile, the Union forces have developed a plan to crush the South that involves stealing Buster's train. Unknown to Buster, his girlfriend is on the train at the time of the theft. Buster starts out in hot pursuit of the thieves to retrieve his train, still without the knowledge of his girl's captivity by the Union army.

Forgotten with the arrival of sound, the film revived - often cut up from its original length - in the 1950's because Buster didn't preserve his rights to the film and it fell into the public domain. That is the reason there are so many versions of The General out there today, often with poor video and hideous musical accompaniment. Kino puts out a quality product, so there should be no such problem in this release.

First off, this review, which is only a partial review in some respects, is for THIS November 2008 version of "The General" from Kino. Several other reviews matched to this item are actually for one of numerous other older versions both from Kino and other companies (some inferior public domain productions), and you should carefully check the dates on each review. Their descriptions of content for this DVD production are potentially incorrect. For example, this one does not have any other complete Keaton films on it, although it does have some clips and some other very good extras related to film and RR history.

Second, this is my favorite film of all time, and I cannot help but give it five stars in almost any form - this is for Keaton's original magnificent vision and filmmaking prowess. Having said that, this version has some specific issues that people should know about when making a choice of what to buy. If I were grading on DVD production alone, I'd give it 4 stars, and my reasoning is described below.

The basic elements of this DVD production are given in the description, so I will not repeat that information. Instead, my specific thoughts are given below. I have viewed it only with the Carl Davis orchestral score so far. I am familar with the included Robert Israel score, which I also like, to a lesser degree than the Davis score, but this is subjective. I am unfamiliar with the included Lee Erwin organ score.

My own impression from watching several minutes of it last night -

1 - The print is typical of what Kino produces, as good a quality as

one will usually find, and apparently digitally restored. I say this because the print is quite clean, with few scratches, speckling or dust specks, but with some brightness/contrast variance; and also because there is a note on the Menu Screen and closing credits that strongly indicates that this is a "digital" restoration. It appears to be an updated video of the standard print used by Kino for its Keaton "General" productions. The video result is not as good, IMO, as the video result from the print used for the 1987 Thames videotape (that print, despite a few other flaws, had amazing contrast and sparkling clarity), nor is it as good as the highly digitally restored French (Lobster?) Region 2 version of about 3 years ago, with every speck and contrast variance corrected (the French print was, I believe, the same print Kino uses, from film restorer extraordinaire David Shepard). It is certainly good enough, though, and better than any previous version from Kino or Image of which I am aware.

2 - The Carl Davis score is apparently the very same recording used in

the 1987 Thames video production, with speed *very* slightly altered and

tweaked to fit the current video program. Mostly, it is slowed down

just fractionally, maybe about 2-3%. To a person who is used to the

1989 Thames video, it is slightly noticeable at first, but one adjusts pretty quickly; to one who is not familiar with the 1989 video, it should seem perfectly natural. This score is written to be precisely synchronized to the film, and at some points in the first reel, the synch is off by up to about one to two seconds - perhaps mostly because of a single extra opening credit normally found in Kino's version that was

not present in the Thames restoration - but this is seemingly

corrected by the second reel and apparently presents no further

problems. During the sequence with the mortar on the RR car, the

orchestral sound effects (base drumbeats for cannon fire, etc) are

timed beautifully.

The score is provided in both 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround. On my televison speakers, it sounds a bit bassy and mellow compared to the 1989 videotape; but when piped through my stereo, it sounds crisp and fine. Most modern equipment can fully adjust for these sound issues.

3 - As a devotee of the score, I was disappointed to hear that the

short harmonica solo prologue and the short orchestral epilogue with

the "big" theme reprise (1987 video closing credits) have been

removed. The epilogue, in particular, was valuable to bring the

score to an appropriately heroic conclusion, and it is conspicuous by

its absence. One of my lifelong dreams is to see this film in a

packed vintage restored theatre with the Davis score live, preferably

conducted by Mr. Davis himself.

In summation, while I like this production, I still gotta keep that

old 1987 videotape, which for me (despite inherent flaws of the

medium) is still the gold standard in terms of video presentation.

However, I also wish they'd do a digital update with the Thames 'Our Hospitality' program...my videotape of that one is really showing signs of age, and I really love that Davis score too.

Having said all of this, the match between film and score is just about perfect, and makes a great film-watching experience. The French Region 2 version, while *looking* sparkling, has the very good Robert Israel score and another new score by composer Joe Hisaishi which is not (in my opinion) a good match for the film (I do like his music otherwise). All things considered, this is a fine addition to a silents collection, and for North/South American (Region 1) collectors, it is an excellent first choice for those wanting a Keaton "General." You are not likely to find a better overall DVD production of this film at present.

~ Bruce

The problem with great films of the silent era is decomposition. Often, original negatives are incomplete or unavailable and prints must be made from the best positives available. Quality degrades at each step. Kino On Video has pioneered the remastering of silent classics by ferreting out negatives, often from several countries, subjecting them to methodical restoration, and releasing them in crisp editions, looking better than ever.

"The General: The Ultimate Edition" is a two-disc set that showcases one of the funniest American films ever. Made in 1926, when the silent film industry was at the peak of its artistry, "The General" is based on an actual Civil War incident, embellished to highlight the comic talents of its star, Buster Keaton. At the time, Keaton was second only to Charlie Chaplin as America's favorite funny man.

Playing Southern Confederate train engineer Johnny Gray, Keaton engages in some of the most amazing sight gags of his career. Johnny is rejected by the Confederate army and taken for a coward by his beloved Annabelle (Marion Mack). When his treasured locomotive and his lady-love are taken hostage by a band of Yankee spies, he has a chance to redeem himself and prove his bravery to the world. Johnny wages a one-man war against the hijackers, a cannon with a mind of its own, and the unpredictable hand of fate as he rolls along the iron rails.

Though the movie is filled with laughs, it is also Matthew Brady-like in the way it captures the look and feel of the Civil War, which ended a mere 60 years before "The General" was shot.

"Silent" films were never meant to be shown dead silent. There was always musical accompaniment, either by a full orchestra or a piano. This new edition contains three different musical scores that can be selected to accompany the movie.

This new edition was remastered in High Definition from a 35-millimeter archive print struck from the film's original camera negative. It is sharper and more stable than any previous edition. During transfer, some nitrate decomposition on the original negative was digitally painted out and corrected. The film's contrast was also brought back to its original condition. Bonus extras include a video tour of the authentic General locomotive, a tour of the movie's locations, filmed introductions by Gloria Swanson and Orson Welles, a montage of train gags from Keaton's career, and a photo gallery that includes glimpses of a deleted sequence.