Felt like doing something different this week, let me know what you think Also, watch the film here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iHlBMKtgPOA.html
@@trainlover16 Speaking of films there is a Thomas film in the making by the director of World war Z hopefully it will be better then Thomas and the magic railroad.
Buster Keaton did one final train movie in the early 1960's. The Film Board of Canada produced a short called the "The Rail Rodder" starring Keaton. It was a 30 minute short with only music, having Keaton travel across Canada in a "speeder" (a small self propelled rail car). In true Keaton style he did his own stunts despite being in his mid sixties. There is also a video about the production of this movie.
That was the film that introduced me to legendary Buster Keaton. Having watched a whole slew of his earlier films since, I have been hooked. He was an absolute Madlad with his stunts. If anyone tried doing anything similar today, they would be laughed at and thrown out of town. There will never be another Buster Keaton, mark my words.
Buster was a Mad Lad indeed. If he only ended up with a compressed spine by getting launched into low orbit by wheel slip he would have been lucky. The guys that stole the train received the first Congressional Medal of Honor for the theft of the train. The enginer of the stolen train was so angry he was leading the chase and a lot of it was while driving the chase train backwards. So,,, the film critics got it wrong yet again.
Don't laugh but Walt Disney actually tackled retelling the story of the Andrews raid and actually filmed the re-enactment on the Tallulah Falls railroad since it still had an almost 1800 era look to it
despite what happened to the engine which was badly damaged during filming of the General. the real steam locomotive of that name wasn't found to be badly damaged at the end of the chase. the raiders had only run a bearing hot due to them not having the time to stop and oil the moving parts. i believe apon seeing how little damage there was one of the railroaders remarked "Those Yanks can drive a engine as well as we can! i think it might have been said by the head engineer of that railroad's motive power or perhaps the engineer of the Texas may have said it
@@RailPreserver2K I understand Walt Disney got Conductor Wiliam Fuller's son in law to be the technical advisor for the filming of the Great Locomotive chase
It would be fair to say that both trains and construction sites have always been perfectly ideal props for filmmakers to take advantage of for both dramatic and comedic purposes, because they present constant action and ideal set-pieces for visual payoffs. However in the case of trains, few filmmakers managed to pull off convincing films revolving around them for lasting effect, for the simple reason that many did not grow up with prior experience or enthusiasm for trains and thus did not respect the whole logistics of how they worked. The same can be said with how they are respected by writers in literature and music. Arthur Honneger's 'Pacific 231' overture is an example that does, as is the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, creator of the books that inspired 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. Regards, Samuel Farris.
I should point out that “Thomas the Tank Engine” was written by Awdry; the show is called, depending on the season, _Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends,_ or _Thomas & Friends._ Your overall point stands.
I was 8 y/o when I first saw this and rolled hysterically watching it. This movie is one of my all time favorites and Buster Keaton is one of my favorites. I think its awesome the background history about him and his career. Thanks for sharing!
Thats what i did, i watched it a few years ago and its very good, The Sitting on the drive rod scene which is the most tragic and the most funniest scene, you cant beat a heartbroken man being taken away via drive rod
I loaned a DVD copy to a friend with a 4 year old kid; she said he played it over and over, absolutely fixated on it, and she got heartily sick of the piano sound track. A different friend took her young kids to a theater complex but the movie she'd planned on for them was a week later, so she settled for Apollo 13, deciding it was better to put up with bored kids than kids who didn't get to see any movie. Instead they were so focused on the movie that their only reaction was to keep asking her if the astronauts survived. I think it's something like a 3 hour movie. If 4-5 year old kids can like that long a movie that much, Ron Howard deserved an Oscar. Any movie that keeps young kids' attention is well done.
"The General" remains the most important thing to have ever happened in Cottage Grove, Oregon, which has rather quite a lot of memorials to the film in question.
Indianapolis used to have a theater that in the ‘70s played many silent films including Keaton’s. The theater had an awesome theater organ that rose from the orchestra pit. My organ teacher was the true artist who accompanied the films complete with percussion instruments and organ closets and 32’ pipes. It was a thrill for me and my parents to see her play. She got standing ovations.
The fact that BTTF 3 includes a train is why it's the only one of the trilogy i've completely sat through more than once. Granted that i've not watched ANY of the three films in the last decade... Having a train-based climax is also why i watched The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery, though i only ever watched the said train-based climax.
They are amazing films. I love trains but find the cowboy part the weakest part of the trilogy. Part 2 you need to watch alongside the first imo watching it as a stand alone is no go for more
Buster Keaton is one of my favorite silent movie stars and I agree, The General was one of his best films. Thank you for sharing this as I learned a lot about the making of this film.
A truly great movie IMO - I love it for the atmospheric, generally accurate depiction of the old time railroads - the General and its stock have link and pin couplers for example, instead of the anachronistic knuckle couplers of more recent films. It's a very gentle, subtle film in very many ways, ahead of it's time when compared to its contemporary comedies. Beautifully sharp, clear camera images too. Rest in peace, Buster. We still miss you.
The Texas was a disguised oil burner. Note the rounded steel cab and domes, indicating a later build date. The General, though, looks it came right out of 1875. Keaton found an Oregonian short line running old equipment they had acquired cheaply. The movie probably cost more than the line!
A great video to release for the American audiences who have celebrated Thanksgiving this week! I actually am familiar with Buster Keaton and his role in The General as well as the real story of The Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War but I'll admit, sadly, that I have not yet seen the actual film but that will change. And the moral of this story is similar to what Billy Butlin did. Keaton truly was an amazing and inspiring man who made an amazing railroad movie that is an icon of American culture and history!
It's a truly insane stunt, imagine just the slightest sideway movement of the engine causing him to lose balance even for a moment. I love the film but that one makes me really uneasy as well.
I've seen it actually. Just to correct it, the General was owned by the Western & Atlantic Railroad, same with Texas and Yonah. The Locomotives were originally built in 5ft gauge. Almost similar to the wreck that involved Southern Railroad 1102 that Vernon Dalhart's The Wreck of the old 97 was based off on.
Regarding the Falling House stunt, Keaton was actually pretty decent at maths and calculated the arc the house front would fall on and thus exactly where he needed to be standing to pass through the upper floor window. Although it looks impressive, it's actually perhaps one of the safest stunts Keaton ever devised and one he reprised in many other films. Possibly my favorite bit of trivia regarding the filming of this classic is that the actor playing the Union general was never told about the dramatic climax of his scene. So when the locomotive falls through the burned bridge, the actor's gobsmacked "No way that really just happened" expression and pause before resuming his role were completely genuine.
I saw this as a child!!! I didn’t know what I was but seeing the train crashing the bridge and the cannon railcar brought back a lot of memories holy crap
You might want to consider a video on 'The Railrodder', Keaton's last silent film, made by the National Film Board of Canada. Here's the description of it from Wikipedia: The Railrodder is a 1965 short comedy film starring Buster Keaton in one of his final film roles, directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). A 25-minute comedic travelogue of Canada, The Railrodder was also Keaton's final silent film, as the film contains no dialogue and all sound effects are overdubbed.
I found a full version of this film, and tbh, it was decent. I enjoyed watching it. The only thing that slightly annoyed me was the fact of no noise, and having to read everything. Of course I know that the noise part was completely out of the picture for old films. Really good!
Movie critics were no different back then they are these days. If they don't like a movie, it must be good. Anyone that's never seen this movie, do yourself a favor and watch it. Keaton doing his own stunts is amazing.
It's also worth noting that Keaton opted not to use any "impossible gags" (i.e., physically moving the floor indicator a the elevator door to the floor that he's on) for feature-length films because he felt they [his stories] wouldn't hold up well. But perhaps one of the most significant factors that led to failure of "The General" (1926) was the implementation of sound in films (since 1923), especially with soon-to-be released The Jazz Singer (1927) being heavily promoted.
I had a chance to see this, with theater pipe organ, in a rebuilt theater in my city,,, it was wonderful. first time i saw it was when i was in 5th grade,,, it ran late, but the teacher said, stay, and watch the rest, as most kids went home, i stayed. I love this film
At the same time, following your passion regardless of anything doesn’t mean you will end up with something good. Some ideas are just bad in the first place
The scene where he's sitting on the coupling rod when the engine takes off into the shed may not look all that dramatic, but that was absolutely life threatening. Apart from the risk of wheel slip mentioned by the narrator, no matter how well laid tracks you run on the engine may always move a bit sideways. If he were then to lose balance and lean into the drivers he could easily get killed instantly. I really love this movie (and Keaton in general - pun intended) but as a train buff that scene always make me quite uneasy.
Honestly? I'd enjoy seeing a modern version of The General put to film. This is one of the rare classics that I feel could be remade with sound and be VERY well received in the color/audible era.
Of all people who originate from England, Britain or other, I'll say your American accent even for a bit is actually pretty good and not annoyingly and mockingly "southern" like most are. You could voice act an American character and I'd be convinced you were American the whole time.
I really enjoy your videos, by why do the audio recordings always sound like you're using a cheap microphone from the early 90s and sitting in a small cardboard box?
Very interesting, hadn't realised the effect this had on Keaton's career. The audience probably expected the rapid slapstick of Keaton's earlier work, as I did when I first saw it, but he was aiming for something different. A bit like a symphony compared with a classic rock track - both great on their own terms.
A lot of folks still had strong memories of the war and didn’t think the subject matter was funny. Buster had originally obtained permission from the W & A to use the General in the movie. When it was revealed that the movie was to be a comedy, the railroad withdrew its offer at the urging of veterans groups.
@@awalker1829 Very interesting. They too probably thought it would be more in slapstick style and therefore disrespectful. It's a pity they couldn't have seen the finished product. In a sense Keaton's film falls between two types of genre - comedy and drama - but that in no way makes it less great.
I can't let this one go without mentioning the Disney movie "The Great Locomotive Chase" same story told from the North's perspective and starring Fess Parker (Davy Crockett) who got the medal.
The Disney version is also more accurate, to my understanding, to the true events as told by William Fuller, the conductor of the train the General was stolen from
A film was made by Disney (who loved trains) about the making of The Great Locomotive Chase, and can be found on RU-vid. It was made at the same time as the film, sort of promoting it.
Small correction Andrews raiders took the train to ringold just south of Chattanooga before the Texas caught up to them there goal was to get to Chattanooga though
I have seen the film, and I agree with the critics, including the criticism of this film for glorifying the Confederacy (I am pleasantly surprised to hear that it actually got criticized for that). Also, I don't think the locomotives used were Civil War locomotives -- they appear to have metal cabs instead of wood cabs.
In the 70's and 80's I saw a number of his films in cinemas, projected in good ol' 35mm. They were much better that way. Sadly, the time when that was possible has ended.
