Buster Keaton's "The General"
Buster Keaton's "The General"wed29apr7:30 pm
Event Details
A 100th anniverary screening of ‘The General’ (1926), one of Keaton’s landmark feature films.
The screening will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis,
a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films
The screening is a chance to experience this landmark film as it was intended to be seen: in a high quality print on the big screen, with live music and with an audience.
‘The General,’ set during the U.S. Civil War, tells the story of a southern locomotive engineer (Keaton) whose engine (named ‘The General’) is hijacked by Northern spies with his girlfriend on board.
Keaton, commandeering another train, races north in pursuit behind enemy lines. Can he rescue his girl? And can he recapture his locomotive and make it back to warn of a coming Northern attack?
Critics call ‘The General’ Keaton’s masterpiece, praising its authentic period detail, ambitious action and battle sequences, and its overall integration of story, drama, and comedy.
It’s also regarded as one of Hollywood’s great railroad films, with much of the action occurring on or around moving steam locomotives.
A remarkable pantomime artist, Keaton naturally used his whole body to communicate emotions from sadness to surprise. And in an era with no post-production special effects, Keaton’s acrobatic talents enabled him to perform all his own stunts.