Union solders have stolen The General, a Confederate train manned by Johnnie Gray, who was unable to enlist in the Confederate army because he is needed as an engineer.
The Union plans to use the train to supply its soldiers in a sneak attack against the Confederates.
But now it’s up to Gray and his love, Annabelle Lee, to reclaim The General, recross enemy lines, and warn the Confederates.
The General based on a real incident during the American Civil War when a posse of northern soldiers hijacked a confederate train and a lone southern engineer found himself fighting the lot of them alone. From archive.org
Buster Keaton (born Joseph Frank Keaton, October 4, 1895 ? February 1, 1966) was an American silent film comic actor and filmmaker.
A 2002 world-wide poll by Sight and Sound ranked Buster Keaton in the The General as the 15th best film of all time. Three other Keaton films received votes in the survey: Our Hospitality, Sherlock, Jr., and The Navigator.

buenisimo, buster keaton es genial
Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool too. Especially the cannon shots and the train. It wasn’t special effects. They were really firing a cannon!
Pretty impressive movie!!!
Good quality re master, or whatever they call it in the film industry. The sound track and color “tinting” added a lot too.
Great “special/real” effects. Bridges, dams, trains…
VERY dangerous stunt-work by Keaton. Riding the cow-catcher , on the wheels etc.
One slip and he would have been dead!
I doubt they used stunt doubles back then, or were just starting to. Most of the shots showed him front-on so they couldn’t have used a double.
This was a VERY elaborate movie for it’s day, with all the work with trains including dumping one in the drink. WOW!
This is NOT a film to be overlooked.
Makes for an interesting watch! I live right across the highway from where the General stopped.