Saturday, November 20, 2010

The General (1926)

Main Characters
Johnnie Gray played by Buster Keaton
Annabelle played by Marion Mack

Directed by Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton

Run Time: 73 minutes
Reel Review Rating: 7

 

What was the movie about?
The movie was about a guy who’s an engineer on a train that wanted to join the Southern army during the civil war but couldn’t because his job is too important. He’s in the South. ☹  The North guys stole his train and it goes into this chase scene. The North guys take the engineer's girlfriend, Annabelle, so Johnnie Gray takes back his train, The General, to rescue her. Buster Keaton is in this movie and he is a famous actor from the time they made silent movies.

What I thought about the movie.
The movie was good. It’s a silent, black and white movie with really good music. There are only a few seconds of silence. I liked the chase scenes the most because they come up with a lot of ways to slow the other people down.


What I learned about making films.
I learned that even silent movies can be good. When I first heard of the movie, I thought it was going to be horrible because it was a silent film. But it wasn't. Give this silent movie a chance. Because of this movie I am currently working on my own silent movie, my 4th movie to date.


Why I think other kids should see this film.
I think other kids should watch this movie because it’s funny in some parts; even funnier than a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to more reviews!!!

Your neighbors to the left said...

Jack-
We are really looking forward to reading more of your reviews! We really have not watched many (if any) silent movies, but your review sounded interesting enough that we have to see this. The chase scene sounds exciting...anything funnier than Tom and Jerry sounds like a good laugh is in store for us!

Congrats on your first (of many) entries.
The Innes'

Pops said...

Your new reviews are excellent and we will be looking forward to receiving notification of additional ones as they are posted. I forgot all about the fact that Jeff Bridges was in the "original" Tron movie and apparently now appears in a reprisal of that role in the current version.

Nick Plate said...

I have watched this many times. It is a "classic". There is probably much written on the web and in books about film making regarding this film. One thing to notice about the music: each character or scene has its own melody and meter. If you listen to the background music on modern day movies and dramatic TV shows, they do the same thing. Others just choose various pop tunes to fit the plot.