movie story The General (1926)
The Western & Atlantic Flyer "speeds into Marietta, Georgia inside the Spring of 1861," pulled by the locomotive "trendy." The engineer, Johnnie gray (Buster Keaton) gets all the way down to oil round, and is observed by using admiring boys. He has two loves: his engine and his lady. The 2 boys comply with him when he is going to call on Annabelle (Marion Mack). They observe him right into her house, and he has to trick them to get them to leave. He presents Annabelle with a portrait of himself in front of his engine. Annabelle's brother (Frank Barnes) arrives with the news that war has broken out. He and their father (Charles Smith) go to enlist. Annabelle expects Johnnie to enlist, so he says good-bye. She gives him a kiss, and he backs off the threshold of the porch.
Johnnie runs with the aid of a shortcut and vaults a counter to be first in line. He doesn't listen that he is "more valuable to the South as an engineer," so he does not understand why he is rejected. He tries two extra instances to join up, but is kicked out the door. Annabelle's father and brother invite him into the road, however he has had enough. They suppose he is a shame, and inform Annabelle he never got in line. He sits dejected on his engine's siderod. Annabelle tells him she won't talk to him until he is in uniform. An engine hostler movements the engine, with Johnnie nevertheless sitting at the siderod. He would not note till, at the 0.33 revolution, the locomotive is coming into the enginehouse.
Three hundred and sixty five days later, in Chattanooga, Gen. Thatcher (Jim Farley) and his "leader secret agent" Capt. Anderson (Glen Cavender) hatch a plan to take a set of spies to thieve a teach at large Shanty and drive it north, burning bridges to reduce the supply line to the accomplice navy threatening Chattanooga.
At Marietta, Annabelle boards Johnnie's educate to visit her wounded father. Johnnie sees her pointedly fuss along with her brother's medals. When the teach stops at big Shanty for breakfast, Anderson and his guys get off on the aspect faraway from the station. Annabelle receives into one of the boxcars to retrieve cash from her trunk. The men dispose of the coupling pin between the boxcars and the coaches, get aboard, and begin the engine. They find out Annabelle, and ought to take her. Johnnie calls for others to follow him, as he runs after his teach, however they quickly give up running.
The yankee spies tie up Annabelle. They prevent to cut the telegraph wires, and lower back at huge Shanty, the operator notices the line pass dead. Johnnie stops at a handcar shed, and handiest then notices that no one has observed him. However he gets the handcar going. The spies dispose of a rail and jam stones within the guardrail. Johnnie falls off the handcar, which runs off the music and smashes down an embankment. The "popular" speeds past Kingston, in which the "Texas" waits on a siding. Johnnie sees a bicycle, which he leaps on, but it doesn't paintings nicely alongside the tough roadbed. At the "wellknown," Capt. Anderson unpacks a accomplice uniform. Johnnie runs into Kingston and shouts for help. Squaddies pile onto the flatcar in the back of the "Texas." Johnnie pulls the pin in the back of the flatcar to go away the rest of the train, but the flatcar isn't always coupled to the locomotive, and while he speeds away he does now not observe the flatcar full of squaddies is left in the back of.
By the time he notices he is by myself, Johnnie sees a railroad mortar on a siding. The Yanks have stopped for water and wood. Johnnie is pulling the mortar automobile. The spies see him, and shy away with out shutting off the water, and Johnnie receives an unexpected shower. Capt. Anderson might not forestall and fight due to the fact he assumes they are outnumbered. They chop through the rear wall of the cease boxcar. Lower back at the mortar car, Johnnie hundreds one handful (and a bit extra) of powder, wadding, and a cannonball into the mortar, aimed to arc over the engine and hit the spies. He lighting fixtures the fuse, and hurries lower back over the tender to the engine. The mortar fires, and sends the cannonball in a quick arc proper into the cab. Johnnie rolls it out of the cab and returns to the mortar. As he prepares another shot, there is a massive explosion beside the music go into reverse the road. This time he puts the whole canister of powder inside the gun. In hurrying again to the cab, his foot gets stuck inside the coupling bar, and dislodges it. When he sooner or later gets his foot unstuck, the bar falls down and bangs in opposition to the crossties. The jostling makes the mortar lower till it points right at Johnnie, who has now got his foot caught in a loop of chain. He receives loose, and scrambles all the way to the cowcatcher. The 2 trains input an S-curve, and are at just the right locations when the mortar fires that the shot misses the "Texas" and explodes just at the back of the spies.
The Yanks launch the rear boxcar to depart it in Johnnie's way. He pushes it onto a passing siding and proceeds. Busy feeding the fireplace, he does not note that the boxcar maintains to roll to the end of the siding and lower back onto the main tune. He can not determine out how the boxcar got in front of him once more. From the last boxcar the Yanks drop timbers throughout the rails. Johnnie, looking for a material to handle a leaky valve, would not see whilst the boxcar hits one of the timbers and is derailed out of the manner. He can not figure out why the boxcar is now long past.
Now he can see the timbers at the tune. He slows the engine, and runs beforehand to raise the first one. However he stumbles, and falls lower back onto the moving cowcatcher, holding the wooden. With adroit timing, he makes use of it to hit the subsequent one out of the manner.
The Yanks throw a switch to a spur tune, and lift Annabelle over the soft to the engine cab. Johnnie, inquisitive about firewood once more, sees just in time to forestall earlier than the stop of the spur song. He backs out of the siding, and starts offevolved the engine ahead, however the wheels slip. He receives down to throw dirt onto the rails. He would not notice when the wheels get a grip and the engine pulls away. He has to run to leap on the returned of the soft.
The Yanks have started out a hearth in the final boxcar, and that they go away it in a included bridge. Johnnie arrives in time to push it out. However there is a lot smoke in the cab that he retreats to the soft deck, where he sits on the water hatch, not having noticed the lid is not on. He in the end diverts the burning vehicle onto a siding.
Johnnie is so busy chopping wooden on the tender he does now not notice the confederate navy retreating. The Union military now passes, and Capt. Anderson gets rid of his accomplice uniform. Johnnie ultimately notices the Union soldiers, and crouches down at the floor of the cab.
The "popular" passes underneath a trestle, and loops around to forestall on the trestle above. When Johnnie passes below, the Yanks drop timbers down on him. A few land at the gentle, providing gas. However Capt. Anderson receives an awesome look, and says, "there is only one man on that engine." Johnnie stops, and gets off to hide inside the woods. It starts offevolved to rain.
While night falls, Johnnie climbs via the window of a residence and takes food from the dining table. While some of Union officials input, he hides underneath it, and hears them making plans to get supply trains across the Rock River bridge so the military can attack the Confederates the following day. One officer's cigar burns a hole in the tablecloth, and Johnnie is capable of see while Annabelle is brought in and locked inside the next room. The officers depart. Johnnie knocks out a sentry with a log and steals his uniform. He knocks out every other sentry together with his rifle butt, and climbs in the window of Annabelle's room. He receives her via the window, and leads her into the woodland. They stumble upon a endure, and both get stuck in a undergo trap. Johnnie continues losing Annabelle, so he comes to a decision they must stay in a single location till sunrise.
The following morning, Johnnie sees his locomotive. He empties a large sack of boots and stuffs Annabelle into the bag. Then he realizes one of his very own footwear has come off and he has to locate it among all the ones at the floor. He joins a line of soldiers loading the boxcar at the back of the "fashionable." He stands in which Annabelle can reach to uncouple it from the relaxation of the educate, then puts her into the boxcar as a bag of resources. He cringes and covers his eyes while he sees a crate and a barrel tossed in after her. He joins the line loading firewood, knocks out the officer in the cab, and begins the engine, heading back south.
Johnnie stops outside of town, loops a rope over a telegraph pole, and ties it to the boxcar. When he pulls away, the pole and twine are pulled down, and the telegraph line is cut. He chops the rope, leaving the pole across the music. From the soft, he chops thru the the front wall of the boxcar, climbs in, and searches for Annabelle. He unearths her amongst all the freight handiest while he steps at the sack she is in. Then he has to assist her get throughout to the gentle.
Johnnie stops to throw fence rails onto the smooth for firewood, however he has a few problem getting them to stay there. In the meantime, the Yanks have given chase with the Texas and any other engine. They need to prevent to get the telegraph pole out of the manner. Annabelle takes what is left of the rope, and ties it throughout the music among young pine bushes. Johnnie almost leaves without her. While she indicates Johnnie what she has done, he demonstrates how ridiculously flimsy it's miles. However the Yanks are coming, and they scramble into the engine cab and start out. The rope pinions the infantrymen using the "Texas" and the 2 bushes are uprooted and get stuck up inside the siderods. Annabelle's association has succeeded in forcing the pursuers to stop yet again.
Johnnie knocks out the complete returned wall of the boxcar. The Yanks ought to stop again to clear it off the song. He slows them down via tossing all the freight onto the track out the open back. Within the cab, the Union officer is just regaining focus. Johnnie returns just in time, knocks him out with a nicely-aimed log, and takes his pistol.
They prevent at a water tank. Johnnie does no longer word he has pulled the spout away from the deliver pipe. While he opens the valve, Annabelle is knocked down by way of the deluge. He replaces the spout, and she or he gets extra water over her. They go away, the water nonetheless flowing, and it drenches the officers on each the chasing trains.
Annabelle feeds the fireplace. She sees a log with a huge hole in it, and rejects it, tossing it out of the cab. Johnnie cannot trust it. The Yanks plan to couple to the rear of the boxcar. Annabelle sweeps the cab; Johnnie tosses the broom. Annabelle feeds the fireplace with kindling; Johnnie selections up a sliver and arms it to her. She tosses it within the firebox. He shakes her, then kisses her.
The Yanks catch up, and couple to the rear of the boxcar. On the forward end, Johnnie uncouples it. The Yanks fire at him. They transfer the boxcar right into a siding, then again out onto the main music. The second one teach smashes into them, flattening officials. They simply get re-seated when the teach starts with a lurch, and they tumble once more.
Johnnie fastens a chain between the soft and a few transfer points. He has Annabelle begin the engine, and the chain deforms the transfer points. However Annabelle cant forestall the engine. Johnnie runs downhill to satisfy her where the track passes under, however she receives the locomotive reversed, and he has to scramble back up the hill. They meet the Yanks at the damaged transfer, in which the 2 Yank trains turn out to be on an accelerated spur music, smashing once more, allowing Johnnie and Annabelle to break out.
Johnnie sticks the quit of a fence rail inside the fire. He stops inside the center of the Rock River bridge, and piles firewood at the ties in the back of the soft. In the meantime, the yank officers cannot determine out how to restoration the transfer so that you can preserve the pursuit, and a Union army is coming near the rendezvous at the bridge. Johnnie pours kerosene from the headlamp onto the firewood. Annabelle knocks the burning fence rail off the smooth, and Johnnie is trapped on the some distance side of the fire in the middle of the bridge. He jumps over the fire just as Annabelle moves the engine forward, and Johnnie falls thru a gap into the river.
The yankee officers are nonetheless ineptly dealing with the broken switch. Johnnie hails a confederate picket, and is fired at. Annabelle points out that he is still sporting the american uniform, so he changes. They pull into Marietta, with the whistle blasting, and Johnnie runs to the department Headquarters to warn them of the attack. The overall leads the navy out of metropolis, and Johnnie and Annabelle discover themselves inside the center of a stampede of traffic. Annabelle sees her wounded father, and Johnnie is left within the abandoned street. He finds a sword belt and pistol, straps them on, and follows the military.
The american officials are nonetheless seeking to restoration the transfer. A locomotive engineer pushes his manner via them and does a neat, quick restoration using an ax. The two engines attain the Rock River bridge at the same time because the Union military arrives. The overall says, "That bridge isn't burned enough to forestall you, and my men will ford the river." The "Texas" proceeds onto the bridge, the span collapses, and the engine crashes into the river.
The Confederates surprise the Union navy, and a fight starts. Johnnie is near an officer, and he imitates his commanding gestures, but his sword continues coming apart. He stands near a gun battery, in which a sharpshooter maintains selecting off the artillerymen. Ultimately Johnnie's broken sword is effective. At his commanding swing, the blade comes off once more and spears the sharpshooter. Johnnie attempts firing the unmanned cannon. He has to yank the firing lanyard so tough that the gun tilts directly up earlier than firing. He retreats, however the shot lands in the river, blowing a dam. The surge of water catches the american infantry inside the river, forcing them to retreat. Johnnie directs the opposite artillerymen to fire at officers on the ultimate teach. They retreat, and the complete army retreats. Johnnie directs another shot that derails the remaining automobile, preventing the taking flight deliver educate. Johnnie saves a warfare flag, and mounts a rock, inadvertently stepping on an officer who became observing from a cleft.
The successful military marches lower back into city, with Johnnie among those leading. He peels off and sits on the rear of his locomotive. Whilst he goes into the cab, he finds the forgotten Yank officer just waking up. He escorts him to division Headquarters and arms him over to the overall. After a quick clarification, the general has Johnnie eliminate the uniform that doesn't belong to him, as Annabelle and her father watch. The overall then gives him an officials coat and the Yankees surrendered sword. He poses for Annabelle and is enlisted as a Lieutenant.
Johnnie takes Annabelle to the general, and they take a seat together on the siderod. His kiss is interrupted through the want to salute a passing soldier . . . Then any other . . . And every other. Then a whole regiment strategies, so Johnnie repositions so he can kiss Annabelle whilst he pumps his hand up and down in salute after salute.
The General (1926) Trailer
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