Other than his greatest rival Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton is perhaps the most instantly recognisable face of cinema’s silent era. Affectionately known as the ‘Great Stone-Face’ on account of his on-screen persona’s dead-pan composure in the face of insurmountable adversity, Keaton continues to remain unique among his peers.

Grace under pressure. Old Stone Face.

Born in 1895, his birth coinciding with the advent of cinema, Keaton was raised in a vaudeville family, whose on-stage act included physically throwing him about during his childhood years. Although often sustaining numerous injuries, this introduction to comedic showmanship served as a valuable training ground for the hair-raising feats he would later be renowned for - which were always performed without the aid of stunt doubles.

Based on railway engineer William Pittenger’s “The Great Locomotive Chase,� The General is a fictional account of an actual incident which occurred during the American Civil War. In 1864, a squadron of saboteurs, commanded by a Union Captain Andrews, seized a Confederate locomotive, The General, near Marietta, Georgia, and attempted to bring it back to the Union-occupied Chattanooga line. Along their way, the group disrupted Confederate communication lines and destroyed anything that was deemed to be of strategic importance.

Co-written (with Al Boasberg and Charles Smith) and directed by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman, Pittenger’s story was reinvented so that the tale was told from the Southern perspective with Keaton as a Southern engineer. A second return locomotive chase was added to flesh out the length of the film, and a love interest was also introduced for Keaton.

Often acknowledged as Keaton’s greatest film, The General focuses on the exploits of Confederate engineer Johnnie Gray (Keaton), whose twin passions consists of a penchant for locomotives and his affection for a young flower-faced girl, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack, whose character is named after Edgar Allan Poe’s heroine). When hostilities erupt between the Union and Confederate states, Johnnie - with the intention of impressing Annabelle with his bravery - attempts to enlist in the Southern army.

However, his application is refused by the recruitment officer, who informs Johnnie that he is of more value to the war effort as an engineer.

Road to nowhere. The Southern locomotive Texas is derailed.

Fate intervenes when Union spies, acting on the directive of Northern Captain Anderson (Glen Cavender), steal the Confederate train The General - of which Johnnie is its engineer. To complicate matters for him, not only does Johnnie have to contend with the theft of his prized locomotive, but also the disconcerting fact that Annabelle was a passenger on the engine at the moment of its apprehension. Johnnie relentlessly pursues the spies, first on foot, then by sidecar, bicycle, and, eventually, another locomotive, The Texas.

What follows is the most thrilling, ingenious and celebrated chase in silent film history.

The General is presented in a 1.33:1 screen aspect ratio and is, therefore, full-framed.

As one would anticipate from a film of this vintage, there is an abundance of film artefacts - consisting of nicks, scratches, dirt, and exhibiting several instances of print damage. Having said that, however, none of this proved disruptive as it is not to be completely unexpected. Naturally, picture quality is somewhat variable as the film’s brightness and contrast fluctuates periodically; but this can be attributed to the age of the film, reel changes and lighting conditions associated with on-location filming.

Blacks are solid; in some instances, they are too dark - again, due to contrast reasons. For the most part, detail seems quite sharp, although it does alternate between being high-definition and somewhat soft. Minor MPEG artefacts, consisting of macro-blocking, were detected during the film’s subtitle card inserts, but do not seem to be too discernible throughout the actual feature. Minor aliasing is also present in some scenes, but cannot be deemed distracting.

All aboard.The General's riotous main menu.

The General was viewed via the Dolby Pro-Logic decoder. As this film was made during the silent era, sound issues are at a minimum here. The film’s accompanying music track - featured in Dolby Digital 2.0 - has, as one would expect, a decidedly Saturday movie matinee feel to it and is presented throughout all five channels. I did not detect any sound distortion or audio anomalies.

In addition to the main film feature, two of Keaton’s most popular shorts have been included - Cops and The Balloonatic. Both featurettes respectively have a length of approximately 18 minutes and 22 minutes.

Although now recognised as arguably Keaton's most famous film and featuring some of the most technically brilliant choreographed chases and stunts in cinematic history, The General was a resounding flop upon its initial release. However, for anyone even remotely interested in either Keaton’s comic genius, or who wish to take a nostalgic walk into the end of silent cinema, The General is an absolute must.