Buster Keaton’s masterpiece The General might be the greatest of all silent comedies, because the film refuses to sacrifice character or story for the sake of laughs. Make no mistake, it still offers some of the most clever visual gags ever recorded. Keaton’s character Johnny Gray, a deadly serious man on a mission, never plays the clown. The audience never laughs at the character, or even with the character, but instead at the elegant chaos of his universe. Perhaps because the story was based on the record of a true incident, The General does not suffer from the disjointed episodic feel of its contemporaries. Each scene plays a part in an organic whole, as the plot expands like a snowball rolling down a hill. At the same time, The General also might be the greatest action movie ever made, with an awe-inspiring collection of stunts and lengthy chase scenes of relentless intensity. It is difficult to remember many individual scenes, but it is impossible to forget the overall experience: as if god had accompanied Johnny Gray on this adventure, and allowed us to smile alongside him.
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