The General (1926)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The general
Original title The General
The general movie poster.jpg
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1926
length 2286 m / approx. 78 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Buster Keaton ,
Clyde Bruckman
script Clyde Bruckman ,
Al Boasberg ,
Charles Smith based
on the literary model by William Pittenger
production Joseph Schenck
music Carl Davis (1987)
Robert Israel (1995)
Baudime Jam (1999)
Joe Hisaishi (2004)
Timothy Brock (2005)
Angelin Fonda (2017)
camera Bert Haines ,
J. Devereux Jennings
cut Buster Keaton ,
Sherman Kell
occupation

The General (original title The General ) is a 1926 film comedy by and with Buster Keaton . The film takes place at the time of the American Civil War and is based on the historically documented Andrews robbery on April 12, 1862. The locomotive driver Johnnie Gray solitary the pursuit of his locomotive general hijacked by northern spies . With tenacity and ingenuity, he succeeds in regaining both his machine and the favor of his beloved girl Annabelle Lee.

The work was created at the height of Keaton's fame and is considered one of the most expensive comedies of the silent film era . The failure of the production with audiences and critics brought the end of Keaton's artistic independence. When his now-forgotten silent films were rediscovered in the late 1950s, The General was the focus of attention. Since then, the film has been one of the most important comedies in film history due to its stringent dramaturgy and ambitious image design .

action

In the spring of 1861, news of the approaching Union troops in the southern town of Marietta caused war hysteria to break out. In order not to lose the favor and respect of his beloved Annabelle Lee, the respected engine driver Johnnie Gray eagerly reports to the recruiting office. For reasons incomprehensible to him, he was rejected as a soldier; Neither does Annabelle learn that he is considered more valuable as a train driver for the south. She first wants to see him again in uniform - an impossible task for Johnnie and thus the end of the relationship.

A year later, Northern spies kidnap Johnnie's beloved Locomotive General at Big Shanty stop . Without hesitation, Johnnie lonely pursues the hijacked steam locomotive , first on foot, and finally with another locomotive. He defies all the obstacles that the spies put in his way. They want to paralyze the Confederate 's communications and rail system through targeted destruction on the way to the north .

The chase ends for Johnnie in the land of the enemy, where he hides in the forest before hunger drives him to the headquarters of the northern state generals. There he succeeds in overhearing the enemy's plans. He also sees his Annabelle again, amazed: She happened to be in the freight car of the kidnapped train and is now a prisoner of the Union troops. Disguised as a Union soldier, Johnnie succeeds in freeing Annabelle and escaping into the forest with her.

With their help, he succeeds in kidnapping the stolen general . The Union soldiers resolutely take up the pursuit with another locomotive and a supply train in order to carry out their military strike as planned. On the way home, Johnnie successfully varied all of the spies' tricks to shake off the pursuers. Only Annabelle's lack of technical understanding brings both of them repeatedly into critical situations. As a precautionary measure, he sets the strategically important bridge on the Rock River on fire before arriving at the southern base to warn the soldiers of the approaching Union troops.

When the Northern Army tries to cross the Rock River, the fire-damaged bridge collapses under the load of the locomotive. Confederation troops that had been warned open fire. Not least thanks to Johnnie, the southerners can win the wild battle for themselves. So the engine driver is finally appointed lieutenant and can kiss the enthusiastic Annabelle in the arms. However, he has to salute all soldiers strolling by at the same time .

History of origin

Story development and preproduction

Even before working on Battling Butler , Clyde Bruckman, author, and Gagman Keatons suggested Williams Pittenger's book The Great Locomotive Chase as a possible material for a film. William Pittenger tells the true story of the Andrews attack during the American Civil War as one of the participants. Keaton and his team were aware of the difficulties of dressing a historical incident into a comedy: long stretches of the film would have to forego gags in order to provide explanations.

The General in a museum in Kennesaw , Georgia . An Old Four spot was redesigned true to the original for the film .
Keaton was based on photographs by Mathew B. Brady . He had the Dictator railway mortar pictured here reconstructed for the film.

Keaton, interested in believable stories and especially machines, nevertheless decided on the material. He remained true to the chase sequence described. With his team of authors, however, he changed the perspective of the book: It was not the northern spies who were the heroes in its story, but the southern locomotive driver who began tracking his hijacked locomotive: “You can't turn the southerners into opponents. [...] The audience refuses. They lost the war anyway. ”Keaton also rejected the actual resolution of the historical incident. The spies of the time finally gave up the hijacked locomotive, were tracked down by soldiers from the southern state and captured, shot or hanged. For the well-rounded dramaturgy he added a love story and the dramatic hijacking of the locomotive instead.

Although high production costs were foreseeable due to the historical setting and the large number of extras required , Keaton's producer Joseph Schenck gave the green light and, as usual , gave Keaton a free hand: with their last production Battling Butler , the Keaton studios had achieved their greatest financial success to date . For the first time it should be produced for United Artists ; Joseph Schenck was meanwhile its chairman.

Keaton took on the new challenge of telling a historically guaranteed story with great seriousness and enthusiasm: "Make it so authentic that it hurts," is Keaton's invitation to his employees, above all his long-term production designer Fred Gabourie .

When looking for suitable locations, Keaton chose the area around Cottage Grove, Oregon because the original locations in Atlanta , Georgia and Chattanooga did not meet his expectations. In addition to the more photogenic landscape, he was able to fall back on the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway , a 30-kilometer-long small railway that was mainly used to transport wood. It was as technically backward and unkempt as Keaton wanted it to be for his film. In late May 1926, the production staff and Keaton arrived at Cottage Grove to begin work on the set. The reconstruction of the city of Marietta was based as much as possible on Pittenger's book. The locomotives and railroad cars used were clad and converted to look "old" down to the last detail, for example given a link-and-pin coupling instead of the claw coupling that has long been in use .

The production team had planned to use the received original General for filming. When it became known that Keaton wanted to turn the historic incident into a comedy, some descendants of the kidnappers at the time protested. The responsible railway company then withdrew its offer of cooperation. But three old wood-fired locomotives could be bought and converted to machines from the civil war without any difficulty. The wagons were also built true to the original on the existing chassis. The most noticeable prop is a cannon on rails, which is used as a replica in the film. “We feared that people would say, 'They just made them up for this gag.' But it is an authentic reproduction of a rail cannon that was built during the Civil War. We found them in more than one book. "

Filming and post-production

Filming began on June 8, 1926. The film was shot on 35 mm with mostly three cameras, sometimes four, with one take - with a few exceptions - always filmed with two cameras: The foreign negative was made from the material of the second camera, from which all copies in Europe for the Continent were drawn. As usual, we worked without a ready-made script; the deliberately simple story was clear to all members of the production. The shooting schedule for the next day and possible gags were usually discussed in a close circle in the evening. Even while filming, Keaton was open to improvisation.

Directed by Buster Keaton, even if Clyde Bruckman is named in the title as co-director: Keaton made it a habit to place the names of other employees in the opening credits as desired . He liked to have rehearsals filmed. These first recordings were often used in the finished film. An example of this is the scene in which Johnnie (Buster Keaton) and Annabelle ( Marion Mack ) want to refill feed water at the water tower and Marion Mack is caught in a surprise by the huge jet of water: She later said that her irritation, as seen in the film is, was not played; Keaton hadn't told them. Otherwise she received no precise stage directions either: "I practically staged myself. [...] If you don't know how to play, you are out of place there."

There were several accidents on the set. An employee suffered burns to his face when a blank cartridge exploded. Another sued for $ 2900 in pain and suffering because one of the unsecured wagons rolled over his foot. Keaton himself passed out for a few minutes after a loud detonation.

Keaton was more careful with a stunt that was one of the most dangerous in the movie. Johnnie, just abandoned by his beloved girl, sits thoughtfully on the General's coupling rod . When it suddenly drives off slowly, Johnnie sits motionless on it and is carried away in a circular motion. The dangerousness of this setting, cited in many later reviews for its expressiveness, remained hidden from most viewers: if the engineer had given a little too much steam when starting the locomotive, the wheels would have spun and Keaton would have been dead on the spot. "It wasn't a big gag, but it was good for a small, nice laugh ..." Keaton intended to repeat the gag with him and Marion Mack in the final shot. Because of the high risk, he decided on a different closing gag.

About a fifth of the finished film was shot with moving cameras . Either the camera was attached to the filmed locomotive or it was moved along rails parallel to the moving locomotive. For this technically very demanding task , a mobile automobile was placed on top of a chassis that moved on tracks. The camera was then mounted on this car. All vehicles were equipped with special shock absorbers in order to achieve a steady picture stand. If from one to the rails running parallel street was shot, came bulldozers used to the street in front of the rotary leveling.

At the dramatic climax, a locomotive was supposed to drive over a bridge that was set on fire and fall into the depths in the process. For this scene, Keaton decided not to use a model. A railway bridge about 70 feet long was specially built across the river. One of the old locomotives was manned and started with a doll in the driver's cab. In addition to a few hundred actors who stood in front of the camera as soldiers of the Union troops, over 3000 onlookers from all over the country came to witness the scene, which could only be shot once. As the locomotive crossed the center of the bridge on which a fire had been lit, prepared explosives were detonated. The wrecked locomotive remained in the river bed as a tourist attraction for years and was only removed during the Second World War , when the steel was used for war purposes. The setting cost around US $ 42,000 - this corresponds to around US $ 606,000 today - and is considered the most expensive of the entire silent film era.

For the soldiers of the Confederate and Union troops, Keaton hired around 500 men from the National Guard from Oregon and other men from the area. “I put them in gray uniforms and made them march left to right, took them off, put them in blue uniforms, made them march right to left. That's how we fought the war. ”In addition, according to Keaton, about 125 horses were used.

The battle that followed the bridge collapse was captured by six cameras. The shooting on July 23 was dangerous: Because of the loud explosions, some horses went through and the riders, mostly inexperienced, fell. Some of the extras threatened to drown in the dammed water of the river. At least nine people were injured in total.

During the shooting, the locomotives used repeatedly caused forest fires by flying sparks. In most cases, it was possible to prevent them from spreading quickly. However, after a particularly large fire on July 24th, it was not possible to continue shooting; the smoke was too strong. It was weeks before the long-awaited rain by Keaton's team cleared the view and the production staff could travel back from Hollywood to continue the work. The damage caused - the flames were fought with the costume jackets; a camera was also damaged - burdening the excessive film budget by a further 40,000 to 50,000 US dollars.

Even with the post-production, Keaton was solely responsible for writing the subtitles and editing. “That was my own story, my own continuity, I directed, edited and wrote the titles. It was really completely my thing. ”The cost figures for the Keaton Studios' longest film at 2286 meters vary between 330,000 and 750,000 US dollars. It was certainly the most expensive production by the Keaton studios, the budget for a film averaging 220,000 US dollars.

reception

Premiere and contemporary criticism

The General premiered in Tokyo on December 31, 1926 , before the film premiered in New York on February 5, 1927 and premiered in Los Angeles on March 11, 1927 . The first publication in Germany took place on April 4, 1927.

The high expectations that Keaton and his production team cherished were not fulfilled: The General received mostly negative reactions. Motion Picture Classic from April 1927 describes the film as “a nice civil war comedy, not one of Keaton's best performances.” Variety said the comedy was far from funny: “Don't expect anything from an hour-long chase. It's a flop. ” Picture Play saw“ a long, dull comedy, ”and the New York Times analyzed that Keaton had overdone. Most of the critics seemed offended that the comedian had chosen a serious subject like the Civil War as the backdrop for a comedy. So was Robert E. Sherwood , the Keaton was compared to otherwise very open-minded, in Life Magazine irritated by the death shown by people ". Many gags at the end of the film are so heinous that you want to turn away as sympathetic audience"

Under the tenor of the rejection, there were only a few positive to enthusiastic voices, such as those of Martin Dickstein of the Daily Eagle from Brooklyn : In the regional newspaper he described the work as a stroke of genius. The German critic Herbert Ihering raved: “You can admire everything about this film: its simplicity and its richness, its serenity and its tension, its melancholy and its humor. All keywords coincide. A new type of film has been created here. "

The grossing of $ 474,264 in the United States was more than $ 300,000 behind Battling Butler 's. For the first time, a production made Keaton's losses. Film historians see reasons for the failure of the comedy in addition to the negative reviews, disappointed audience expectations and the inflated budget, also at United Artists: The release of the film was repeatedly postponed. In addition, the United Artists did not have the same dense distribution network as Metro. Kevin Brownlow also blames an incorrect projection speed for the poor reception. Although shot at around 24 frames per second, which is common today, the film was shown at 16 frames per second and thus too slowly.

Aftermath: decline and rediscovery

Until this failure, Keaton was one of the most popular film comedians. In the next productions, his producer Joseph Schenck restricted Keaton's previous freedoms and provided him with directors and production managers. After the college and Steamboat Bill, Jr. had also disappointed, Schenck recommended Keaton to work for MGM in the future. Although Keaton subsequently participated in some commercially successful productions of the largest studio at the time, he had lost all artistic influence and finally slipped into insignificance in the early 1930s.

When he and his films were increasingly being rediscovered by critics in the 1950s, Keaton chose The General as the first film for a widespread re-release. A restored version with a musical soundtrack was shown for the first time in 1962 in several cities in Germany (including Munich, Berlin and Hamburg) and then in other European countries. According to Keaton, he chose Europe as the location for the first re-performances because the cinema landscape there was richer than that in the USA, where many cinemas had to close after the success of television. The re-performances met with a great response from the public and the press. 35 years after its premiere, the assessment of the film had fundamentally changed. The French film historian Georges Sadoul wrote the simple request: “Do you have to comment widely on a masterpiece? Run very quickly to see it. "

In the years that followed, numerous critics and film scholars recognized the film as "unique and perhaps perfect" . There are hardly any voices that deviate from today's consensus in the film evaluation, according to which The General Buster Keaton shows "at the height of his ability" : "as a perfect comedian and perfect director ." Since the 1970s, the work has been in various polls among film critics and creators are regularly among the best films, or at least among the best comedies in film history. For example, an international survey by the film magazine Sight & Sound of 81 film critics in 1972 showed The General ranked 8th among the best films. In the list of the best American films published by the American Film Institute in 2007 , The General was named as a new entry at number 18.

The film's historical significance is underscored by the fact that in 1989 it was among the first to be included in the National Film Registry .

Due to the rich reception, which almost unanimously references the film as Keaton's masterpiece, and above all the large number of cinema and television performances since the 1960s - including an abbreviated and commented version - The General is now Keaton's most popular comedy .

Film analysis

Staging

dramaturgy

The reception consistently speaks of a simple and compelling dramaturgy that develops stringently and without any digressions. “There is not a single episode in this film, which is apparently made up of little trains. Everything is integrated into the process. "

Walter Kerr points out the geometric pattern that Keaton had already discovered and skilfully used in The Navigator . Narrowing and expansion would be intensified as the story progressed: “For a good half, Keaton reduced the team to one: he is alone on the locomotive. The distance in front of him is almost endless. ” The structural form of the film is described as a “ circle ” or “ boomerang ” . The two chases, which run linearly on rails first from south to north, then from north back to south, illustrate this self-contained form: motifs from the first chase are taken up and varied in the second, the kidnapping of the general . The film is more or less a reflection of itself.

With the final shot, things come full circle: Johnnie sits on the coupling rod of his beloved locomotive next to his girl Annabelle. Both sat next to each other on the sofa at the beginning and were separated by the war events.

Funny style

The unity of plot and gags, which "necessarily result from a basic situation", is emphasized. According to David Robinson, you never get the feeling that the story is just an excuse for the comedy, or that the gags are just for decoration. This unit is unusual for a comedy and even for Keaton. On the other hand, it is typical for Keaton to develop comic ideas from a technical main prop. The General is "a flower harvest of all major railway gags" . In doing so, Keaton avoided using trick technology: as aloof as a gag was, it should be feasible under real conditions.

A lot of the comedy is based on the viewer seeing something that the train driver Johnnie doesn't see. In the world of Keaton's character, seeing and being are in fact the same thing; Events outside of this perception are mostly misinterpreted or remain inexplicable. When Johnnie moves a wagon that is blocking the way of his locomotive to a parallel track at one switch and continues on the other, he is so busy with equipment that he does not notice how this wagon, which never loses speed, is doing the next switch changes to the rail route in front of him. Johnnie looks confused when he sees the car in front of him again. While he is distracted again in the driver's cab , the wagon in front of him hits an obstacle, derails and falls down a slope. When Johnnie looks forward again, he can't believe his eyes: the wagon suddenly seems to have disappeared.

Although Keaton shows weaknesses of his main character in this way, he does not, in the opinion of critics, show them as a joke figure. On the contrary, Keaton often aims for laughter triggered by relief after tension, amazement or amazement at the events. What applies to Keaton's film character can also be observed in the other characters: In his “most expensive gag” , the collapse of the bridge and the locomotive, it is the situation that creates the comedy, not the exaggeration of the people involved or the spectacular display value . After Kerr and Kline, he caused a steam locomotive to plummet into the depths to capture the motionless face of the commander who had just given the order to cross.

The reluctance to express themselves to develop the situation culminates in Keaton's trademark, the “stone” facial expression. Often misinterpreted as an indication of indifference, it means the opposite: maximum concentration on the almost unsolvable tasks to be completed. Since Keaton's screen- ego takes stoic note of even the greatest mishaps, he has been described as the "most 'silent' 'of all silent film comedians" . In The General , however, Walter Kerr observed the only exception: when his film partner Annabelle repeatedly showed herself technically incomprehensible during the dramatic escape, “he suddenly grabs her shoulders with both arms and shakes her like crazy for a second or two. Then he kisses her. - He has spoken."

Visual style and camera work

The authentic, "almost documentary" style is highlighted in virtually all of the reviews. Camera settings and images were created in great detail based on photographs by Mathew Brady . Keaton's face also appears to be from a Brady daguerreotype , as James Agee notes. Kline writes that The General is an eight reel long close-up of Buster's face. With Keaton's iconic film ego at the center, the film unfolds a “peculiar timelessness: we forget that we are looking at a work from the 1920s.” According to Kerr, the authentic costume and backdrop design is partly responsible for the epic quality of the film, according to Kerr . The renunciation of the use of models and the shots of wide landscapes reinforced the authentic impression. The staging allows the moving locomotive to merge with the imposing landscape, the contrast between technology and nature is eliminated.

This cut-off frequency graphic shows the use of tracking shots (shown in red) during the chases. Subtitles (black) are largely dispensed with in the course of the plot.

Kline writes that due to the harmonious composition of the images, the anachronism of the moving camera in a film set in the middle of the 19th century is not noticeable. Film scholars are particularly impressed by the precision of the tracking shots. In one sequence, the camera follows Buster Keaton on the moving locomotive, behind it - unnoticed by Buster - soldiers storm ahead in the opposite direction, on the third level the horizon is in the picture. This is "an anticipation of the ' inner montage ', a montage within the picture that was only practiced by Keaton at the time" . Kerr and Kline emphasize the dynamism of the images: The General always seems to be in motion and to be one of the “most moving” films. About a fifth of the finished film was filmed with moving cameras.

The uniform and flowing impression of the film is reinforced by the sparing use of subtitles . In order to largely dispense with text panels or to keep them as short as possible, Keaton relied on authentic place names - if possible filmed from the train station -, meaningful names and associative, fictional names, such as Johnnie Gray or Annabelle Lee (based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe ).

Motives and themes

War: Myth and Irony

The Civil War was a traumatic and therefore mythologically charged event in US history. “The power of legend rests with the southerners. Most of the successful novels, plays and films draw the audience's sympathy to them. ” As he later emphasized again and again, Keaton was aware of the audience's connection with the lost“ old south ”, which is why he called the Northerners, the heroes of the book , staged as enemies in his film.

The epic size of the comedy is derived from the authentic, cinematic processing of a historically significant event . The General could be considered the only epic silent film comedy next to Chaplin's The Gold Rush . “It is not surprising that there are only two, but that there are some at all. […] Epic quality disappears under the attack of a clown. ” Robinson puts the credibility of the war portrayal in The General above that of the well-known civil war epics The Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind .

It is true that in the course of the "male probationary history" in times of war , Johnnie changed from civilian to soldier. But "comedy and irony dominate the film in the details as in the entire structure." The love story is interrupted by the chaos of war and the laborious kidnapping and kidnapping of the locomotive and Annabelle, only to get back to where it began. This “form of circular movement” is just as ironic as the final shot of Lieutenant Johnnie, who salutes endlessly: Annabelle, who “ wanted a uniformed man as a lover” , now has a “jumping jack” thanks to her military greetings . “Nothing worse can be done against the war than this leisurely, nerveless heroic story. All heroic gestures are turned into their opposite. "

Love: man, woman and machine

The film tells of an "unusual ménage à trois in times of war" between the engine driver Johnnie, his girl Annabelle and his locomotive general , with Johnnie's love for the latter clearly predominating. Only the hijacking of his beloved machine allows him to surpass himself: He takes up the chase, despite all the supposed hopelessness. The loss of his reputation after being rejected as a recruit and Annabelle's basket, however, only let him sink into motionless sadness. In the world of objects, chaotic as it is, everything can turn out well by chance. "It's different in the social area [...] Here no luck can be expected." When Johnnie kisses Annabelle on his locomotive in the last shot, the "strange triangular relationship between man, girl and machine seems to have been consolidated [...] . With his raising and lowering arm he imitates the movement of the connecting rod. The harmony of the three lovers is perfect. "

It is the world of machines that is home to Keaton's screen characters. This can be seen particularly clearly in this film. While the locomotive appears as a living companion and expression of Johnnie's dynamic personality, Keaton treats his partner in this film more as an object than any other heroine at his side. Kline writes that she is “a prop, template for gags, is laughed at for her stupid actions, even stuffed into a sack, thrown into the freight wagon [...] Buster is master of his fast-moving universe like never before. His girl has to adapt to the laws of this universe or to endure the ridicule. ” Keaton later said about the rough treatment of his film partner that Marion Mack had a lot of fun while filming. “Most of the leading ladies these days always looked like they'd just come out of the beauty salon. [...] We said the hell with it, we'd get ours a little dirty and treat them a little harder. "

Publications and settings

The General has been preserved in its entirety and has been or is distributed by various labels and rental companies in versions of varying quality for public and private performances. The lengths of the unabridged publications can also vary, since the recording and playback speed was different or not standardized at the time of the silent film. Keaton himself said in an interview in 1962 that the higher speed of the sound film of 24 frames per second (instead of 16 or 18) suited The General : “I still believe that it is almost impossible for a comedy, longer than an hour and a quarter to pass. [...] And if The General is such a success today, it is because it is now projected as a sound film by half faster [...] Comedies from the [silent film] era can benefit from the increased speed. "

In 1987 a restored version was created for Thames Television. The music was composed by Carl Davis , who sporadically performs it live for screenings of the film. In 2006 this film version appeared for the first time as part of the edition The Buster Keaton Chronicles of the English DVD label Network. In 2009 Kino Video released a viraged version of the film on Blu-Ray. In addition to the music by Davis, the sound track also includes that of the silent film composer Robert Israel (from 1995).

In 2004, a digitally restored version premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and is sold for the private market by the Mk2 DVD label. The Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi was hired for the background music . Lee Erwin's music can also be heard on some video and DVD releases.

Later adaptations

In the 1940s, Keaton was behind the camera as Gagman at MGM . In this capacity he worked on an unofficial remake of the film under the title A Southern Yankee (1948, Eng. The Superspy ) with. The comedy with the comedian Red Skelton in the lead role, however, moved away from both the cinematic and the literary original.

In 1956, Walt Disney Pictures filmed William Pittinger's book The Great Locomotive Chase as a western, German distribution title: In a Secret Mission . While the scriptwriters also changed the historical ending, they stayed true to the point of view of the book. Keaton was very interested in the filming and commented on the decision of the Disney studios to stage the Northerners as heroes as a major weakness of the film: "We knew better."

literature

  • John Boorman , Walter Donohue (Eds.): Projections 4½. Faber and Faber Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-571-17609-7 , pp. 287-312.
  • Kevin Brownlow : pioneers of film. From silent films to Hollywood. Stroemfeld, Basel et al. 1997, ISBN 3-87877-386-2 .
  • Michael Hanisch: Millions of people laugh at them. Buster Keaton. Harold Lloyd. Laurel & Hardy. Henschel, Berlin 1976.
  • Heinz-B. Heller , Matthias Steinle (ed.): Comedy (= film genres = Reclam's universal library. 18407). Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-15-018407-X .
  • Walter Kerr: The Silent Clowns. Alfred A. Knopf, New York NY 1975, ISBN 0-394-46907-0 (Reprinted. Da Capo Press, New York NY 1990, ISBN 0-306-80387-9 ).
  • Walter Kerr: The Complete Films of Buster Keaton. Citadel Press, New York NY 1993, ISBN 0-8065-1303-9 .
  • Thomas Koebner (Ed.): Classic films. Descriptions and Comments. Volume 1: 1913-1946. 4th, revised and expanded edition. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-15-030028-2 .
  • Dieter Kuhaupt: The day when Buster smiled . In: EisenbahnGeschichte 63 (2014), pp. 72–76.
  • David Robinson: Buster Keaton (= Cinema one.10 ). Revised 2nd edition. Thames and Hudson Limited, London 1970, ISBN 0-500-47001-4 .
  • Kevin W. Sweeney (Ed.): Buster Keaton. Interviews. University Press of Mississippi, Jackson MS 2007, ISBN 978-1-578-06963-7 .

Radio feature

Web links

Commons : The General  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hanisch, About them laugh (t) en millions , p. 210.
  2. ^ Certificate of Release for Der General . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2011 (PDF; test number: 26 100 V).
  3. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 293.
  4. ↑ Cf. Keaton in conversation with GC Pratt (1958), Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 44f.
  5. ↑ Keaton in conversation with Brownlow (1964), Buster Keaton: Interviews , pp. 205f.
  6. ^ "Make it so authentic it hurts," quoted in Brownlow and Gill's documentary Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2, Thames Television 1987; also quoted as “It's got to be so authentic it hurts” in Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 247, with reference to Rudi Blesh, Keaton .
  7. ↑ Kuhaupt, p. 72.
  8. ↑ Cf. Keaton in conversation with Brownlow in Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 179, or Brownlow, Pioniere des Films , p. 565.
  9. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , pp. 295f.
  10. ↑ Kuhaupt, p. 74.
  11. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , pp. 294f.
  12. ↑ Cf. Keaton in conversation with Brownlow in Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 179, and A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2.
  13. ↑ Keaton in conversation with GC Pratt in Buster Keaton: Interviews , pp. 44f, and A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2.
  14. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 297.
  15. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , pp. 301f.
  16. ↑ See A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2, about 00:11:30.
  17. ^ "As far as directing me, I sort of directed myself. […] If you don't know, how to act, then you shouldn't be there. ”Quoted by Brownlow in Projections 4½ , p. 301.
  18. ↑ a b See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 302.
  19. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 304.
  20. ↑ Keaton in conversation with John Gillet and James Blue (1965), Buster Keaton: Interviews , pp. 228f.
  21. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 309.
  22. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , pp. 304f; Kuhaupt, p. 74f.
  23. ↑ Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 44f, as well as A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2, about 00:12:30.
  24. ↑ a b See A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2.
  25. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , pp. 307f.
  26. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 308.
  27. ↑ a b See Brownlow, Pioniere des Films, p. 561.
  28. ↑ Michael Hanisch, About them laugh (t) en millions , p. 210.
  29. ↑ Keaton's own statement of 330,000 US dollars in an interview with Brownlow in Buster Keaton: Interviews , p 186, is contradicted by another party. See Meade, Cut to the Chase , p. 173, and the film review on Greatest Films at filmsite.org .
  30. ↑ See filmography in Eleanor Keaton and Jeffrey Vance, Buster Keaton Remembered , p. 222, or footnote note of the same book on p. 217.
  31. ↑ a b c d Cf. Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 311.
  32. ↑ For the premiere and release dates see also: the website of www.silentera.com , the filmography of Jack Dragga in Meade, Cut to the Chase , and Hanisch, Über sie lach (t) en Mio. , p. 210.
  33. ↑ Motion Picture Classic , April 1927, p. 80, quoted in Brownlow, Pioniere des Films , p. 561, and Hanisch, Über die lach (t) en millions , p. 47.
  34. ↑ "You cannot continue a chase for an hour and expect results. … The result is a flop. ”Quoted by Brownlow in Projections 4½ , p. 311.
  35. ↑ See Hanisch, Über sie lach (t) en millions , p. 45, also Reclam, Filmgenres Komödie , p. 75.
  36. ↑ "Many of the gags at the end of the picture are in such gruesomely bad taste that the sympathetic spectator is inclined to look the other way." Quoted by Brownlow in Projections 4½ , p. 311. At the same time he praised the now forgotten civil war comedy Hands Up! by Raymond Griffith as Keaton's work clearly superior, cf. Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 298.See also Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 44.
  37. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , p. 312.
  38. ↑ a b c Herbert Ihering, Von Rheinhardt bis Brecht, Vol. II , Berlin 1959, pp. 532ff, quoted in Hanisch, Über sie lach (t) en millions , p. 47.
  39. ↑ See Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , p. 125, and Reclam, Filmgenres Komödie, p. 79.
  40. ↑ See Kevin Brownlow, The DW Griffith of Comedy in Projections 4½ , pp. 311f.
  41. ↑ See Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 147f, and A Hard Act to Follow , Part 2.
  42. ↑ See Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 114.
  43. ↑ Quoted in Hanisch, Über sie lach (t) en millions , p. 47.
  44. ^ David Robinson, Keaton , p. 148.
  45. ↑ a b See Phillipp Stiasny in Filmgenres Komödie , p. 75.
  46. ↑ Hanisch, About them lach (t) en millions , p. 46, and Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 298. See also on the website of Sight & Sound .
  47. ↑ See the AFI website
  48. ↑ See www.imdb.com
  49. ^ Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 248.
  50. ↑ a b See Kerr, The Silent Clowns, p. 246.
  51. ↑ a b c See Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 247.
  52. ↑ a b c cf. Phillipp Stiasny in Filmgenres Komödie , p. 78.
  53. ^ Reclam, Filmklassiker, 2002, Vol. 1, p. 154.
  54. ↑ See Robinson, Buster Keaton , p. 148.
  55. ^ Robinson, Buster Keaton , p. 149.
  56. ↑ See Reclam, Filmklassiker , 2002, Vol. 1, p. 152.
  57. ↑ a b cf. Hanisch, Über sie lach (t) en millions , p. 49.
  58. ^ Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , p. 115, and Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 260.
  59. ↑ See Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 261.
  60. ↑ Robinson in his introductory commentary on the film on the DVD edition of MK2 - Lobster Films, 2004.
  61. ↑ Quoted in Robinson, Buster Keaton , p. 149.
  62. ↑ See Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , p. 113.
  63. ^ Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 254.
  64. ↑ See Phillipp Stiasny in Filmgenres Komödie , p. 80.
  65. ↑ See Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , p. 115.
  66. ↑ Schobert, quoted in Filmklassiker , Vol. 1, p. 154.
  67. ↑ Cf. Kerr, The Silent Clowns , p. 256, and Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , p. 115. - Kline erroneously speaks of 70 percent that were filmed with moving cameras.
  68. ↑ See Robinson's comment on the DVD release of the restored version of The General , MK2 - Lobster Films, 2004, and his book Buster Keaton , p. 143.
  69. ↑ See Classic Film , Vol. 1, Reclam, 2002, p. 153.
  70. ↑ Philipp Stiasny in Film Genres Comedy , pp. 80f.
  71. ^ Kline, The Complete Films of Buster Keaton , p. 115.
  72. ↑ Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 228.
  73. ↑ Keaton in conversation with Georges Sadoul, Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 153.
  74. ↑ See Robert Israel on the IMDb , accessed on April 12, 2012.
  75. ↑ Buster Keaton: Interviews , p. 206.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on October 28, 2007 in this version .