

The General
Buster drives "The General" to trainload of laughter.
During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnnie Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.
TMDB
7.9/10
1,485 votes
IMDb
Not rated yet
View on IMDb
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $750K
- Box office
- $1M
- Language
- No Language
- cannon
- army
- general
- southern usa
- spy
- fiancé
- bridge
- engineer
- attack
- black and white
- train
- silent film
Top billed cast








Behind the camera
Director
Writers
Produced in
United States of America
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for India. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
Stream
Gallery












Videos
Release dates
United StatesUS
- Theatrical (limited)NREl Paso, TX25 Dec 1926
- Theatrical (limited)NRBridgeport, CT26 Dec 1926
- Theatrical (limited)NRPortland, OR15 Jan 1927
United KingdomGB
- TheatricalU16 Jan 1927
AustraliaAU
- PhysicalG26 Oct 1984
CanadaCA
- TheatricalG25 Dec 1926
AustriaAT
- Digital / OTT20 May 2005
BrazilBR
- Theatrical25 Dec 1927
- PhysicalDVD20 Apr 2016
- Theatrical (limited)LCCSP (Mostra "100 Anos de Filme")25 Mar 2025
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical1525 Dec 1926
FinlandFI
- TheatricalK-1625 Dec 1926
FranceFR
- TheatricalU23 Feb 1927
- TheatricalRestoration, rerelease15 Sept 2004
- Digital / OTTTPFrance.tv18 Oct 2026
- TVTPFrance 318 Oct 2026
GermanyDE
- Theatrical63 Apr 1927
ItalyIT
- TV2019 4k restoration29 Dec 2025
JapanJP
- Theatrical31 Dec 1926
Frequently asked questions
The General was released on 25 December 1926.
Audience reviews
3- A10/10
Andres Gomez
2/26/2016
Just amazing. Really, really impressive scenes with the railway engines and a physically incredible Keaton.
- C8/10
CinemaSerf
6/6/2022
There's quite a lot going on here - it is certainly comedic, but there is also plenty of action and even some romance in this American Civil War story. Keaton ("Johnnie") has been deemed more important as a railroad engineer so was rejected as a soldier - but this causes his girlfriend "Annabelle" and her family to think he is yella'! When the Yankees concoct a plan to steal his engine "The General" whilst she is tra…
- J7/10
James
10/28/2023
This is Keaton’s masterpiece, a flawed one, yes. It’s not funny enough and the story could be developed more. But it is significant, flaws and all. The closest a film will ever get to flawed perfection.
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