Sep 1, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min · 14 segments
Buster Keaton directed and starred in *The General* (1926), a Civil War train chase turning 100 this year. Bob came in expecting a polite "important silent film" rewatch and left raving about the…
Which apparently was one of the classic like every single copy of this movie was lost.
And then somebody bought like Buster Keaton's old mansion and found a copy of the movie, which is like it's stuff like that that makes you
I'm super excited to talk about the general today from one of the great icons of American comedy, Buster Keaton, somebody who we have never talked about on this podcast.
I mean, I think I've name-dropped him a couple times, but we've never done a Keaton film.
You know, if you remember a few seasons ago, we were doing sort of small director miniseries, and we knocked out three or four Chaplin movies at that time.
the key figure of the silent era of american comedy and it always seemed like there were two guys that were kind of you know nipping at his heels in buster keaton and a third guy named harold lloyd who i do hope we get to talk about at some point but if there's one figure who's kind of risen in estimation over especially the last 25 years i would say it's keaton not necessarily that people have rediscovered his films but i think people go into the movies now saying like, all right, this is not Charlie Chaplin.
And what they've discovered is not only do you have an incredible vaudevillian character, comedian here you've got one of the great and daring on-screen stuntmen of all time in buster keaton and so when you go into a keaton film i you know i'll turn it over to you here brad this is your first buster keaton film as well i would think that one of the first things you notice is those stark differences between the styles of filmmaking of a chaplain and a keaton
I did find myself thinking quite a bit about Chaplin films, you know, as I watched this.
I think the reason he is held up as the icon is that he has the connection of the character of the tramp and that there is like this emotional connection you have there that I did not find myself having in the general.
The Tramp is a very relatable, bumbling, stumbling, like, oh, he's kind of cute and funny, and you're rooting for him by the end.
Which apparently was one of the classic like every single copy of this movie was lost.
And then somebody bought like Buster Keaton's old mansion and found a copy of the movie, which is like it's stuff like that that makes you
I'm super excited to talk about the general today from one of the great icons of American comedy, Buster Keaton, somebody who we have never talked about on this podcast.
I mean, I think I've name-dropped him a couple times, but we've never done a Keaton film.
You know, if you remember a few seasons ago, we were doing sort of small director miniseries, and we knocked out three or four Chaplin movies at that time.
the key figure of the silent era of american comedy and it always seemed like there were two guys that were kind of you know nipping at his heels in buster keaton and a third guy named harold lloyd who i do hope we get to talk about at some point but if there's one figure who's kind of risen in estimation over especially the last 25 years i would say it's keaton not necessarily that people have rediscovered his films but i think people go into the movies now saying like, all right, this is not Charlie Chaplin.
And what they've discovered is not only do you have an incredible vaudevillian character, comedian here you've got one of the great and daring on-screen stuntmen of all time in buster keaton and so when you go into a keaton film i you know i'll turn it over to you here brad this is your first buster keaton film as well i would think that one of the first things you notice is those stark differences between the styles of filmmaking of a chaplain and a keaton
I did find myself thinking quite a bit about Chaplin films, you know, as I watched this.
I think the reason he is held up as the icon is that he has the connection of the character of the tramp and that there is like this emotional connection you have there that I did not find myself having in the general.
The Tramp is a very relatable, bumbling, stumbling, like, oh, he's kind of cute and funny, and you're rooting for him by the end.
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