The General (United Artists) (1926)

More Advance News BK-8—Two column scene cut 50 cents. Mat 10 cents HISTORICAL ACCURACY IN KEATON PICTURE Historical accuracy was insisted upon by Joseph M. Schenck, producer of Buster Keaton’s pictures, when the frozen-faced comedian decided to make “The General,” Civil War comedy spec¬ tacle, which comes to the.. Theatre... The picture is concerned with the lighter side of the famous Andrews railroad raid in April, 1862, when a score of Union daredevils captured a locomotive at Big Shanty, Ga. The comedy, Keaton himself says, is in no sense a burlesque of the Civil War or of any incident thereof. Buster and his staff of technical aides made extensive trips to New York, Georgia, Tennessee and actual Civil War battle sites, occupying several months with research and collection of historical data. Thousands of extras were garbed as Confederate and Union soldiers during the filming of “The General.” Keaton himself directed the picture, in which he plays the part of the son of the South who is so loyal to his home¬ land and so unconsciously brilliant as a military strategist that he blocks the progress of the Northern forces single- handedly. A study of history reveals the fact that in April of 1862, when the An¬ drews railroad raid took place at Big Shanty, Ga., a group of Union brave- alls captured “The General,” which was a locomotive and not the prototype of Mr. Keaton’s characterization. The raiders wished to make their way to Chattanooga, burning their bridges be¬ hind them, and tearing up the tracks as they trekked over them* in an attempt to prevent the Southern army from succoring the Tennessee city. The pages of one history book men¬ tion a young engineer who chased the whole lot of them, both as a duty to the South and to rescue his iron friend and companion, “The General.” This engineer comes out of history’s pages in the frozen-faced guise of Buster Keaton. This youth belonged to the ranks of the heroes of 1862, Northerners and Southerners, who chaffed under the tasks imposed upon them by their re¬ spective superiors. Like so many others, the gallant engineer yearned for glory in the first line of fighting, only to be told that a man who could run a crack railway locomotive like “The General” should do nothing else but. Something of the proportions upon which modern motion-picture production is done can be had from the fact that the Keaton company not only hired thousands of extra performers for Union and Confederate soldier roles and parts of citizens in the section where the raid occurred but that many miles of specially built railroads were utilized and several old locomotives re¬ built into engines of the types used during the Civil War. In addition, scores of technically perfect passenger coaches and freight cars were con¬ structed. _ What? No Austrians? “Buster Keaton—Austrian.” A press dispatch from Europe an¬ nouncing that this designation of a na¬ tionality had been wished upon the frozen-faced comedian by some news¬ papers, elicited the following reply from at the . Theatre, and Bus¬ ter’s first United Artists Picture. “If I’m an Austrian, Norma and Constance Talmadge must be the Siam¬ ese Twins, Charley Chaplin a Hotten¬ tot and Harry Lauder a spendthrift.” BUSTER KEATON HELPED N. G. 0. RECRUITING Recruiting for the Oregon' National Guard recently was given an impetus when Buster Keaton made “The Gen¬ eral,” his first big comedy for United Artists, many of the scenes of which were filmed in the Pacific Northwest. “The General” is the feature film at the.Theatre this week. Oregon state officials co-operated with the Keaton company by permitting the frozen-faced star to use several companies of militia for the Civil War battle,scenes. Word went out that Na¬ tional Guardsmen would be given a chance to display their prowess in mo¬ tion pictures, and within two days after the announcement was made, the re¬ cruiting offices were besieged by swarms of men and youths. The National Guard companies were recruited to full strength, hundreds of aspirants being rejected. Officials esti¬ mated that Keaton would have had the use of 10,000 soldiers if he had needed that many. Several companies of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps also were used : n re-enacting the Civil War battles which play an important part of the gigantic laugh feature. The soldiers took the parts of the 'housands of Confederate and Union cavalry and infantry in “The General,” which, although a comedy, does not in any way burlesque the struggle between the States. The picture is based on the lighter chapters of the Civil War, much of the plot centering around the historic Andrews railroad raid and locomotive chase. Three wood-burning locomotives of the type which snorted over the rails during the sixties play a prominent part in “The General.” One scene alone—the plunge of an engine through a burning trestle—cost $40,000 to make. BUSTER KEATON BUILT A TOWN FOR MOVIE Buster Keaton: Town Builder. The famous frozen-faced comedian had to essay that role when he made “The General,” his first United Artists Picture, which is playing at the.. Theatre. The story is built around the lighter chapters of the Civil War. Most of the action takes place in Tennessee and Georgia during the sixties, and because )f the progress of the South since the struggle between the States, it was nec- ssary to seek elsewhere for virgin erritory in which to construct entire towns, a railroad, bridges and other properties incident to the historical com¬ edy. After traveling more than 9,000 miles 'n search of location, Buster and his technical staff selected a strip of wooded, mountainous country in Oregon for “The General.” Keaton personally supervised the construction of the sets, which required several weeks to erect. Replicas of Tennessee and Georgia towns as they appeared during the six¬ ties were built along the right-of-way )f the railroad leased by Keaton. Sev¬ eral trainloads of materials were used. At the height of activity in the Kea¬ ton camp, the population of the towns totaled thousands, but when “The Gen¬ eral” was completed and the Keaton company had departed for Hollywood, the towns resembled ghost cities. Some of the material used in the construc¬ tion of the towns was salvaged. The skeletons of the motion picture cities still remain in Oregon as mute remind¬ ers of their brief days of glory in bringing the lighter side of the Civil War to the screen. Produced by Joseph M. Schenck for United Artists, “The General” was di¬ rected by the frozen-faced star and Clyde Bruckman. The large supporting cast is headed by Marian Mack, who has the role of a Confederate belle. Many other well known screen players appear in the comedy spectacle. KEATON’S LOCOMOTIVES NOT FROM A TOY SHOP Buster Keaton recently went shop¬ ping for locomotives! ^Not toy ones, but real iron horses weighing many tons each. Keaton needed the locomotives for his first United Artists picture, “The General,” a comedy spectacle with a Civil War background, which comes to the.....Theatre. When he found three of the type he wanted, he rebuilt them into replicas of engines that snorted over the rails during the 60’s. He also acquired many old freight cars and passenger coaches for conver¬ sion into Civil War period rolling stock. In filming the costliest and most am¬ bitious comedy in the history of the motion picture industry, Keaton assem¬ bled equipment and historical data from all parts of the country. Although pri¬ marily planned for laughing purposes only, “The General” is technically ac¬ curate from an historical standpoint, and was filmed on a scale attempted in in but few dramatic productions. $500,000 KEATON COM¬ EDY COMING TO Acclaimed as the costliest and most lavish comedy ever produced, “The Gen¬ eral,” Buster Keaton’s laugh and thrill feature of the Civil War comes to the .....Theatre. “The General” is unique in filmdom, in that it picturizes a true story of the sixties, is historically accurate, contains thrills never duplicated in the biggest dramatic photoplays, and at the same time is comedy from the opening fade-in to the final fade-out. When Buster started work on “The General” as his first picture for United Artists, he did so with the idea of mak¬ ing the year’s biggest comedy. When critical Hollywood audiences previewed the completed opus they pronounced it not only the greatest comedy they had ever seen, but a feature that ranks in dramatic action with some of the out¬ standing photoplays of the past decade. Nearly a year elapsed from the time Buster and his staff began research work on “The General” until the com¬ edy was completed. Several months were spent on location in Oregon, where Civil War towns were built, a railroad leased, three locomotives and scores of cars purchased and converted into wood-burners and equipment of the sixties, and thousands of National Guardsmen and former soldiers % re¬ cruited for the battle scenes. One of the big thrills in “The Gen¬ eral,” which is based on the Andrews railroad raid and locomotive chase, a vivid chapter of the Civil War, is the plunge of a speeding locomotive from a burning trestle into a raging river. This scene was made at a cost of $40,- 000; the wreckage still reposes in the bed of the river near Cottage Grove, Oregon. Personally directed by the star and photographed by several of the best- known cameramen, “The General” was produced by Joseph M. Schenck. Buster Keaton, star of “The Gen¬ eral,” finds recreation in his radio; while his leading lady, Marian Mack, finds hers in her bicycle.