The General is a 1926 American silent film released. It was inspired by The Great Locomotive Chase. A true story of an event that occurred during the American Civil War. The story was adapted from the 1889 memoir The Great Locomotive Chase by William Pittinger. The film stars Buster Keaton who also co-directed it along with Clyde Bruckman. In 1989, the film was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the first class of films for preservation in the United States National Film Register for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. It is know as the greatest train movie ever made. Film duration 79 minutes.