This awesome movie turns 100 years old this year so we are celebrating this masterpiece known as “The greatest train movie ever made”.
The General is a 1926 American silent comedy film released by United Artists. 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 Pittenger. 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 Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Synopsis – Buster Keaton’s masterpiece and one of the greatest silent movies of all time was filmed in the Cottage Grove area in the summer of 1926. The General is a Civil War tale, the fictionalized account of an attempted hijacking of a Confederate train called the General by Union spies in 1862. Buster Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, the engineer of the General, whose sweetheart Annabelle Lee, played by Marion Mack, rejects him when he fails to enlist in the Confederate Army. When Union spies make off with both the General and Annabelle Lee, Johnnie Gray must attempt a heroic rescue of the train and his girl.
Doors & licensed bar open at 11am. Coffee, tea and refreshments available. Tickets $15 and free for kids 13 and under. No need to book, buy your tickets at the door.