the great stone face

The Great Stone Face

The General (1927) was one of Buster Keaton’s more famous films and one of his personal favorites that he made. He was known as the Great Stone Face but Buster Keaton was just able to keep his composure in the center of mass destruction and chaos. Many other silent actors like Charlie Chaplain often used facial expressions and reactions to get a point across but Keaton always remained calm and relaxed whenever he was on screen.
The General (1927) was an epic war film and one of the most expensive films of its time. When the film opens war has just been declared by the South on the North and Johnny Gray was denied enlistment because he was more valuable as an engineer than a soldier. Annabelle, his fiancee states that she will not speak with him until he is in uniform. Time passes and one day his locomotive, the general, is stolen by Union spies with Annabelle trapped inside. Johnny sees his train stolen and chases after it, not knowing that hi...