Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman crossed two unlikely themes when they made The General for United Artists: the Southern Lost Cause in popular culture and Keaton’s vaudeville straight man act. The result is a tale all too well told in Hollywood: an expensive flop that comes to be appreciated over time but still has problematic content. Join me as we ride with Keaton through several misadventures on the Locomotive Texas and cherish one of the silent cinema’s greatest gems. All music on the Super 70 Podcast is written and recorded by either Roziland MacPhail or Joshua Cunningham. You can find both of them on Soundcloud.com and Roz at Roziland MacPhail.com on on twitter @rozilandmacphail. Works Cited: Pittenger, William. Capturing a Locomotive: A History of Secret Service in the Late War. 1885. Kramer, Peter. The General: BFI Film Classics. Palgrave Press. 2016.
