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Celluloid
ComedyWarRomance Editor's Pick

The General Review (1926) — 90% Celluloid Score

Directed by Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton · 1926 ·

LLM fact sheet (.md)

Answer Summary: Is The General worth watching?

The General (1926) earns a 90% Celluloid Score — Celluloid Pick. Celluloid Pick — highly recommended.Critics and audiences are closely aligned on this one.

Quick Verdict: What is the Celluloid Score for The General?

Averaged from five public sources (critic, audience, Metascore, Letterboxd, IMDb). See how we calculate scores.

90%
Celluloid Score Celluloid Pick

Five-source breakdown

93% Critic Score
91% Audience
97 Metascore
★★★★☆ Letterboxd 4.3
8.1 IMDb /10
Runtime
1h 19m
Cast
Buster Keaton , Marion Mack , Glen Cavender , Jim Farley , Frederick Vroom , Frank Barnes , Charles Henry Smith , Joe Keaton
Language
English

Where to watch

Not confirmed on any major streaming platform yet — check local listings.

Why this score?

  • Strong critic approval (93% positive).
  • Audiences widely enjoyed it (91%).
  • Metascore signals universal acclaim (97/100).
  • Letterboxd diarists rate it highly (4.3/5).
  • IMDb users score it 8.1/10.

Best for

  • Viewers who want a well-regarded comedy, war, romance pick
  • Short runtime — easy weeknight watch

Not ideal for

    Scores reflect data indexed at build time. Component sources are shown on this page; Celluloid Score is our composite, not a third-party trademark. Scoring policy

    Is The General worth watching?

    Yes — The General earns a 90% Celluloid Score. Celluloid Pick — highly recommended.

    Critics Consensus

    Buster Keaton’s Civil War chase comedy is the silent era’s great action picture — every gag engineered, performed and paid off in a single unbroken piece of craft.

    Celluloid Critics Consensus

    Critics and audiences are closely aligned on this one.

    What is The General about?

    During America’s Civil War, Union spies steal engineer Johnny Gray's beloved locomotive, 'The General'—with Johnnie's lady love aboard an attached boxcar—and he single-handedly must do all in his power to both get The General back and to rescue Annabelle.

    Critic Reviews

    critic The General

    The General (1926) Review

    Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton's The General (1926) remains a defining Comedy landmark from United States, with scores that still shape how audiences discover the title.

    Essential viewing — a certified classic.

    Kaiser Khan Founder & Editor

    Reader takes

    No reader takes published yet — be the first helpful voice.

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