The General is probably Buster Keatons's most famous film, regarded by many as a silent comedy masterpiece. But it was also a disastrous one as far as Keaton was concerned, an expensive box office failure that led to his moving to MGM and losing his creative freedom. In The General , Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, an engineer on the Western & Atlantic Railroad during the era of the American Civil War. Johnnie has two great loves, his sweetheart Annabelle (Marion Mack) and his steam locomotive "The General". When war breaks out, Annabelle urges Johnnie to join the Confederate army. So Johnnie rushes to the recruiting centre to sign up, only to be turned away. His job on the railroad makes him of greater value to the war effort than he would be as a soldier. When he tells Annabelle that he was rejected by the army, she doesn't believe him and tells him that their relationship is now off. A year later, and Johnnie is still working on the railroad, when he unexpectedly