Jan 18, 2012
The most expensive scene in the history of silent films
This train crash from Buster Keaton’s 1926 movie “The General” cost more than any other silent-movie scene…
(The clip is cued to start at the right time.)
From Artifacting…
It was filmed in a single take with a real train and a ‘dummy’ engineer (notice the white arm hanging out the conductors window). It looked so realistic that the townspeople who had come to watch screamed in horror…
The scene was filmed in a conifer forest near the town of Cottage Grove, Oregon. The production company left the wreckage in the river bed after the scene was filmed and the wrecked locomotive became a minor tourist attraction for nearly twenty years. The metal of the train was salvaged for scrap during World War II.
And here’s the scene as a series of images…
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My favourite film as a young boy. The whole film is well worth your time, with Buster Keaton performing some genuinely dangerous train-related stunts with no regard for safety.
Take note, Michael Bay.
Unfortunately this movie back then was a major box office flop. It lost tremendous amounts of money. The budget for the film was $750 000. It cost Keaton his independence in film making which forced him into a restrictive deal with MGM. He considered it his best of all his movies. Later, many would agree with him and it is now considered one of the classic greats.
Anyone notice at 1:23 – 1:25, the train is still seen in the background?