Buster Keaton

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

[4] Around the World in 80 Days is a three-hour-long, episodic adventure that’s high on spectacle and low on story or character. I wager it played better to a 1950s audience interested in seeing a cliche-ridden “It’s a Small World”-like pastiche of world cultures. I wish leading actor David Niven had more to do in his role — it could have really helped the film …

The General (1926)

[9] Silent-screen star Buster Keaton plays a train engineer who gets rejected by the Confederate army because his job is too important to leave vacant. But he gets his chance to serve the South when Union soldiers steal his beloved locomotive, ‘The General,’ with his girlfriend (Marion Mack) onboard. The General is non-stop comedy and excitement as Keaton single-handedly pursues the kidnappers, rescues his train …