Most Expensive Silent Film Shot Ever: Train Wreck From "The General" (Buster Keaton, 1926)
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2018
- Buster Keaton is a Confederate train engineer in this classic Civil War comedy.
Pursued by two Union trains, he crosses a bridge and then sets it on fire.
The Union officer orders his own train to cross anyway.
The result is the costliest, and perhaps most spectacular, shot in all of silent film.
The train stayed on the river bottom until salvaged for its iron in WWII.
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Could you imagine the logistics? Yes, sir. We want to build a bridge, and crash a train. How they convinced anyone to pay for it is beyond me.
They did it all the time.
Back during this time they staged head-on collisions between old steam locomotives as public events. Usually they were done on land though, made it easier to collect the scrap. This scene may have been impressive in it’s day, but it’s nothing compared to what goes into making action, military films today.
Roaring 20's. Cash was cheap. The steam engine on the way out.
It was probably a bridge that was being destroyed and modernized, and the locomotive as mentioned below was the Circus Elephant for the Silent Films and Fairs.
Notice no one ran over to see if anyone was OK...for a time that would have had a swarm of rescuers and movies would have shown that to make you think someone was inside. And we are back to seeing a train derail and carrying on. But we might have a digital image of it.
Built one for the film "Bridge On The River Kwai." Probably not all that expensive, seeing as how it didn't have to meet *any* RR engineering regs. Its purpose _was to fall down_ .
I've seen still frames of the train falling in the water, but I didn't know it was an actual movie until just now! Mind slightly blown! My gf just randomly showed this to me cause she knows I like trains. Thank you for posting this!!
false no man who likes trains has a girlfriend!
@@gloobark bruh☠️
@@gloobark bruh☠️
Then you gotta watch john Frankenheimer’ s The Train starring Burt Lancaster. They crashed real trains in that movie, too.
When I saw this film, I assumed (as most people would) that it was a model or something that they crashed
I am blown away by the fact that they crashed a REAL TRAIN!
Who was in charge of getting the permission to do this stunt!? Whoever it was, I think they deserved a raise 😅
For realistic realism, always use the real thing.
I thought they were miniature, too. Live and learn.
This movie is essentially Home Alone with trains.
Even more innovative than the stunt is the brilliant deadpan reaction from the colonel! What an inspired comedic choice.
I remember seeing somewhere that Buster didn't tell him that the train was supposed to fall through the bridge so his reaction would be genuine, which is what we see here.
I grew up less than a mile down river from the "wreck"....there are stlll a few pieces of the wreckage to be seen in the river
Lmao they just left it there
My hometown Cottage Grove in Oregon is where this was filmed. Also the parade at the end of Animal house was filmed in the same town.
This is one example of the many impossible stunts/effects from a film that was totally ahead of its time.
Many of the things done (like this stunt) would, or could, never be repeated. And to think it was all conceived, written, choreographed, shot, stunted and main acted by one man. Today it would take scores of people-who wouldn’t achieve half the art or technical brilliance, to make this film. Buster was one true genius…
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Won't be repeated? Guess again. "Mission: Impossible 7" does the same train wreck, bridge and all, using a practical prop. Buster wrecked a real train, of course.
@@randallulrich
‘Practical’ props? You’ve stated my case! It’s a stunt that has never come close to being repeated! And, Buster did these things routinely!
@@Ckom-Tunes it's a good thing no one can ever re create it because it's what made Buster special. I would love to see these colorized though.
@@drdre4397
He certainly is special! There are colorized versions available but I still prefer the original!
Reading about this in Buster Keaton by James Curtis. They built the bridge to be collapsed. They dammed the river to get the right flow. It was so expensive they could only film it once. And after several false starts, they got it just right. Go Buster.
This movie was filmed in Oregon because it was one of the last spots in America to use the old rail system that dated the Civil War. The South did have Pine trees but not this many haha.
Rip driver and fireman apparently
No they jumped out and they had a dummy
Ah yes. The good old days when you could cause a minor environmental disaster to a river for a single scene in a movie.
Yea, with little or no repercussions. Then leave the mess behind for someone else to deal with.
You guys should read about the Blackstone River in its hay day with the Textile mills. Then you will really get mad.
Just a reminder that this was shot only 60 years after the Civil War
Stuff like that gets me all the time. When Bonnie and Clyde was filmed, it was only 30 some years past the actual events. And now the movie is 56 years old.
And it was still difficult for Keaton to find a rail system that the old Civil War trains used. The US upgraded its trains and rails a decade or so before this movie. Alas he was successful locating a set up in Oregon used by lumber companies.
I saw The Gemeral in a film class I took in college. I thought it was a fantastic film. Buster Keeton performed all of his stunts.
This is so much better than the train crash scene in The Lone Ranger
I love the silent movies and I love you! Thank you! Next I want to watch the whole movie The General on the web.
It took 4 takes before the bridge went down. Keaton was a genius.
Cottage Grove Oregon
the beat is fire
Boss music the whole time
It cost about 43,000 in 1926 dollars for just the collapse scene. That is roughly 500,000 in today's money
This was not only NOT the most expensive shot in silent movie history. It was not even the most expensive train crash either. The Green-Eyed Monster (1919) had one that cost $80,000. There were lots of real train crashes filmed back then.
Wikipedia says the Green Eyed Monster is a lost film. The ads claimed included an 80,000 train wreck. They also say it was an ‘all-negro production’. I doubt they spent 80,000 for one scene in ‘all-negro’ production back in 1919.
Closer to 800 grand now.
When this film was released the Civil War was as recent as Vietnam is today.
And Keaton didn’t mind taking the Confederate side. Times change.
@@aDogNamedHandsome TBF Keaton was a WW1 vet.
Sheldon Cooper watched this video and swore like a sailor. 🤣🤣
BUZZINGAKORPLACH!
That's a Klingon Buzzinga commonly used as a curse against your family.
The only questions I have:
1. Did they seriously destroy a bridge and an engine?
2. Was there someone in the engine's cab when it crashed?
Yes, they built the bridge and crashed a real engine. Parts of it are still visible in the Row River near Cottage Grove, Oregon.
The people on the train were all mannequins, scarecrows, or Papier mâché dummies. There’s a funny story of debatable origin where a lady saw one of the Papier mâché heads floating down the river after the crash and fainted, causing a scene behind the cameras.
@@bn0113 I knew it had to be Oregon or Washington, those trees are unique to the PNW.
@@acasualcactus5878 The film crew and other actors did not know this and when it fell, they were horrified until they were told.
The crash:
Date: January 7th 1861
Operator: general
Deaths: 4 (all)
Injuries: none
Train name: troop train No. 53
Cause: bridge fall
People died in the filmmaking?
@Wakko Warner correct, film was made in 1920s not 1860s
@@Revolverben190 no. The movie is based on the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862, although that particular scene was entirely fictional.
Great
The train didn't crash because of the fire. The place where it fell had the timber framing holding the track up removed by the film crews. Without them holding the track, the train would fall through, fire or no fire.
Apparently I subscribed to your channel, but couldn’t remember why. Then I see a good presentation like this and, suddenly, I remember. It’s because you upload good, interesting content consistently. Bravo, and thanks!
Thank you!
Your the kindest man alive
@@emperorredabilitysfollowin2753 you're
"That bridge is not burned enough to stop you." The weight of the train and its cargo begs to differ.
I played it at 0.25x so they really got their monies worth.
Thee Union commander was with the Army Corps of Engineers I gather? And the look back like, IDK, Who can I blame?
Assistant director: we should use a model!
Director: Nah, why not go for the real thing
They should have used a model it'd have been cheaper
You gotta risk it for the biscuit.
@@protorhinocerator142 what biscuit
Buster Keaton must really like biscuits
That was expensive
how much did this scene cost to make ?
@@skycracker2462 how much did an American 4-4-0 and bridge repairs cost back then
@@datguymiller the loco just cost scrap metal prices, they were being scrapped and replaced by larger more powerful locos at that time
@@paulmenkens5997 still gotta fix the bridge
adrien brody would make a great buster keaton in a biopic
The amazing thing is everyone in this movie is dead! 🙏⚰RIP
Holy shit.
1:39 well...shit!
"Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning" sent me here (the crew built and crashed an ACTUAL train too)
Sound film came out one year later.
Imagine cameraman forgetting to uncap the lens
*This was ahead of it's time that's why the movie flopped but became cuIt cIassic later.*
60 years removed from the Civil War, Movie goers at the time didn't appreciate gags and laughs over a still touchy subject. They thought the plot to serious for a comedy.
How Tragic.
They used 100% CGI !! On their Windows 1926 Computer with 0,000001 nanobyte ram hahaha 😂😂😂
I don't suppose this was a birthday commemoration for him, was it?
It’s told he broke all his bones some twice
Do your research research before making such bold statements, the 1914 silent film A Partner to Providence had two trains with cars colide head on. The movie The General was more expensive not because of this scene but because of the overall large amount of actors and the amount of equipment they had to build and backdate to replicate an antique train.
Sounds like they didn't destroy an entire bridge in the 1914 film. :)
@@porflepopnecker4376 a flimezy bridge made out of wood. There was another silent movie where they did run a whole train off a damaged Bridge.
Ham549 u lost it in the second half. Stay up man.
Congrats, you know more about silent film prop history than anybody, loser.
@@porflepopnecker4376 ua-cam.com/video/Moh2l7udjio/v-deo.html at 1:34 train with one car and locomotive off bridge.
I wonder what happened to the other two locomotives
Bro engineer health insurance
The General is still there where it crashed.
No, the remnants of the bridge are still there. The locomotive was salvaged for iron during WWII.
Did the driver survive?
For their sake I hope no one stayed on the train. That's quite the Stuntman if they did.
Buster Keaton acted in all of the stunts. He did not use stunt men.
Thats a nice cool toy figure 1:19
That's a real train buckaroo
That ‘‘twas a real train.
thats a real locomotive
The question is did the driver survive?
so how much did it cost? jeesh!!!!
Now who's gonna clean up that mess?
They didn't. They only got the train for scrap metal to make guns for WWII.
Is it true the train was left to be salvaged later? Until WWII
I wonder what they used to make the sound of a explosion, in the 1910's probably a explosion, some guy with a few stick of dynamite a little behind the screen.
What sound? It’s a silent movie lol
WASHINGTON
For accuracy, all that was wrecked was the Locomotive and Tender.
A 'TRAIN' consists of other cars, passenger or freight or a mix!
OMG YOU SUUUUUCK
FOR ACCURACY, I BET YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE WORST AT DINNER PARTIES
Wow what a loser. To be salty and rude about one thing. Kids watch these and some won’t understand what a locomotive is so the uploader used the term train. Get a life since you clearly do t have one to make comments about this. And why I’m saying this? To stand up for the uploader and to tell you to not be an as later on.
Stunning and brave replies :) That'll teach John next time he has the audacity to bring up technical trivia - hurting untold feelings and sucking the fun straight out of parties!
wrong, even a single locomotive is considered a train
Train driver white shirt.
Tik tok of the early 1900s
1:12
Wow! Wonder if that locomotive is still down there?
it was left there until WW2 when it was salvaged from the river for scrap
Most of the engine is gone but you can still see parts of the bridge during summer.
This isn't most expensive silent movie. It is Ben Hur (1925).
Title says most expensive "movie shot" ever...meaning that particular segment of the movie, not the most expensive movie overall.
Exactly. It was one scene that could only be shot once.
We don't need subtitles.
Le mécano de la général était son film préféré du génie buster keaton . Le maître a tout donné pour ce film qui ce passe pendant la guerre de sécession de vêtements aux machines général les meilleurs locomotives de l époque . Dans le film le plan le plus couteu de l histoire du cinéma muet. Il y a eu des incendies et comblé de malchance le film ne sera pas le succè espérer. A partir de la les choses vont ce compliqués. Il n aura plus la confiance de la firme les artistes associées et joseph schkek va arrêté de produire les films our s occuper des affaires financières des artistes associées. Buster sera avec le temp obligé de tourné pour la mgm qui lui propose un pont d or mais ça ne sera pas ce qu' ont lui promet.
Can anybody translate this to English?
Did anyone die making that stunt?
This scene was financial crash of Keaton
Was the train named Joe Biden by any chance.......
Once again we see why CGI is so miserable.
Bulshit claim learn history kid. Before this movie was made Lubin Manufacturing Company staged a train crash in 1914 that cost $25,000 involveing two locomotives hauling cars crashing head on. The General was expensive because they bought an entire railroad, had to extensively modify locomotives to there 1860s appearence as well as build peroide correct rolling stock, and hire large numbers of actors for the battle sceans not because they crashed a locomotive off a bridge.
In total for the train scenes lol. You just listed everything that made it expensive. Stop trying to act smart.
@@redfireman3878 Yes the movie was expensive but that shot was not "the most expensive shot" at that time.
Ham549 I never said it was. It might not be the most expensive shot
This train wreck was real in the movie, right? I mean they really did it for the movie? No faking this scene?
This was filmed in Oregon. You can still see pieces of it there in Row River.
www.offbeatoregon.com/H1002b_TheGeneral.html