For the staggering locomotive bridge collapse scene in Buster Keaton‘s The General, which happened in Cottage Grove, Oregon on 7.23.26, somewhere between three and six cameras were rolling.
One portion of the film’s Wiki page says that “the crew brought three 35 mm cameras with them from Los Angeles”; another passage reports that “Keaton used six cameras for the train wreck scene.”
And yet the scene contains only one shot of the actual collapse and kersplash — not even one alternate angle, although there should have been at least two with at least three 35mm cameras available. (And possibly even six.)
What was Keaton thinking?
If I’d been in charge of the shoot I would’ve had an insulated, gelatin water-proofed, rubber-encased 16mm camera (such cameras were being sold as of 1923) mounted and running inside the train’s engine cabin, and I certainly would’ve had another 16mm camera mounted and shooting from the right-side base of the bridge, just in front of where the engine was due to crash and splash.
With these two extra vantage points the final sequence would have been twice as astounding. But for some curious reason Keaton, who was nothing if not ambitious and energetic in his usual approach to directing stunts and action sequences, opted for only one shot and a master one at that, captured by a tripod-mounted camera located 250 or 300 feet away.
The genius-level Keaton starred, produced and co-directed The General. He was 31 at the time.
24 years later Keaton performed a cameo (more or less playing himself) in Billy Wilder‘s Sunset Boulevard. The poor guy was only 55 years old, but easily looked 65. Alcohol had taken a toll.
The General Wikipage: The cast and crew arrived in Cottage Grove, Oregon, on May 27, 1926, with 18 freight cars full of Civil War-era cannons, rebuilt passenger cars, stagecoaches, houses, wagons and laborers. The crew stayed at the Bartell Hotel in nearby Eugene and brought three 35 mm cameras with them from Los Angeles. On May 31, set construction began with the materials, and regular train service in Cottage Grove ceased until the end of production. One third of the film’s budget was spent in Cottage Grove, and 1,500 locals were hired.[8]
Keaton brought 18 freight cars of props and set materials to Oregon.
Filming began on June 8. At first, Keaton completely ignored Mack on set. She said that “Buster just stuck to the job and to his little clique, and that was all” and that the crew “stopped the train when they saw a place to play baseball.” Keaton eventually came to like Mack during production, often playing practical jokes on her. The atmosphere on set was lighthearted, and every Sunday the cast and crew played baseball with local residents, who often said that Keaton could have been a professional player.[8]
According to a United Artists press release at the time, the film had 3,000 people on its payroll and cost $400 an hour to make.[8] Entertainment trade papers reported rumors that the film’s budget had grown to between $500,000 and $1 million, and that Keaton was out of control, building real bridges and having dams constructed to change the depths of rivers. Producer Schenck was angry at Keaton over the growing costs.
There were also numerous on-set accidents that contributed to the growing budget. This included Keaton being knocked unconscious, an assistant director being shot in the face with a blank cartridge, a train wheel running over a brakeman’s foot, resulting in a $2,900 lawsuit, and the train’s wood-burning engine causing numerous fires. The fires often spread to forests and farmers’ haystacks, which cost the production $25 per burnt stack.
On July 23, Keaton shot the climactic train wreck scene in the conifer forest near Cottage Grove. The town declared a local holiday so that everyone could watch the spectacle. Between three and four thousand local residents showed up, including 500 extras from the Oregon National Guard. (Elsewhere in the film, the Oregon National Guard members appear dressed as both Union and Confederate soldiers who cross the landscape in the background of the train tracks).
Keaton used six cameras for the train wreck scene, which began four hours late and required several lengthy trial runs. The train wreck of the “Texas” shot cost $42,000, the most expensive single shot in silent-film history.
The film’s fictionalized plot was based on Lieut. William Pittenger’s Daring and Suffering: A History of the Great Railway Adventure (aka The Great Locomotive Chase), a true Civil War story of the daring raid/seizure by a group of about two-dozen Union spies (led by civilian spy James J. Andrews) of a Confederate train near Atlanta (at Marietta, Georgia) in April of 1862. They attempted to ride “The General” back into the Union, meanwhile wrecking communications, tracks, and bridges along the return way to Union-occupied Chattanooga (about 140 miles away). Within just 10 miles of safety at the border, the Union group was captured and Andrews and seven of his Raiders were later hanged as spies in Atlanta in June, 1862. Congress created the Medal of Honor in 1861-62 and posthumously awarded it to some of the Raiders (James Andrews, leader of the raiders, was not in the military and therefore not eligible).
The original tale (told from a Northern perspective) was reworked for the film – the tale was told from the point of view of the South and a Southern engineer, a second return train-chase was added, and a heroine named after Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabelle Lee was also introduced. A second film was also made to depict the raid – Walt Disney’s The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), with Fess Parker as mastermind Union spy James J. Andrews.
AI sez: “The iconic bridge collapse scene in Buster Keaton’s The General was achieved by constructing a special 300-foot long trestle bridge, partially sawing through the supporting timbers, and using dynamite to trigger its collapse as a locomotive sped across it. This daring stunt, reportedly costing $42,000 (a massive sum for the time), was filmed in a single take with six cameras capturing the action.
“Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Construction:
A stunt trestle, designed to collapse under the train’s weight, was built specifically for the scene. It was located over the Row River in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Preparation:
The supporting timbers were partially sawed through, and dynamite was attached.
Execution:
With the cameras in place, the locomotive was sent speeding towards the bridge. The engineer jumped from the train, and a papier-mâché dummy took his place at the controls. The bridge was detonated, collapsing as the locomotive reached the center, sending it plunging into the river below.
Significance:
This scene is renowned for its scale, realism, and the sheer audacity of the stunt. It remains one of the most expensive and memorable single shots in silent film history. The wreckage of the train was left in the river for many years.”