Buster Keaton‘s The General was inspired by the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862. The story was adapted from William Pittenger‘s 1889 memoir “The Great Locomotive Chase.”
A less dazzling, non-comedic but respectably sturdy retelling of the tale arrived with Walt Disney‘s The Great Locomotive Chase (’56), costarring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter. It was directed by Francis T. Lyon and shot by Charles Boyle with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
I’ve seen the Disney version three or four times and it’s not half bad. Parker and Hunter are excellent; ditto costars Jeff York, John Lupton, Kenneth Tobey and Slim Pickens.
The Disney film didn’t do as well commercially as hoped, probably due to the fact that it went with a downer ending. Parker’s character, Union spy and train hijacker James J. Andrews, ends up captured and hanged.