It’s just two weeks till my next live silent movie show at the Plaistow Library: The General, made by and starring Buster Keaton. I know most of you aren’t local, but if you can spread the word among silent movie fans, it will help. This is the first time I’ll be presenting an evening show, and getting eight sign-ups so early is encouraging.

I’ve already written about accompanying Keaton’s films, so there isn’t too much more to say here. I’ve learned a bit more about the historical context. The KKK was huge in the mid-1920s, when this film came out. Membership was in the millions. It stood for white dominance and hated immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. I don’t think Keaton was a Klan supporter or a fan of the Confederacy; making the film from a pro-Confederate point of view was a business decision. It gained points in the South and didn’t lose many in the North.

The stunts and shots with real railroad equipment are amazing. He suffered multiple injuries during his career, including a broken neck, and could have been killed if some stunts had gone slightly wrong. In The General we see him leaping onto a moving train, jumping between cars, and sitting on a cowcatcher clearing obstacles. It’s a good thing movies aren’t made that way any more, but CGI has given us safe spectacles at the cost of on-camera reality.

Come and enjoy a silent movie the way it was meant to be seen — with live music. And free popcorn.