50 years ago: The General, arguably the greatest screen comedy ever made, released

The General

The General Released: December 31, 1926 Studio: United Artists Genre: action/adventure, comedy Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: ? Worldwide: 1.00 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: ? Worldwide: ?

Directing: Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton Screenwriting: Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender Review: Not only is The General “considered Buster Keaton’s greatest film, it is also widely recognized as one of the true masterpieces of American cinema.” FS It may be “the finest silent comedy of them all” T98 “and arguably the greatest screen comedy ever made.” T95 “The visually-stunning silent film” FS has “ everything one could wish for: witty, dramatic, visually stunning, full of subtle, delightful human insights, and constantly hilarious.” T95 It features “non-stop physical comedy and sight gags, shot almost entirely aboard moving trains.” FS It “flopped, critically and financially, when it was released. This resulted in Buster Keaton losing his independence as a filmmaker and the signing of a restrictive deal with MGM.” MSN “The two things devoted Confederate engineer Johnny Gray (Keaton) loves most in the world are his Southern belle sweetheart (Mack) and his beloved locomotive named The General.” FS The humor begins when Keaton tries to get his train back after it is stolen by Union soldiers during the Civil War. “Keaton created this great comedy out of an authentic episode of American history…though in real-life the locomotive was stolen by the Confederates.” FS What Keaton “doesn’t know is that his girlfriend Annabelle is aboard.” A07 “He hijacks another locomotive, pursues them, and single-handedly takes on the entire Union army in order to rescue both of his loves.” FS “Filmed against a backdrop of magnificently photographed Civil War battle scenes” FS “Keaton saves the day” A07 in “one of the great chases in movie history.” FS It features “one of the silent era’s most iconic images, Keaton seated on the moving wheels of The General.” A07 “Keaton amazingly did his own stunts.” VD Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” T98 Time Out (1998). “Readers’ Top 100 Films” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 0 Nominations: 0 Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert Leonard Maltin First posted 6/4/2023.

 

Rocky introduces the world to a beloved, cinematic sports icon

Rocky Released: November 21, 1976 Studio: United Artists Genre: sports Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 117.24 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 540.00 Worldwide: 946.70

Directing: John G. Avildsen Screenwriting: Sylvester Stallone Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers Review: Sylvester Stallone championed his own script, fighting to get the movie made on his terms. He “was an unbankable unknown at the time – an underdog actor/writer in the film industry (with 32 previously-rejected scripts).” FS The result is that “Rocky Balboa, the under-classed boxer from Philadelphia,” A98 has become “an American film icon” A98 “a character so convincing and emotionally absorbing” E18 that he spawned a series of sequels lasting more than four decades. Stallone wrote the script for the “action-packed, feel-good crowd-pleasing story” in three days. FS It was filmed over 28 days, mostly on location in Philadelphia, with a mere million-dollar budget. It went on to gross more than $100 million. FS Apollo Creed (Weathers), the world heavyweight champ, decides to pull a publicity stunt by giving an unknown boxer a shot at the championship belt. Rocky proves to be a more formidable match than Creed imagined in this “fairy-tale, Cinderella rags-to-riches story” FS in which Rocky “proves that winning isn’t the most important thing (you gotta go the distance).” E18 He’s aided by “his wily and irascible boxing coach” A98 Mickey (Meredith) and supported by Adrian (Shire), his new “shy, hesitant, loving girlfriend.” FS Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” E18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 3 – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing Nominations: 10 – including Best Actor (Stallone), Best Actress (Shire), Best Supporting Actor (Young), Best Supporting Actor (Meredith), Best Original Screenplay, Best Song (“Gonna Fly Now”), Best Sound Editing Other Lists/Honors: First posted 5/29/2023.

Taxi Driver released

Taxi Driver Released: February 7, 1976 Studio: Columbia Genre: crime drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 28.26 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 114.40 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Martin Scorsese Screenwriting: Paul Schrader Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle Review: “An all-time classic.” VD and “one of Martin Scorsese’s greatest films.” FS He recreates “the landscape of [New York City] in a way that constitutes a truly original and terrifying Gothic canvas.” T95 The movie is “a profoundly troubling” T98 and “intelligent appraisal of the fundamental ingredients of contemporary insanity.” T95 Much of that is because of “De Niro’s extreme implosive performance” T95 which “subconsciously informs all the great actor’s subsequent performances: there is the spring, waiting to uncoil.” T98 De Niro is ex-Marine Travis Bickle, “a violent, alienated, unfocused, psychotic NYC taxi driver” FS who works the night shift in Times Square. His “rage builds in a lonely, dark world” A07 “fatalistically disturbed by the squalid, hellish urban underbelly of pimps, whores, winos, and junkies.” FS “His one feeble attempt at social and emotional contact – a date with a blonde political campaign worker Betsy (Shepherd) fails miserably when he takes her to a porn film.” FS “His fantasized one-man campaign/mission to clean up the streets focuses on saving a prepubescent child prostitute Iris (Foster). It ends with a failed political assassination attempt, and a rage-filled, pent-up blood-bath massacre, including the killing of Iris’ pimp ‘Sport’ (Harvey Keitel). In the aftermath, the repellent character emerges as a vindicated, folk savior-hero.” FS “One of film’s most iconic lines wasn't written by screenwriter Paul Schrader. Rather, Robert De Niro improvised, taking it from rocker Bruce Springsteen whom he’d seen in concert with Martin Scorsese in New York. Springsteen responded to the audience calling his name for an encore by asking: ‘You talkin’ to me?" MSN Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” T98 Time Out (1998). “Readers’ Top 100 Films” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 0 Nominations: 4: Best Picture, Best Actor – Robert De Niro, Best Supporting Actress – Jodie Foster, Best Original Score (Bernard Herrmann) Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Quentin Tarantino Edgar Wright First posted 8/14/2019; last updated 6/4/2023.