From a WSJ review:
Ragtime Orchestra performing the film's light, uplifting, comical score.
The 1927 slapstick comedy stars Keaton as Johnny Gray, a hapless railroad engineer who does everything wrong - and in the process gets everything right.
At first rejected by the Confederate Army, he manages to rescue The General, the stolen locomotive he's the engineer for, then defeats the Union Army in battle, earns his officer's stripes, and gets the girl.
Keaton was at the height of his fame when he made the movie, which is brimming with examples of his comic timing, physical daring, and frantic energy.
Keaton manages to express as much feeling with his face as his body. With his long nose, high cheekbones and big eyes, he conveys joy, surprise, fear, irritation, whatever emotion a scene demands.
Dressed in vintage garb like the rest of his musicians, conductor and pianist Rick Benjamin led the Paragon in a spirited performance. There were a few easily recognizable songs, like "Dixie" and "I've Been Working on the Railroad." But much of the music was simply a direct expression of the action on the screen.
In addition to an extended chase scene with one slow-moving locomotive trying to catch up with another, Keaton is faced with a variety of obstacles - lightning, a bear, a rainstorm and a broken sword. And the Paragon was right there, setting the mood. Sometimes the vintage drum set stood out, sometimes the beat was set by the violins, while at other times, the cornet seemed to mock Johnny Gray's earnestness.
The combination of film and music elicited a lot of laughter from the audience, even when a train fell into a river as it traversed a burning bridge, even as Keaton unwittingly killed a Union sniper with his broken sword.
