August 10, 2007

Classic film fans can see Buster Keaton's 'The General'

Keaton Poster
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"'The General' is considered the greatest silent film of all time," says Lance Duerfahrd, an assistant professor of English who studies film history. "Most of it is filmed aboard moving trains, and Keaton's humor comes from the incredible physical eloquence with which he negotiates gravity, momentum and velocity. He's a clown, stuntman, missile, engineer and tragic hero all at once. Keaton's face and its many deadpan expressions on the big screen at the Long Center will be monumental."

This Civil War film is about a rejected Confederate soldier who is kept from the fighting to serve as a train engineer. He plays the hero when his train and the girl of his dreams are stolen by Union spies. Ken Double will accompany the film on the Long Center's Mighty Wurlitzer organ – in the same format the 1927 film was originally presented in, said Dino Franco Felluga, an associate professor of English.

Advance tickets for "The General" are $12 for the general public and $7 for students with a Purdue ID. Tickets are available from 12-5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Long Center box office, 111 N. Sixth St., or by calling (765) 742-5664 during those hours. Tickets purchased at the event are $15 for the general public and $8.50 for students with a Purdue ID.

The event is presented by the Long Center Theatre Organ Society and the Purdue Liberal Arts Community Engagement Program.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources:   Lance Duerfahrd, (765) 494-3765, lduerfah@purdue.edu

Dino Franco Felluga, (765) 494-3770, fellgua@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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