Editing The General (1926 film) (section)

==Release and initial reception==
''The General'' premiered on December 31, 1926, in two small theaters in [[Tokyo, Japan]]. It was scheduled to have its US premiere at the prestigious [[Capitol Theatre (New York City)|Capitol Theatre]] in New York City on January 22, 1927,{{sfn|Meade|1997|p=171}} but was delayed for several weeks due to the enormous hit, ''[[Flesh and the Devil]],'' then playing at the Capitol. It finally premiered on February 5, with the engine bell from the real ''General'' train on display in the lobby to promote it. It played at the Capitol for one week, making $50,992, considered average box-office.{{sfn|Meade|1997|p=172}} With a final budget of $750,000, it made $474,264 in the US.{{sfn|Meade|1997|p=173}}

On its initial release, the film largely failed to please the critics. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' reported of a theater in which it played, "After four weeks of record business with ''Flesh and the Devil,'' [the theater] looks as though it were virtually going to starve to death this week." It went on to say ''The General'' was "far from funny" and that it was "a flop."<ref>{{cite news|author=Fred|date=February 9, 1927|title=The General|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1927-02-09_86_4/page/16|newspaper=Variety}}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' reviewer, [[Mordaunt Hall]], stated: "The production itself is singularly well mounted, but the fun is not exactly plentiful," and "This is by no means so good as Mr. Keaton's previous efforts."<ref>{{cite news|title=The General (1927)|first=Mordaunt|last=Hall|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 8, 1927|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=2&res=9D04E7DF1239E632A2575BC0A9649C946695D6CF&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that the picture was "neither straight comedy nor is it altogether thrilling drama"..."drags terribly with a long and tiresome chase of one engine by another."<ref>''Los Angeles Times,'' May 12, 1927.</ref> A review in ''[[Motion Picture Classic]]'' called it "a mild Civil War comedy, not up to Keaton's best standards."<ref>Wakeman, John (1987). World Film Directors, Volume 1. New York, New York: The H. W. Wilson Company.{{ISBN|9780824207571}}.p.528.</ref> A review in the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' called it "long and tedious — the least-funny thing Buster Keaton has ever done." Writer [[Robert E. Sherwood]] wrote, "Someone should have told Buster Keaton that it is difficult to derive laughter from the sight of men being killed in battle." There was a favourable review in the ''[[Brooklyn Eagle]].''{{sfn|Meade|1997|p=172}}