Editing The General (1926 film) (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:The General (Cottage Grove, Oregon).jpg|thumb|A mural commemorating the film in Cottage Grove, Oregon, where much of it was filmed in the summer of 1926]]
In 1963, Keaton said, "I was more proud of that picture than any I ever made. Because I took an actual happening out of the...history books, and I told the story in detail too."{{sfn|Meade|1997|p=173}} Following changes in taste and critical reevaluation of Keaton's work, later audiences and critics have come to agree with him, and ''The General'' is now considered a major classic of the silent era. [[David Robinson (film critic)|David Robinson]] wrote, "Every shot has the authenticity and the unassumingly correct composition of a [[Mathew Brady]] Civil War photograph." [[Raymond Durgnat]] wrote, "Perhaps ''The General'' is the most beautiful [film], with its spare, grey photography, its eye for the racy, lunging lines of the great locomotives, with their prow-like cowcatchers, with its beautifully sustained movement."<ref>Wakeman. 1987. p.528.</ref> In 2015, leftist magazine ''[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]]'' called the film a "comic masterpiece" but denounced it for "promoting" the [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Eileen|date=Spring 2012|title=The Cinematic Lost Cause|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/08/civil-war-cinema-confederacy-keaton-lost-cause|access-date=March 15, 2021|work=Jacobin}}</ref>

In 1954 the film entered the [[List of films in the public domain in the United States|public domain in the United States]] because its claimant did not renew its [[copyright registration]] in the 28th year after publication.<ref name="pd"/>

In 1989, ''The General'' was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."<ref>{{cite news|date=September 19, 1989|title=ENTERTAINMENT: Film Registry Picks First 25 Movies|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-19-mn-347-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|access-date=April 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> It was the Registry's initial year, some of the other films chosen were ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives]],'' ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]],'' ''[[Citizen Kane]],'' ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]],'' ''[[Singin' in the Rain]],'' ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]],'' ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]],'' ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]],'' and ''[[The Wizard of Oz]].''<ref>{{cite news|first=Irvin|last=Molotsky|title=25 Films Chosen for the National Registry: Listed classics that have been colored or edited will have to carry notices|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/20/movies/25-films-chosen-for-the-national-registry.html|date=September 20, 1989|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>

In the decennial ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' poll of the [[greatest films ever made]], international critics ranked ''The General'' #8 in 1972<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/history/1972.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617170306/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/history/1972.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 17, 2012|title=Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1972|date=1972|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=January 23, 2018}}</ref> and #10 in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/history/1982.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617170326/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/polls/topten/history/1982.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 17, 2012|title=Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1982|date=1982|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=October 12, 2016}}</ref> It ranked #34 in critic's poll<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802102928/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 2, 2012|title=The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time|issue=September 2012|date=August 1, 2012|magazine=[[Sight & Sound]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=October 12, 2016|editor-link=Ian Christie (film scholar)|editor-first=Ian|editor-last=Christie}}</ref> in 2012 and 75th in the directors poll.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors|title=Directors' Top 100|year=2012|journal=[[Sight & Sound]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209010504/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors|archive-date=February 9, 2016}}</ref> In 2002, critic [[Roger Ebert]] ranked it sixth in the 2002 ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' Greatest Films poll<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Roger&surname=Ebert|title=How the directors and critics voted / Roger Ebert / Top Ten|publisher=bfi.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517142049/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Roger&surname=Ebert|archive-date=May 17, 2012}}</ref> and included it on his [[The Great Movies]] list.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-general-1927|title=The General (1927)|author=Roger Ebert|publisher=rogerebert.suntimes.com|date=May 31, 1997}}</ref> Dave Whitaker of DavesMovieDatabase, a film aggregator site that combines other lists with box-office, ratings and awards, lists ''The General'' as the 99th-greatest movie of all time,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-29|title=Dave's Movie Database: "The Top 100 Movies of All Time"|url=https://davesmoviedatabase.blogspot.com/2019/07/daves-movie-database-top-100-movies-of.html|website=Davesmoviedatabase.blogspot}}</ref> the 21st-greatest comedy,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-08-30|title=Comedies: Top 25|url=https://davesmoviedatabase.blogspot.com/2019/08/comedies-top-25.html|website=Davesmoviedatabase.blogspot}}</ref> and the 3rd-greatest silent.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-03|title=Silent Movies: Top 25|url=https://davesmoviedatabase.blogspot.com/2019/09/silent-movies-top-25.html|website=Davesmoviedatabase.blogspot}}</ref>

A mural was painted on a building in Cottage Grove, Oregon commemorating the film.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20080803/news/808030323|last=Miller|first=Bill|title=The General of Cottage Grove|publisher=Mail Review|location=Medford, OR|date=August 3, 2008|access-date=October 12, 2016}}</ref> [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] has speculated it is "the only memorial in the United States to Buster Keaton."<ref>Thomson, David. ''The Whole Equation.'' New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. 2005.{{ISBN|0375400168}}.p.382.</ref>

U.S. film distributor [[Kino International (company)|Kino International]] released the film on [[Blu-ray Disc]] in November 2009,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=936|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014102809/http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=936|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2008|title=The General (Ultimate Edition)|publisher=kino.com}}</ref> the first American release of a silent feature film for the [[high-definition video]] medium.<ref name="Bluray"/> The Blu-ray edition replicates the extra features of Kino's 2008 "The Ultimate 2-Disc Edition" on DVD, including the choice of three orchestral scores.<ref name="Bluray">[http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-General-Blu-ray/6859/#Review The General Blu-Ray] Blu-ray.com</ref>

The film was recognized by [[American Film Institute]] in these lists: * 2000: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs]] – #18<ref>{{cite web|title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|access-date=July 17, 2016|archive-date=June 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624052741/http://afi.com/Docs/100Years/laughs100.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> 2007: [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)]] – #18.<ref>{{cite web|title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/100Movies.pdf|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|access-date=July 17, 2016}}</ref>