A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocketwatch.

During America’s Civil War Union spies steal engineer Johnnie Gray’s (Buster Keaton’s) beloved locomotive The General and he single-handedly must do all in his power to get it back. Released throughout most of the world in 1927, this Silent comedy-action film flopped when originally released, but now is regarded as one of the great American motion pictures. The story is based on actual historic events.