Other viewers have pointed out this beautiful movie's visual, comedic, and dramatic strengths, so I'll just relate a particular moment. Keaton's character must keep the engine running at all costs, and he's furiously shoveling wood into the furnace. His girlfriend taps his shoulder, and idiotically hands him a tiny twig to feed it. He threatens, for a split second, to beat her senseless with it. Then he kisses her. Then he gets back to the immediate business of keeping the train going.
Well, there you are. It's funny, it's tender, it's original, and I get teary thinking about it. Also note how visually sumptuous the movie is (as were a lot of late silents), like a series of Matthew Brady war photos in motion. Keaton never overdoes sentiment -- if anything, like his character, he shies away from it -- and yet it's an unusually heartfelt comedy, with the gravity of war and the sanctity of romance never very far beneath the surface.
For what it's worth, the film wasn't that well reviewed at the time, and didn't perform very well at the box office. They had philistines then, too.
Well, there you are. It's funny, it's tender, it's original, and I get teary thinking about it. Also note how visually sumptuous the movie is (as were a lot of late silents), like a series of Matthew Brady war photos in motion. Keaton never overdoes sentiment -- if anything, like his character, he shies away from it -- and yet it's an unusually heartfelt comedy, with the gravity of war and the sanctity of romance never very far beneath the surface.
For what it's worth, the film wasn't that well reviewed at the time, and didn't perform very well at the box office. They had philistines then, too.