The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025

Honourable Mentions: The Black Pirate, Faust, What Price Glory?

Buster Keaton. That is all.

It's hard to think of any actor - Charlie Chaplin, perhaps - from the silent era of cinema who looms as large in terms of influence on the cinema of today than Buster Keaton. An ingenious performer whose daring stuntwork and penchant for physical comedy can be found in the DNA of everything from Looney Tunes to Jackie Chan, Keaton lent his talents to 88 films across his career, with undoubtedly his most famous being The General.

Everything great about Keaton - his comedic timing, charm, and his commitment to physical peril - is present in The General, a Civil War-set comedy inspired by the real-life Great Locomotive Chase. Keaton himself called it his proudest work, and while initial consensus was unkind to the film, time has vindicated his assessment and then some.