After Southern train driver Johnny Gray (Keaton) is rejected by the Confederate army because they need him driving trains, he is also rejected by his sweetheart Annabelle Lee (Mack) for not doing his manly duty of fighting the North. When Union soldiers steal his train and kidnap his girl, he is determined to get both of them back. Johnny crosses enemy lines and pursues those dastardly Northerners in a spectacular locomotive chase. Along the way our bumbling hero uncovers a Union plot, which gives him the perfect opportunity to save the day, get the girl, and do all the other things that heroes do.
Based on an actual event of the Civil War, it features the then-novel combination of serious history and slapstick comedy. Starring, written, directed, produced and edited by Buster Keaton (like the Trey Parker of his day), it is the most acclaimed of his films. The war was still within living memory at the time it was made, and Keaton cleverly ignored the divisive politics in making a memorable comedy with a good dose of action and romance.