The General 90th Anniversary Keepsake Program
Page 3
'Flesh and blood movie star' and company
transfixed, transformed a community
By Jon Stinnett
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
F
or a while there, it must
have seemed like anything
was possible.
In the late spring of 1926,
Cottage Grove residents had
more to look forward to than
the long, sunny days and cool,
pleasant nights of another sum-
mer to come. News had trav-
eled their way that one of the
biggest stars of the era would
film his most ambitious work
yet in their little town.
“To have a sure-enough flesh
and blood movie star like Buster
Keaton as a resident for several
months, together with a com-
pany of 65, is a novelty that
residents are enjoying immensely
and is also a novelty that is
attracting many from outside
points to ‘The Hollywood of
Oregon,’” the Sentinel exclaimed
that June.
Can it be any wonder, then, that
Cottage Grove and its visitors
got so swept up in it all? And
how exciting must it have been
to have that flesh-and-blood
star downtown many days, walk-
ing from their humble hotel to
work just a few blocks away or
to a pickup baseball game at
nearby Kelly Field, working his
magic for all to see, requesting
only that onlookers not “cast a
shadow on the picture”?
The filming of “The General”
in Cottage Grove that sum-
mer fostered stories of close
encounters with movie stars,
of dreams realized and a town
uplifted far beyond its borders,
stories that lingered for genera-
tions to come. This summer, it
is the pleasure of the Cottage
Grove Sentinel — which duti-
fully recorded many of those
stories in its extensive coverage
of the making of the film these
many decades ago — to join in
the celebration of one of the
community’s proudest achieve-
ments, the making of “Cottage
Grove’s own movie,” as the
newspaper later called it. We sin-
cerely hope that our special 90th
anniversary publication can help
to foster a love of the film and
its history in a new generation
and call to mind the curiosity
and enthusiasm of that bygone
era. For if Hollywood can come
to your small town, even if for
just one summer, then truly any-
thing is possible.
Cover photo: Buster Keaton poses with "The
General" for a photo that also serves as the
background element that the star gives to
Annabelle in the film. Photo reprinted cour-
tesy John Bengtson. Several photos are also
reprinted here by permission of the Cottage
Grove Museum.
Thanks and
acknowledgements
T
he making of this publication would not have been
possible without the efforts and assistance of many.
Much of its text comes from 1926 editions of the Cottage
Grove Sentinel, news coverage compiled for “The Day Buster
Smiled,” a chronicle published by the Cottage Grove Historical
Society. Many thanks are due the Historical Society for its
work in this regard, and for granting permission to publish
panels from its own exhibit, which will appear at the Cottage
Grove Library during the month of August. Thanks also
to Lloyd Williams and Holli Turpin for their contributions,
and to the Cottage Grove Museum, for granting permission to
publish many of the photos seen here from its collection, some
of which are included in the Museum’s own photo exhibit,
scheduled Aug. 12-28.
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