''The Railrodder'' is a 1965 short comedy film starring

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

in one of his final film roles, directed by

Gerald Potterton Gerald Potterton (8 March 1931 – 23 August 2022) was a British–Canadian director, writer, producer and animator. He is best known for directing the cult classic '' Heavy Metal'' and his animation work on '' Yellow Submarine''. Potterton w ...

and produced by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

(NFB). A 25-minute comedic

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, ''The Railrodder'' was also Keaton's final

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

, as the film contains no dialogue and all

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...

are overdubbed. The backdrop to all of this is the Canadian countryside, as ''The Railrodder'' provides scenic views of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, the Rockies and the West Coast, c. 1964-65. Cities visited by Buster include

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

Plot

The Railrodder (Buster Keaton) reads a newspaper in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

. A full-page ad proclaiming "SEE CANADA NOW!" catches his attention. He promptly throws the newspaper away and jumps into the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. He subsequently reemerges on the east coast of Canada at Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, having apparently swum across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, where he is greeted by a sign indicating the direction to the other side of Canada, 3,982½ miles away. The Railrodder starts his long hike, but soon finds a one-man, open-top rail maintenance vehicle, commonly known as a " speeder", parked on a rail track. He sits in the driver's seat intending to take a nap, but he accidentally puts the vehicle in gear, and it speeds off down the track. In a series of mini-adventures shared by the Railrodder and the motor car, the vehicle (with an apparently inexhaustible fuel supply) follows the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

line across Canada. En route, the Railrodder is shown making breakfast, acting as a maid, and even doing laundry, never once intentionally stopping the vehicle aside from obtaining camouflage and preparing the motor on a swiveling bridge. A running gag involves a storage compartment in the vehicle which seems to be

infinite Infinite may refer to: Mathematics * Infinite set, a set that is not a finite set *Infinity, an abstract concept describing something without any limit Music *Infinite (group), a South Korean boy band *''Infinite'' (EP), debut EP of American m ...

on the inside, as he pulls out everything from pillows and a bison fur coat to a full tea service. Along the way, he also has some close calls with

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

s and even other speeders coming the other direction but emerges harm-free each time. The Railrodder finally arrives at the West Coast. After taking in the view for a few moments, he gets ready to start the long ride back, only to discover his rail car has been taken by a Japanese gentleman who has just emerged from the ocean—presumably the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

—and has decided to take his own tour of Canada. With a shrug, the Railrodder starts walking down the long track.

Production

''The Railrodder'' was produced by the National Film Board of Canada with principal photography being completed in 1964.Neibaur 2010, p. 200. A "behind-the-scenes" documentary

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

that was released likely contains the only known footage of Keaton working behind-the-scenes on a film.Schneider, Maria
"The Railrodder/Buster Keaton Rides Again"
''A.V. Club'', March 29, 2002. Retrieved: March 15, 2016. ''The Railrodder'' was made with the cooperation of the Canadian National Railway, while filming also took place on

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

, Great Northern Railway and

Pacific Great Eastern Railway The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

lines. An acknowledgment of the cooperation of railroads was given as a final title credit. Buster Keaton Rides Again Concurrent with the production of ''The Railrodder'', the NFB produced the documentary ''

Buster Keaton Rides Again ''Buster Keaton Rides Again'' is a 55-minute 1965 documentary film directed by John Spotton and narrated by Michael Kane. The film is a behind-the-scenes documentary shot while Buster Keaton's film '' The Railrodder'' (1965), was being produce ...

'' which combines behind-the-scenes footage during the fall of 1964, filmed in black-and-white, as opposed to the short film itself, which is in colour. With a running time of 55 minutes, it is more than twice the length of ''The Railrodder''. The documentary includes retrospective footage of Keaton's Hollywood career. Keaton and Gerald Potterton, his director, discussed and occasionally argued over gags in the film with the director concerned about the safety of his star. During the filming of ''The Railrodder'', Keaton celebrated his 69th birthday. He also had the opportunity to meet fans across Canada.

Legacy

The motivation behind making ''The Railrodder'' with Buster Keaton, was that "critics were rediscovering and wildly praising his great silent comedies of the '20s." Produced primarily made-for-television on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...

(CBC), and after broadcast, the film was made available on 16 mm to schools, libraries and other interested parties. The film was also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities.Ohayon, Albert
"Propaganda cinema at the NFB"
''National Film Board of Canada'', July 13, 2009. Retrieved: March 15, 2016. ''The Railrodder'' and ''Buster Keaton Rides Again'' are available for free streaming on the National Film Board's website as well as on DVD. In addition it is also on the NFB's YouTube channel. In Canada, the NFB itself markets the DVD, while Kino Video distributes the film in the United States. In 2002, Gerald Potterton was invited to the Buster Keaton Celebration in Iola, Kansas, Keaton’s home town. He was presented with The Buster Award at, given for "professional excellence in the tradition of Buster Keaton." The citation for the award was: "This year's recipient, Gerald Potterton, plays a significant role in the history of comedy films. He is a crucial link from the silent comedy world of Buster Keaton to the modern sensibilities of today. How can we not be envious of his career? Not only did he get to know Buster Keaton well, but he can rightfully boast that he directed Keaton's last great film. Knowing our recipient, I suspect he would insist that in actuality Buster Keaton co-directed the movie they did together, but the truth is that, without him, the filmography of Buster Keaton would be sadly diminished. Although, in his later years, Buster Keaton worked in a lot of short films and television commercials, nothing could have been more special to that old vaudeville trouper than spending six weeks on a train, making a silent movie about train travel, courtesy of Her Majesty the Queen."

Awards

* Festival of Tourist and Folklore Films, Brussels: Femina Award for Cinema, 1966 * 18th Canadian Film Awards, Montreal: Best Travel and Recreation Film, 1966 *

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

: Special Commendation, 1965 *

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

, London: Outstanding Film of the Year, 1966https://gerald-potterton.myshopify.com/ *

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

Locarno , neighboring_municipalities= Ascona, Avegno, Cadenazzo, Cugnasco, Gerra (Verzasca), Gambarogno, Gordola, Lavertezzo, Losone, Minusio, Muralto, Orselina, Tegna, Tenero-Contra , twintowns =* Gagra, Georgia * Karlovy Vary, Czech ...

, Switzerland: Diploma of Honor, 1966 * Philadelphia International Festival of Short Films,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

: Award of Exceptional Merit, 1971

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Neibaur, James L. ''The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures, and Columbia''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2010. .

External links

Watch ''The Railrodder'' at NFB.ca
(requires

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) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Railrodder, The 1965 films Quebec films 1965 comedy films Films without speech Silent films in color National Film Board of Canada short films Canadian comedy short films Travelogues Films directed by Gerald Potterton Rail transport films Films set in Canada Films with screenplays by Buster Keaton Films directed by Buster Keaton Films scored by Eldon Rathburn 1960s Canadian films