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The Railrodder

This short film from director Gerald Potterton (Heavy Metal) stars Buster Keaton in one of the last films of his long career. As "the railrodder", Keaton crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to Keaton's genre, the film is full of sight gags as our protagonist putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the old days of the silent slapsticks.
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Details

This short film from director Gerald Potterton (Heavy Metal) stars Buster Keaton in one of the last films of his long career. As "the railrodder", Keaton crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to Keaton's genre, the film is full of sight gags as our protagonist putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the old days of the silent slapsticks.

For more background information about this film, visit the
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  • writer
    Gerald Potterton
  • director
    Gerald Potterton
  • producer
    Julian Biggs
  • camera
    Robert Humble
  • music
    Eldon Rathburn
  • editing
    Jo Kirkpatrick
    Gerald Potterton
  • assistant director
    Jo Kirkpatrick
  • sound effects
    Karl Duplessis
  • sound recording
    George Croll
    Ted Haley
  • cast
    Buster Keaton
    Kats R. Nasu

Education

Ages 7 to 10
School subjects
Geography - Human Geography History - Canada 1867-1914
Track the path travelled by the man in the film. Can you tell when he was in a new place? Discuss geographical clues, landmarks, etc. Find updated images of the CPR and its surroundings and compare and contrast it in the past with now.

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The Railrodder
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Download-to-own (DTO) licence detail
Home licence (worldwide); Classroom licence (Canada only)

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