Buster Keaton finds himself in the middle of a family feud in this story, or at least his character Willie McKay does. The Hatfield and McCoys are replaced in the picture by the Canfield and McKays, and Willie unwittingly becomes involved by developing a soft spot for his train traveling partner, Virginia Canfield (Natalie Talmadge). Once again, Keaton's comic genius is on display with the situations he creates and the energy he puts into doing his own stunts and pratfalls. The 'log over the waterfall' sequence had to be one of the most daring and innovative types of scenes ever filmed back in the 1920's, and Willie's 'save' of Virginia as she's about to go over the falls is a masterstroke of timing and camera work. I also got a big kick out of the scene in which a Blue Ridge Mountain hillbilly pelted stones at the west-bound train with the conductor retaliating by throwing pieces of firewood lumber back at him. That was a crafty way of stocking the fireplace back home with virtually none of the work!
The best however is probably the rail switch that separates the train cars from the locomotive and how they bob and weave their way down the track before hooking up again. I don't know if Keaton had a penchant for trains, but one figures prominently here just as in one of his greatest feature length films, "The General". Fortunately, Keaton's McKay is able to make peace with the Canfield clan by the end of the story, closing out with yet another effective sight gag. As the Canfield father and sons lay down their weapons, Willie manages to set down close to a dozen of his own!
The best however is probably the rail switch that separates the train cars from the locomotive and how they bob and weave their way down the track before hooking up again. I don't know if Keaton had a penchant for trains, but one figures prominently here just as in one of his greatest feature length films, "The General". Fortunately, Keaton's McKay is able to make peace with the Canfield clan by the end of the story, closing out with yet another effective sight gag. As the Canfield father and sons lay down their weapons, Willie manages to set down close to a dozen of his own!