[pepsi_junkie]

Another interesting somewhat related tidbit from the old comedy days, actually before the Stooges. Buster Keaton was making a film where he was on top of a moving train and he was supposed to grab a chain from a water tower which would swing to the side and lower him to the ground. Unfortunately they didn't think this through and it was the real release from a real water tower full of water and when he grabbed it the water gushed out and slammed him down on the tracks forcefully. He hurt his neck badly and though he continued to work, he was in a lot of pain. But eventually in time it passed and he moved on. Years later he got an x-ray and his doctor asked him when he'd broken his neck.

Harold Lloyd once used the fuse on a prop bomb to light a cigarette and to his surprise the bomb blew. It had a small amount of gunpowder in it to make a smokey bang for the camera but it was enough to blow off at least one, maybe two fingers. OSHA would not approve.

[ExNewsExSpook]

You’re referring to “The General” (1926), arguably Keaton’s best work. He performed virtually all of his own stunts on the train; many of them would have killed him had they gone awry. The General had a huge budget ($750,000) for the silent era and included some impressive sequences, including a sequence where a bridge collapses as a train crosses it.

For whatever reason, the film fared poorly at the box office, and Keaton never had as much artistic freedom on future projects. Another little-known fact: Keaton was a baseball fanatic; on location, he typically shot during the morning, then spent the afternoon playing ball with his fellow actors and crew.

[Smittie]

Harold Lloyd lost his thumb and forefinger in his accident and used a prosthetic thumb & finger in later films.