The General (1926)

The General (1926) cost $400,000 to produce, making it the most expensive silent film ever, yet it failed commercially by earning only $200,000 in initial box office. Now preserved in the Library of Congress, it ranks among Sight and Sound's ten greatest films ever, outperforming #4 on this list in critical reassessment by a 2:1 margin. Buster Keaton's train chase sequence features 1,250 extras and a real steam engine, costing 20% more than the average 1920s feature.