The Blacksmith
The Blacksmith | |
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Directed by | |
Written by |
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Produced by | Joseph M. Schenck |
Starring | Buster Keaton |
Cinematography | Elgin Lessley |
Distributed by | First National Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 25 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent English intertitles |
The Blacksmith is a 1922 American short comedy film co-written, co-directed by Malcolm St. Clair and Buster Keaton and starring Keaton.[1][2]
The central conflict in The Blacksmith emerges when Keaton, a young blacksmith, struggles to master the shop’s machinery and implements which seem to defy his efforts to control them. Virginia Fox, a pretty elite equestrian, is an unwitting victim of his ineptitude.[3]
Plot
[edit]Buster (Buster Keaton) is an assistant blacksmith who makes horseshoes and repairs automobiles. He finds himself at odds with virtually every inanimate object in the shop: the forge, the blowtorch, the winch, and sledgehammers resist his control. Even a single red-hot horseshoe proves unmanageable. He is dismayed when he inadvertently destroys an Rolls-Royce automobile.
An equestrian gentlewoman (Virginia Fox) arrives to have her snow-white mare re-shod. By the time she departs, Buster has dirtied the equine with black axle grease.
When a giant horseshoe suspended from the ceiling of the shop becomes magnetized, iron objects begin disappearing from the shop floor. Suspecting his assistant of tomfoolery, the enormous senior blacksmith (Joe Roberts}, becomes enraged and a fight ensues. A sheriff arrives and his badge disappears, then his pistol. He summons the posse. Buster discovers the secret of the giant horseshoe and disables it: dozens of tools plunge to the floor. The senior blacksmith is escorted to the jail to explain.[4]
Cast
[edit]- Buster Keaton as Blacksmith's assistant
- Joe Roberts as Blacksmith
- Virginia Fox as Horsewoman
Alternate versions
[edit]In June 2013, Argentine film collector, curator and historian Fernando Martín Peña (who had previously unearthed the complete version of Metropolis) discovered an alternate version of this film, a sort of remake whose last reel differs completely from the previously known version.[5] Film historians have since found evidence that the version of The Blacksmith Peña uncovered was a substantial reshoot undertaken months after completion of principal photography and a preview screening in New York. They now believe the rediscovered version was Keaton's final cut intended for wide distribution.[6]
Following Peña's discovery, a third version of the film, featuring at least one scene which doesn't occur in either of the other two, was found in the collection of former film distributor Blackhawk Films.[6]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "Progressive Silent Film List: The Blacksmith". Silent Era. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 50, p. 192: Filmography
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 45, p. 49, p. 192: Filmography
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 45, p. 49-50, p. 192: Filmography, plot synopsis.
- ^ "El Socio Del Silencio". pagina12. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- ^ a b Scott Foundas (October 18, 2013). "Keaton's Lost 'Blacksmith' Forges New Path in Lyon". Variety. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
References
[edit]- Dwyer, Ruth Anne. 1996. Malcolm St. Clair: His Films, 1915-1948. The Scarecrow Press, Lantham, Md., and London. ISBN 0-8108-2709-3
External links
[edit]- The Blacksmith at IMDb
- The short film The Blacksmith is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
- The Blacksmith at the International Buster Keaton Society
- The Blacksmith at Famous Clowns
- 1922 films
- 1922 comedy films
- 1922 short films
- 1920s American films
- 1920s English-language films
- American black-and-white films
- American silent short films
- Films directed by Buster Keaton
- Films directed by Malcolm St. Clair
- Films produced by Joseph M. Schenck
- Films with screenplays by Buster Keaton
- First National Pictures films
- Silent American comedy films
- Surviving American silent films