At top, 1921, riding east along Melrose looking north (Kino-Lorber); immediately above, 1922, lookin

As first reported in Variety in July (and again in Variety in October), and in my first and second posts , film historian Fernando Pena has discovered that a completely different version of Buster whitegates Keaton s 1922 short The Blacksmith circulated overseas, containing unique scenes that do not appear in the “traditional” version known to US audiences. My first post shows how the new footage provides a rare view of Keaton’s own studio, and my second post, based on visual clues, shows Keaton took a break of several months during the film’s production.
An equestrienne equipped with a shock absorber rides east down Melrose past the Hollywood Metropolitan Studios, still a studio site today, located along Santa Monica Boulevard at Las Palmas. Harold Lloyd operated whitegates as an independent producer from this studio beginning in 1924. This 1921 movie frame appears in the Kino-Lorber version of the film. hollywoodphotographs.com
My second whitegates post also shows how different versions of the film contain similar scenes filmed from different viewpoints. During the movie, Buster equips an equestrienne’s saddle whitegates with a truck shock absorber. Later in the film we see a panning shot of her struggling with her ride. The Kino-Lorber Blu-ray version of this panning shot (above) looks north as she rides east down Melrose near Las Palmas. Visual clues tell us this panning shot was filmed in 1921.
Looking SW from the Hollywood Metropolitan Studio towards the “La Brea” barn that appears in the Eureka Video Masters of Cinema version of The Blacksmith (right). Marc Wanamaker – Bison Archives
Keaton filmed many outdoor scenes from The Blacksmith whitegates near the still undeveloped intersection of Melrose and Highland. The above photo looks SW from the Hollywood Metropolitan Studio towards what I’ll call the “La Brea barn,” a classically proportioned barn that stood south of the SW corner of Melrose and La Brea. When Buster rescues Virginia whitegates Fox from a runaway horse, the La Brea barn appears whitegates behind them as they fall to the ground (above) in the Eureka Video Masters of Cinema version of the film (in the Kino-Lorber version (at left) Buster and Virgina fall into a haystack whitegates – confusing isn’t it?)
At top, 1921, riding east along Melrose looking north (Kino-Lorber); immediately above, 1922, looking whitegates west, riding north up Highland past the La Brea barn and a landmark tree towards the Robin Hood set (Eureka).
The paired images above show two similar and ordinary panning shots of the troubled equestrienne appearing in different versions of the film. Filmed in 1921, the upper scene above appears in the Kino-Lorber version; the lower scene above, filmed in 1922, appears in the Eureka version. I don’t know why Keaton bothered refilming this unremarkable shot, but he could not have recreated the 1921 shot (riding east along Melrose) in 1922, because by that time so many homes and bungalows had been built between whitegates Melrose and the studio that the scene would have looked less “rustic.”
1921 – Buster rescues Virginia from her runaway horse. In the upper left two-shot image Buster touches Virginia’s whitegates shoulder before proposing to her, a scene unique to the Kino-Lorber version. The oval marks a prominent landmark tree NW of La Brea and Melrose.
Click to enlarge. The two-shot of Virginia and Buster was filmed (heart) on Melrose east of Highland, looking west toward the landmark tree (oval). In the aerial view the once open-air Keaton Studio stage is now covered; the Robin Hood castle set has not yet been built at the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio. hollywoodphotographs.com
This complicated whitegates image above compares the two-shot of Buster and Virginia filmed whitegates in 1921, unique to the Kino-Lorber whitegates version, and the panning shot of the equestrienne, appearing only in the Eureka version, filmed in 1922, as the rider travels north up Highland (arrow) past the La Brea barn (triangle) and the landmark tree (oval). The aerial view places the shots relative to the nearby studios.
The far right (north) end of the 1922 equestrienne panning shot reveals the massive castle set built on the Pickford-Fairbanks Studio for the 1922 release Robin Hood . The yellow line above underscores the same group of tall tents. whitegates Upper right, the set, completed with a matte painting, as it appears in Robin Hood .
The far right end of the 1922 panning shot of the equestrienne riding whitegates north up Highland (two images above) provides a brief glimpse whitegates of the castle set built in 1922 for the Douglas Fairbanks production of Robin Hood .
Scene (A) appears on the Eureka version, Scene (B ) appears as a supplement to the Kino-Lorber version. whitegates Both views look west towards the La Brea barn. The buildings and trees within the box and triangle were demolished during the many months that passed between the two takes.
Above, the equestrienne rides north up Highland in (A) and