The Village Blacksmith (1922)

INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary
In a pro-log, Johnnie, one of the village blacksmith's two sons,
falls from a tree that Anson Brigham, the squire's son,
had dared him to climb and is crippled.
The squire is an enemy of the blacksmith,
who married the woman the squire loved.
The main story shows the children grown up.
Bill ( David Butler ), the other son, has become a doctor,
and Alice ( Virginia Valli ), the daughter, is having an affair with the squire's son,
who has just returned from college.
Bill is injured in a train accident, and Alice, accused of stealing some money
belonging to the church, tries to commit suicide.
The blacksmith rescues Alice; the elder brother recovers
and successfully operates on Johnnie's legs, and the film ends happily.
Written by Pamela Short

Cast
Will Walling ... John Hammond, Blacksmith (as William Walling)
Virginia True Boardman ... Mrs. John Hammond
Virginia Valli ... Alice Hammond, the Daughter
Ida Mae McKenzie ... Alice as a Child
David Butler ... BillHammond, the Son
Gordon Griffith ... Bill as a Child
George Hackathorne ... Johnnie Hammond, Another Son
Pat Moore ... Johnnie as a Child
Tully Marshall ... Ezra Brigham, The Squire
Ralph Yearsley ... Anson Brigham, the Son
Henri De La Garrique ... Anson as a Child
Francis Ford ... Asa Martin
Bessie Love ... Rosemary Martin, the Daughter
Helen Field ... Rosemary as a Child
Lon Poff ... Gideon Crane
Mark Fenton ... Dr. Brewster
Cordelia Callahan ... Aunt Hattie
Caroline Rankin ... Squire's Wife
Eddie Gribbon ... The Village Gossip
Lucille Hutton ... Flapper
Robert Dudley ... Townsman (uncredited)
Si Jenks ... Elmer - Townsman at Wedding (uncredited)

Directed
John Ford ... (as Jack Ford)

Writing Credits
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ... (poem)
Paul Sloane ... (adaptation) (as Paul H. Sloane)

Produced
William Fox ... producer

Cinematography
George Schneiderman

Other crew
William Fox ... presenter

The Village Blacksmith is a 1922 American drama film
directed by John Ford and produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation.

One of the eight reels survives at the UCLA Film and Television Archive,
and therefore the film is considered to be lost.

It was adapted
from the poem of the same name by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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User Reviews

One Reel Survives
Author: Pamela Short from Canada
20 July 2016

Quote from pamela

In a pro-log, Johnnie, one of the village blacksmith's two sons,

falls from a tree that Anson Brigham, the squire's son,
had dared him to climb and is crippled.
The squire is an enemy of the blacksmith,
who married the woman the squire loved.
The main story shows the children grown up.
Bill ( David Butler ), the other son, has become a doctor,
and Alice ( Virginia Valli ), the daughter, is having an affair with the squire's son,
who has just returned from college.
Bill is injured in a train accident, and Alice, accused of stealing some money
belonging to the church, tries to commit suicide.
The blacksmith rescues Alice; the elder brother recovers
and successfully operates on Johnnie's legs, and the film ends happily.

This 1922 silent drama was based on the poem "The Village Blacksmith" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
produced by the Fox Film Corporation and directed by Jack Ford (John Ford).
It had a cast of silent actors including, Virginia Valli, David Butler,
William Walling, Tully Marshall, Francis Ford and Bessie Love.
Only one reel out of eight now survives and is worth a look for silent film enthusiasts.

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A Melodrama from John Ford
13 January 2012 | by wes-connors (Los Angeles)

Quote from wes

Only the final reel of this John Ford (as "Jack Ford") directed melodrama survives,

presently, but it's a good one. We see the storyline's climax, and an epilogue tying up loose ends. Although there are a couple of stand-out performances, some of the acting is of the flailing, bug-eyed variety which some inaccurately believe representative of silent film acting, in general; this is odd, considering Mr. Ford made the transition to directing "talkies" in grand style. The surviving footage is available on Flicker Alley's "Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films" (2011) and has been shown on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).

The release does not offer any story explanation, and this is one clip that needs some narrative. The "actor" of the piece, and certainly the one who'll immediately grab your attention is George Hackathorne (as Johnnie Hammond), the young man in the wheelchair. In the film's prologue, he was crippled upon falling from a tree as a boy. We see him dragging himself through a storm to confront the story's villains, town squire Tully Marshall (as Ezra Brigham) and likewise nasty son Ralph Yearsley (as Anson)...

One of the silent era's best and busiest character actors, Mr. Marshall is rival to "Village Blacksmith" Will Walling (as John Hammond), a hard-working man. Showing off devilish eye make-up, Mr. Yearsley is loosely responsible for crippling Mr. Hackathorne when they were boys, and has also lured his sister Virginia Valli (as Alice) into an unholy relationship; she has been falsely accused of stealing some missing church funds. Another brother, David Butler (as Bill) is the doctor who operates on Hackathorne. Watch it and you'll see if everything is wrapped up neatly for the good blacksmith and his family.

****** The Village Blacksmith (11/2/22) John Ford ~ Will Walling, George Hackathorne, Tully Marshall, Ralph Yearsley

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