Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
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The Village Blacksmith poster
Public Domain

The Village Blacksmith

1922 · Fox Film Corporation · Dir. John Ford

(survived only 10 minutes) As young men, the squire (Marshall) and the village blacksmith (Walling) are in love with the same woman (Boardman), whom the blacksmith marries. This angers the squire. Years later, the squire's son Anson (Yearsley) dares the blacksmith's son Johnnie (Hackathorne) to climb a tree, from which he falls and is crippled. As adults, Anson and the blacksmith's daughter Alice (Valli) fall in love, which angers the blacksmith, who chastises his daughter. The blacksmith's other son Bill (Butler) returns from college and is injured in a train accident. Anson steals $480 from a church fund which is currently in Alice's possession. Alice is struck by lightning. The blacksmith take Anson and the squire to church where they both repent.

Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

The Village Blacksmith is a US silent drama film directed by John Ford and produced by Fox Film Corporation. It was originally released in November 1922. Under the current US copyright law (17 USC § 304), all works published or registered in the United States before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of renewal status. As a 1922 release, the film's maximum 95-year copyright term expired no later than the end of 1997. The film is widely documented in the AFI Catalog and filmographies of John Ford as a 1922 production. While most of the film is considered lost (with only one reel surviving at the UCLA Film & Television Archive), its legal status as public domain is definitive based solely on its publication date. Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Village Blacksmith (1922)
  • Hurst, Richard Maurice. Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)
  • U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15a: Duration of Copyright
  • Progressive Silent Film List (SilentEra.com): The Village Blacksmith

Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.