Buster standing on Lillian Way near the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. – one block from his studio.
Particular yet pragmatic, Buster Keaton would travel hundreds of miles to find just the right setting for a joke, while also filming dozens of mundane locations within steps of his small studio in Hollywood. This post breaks down the geography of one gag from The Goat (1921), revealing how Keaton cleverly and methodically pieced together the diverse backdrops available to him close to home.
(1) the cops race along the studio fence and (2) into a moving van.
Buster crafted this scene using the few backdrops available close to his studio, the lower left square block.
As I explain in my book Silent Echoes, early in The Goat a trio of cops chase Buster around downtown Los Angeles near the Plaza de Los Angeles (inset below). The next shot (1) above shows the trio running south down Cahuenga alongside the Keaton Studio fence. Buster lures 
the cops into a moving van (2), beside the brick building Bell & Howell built in 1920, still standing at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Lillian Way, one block north of the studio site. Buster quickly escapes from the van and ties the back door shut, smugly watching the van drive away with his tormentors.
I made this discovery thanks to Marc Wanamaker of Bison Archives providing me with a wonderful 1921 photo looking NE towards the Keaton Studio from the former Metro Studio. I somehow noticed a simple, block-like brick building (2, 4) in the background (see below) that reminded me of Keaton’s scene, and soon confirmed the site. The building was extended to the south (right) in 1925.
Click to enlarge – the Keaton Studio – (1) the cops run along the fence, (2) the brick Bell & Howell building appears at back. (3) points to the corner of Santa Monica and Vine (see corner turret), partially obscured. Bison Archives.
Next, Buster sees an aggressive man harass Virginia Fox and her dog (3), filmed looking east along Santa Monica Blvd. from the corner of Vine, and (4) decides to take action. Virginia’s scene was staged only one block north and east from Buster’s studio.
(3) looking east along Santa Monica at Vine and (4) Buster beside the Bell & Howell building on Lillian Way.
Now the home to the Sacred Fools Theater Company, some windows have been walled shut.
(5) Buster defends Virginia, attracting the attention of a cop (6), sending Buster fleeing off camera.
Ever efficient, Buster staged the reaction shot of the cop (6) at the same Bell & Howell building, only looking north towards the corner of Santa Monica. A vacant lot still stood across the street in 1921.
(6) the building originally had a large picture window near the corner, now closed over and sporting a sign for the theater.
Concluding this breathless sequence, Buster enjoys a moment of calm strolling beside the former Metro Studio stages along Cole Avenue, a block south from his studio, only to have the moving van dump the trio of cops at his feet (7). Buster runs off to the left, and in the next scene boards a train at the Inglewood train station about ten miles away, the same station where he staged the finale to One Week.
Click to enlarge – the aerial view of the Metro Studio stages looks SE, while Buster’s shot (7) looks north up Cole. HollywoodPhotographs.com.
Scene (7) was staged a block SW from the Keaton Studio (see map at left). For good measure, Buster filmed later scenes from The Goat where he lures Big Joe Roberts under a dump truck full of rocks (A) along Lillian Way, just north of his studio, looking west toward the Cahuenga Valley Lemon Growers warehouse. The warehouse sign peeks through the trees at back (see below). Buster’s scenes 
(2), (4), and (6) were filmed on the other side of the street as scene (A), only looking east. By 1922, as documented during a scene from The Balloonatic, the lemon warehouse was torn down to make way for a towering storage warehouse that still stands at Santa Monica and Cahuenga. This warehouse appears during a fire hose scene (inset right) in Keaton’s Go West (1925).
Looking west (A) at the former Cahuenga Valley Lemon Growers warehouse, across the street to the north from Keaton’s studio, and directly across the street from scenes (2), (4), and (6) above. The warehouse sign appears at back.
A final overlap – Buster’s scenes (3) and (5) in The Goat provide a view east towards the same market (B) appearing in Keaton’s The Playhouse (1921). See below, and larger view map above.
The same market appearing in The Goat (5) and The Playhouse (B). Hydro Pura was a popular water softener.
The more I learn about Buster Keaton, the more I marvel at his precision and directorial skills. As shown here, Buster seamlessly weaved seven different settings, all adjacent to his studio, into a brief and hilarious sequence. Below, a modern view north towards the Bell & Howell building, with its southern (right) slightly taller extension that was added in 1925.
Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) 
John….I am continually amazed at how you “seamlessly weave” the past with the present…It’s always great to receive your email notification of another “stitch in time” connecting us to Hollywood’s true pioneers. A Thousand Thanks for tracking down the needles in the haystacks!
Rex Kingsbury
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Thank you so much Rex – I really appreciate your kind words. Cheers, John
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Another amazing discovery — thanks for sharing these with us.
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Impeccably researched and beautifully written.
Especially “The more I learn about Buster Keaton, the more I marvel at his precision and directorial skills.”
Don’t we all?
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What I most enjoy is the strong sense of peeking in on real daily life a century ago. Those are real city streets, real shops and homes, and real people tootling along in their Model T’s. I don’t know how far Buster went in “clearing the street” to get his shots, but the backgrounds look like the locals going about their day, not too concerned about the moviemaking taking place down the block.
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Yes, these silent films are true time machines, capturing daily life. Bystanders are clearly present in Keaton’s Cops, reflected in the window watching his one-hand car grab at the Chaplin Keaton Lloyd alley (very clear to see on the Blu-ray), and a crowd at back watches from a high wall during the shot where Buster walks toward the camera down a street lined with cars, unaware an army of cops is sneaking up on him. Here’s a post showing bystanders in some Chaplin films – https://silentlocations.com/2016/02/14/the-kid-charlie-chaplins-onscreen-fans/
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Hello, I am a fan of your work and was wondering if you know the road with had the rail line on it as seen briefly in ‘The goat’. Thanks, your discoveries have captivated me throughout the years.
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This post shows where Buster filmed train scenes in The Goat
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Around the 3:30 mark, that is the part that has puzzled me because ive never heard of a street running rail line in CA.
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Buster filmed many scenes near the plaza downtown (at around 3:30) at Alameda and Ducommun. When the horseshoe hits the cop on the head you can read the Ducommun street sign behind him. There was (is still?) an active RR line up Alameda.
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Hi again, sorry to be a pest but i incorrectly put 3:30 instead of 5:30! You’re an bloody great person with all this infomation. thanks again
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Man, you’re really busting me (!). That spot at 5:30 is still Alameda at Los Angeles Street. This post shows all the details – https://silentlocations.com/2020/01/18/silent-comedys-crazy-corner/
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Thanks for writiing
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