Cops A to Z

02:03 – 05:53  Buster exits the taxi on Ducommun Street looking west to the Globe A-1 flour mill with the “T” corner intersection on Alameda Street at back. The entire furniture wagon sequence between 02:03 to 05:53 (except for the pawn shop at 03:40 to 04:05), was filmed on the north side of Ducommun Street east of Alameda Street.

02:03  Buster’s taxi turns the corner from Alameda onto Ducommun, the Globe A-1 building at back. The same corner street signs and the fire plug also appear in The Goat and Frauds and Frenzies. Notice the New York 1918 license plate. The wet tire tracks on the street suggest this is a second take. Ducommun

Buster filmed scenes at this Globe A-1 corner for The Goat, left, and center (which shows a “Ducommon” street sign, as did the Larry Semon – Stan Laurel 1918 comedy Frauds and Frenzies to the right. KC. 13.1 Winter 2005 page 7. Ducommun color 1906 Sanborn map of Ducommun

02:13  Broken nose Steve Murphy leaning against the Ducommun side of the lost Strasbourg Hotel, 502 Alameda, adjacent to where Buster exits the taxi, notices Buster’s wad of cash. Ducommun https://silentlocations.com/2022/10/29/the-kid-cops-intolerance-revealed-in-a-125-year-old-photo/

02:22   Family moves furniture onto sidewalk from their brick, two story, 415 Ducommun Street home, steps to the east from Buster’s taxi corner. Ducommun color 1906 Sanborn map of Ducommun

02:35   Murphy sits between 411 and 415 Ducommun, the family furniture on the sidewalk behind him. Murphy cries, Buster tries to walk past him, but fooled by Murphy Buster decides to purchase the furniture to prove he is a good business man. During The Goat, after a man finds and tosses a lucky horseshoe (see 05:31), he then finds a wallet beside this fence to the left, where graffiti scratched on the fence reads “I. P. FUNNY.” Ducommun

03:34   A horse and wagon appear to be for sale for $5. Hollywood

03:40  Wide view of the “439 Money to Loan” set where Buster thinks he purchases a wagon and Onyx the horse for $5, standing on the Brunton (United) Studio on Melrose near the Keaton Studio. The ‘extra’ receiving the money is Cops co-writer and co-director Eddie
Cline, who makes cameos in several Keaton films. The same set appears during the street sweeper scenes in Day Dreams. See 15:55 below. Legend says the horse was pregnant unbeknownst to the crew, and gave birth during the production to a colt Buster dryly joked as being “onyx-pected.”  The white horse has a spot on the inside of its right front thigh above the knee – the white horse in The Blacksmith has a similar spot. Hollywood https://silentlocations.com/2013/06/06/on-the-fence-keatons-stunts-in-cops-and-our-hospitality/

04:05   Looking north at 411 and 415 Ducommun, Buster leads Onyx toward the furniture. Notice the transition between the two buildings, the drainpipe on the left side of 415.

During Frauds and Frenzies Larry Semon climbs high up the telephone pole to the left, notice the branches of the tree that once stood in front of 415. This 1909 aerial 3D map shows Buster and the two buildings, the Strasbourg Hotel on the left corner. Ducommun

04:11   To the left, 411 Ducommun, a single story wooden home with a porch. The corner brick wall and drainpipe of 415 is to the right. Ducommun

04:16   The family moves furniture from 415 Ducommun, the “415” address is visible over the doorway. The building stood at a 15 degree angle away from the street – the left front corner touches the sidewalk, but the right front corner stood perhaps 6 feet back from the sidewalk, beside a corner fence. This 1918 Fraud and Frenzies frame (inset) shows the building rotated away from the sidewalk to accommodate a large tree, removed by the time Buster filmed there.

This composite image simulates the full front of the building, and how the right corner stood back from the sidewalk. During The Goat at right, Buster ignores a lucky horseshoe, standing where the corner tree once stood. Ducommun

04:49   This wider view clearly shows 411 is a single story and 415 Ducommun is a two story building. The simple lamp over the entrance can be seen during later (06:27) during Buster’s first left hand turn using the extension towel rack. Ducommun

05:31   View east down Ducommun, 415 to the left. Buster ignores the delivery address and drives away west toward the Strasbourg Hotel. Blocked from view here, the front right corner of the building is several feet back from the sidewalk.

Beside the fence further down the street is where Buster ignores a lucky horseshoe during The Goat. Another man finds and tosses the horseshoe, and then immediately finds a wallet – see 02:35. The composite photo highlights the same gate (open at left – closed at right) and same driveway in both films. Ducommun

05:47   Buster continues west along Ducommun beside the Strasbourg Hotel, matched against a simple 3D model below. These windows and door can be seen during later (06:27) during Buster’s first left hand turn using the extension towel rack. This lost block appearing in many films would be wonderful to recreate in 3D.

Ducommun