Hollywood and “the movies” have been synonymous for over 100 years. Handprints in cement and the Walk of Fame honor stars from the past. But only now, with the exciting Hollywood Heritage campaign, will Hollywood celebrate its direct geographic connections to the film industry’s origins.

For convenience, and with scarce other choices, early filmmakers often staged scenes near the modest crossroads of Hollywood and Cahuenga, once the small town’s economic center. Standing close to where several studios would later be built, the Hollywood-Cahuenga junction became increasingly well-known among filmmakers, and as the town and industry grew, would become perhaps the busiest early filming site in all of Hollywood, appearing in dozens of silent films. For example, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd each staged more scenes near this Hollywood intersection than at any other spot in town; Buster alone filmed eight different movies nearby.

1919 view west – Hollywood Blvd. at far right, alley highlighted. Even as late as 1919 most of Cahuenga was vacant. HollywoodPhotographs.com

As a bonus, and also well-known among the early filmmakers, an adjoining alley (highlighted above) running east-west from Cahuenga to Cosmo just south of Hollywood Blvd. provided an urban setting, sparing film crews a trip downtown to shoot. So, when the Kings of Silent Comedy needed a quiet alley location, they each knew where to go, resulting in their comic masterpieces The Kid, Cops, and Safety Last!

With each movie inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as a “work of enduring importance to American culture,” cinema’s highest honor, the alley represents a six-way constellation of iconic stars and timeless films absolutely unique, both in Hollywood history, and throughout cinema itself.

Hollywood Heritage plans to celebrate the alley on September 29, 2021, the inaugural National Silent Movie Day, and has launched a GoFundMe campaign to install signs, a plaque, and even an honorary mural. Celebrating this site as the “Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley” will honor the legacy of these great filmmakers and, for the first time, directly celebrate Hollywood’s unique cultural, economic, and geographic heritage, all at the very spot that helped to grow an industry and inspire these films.

Think of it. They each spent days filming here. Chaplin filmed many scenes here for The Kid, with several different actors, perhaps shooting multiple takes each as was his practice. Keaton orchestrated an elaborate stunt here for Cops, managing a squad of police extras, while also filming many scenes here for Neighbors and My Wife’s Relations. And Lloyd filmed over two dozen scenes here for Safety Last!, as well as the closing scene for Never Weaken. 1920 view above HollywoodPhotographs.com.

There is no place in the entire country better suited to celebrate National Silent Movie Day than here, where so much movie magic was made.

Three Iconic Stars – Three Timeless Films – One Hollywood Alley

Cheers to Hollywood Heritage – a California nonprofit public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation, and its GoFundMe campaign to celebrate the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley – https://gofund.me/ccda4942. If you want to honor a favorite star, or to recognize Hollywood’s origins and hidden history, please consider making a tax-deductible donation, and please share this campaign.

For tours and more information about the alley, read Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley.