Time travel back over a century ago, as Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan lead a personal tour around the Plaza de Los Angeles while making The Kid (1921) and other early films.

Charlie and Jackie famously reunite on Olvera Street, you can still visit today, but their movies provide dozens of fascinating glimpses of weary, working-class districts downtown, mostly demolished decades ago.

One tantalyzing discovery, a scene from Buster Keaton’s Cops (1922) reveals the building where Charlie filmed the rooftop chase and rescue of Jackie during The Kid.

On August 27, 2023, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Museum is screening Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! to honor its 100th anniversary, with a live orchestra performing Carl Davis’s original score, conducted by Angel Velez, and hosted by Harold’s granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd. Details – tickets HERE. I love so many films, so many comedians, but NOTHING tops watching Safety Last! with a large audience, gasping and shrieking at every turn. Step-by-step, this video shows how Harold made this masterpiece film.

Check out my YouTube channel, with over a dozen videos showing the visual history hidden in silent films.