Author Archives: John Bengtson

Restoration Premiere of Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd

Posted on March 23, 2018 by John Bengtson

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2018 schedule has just been announced! One highlight is the Thursday, May 31 world premiere restoration of Universal’s 1925 Harry Carey action/drama Soft Shoes, in which Carey (right) seeks to rescue a young woman … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Surviving Keaton Studio Neighbors

Posted on March 12, 2018 by John Bengtson

Buster Keaton unwittingly documented the urbanization of the once agricultural Colegrove region of Hollywood in the background of his films. As reported in my book Silent Echoes, the quaint Cahuenga Valley Lemon Growers Exchange warehouse once stood across the street … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Keaton Studio, The Goat, The Scarecrow | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The Surviving Chaplin “The Circus” Tree

Posted on February 22, 2018 by John Bengtson

Paul Ayers, attorney, SoCal historian, and Altadena hiking trail expert and restorer, has shared many remarkable location discoveries over the years, including the finale from Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus (1928). Stemming from Paul’s discoveries, we now know a tree that … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Paul Ayers, Sherlock Jr. | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Charley Chase “Fast Work” Around Hollywood

Posted on February 7, 2018 by John Bengtson

Comedy fans are cheering the sparkling DVD release of 18 early Charley Chase talkie comedy shorts. Featuring Charley in top form, beautiful prints, and insightful bonus commentary, Charley Chase: At Hal Roach: The Talkies Volume One 1930-31, is simply fantastic. … Continue reading →

Posted in Charley Chase, Hal Roach Studios | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The “Never Give A Sucker An Even Break” Car Chase – Part 2

Posted on January 20, 2018 by John Bengtson

Universal’s 1941 production Never Give A Sucker An Even Break features W.C. Fields in his final starring role. The film ends with a Keystone Kops-style car chase when Fields frantically drives a matron to the maternity hospital, mistaking her to … Continue reading →

Posted in W.C. Fields | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The “Never Give A Sucker An Even Break” Car Chase – Part 1

Posted on December 29, 2017 by John Bengtson

Universal’s 1941 production Never Give A Sucker An Even Break features W.C. Fields in his final starring role. Directed by Edward Cline (Buster Keaton’s early co-writer/director) the movie ends with a frantic Keystone Kops-style car chase around the produce/warehouse district … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Angeles Historic Core, W.C. Fields | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Farewell – a sudden lost Our Gang landmark

Posted on December 21, 2017 by John Bengtson

During the Our Gang comedy Bouncing Babies (1929), Wheezer seeks to return his annoying baby brother to the hospital, unaware that the bundle snuggled in the crib is only a doll. In order to cross a busy intersection, Wheezer throws … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

The Red Kimono – A Vast Record of Early Los Angeles

Posted on November 27, 2017 by John Bengtson

The Red Kimono (1925), a searing drama notably produced and written by women, captures a remarkably comprehensive visual record of early Los Angeles. From Broadway and posh gated communities to Chinatown and the amusement park piers, these settings, along with … Continue reading →

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Another Lois Weber First – Using Locations

Posted on October 29, 2017 by John Bengtson

In her day, pioneering producer/director/screenwriter Lois Weber ranked alongside D.W. Griffith and Cecile B. DeMille as one of the most successful and influential filmmakers of any gender. As historian Cari Beauchamp writes, though little known today, Weber was the first … Continue reading →

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Keaton’s “What No Beer?” Barrel Avalanche

Posted on September 23, 2017 by John Bengtson

As Jim Kline writes in The Complete Films of Buster Keaton, MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer had already drafted Keaton’s termination letter by the time filming of What No Beer? completed in January 1933. For better or worse, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Paul Ayers | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Arbuckle – Keaton at the Bronx Biograph Studio

Posted on August 27, 2017 by John Bengtson

Noted biographer James Curtis contacted me with an intriguing observation. Did a scene from the 1917 Arbuckle-Keaton short Oh Doctor! (above) reveal the large glass rooftop shooting stage of the former Biograph Studio, located at 807 E 175th St in … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Manhattan, New York, Roscoe Arbuckle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Buster’s Manhattan Apartment – The Cameraman Part III

Posted on August 14, 2017 by John Bengtson

In a prior post, Bob Egan flexed his Manhattan research skills to locate Marceline Day’s now lost apartment in Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman, 35 West 58th Street. Now Bob has located Buster’s midtown apartment as well, 201 East 52nd Street. … Continue reading →

Posted in Manhattan, The Cameraman | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Arbuckle – Keaton – the Good Night Nurse Hot Springs

Posted on July 29, 2017 by John Bengtson

Roscoe Arbuckle, Al St. John, and Buster Keaton must have had special fun making their Comique film Good Night Nurse (1918), leaving their Long Beach studio behind to film certain scenes at the Arrowhead Hot Springs resort 75 miles to … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Roscoe Arbuckle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Chaplin’s San Jose Day Making A Night Out

Posted on July 13, 2017 by John Bengtson

Do you know the way to San Jose? It turns out Charlie Chaplin did. Thanks to the Blu-ray clarity of Charlie’s restored Essanay comedies, and the tenacious research by Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum historian David Kiehn, we now know … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Buster Keaton’s Haunted House

Posted on June 19, 2017 by John Bengtson

My friend architectural writer Steve Vaught made this amazing discovery – the “haunted” mansion appearing in Buster Keaton’s 1921 short film The Haunted House was the former Bonebrake Mansion, once standing on the corner of Adams and Figueroa. Steve noticed … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Chaplin – Pavlova – Lois Weber – at the Castle Sans Souci

Posted on June 12, 2017 by John Bengtson

One highlight of the recently concluded San Francisco Silent Film Festival was the Library of Congress restored presentation of pioneering director Lois Weber’s powerful historic epic The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916), starring world-acclaimed ballet dancer Anna Pavlova in her … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Lois Weber, Tillie's Punctured Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman leads the San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Posted on May 20, 2017 by John Bengtson

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival kicks off another exciting season with a June 1 screening of Harold Lloyd’s 1925 campus comedy The Freshman at the Castro Theater, accompanied by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra. The Freshman was Lloyd’s greatest … Continue reading →

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Hollywood’s Silent Echoes – 2017 FIAF/FLC Tour

Posted on April 30, 2017 by John Bengtson

[Tour download] Late in 1921 a mob of angry police chased Buster Keaton down a narrow Hollywood alley towards Cahuenga Boulevard. Entering the street Buster saw to his right a corner where “America’s Sweetheart” Mary Pickford filmed a scene in … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Keaton’s The Goat – the geography of a gag

Posted on April 25, 2017 by John Bengtson

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Keaton Studio, The Goat | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Buster with a Bullitt – Keaton and Steve McQueen’s SF Stunts

Posted on April 9, 2017 by John Bengtson

Recent posts show Buster Keaton crossed paths with Orson Welles in Venice, California (The High Sign and Touch of Evil), and with Alfred Hitchcock in San Francisco (Day Dreams and Vertigo). This time Keaton and ‘King of Cool’ actor Steve … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments