Category Archives: Bunker Hill

How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup

Although they had appeared onscreen together in The Lucky Dog (1921), the Hal Roach short Duck Soup (1927) marks the first time Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were paired as comedy leads. They play a couple of hoboes who flee … Continue reading

Posted in Beverly Hills, Bunker Hill, Duck Soup, Laurel and Hardy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

How Mabel Normand filmed her Safety Last! Moment (Before Harold Lloyd Did)

Mabel Normand’s wildly popular 1918 feature Mickey climaxes with a thrilling roof-top rescue staged years before Harold Lloyd stunned audiences with his high-rise climb in Safety Last! (1923). Reportedly the highest grossing film of the year, Mickey was the only … Continue reading

Posted in Bunker Hill, Mabel Normand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chaplin – Caught In the Rain 100 Years Ago by the 2nd St Tunnel

Charlie Chaplin’s lucky 13th Keystone Studio movie Caught in the Rain was released May 4, 1914, one hundred years ago today. Although Chaplin credits this film in his autobiography as his first directorial effort, Chaplin biographer David Robinson suggests otherwise, … Continue reading

Posted in Bunker Hill, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio, Los Angeles Historic Core, Los Angeles Tunnels | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More Discoveries From Keaton’s Cops

Buster Keaton’s best-known short film Cops (1922) has always been one of my favorite movies.  I must have been twelve when I first bought an 8mm print of it, and have since watched it dozens of times.  Now that it … Continue reading

Posted in Bunker Hill, Cops, Los Angeles Historic Core | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Harold Lloyd – Film Noir – Criss Cross and the Hill Street Tunnel

Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and many other silent comedians filmed stunt comedy sequences by building sets on Court Hill overlooking the south end of the former Hill Street Tunnel.  As shown at left, filming a set against the street far … Continue reading

Posted in Bunker Hill, Film Noir, Harold Lloyd, Los Angeles Historic Core, Los Angeles Tunnels | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed Girl Shy on Bunker Hill

The 2012 Turner Classic Film Festival in Hollywood will be screening Harold Lloyd’s first independently produced feature comedy Girl Shy (1924) on April 14, 2012 at the Egyptian Theater.  In that film, Harold discovers the woman he loves is about … Continue reading

Posted in Angels Flight, Bunker Hill, Girl Shy, Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Buster Keaton and Film Noir? – It’s Also True

It’s now Buster Keaton’s turn, after Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin (see prior posts), to brush shoulders with film noir. The Glendale Southern Pacific station was barely three years old when Buster Keaton used it to portray the station for … Continue reading

Posted in Angels Flight, Bunker Hill, Buster Keaton, College, Film Noir, For Heaven's Sake, Harold Lloyd, Los Angeles Historic Core | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Stan, Ollie, and Harold – a Drive Through Bunker Hill

The Prelinger Archives has just posted some amazingly sharp movie footage of Bunker Hill and downtown Los Angeles taken in the late 1940s.  The stock footage was intended to be projected behind actors filming a traveling car scene within an … Continue reading

Posted in Bunker Hill, Duck Soup, Film Noir, For Heaven's Sake, Girl Shy, Hal Roach Studios, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, Lloyd Studio, Los Angeles Historic Core, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Harold Lloyd and Film Noir? – It’s True

Harold Lloyd and film noir?  It’s true.  Lloyd filmed frequently on Bunker Hill and at other downtown locations, far more so than did Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.  After decades of accumulated grime and neglect, the benign settings appearing in … Continue reading

Posted in Angels Flight, Bunker Hill, Film Noir, Harold Lloyd, Hot Water, Los Angeles Historic Core, The Turning Point | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments