Category Archives: Chaplin Tour

The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube

Posted on July 13, 2021 by John Bengtson

The 2021 Chaplin Days online festival hosted by the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum includes my all-new video tour of Charlie’s century-old masterpiece The Kid (1921), revealing locations and the incredible visual history hidden in the background of the film. … Continue reading →

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The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days

Posted on June 19, 2021 by John Bengtson

As part of the 2021 Chaplin Days hosted June 25-27 online by the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, I will be presenting an all-new video tour of the locations and incredible visual history hidden in the background of Charlie Chaplin’s … Continue reading →

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Chaplin’s Bay Area Footsteps

Posted on April 30, 2021 by John Bengtson

Hosted by the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Charlie Chaplin leads us on a YouTube visual tour around the Bay Area, from San Francisco to San Jose, from Oakland to Niles itself. Chaplin’s meteoric career began with Mack Sennett’s Keystone … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin | 9 Comments

Charlie Chaplin City Lights Tour – Author Presentation

Posted on June 8, 2015 by John Bengtson

As part of the Los Angeles Conservancy Last Remaining Seats film series, on June 13, 2015 I will be introducing Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece City Lights at the spectacular Los Angeles Theater where the film premiered January 30, 1931.  Although the … Continue reading →

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Silent Era Hollywood Tour – Cinecon 50 – Author Presentation

Posted on August 27, 2014 by John Bengtson

Attached to this post is a self-guided written tour to Hollywood silent film locations and studios that I have prepared in connection with the “Hollywood’s Silent Echoes” presentation I will be giving Friday, August 29, 2014, at 10:55 a.m. at … Continue reading →

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Charlie Chaplin’s Echo Park Home – 100 Years Later

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Bengtson

As I explain in my book Silent Traces, Charlie Chaplin filmed several early comedies in Echo Park, just a few blocks south of the Keystone Studio where he began his film career 100 years ago. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out … Continue reading →

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Chaplin’s First Scene – a Very Busy Place to Film

Posted on June 13, 2014 by John Bengtson

One of my earliest posts (reprinted below), reports that the site of Chaplin’s first scene, from his initial movie Making a Living (1914), was discovered by Kevin Dale to have been filmed in front of a residential porch adjacent to … Continue reading →

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Chaplin Leads the Gang to the Hollywood Police

Posted on March 31, 2014 by John Bengtson

As I explain in my book Silent Traces, Charlie Chaplin’s landmark short film Easy Street (1917) contains scenes filmed on extant Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles (see below), where he would return a few years later to film his … Continue reading →

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Perry Mason at the Chaplin Studio – The Case of the Homecoming Kid

Posted on March 18, 2014 by John Bengtson

One of the most gratifying experiences to come from working on my Charlie Chaplin book Silent Traces was being given a private tour of the Chaplin Studios, at 1416 N. La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, now home to The Jim … Continue reading →

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Silent Era Hollywood Tour – Cinecon 49 – Author Presentation

Posted on July 11, 2013 by John Bengtson

Attached to this post is a self-guided written tour to Hollywood silent film locations and studios that I have prepared in connection with the “Hollywood’s Silent Echoes” presentation I will be giving Friday, August 30, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. at … Continue reading →

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Author Appearance at TCM Classic Film Festival – Free Tour

Posted on April 13, 2013 by John Bengtson

Attached to this post is a self-guided tour to Hollywood silent film locations and studios that I have prepared in connection with the “Hollywood’s Silent Echoes” presentation I will be giving April 28, 2013, at 3:00 p.m. at Club TCM … Continue reading →

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Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd – One Block in Silent-Era Hollywood (update)

Posted on February 19, 2013 by John Bengtson

The intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga Boulevard was a popular film setting for silent-era comedies.  At the far end of this post is a link to download an animated 15 MB PowerPoint presentation showing thirteen (but not all) Chaplin, … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Girl Shy, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Hot Water, Keaton Studio, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Studio, Modern Times, Safety Last!, The Cameraman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd – One Block in Silent-Era Hollywood

Posted on November 4, 2011 by John Bengtson

The intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga Boulevard was a popular film setting for silent-era comedies.  Attached below for download is a 15 MB PowerPoint presentation showing thirteen (but not all) Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd filming locations near this historic … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Girl Shy, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Hot Water, Keaton Studio, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Studio, Modern Times, Safety Last!, The Cameraman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Chaplin – A Film Johnnie at the Bryson

Posted on April 10, 2011 by John Bengtson

The remarkable image quality of the new Chaplin at Keystone collection from Flicker Alley makes it possible to identify several more scenes from Charlie’s earliest films.  As shown here, the extant Bryson Apartments (2701 Wilshire Blvd.) stood in for the … Continue reading →

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Harold Lloyd Hollywood Tour

Posted on April 7, 2011 by John Bengtson

Tour silent-era Hollywood with this PDF guide prepared in connection with my May 22, 2011 presentation of Harold Lloyd’s Never Weaken and Girl Shy for the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. The tour is … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Girl Shy, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Studio, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Tour | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Chaplin’s Very First Scene – Now a Jack-in-the-Box

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Bengtson

Following the release of the Chaplin at Keystone DVD Collection, for which I prepared a bonus feature program, Kevin Dale contacted me wondering if Chaplin had filmed the opening scene from his inaugural film Making a Living in front of … Continue reading →

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Tour of Chaplin’s The Kid

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Bengtson

Attached below is a PowerPoint presentation showing the historic settings in Chinatown and the Plaza de Los Angeles where Chaplin filmed his early masterpiece The Kid (1921).  The file is about 60MB, and you will need a PowerPoint viewer to … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Details Behind Video Tour of Chaplin Keystone Locations

Posted on April 4, 2011 by John Bengtson

I highly recommend the Chaplin at Keystone DVD collection presented by Flicker Alley.  Watching these beautiful restorations of Chaplin’s earliest films made during 1914 at the Keystone Studio is a revelation.  For years only nearly unwatchable copies of these films … Continue reading →

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