Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- Arbuckle - Keaton at the Bronx Biograph Studio
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- Buster Keaton's Go West Desert - "Frozen" in Time
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- Leave it to Santa Monica - Beaver and Harold Lloyd
- The Artist Locations Part 4, Bradbury, Chaplin, and Lloyd
- Hollywood Snapshots - a 1922 Time Machine
- Where Roscoe Arbuckle Filmed His Brooklyn Vitaphone Shorts
- Chaplin - 100 Years Ago on Sunset Boulevard
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Author Interviews – Reviews
- Academy Interview July 2011
- AMPAS Lecture on The General
- City Brights SF Gate Review
- Publishers Weekly Review
- KPCC Interview
- Interview on Movie Mom
- Philadelphina Inquirer
- Los Angeles Times interview
- Los Angeles Magazine Review
- MOMI article on New York and Speedy
- New York Times (see page 5)
- Author’s Modern Times Program
- Wall Street Journal
- Associated Press
- Examiner – Best 2011 Silent Film Books
- The Commentary Track
- Leonard Maltin Movie Crazy
- LA Observed
- Film Forum New York
- New York Times – Keaton Review
- 2013 Club TCM in Hollywood
- LA Times 2013
- John Bengtson on IMDB
- Talking Buster Keaton – Neighbors @ 24:30
- Talking Buster Keaton – The Blacksmith @ 11:30
- Nitrateville Radio Interview
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Recent Posts
- Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
- Charlie Chaplin’s One A.M. Mystery
- Keaton Sherlock Jr. – Valentino Blood and Sand – at Avalon Silent Film Showcase
- The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to live cinema – Steamboat Bill, Jr. – Penrod and Sam
- Buster Keaton’s Lost and Found “Seven Chances” Homes
- Buster Keaton’s riverbank footsteps – Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- SF Silent Film Festival Returns to Live Cinema with Chaplin’s City Lights
- Take the Tour – the Buster Keaton Studio
- Lady Cops (and Harold Lloyd) Reveal 1914 Lost LA Treasures
- Silent Locations YouTube Channel
- Ben Model presents Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies
- The Roaring Road – rare ‘new’ views of early Hollywood
- Silent Movie Day celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Step by silent footstep – how the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was revealed
- Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Solved! Buster Keaton’s Mystery Colegrove Building
- The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube
- The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days
- Silent Footsteps Now Online – SFSFF Amazing Tales
- Silent Footsteps – SFSFF Amazing Tales Online
- Worth a Thousand Words – Patrick Mate’s Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley Cartoon
- Chaplin’s Bay Area Footsteps
- Charlie, Buster, and Harold Silent Footsteps LA Tour
- Columbo and Mannix Save Us, Again
- Early Hollywood Visual Tour at HippFest 2021
- Buster Keaton’s Early Days on Los Feliz
- Incredible new Laurel “OR” Hardy film collection
- The Lens of History – Hollywood before the Chaplin Studio
- Live Virtual Silent Locations Tour with Esotouric
- Mary Pickford’s “A Beast at Bay” a century before LAX
- Buster’s Brazen Bystanders
- Doug and Mary, Hedda and Jed, The Beverly Hillbillies Hollywood Appeal
- The Remarkable Charlie Chaplin Archives
- Buster, Harold, Mabel, and Doug, and the murder of Wm. Desmond Taylor!
- Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Lyons & Moran – the “good” old days on New High Street
- Buster Keaton’s Go West Desert – “Frozen” in Time
- Time Travel to 1919 Hollywood
- CHASE! A Tribute to the Keystone Cops
- Buster Keaton – Hard Luck, The Goat – closeups at Westlake Park
- Time Travelers: Uncovering Old LA in Keaton Comedies
- Buster Keaton – Ghosts of Go West
- Caught on Camera – Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman in New York
- Charlie Chaplin’s Once Lost Film – A Thief Catcher
- Arbuckle and Keaton Filmed in Culver City Years Before Laurel and Hardy
- Harold Lloyd’s Earliest Days Filming in Edendale
- Buster Keaton – More Backlot Scenes From Our Hospitality
- How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup
- Keaton’s The Cameraman on the Santa Monica Pier
- Three Good Fellows – Harold Lloyd, Doug MacLean, and Ben Model
- Buster, Harold, and Stymie at the Venice Pier
- Mary Pickford, the Talmadge Sisters, and Buster Keaton at the Brunton Studio
- Keaton’s Missing Scene and Cameraman Tricks
- Silent Comedy’s Crazy Corner
- Happy “Roaring Twenties” New Year at Keaton’s Bungalow
- Buster Keaton at the Selig Studio “Prison”
- Buster Keaton’s Scarecrow Adobe
- Silent Hollywood’s Japanese Enclave
- How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part Two
- Chaplin’s Earliest Scenes Beside the Selig Studio
- Harpo, Chico, and James Cagney at the Brunswig Mansion
- Early Thrill Comedies – Who Was First?
- Harry Houdini Solves a Charlie Chaplin Mystery!
- How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part One
- Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Schindler
- The nearly last – Safety Last – joke
- The Office – Film Noir – and Harold Lloyd
- Chaplin, Keaton, and Lois Weber’s “Suspense” in Beverly Hills
- Alice Howell Early Hollywood Views
- The Hollywood Heritage in Lois Weber’s Suspense
- Harold Lloyd’s The Kid Brother Was Close to Home
- Buster’s Paramount Backlot Plunge
- Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin’s Breakaway Home, and Keaton’s Italian Villa
- Silent Echoes LA Bus Tours and Podcast
- Hollywood Snapshots – a 1922 Time Machine
- Harry Langdon – His Marriage Wow
- Laurel & Hardy’s Liberty Rooftop
- Before the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Chaplin falls for The Kid – every scene now identified
- Keaton’s Bungalow Outside MGM
- Oliver Hardy at the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Buster Keaton and W.C. Fields in Astoria
- Buster Keaton’s Kennel on the MGM lot
- Buster Keaton’s Blue Blazes in Astoria
- It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields in New York with Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd
- It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks in Ocala Florida – Part Three – Fields Chased Around Town
- W.C. Fields Running Wild in New York
- It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks in Ocala Florida – Part Two – Louise Strolls Around Town
- It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks in Ocala Florida – Part One
- It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks Bring Magazines to Life
- New Buster Keaton Self-Guided Tours
- Ghosts of the Past – the Regent Apartments – costar with Chaplin, Weber, Sennett and Roach
- Keaton’s Battling Butler – A Knockout Finish to the SF Silent Film Festival
- Keaton’s Seven Chances – On The Clock
- The Surviving Sherlock Jr. Bungalow
- Chaplin’s The Great Dictator – Author Presentation at the Alex
- From Roach’s to Roaches – Stan & Ollie Meet Starsky & Hutch
- Restoration Premiere of Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
- The Surviving Keaton Studio Neighbors
- The Surviving Chaplin “The Circus” Tree
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Categories
- Angels Flight
- Astoria
- Ben Model
- Beverly Hills
- Brooklyn
- Bunker Hill
- Buster Keaton
- Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Alley
- Chaplin Studio
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- Charley Chase
- Charlie Chaplin
- Chinatown
- City Lights
- College
- Columbia
- Convict 13
- Cops
- Court Hill
- Culver City
- Daydreams
- Doug Fairbanks
- Doug MacLean
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Duck Soup
- Edendale
- Exposition Park
- Film Noir
- Florida
- For Heaven's Sake
- Girl Shy
- Go West
- Hal Roach Studios
- Harold Lloyd
- Harry Houdini
- Harry Langdon
- Hollywood History
- Hollywood Tour
- Hot Water
- It's The Old Army Game
- James Cagney
- Jewett Estate
- Keaton Studio
- Keaton Tour
- Keystone Studio
- Laurel and Hardy
- Leave It To Beaver
- Lloyd Studio
- Lloyd Thrill Pictures
- Lloyd Tour
- Lois Weber
- Los Angeles Historic Core
- Los Angeles Tunnels
- Louise Brooks
- Lyons and Moran
- Mabel Normand
- Manhattan
- Marx Brothers
- Mary Pickford
- Modern Times
- New York
- Ocala Florida
- Oliver Hardy
- One Week
- Orson Welles
- Our Hospitality
- Pre-Code
- Roscoe Arbuckle
- Safety Last!
- San Francisco
- Seven Chances
- Sherlock Jr.
- Speedy
- Stan Laurel
- Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- The Artist
- The Blacksmith
- The Boat
- The Cameraman
- The Freshman
- The General
- The Goat
- The Grim Game
- The Kid
- The Last Edition
- The Office
- The Pilgrim
- The Scarecrow
- The Strong Man
- The Turning Point
- Three Stooges
- Tillie's Punctured Romance
- TV Shows
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- USC
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- W.C. Fields
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- Follow Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) on WordPress.com
Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)- Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
- Charlie Chaplin’s One A.M. Mystery
- Keaton Sherlock Jr. – Valentino Blood and Sand – at Avalon Silent Film Showcase
- The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to live cinema – Steamboat Bill, Jr. – Penrod and Sam
- Buster Keaton’s Lost and Found “Seven Chances” Homes
- Buster Keaton’s riverbank footsteps – Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- SF Silent Film Festival Returns to Live Cinema with Chaplin’s City Lights
- Take the Tour – the Buster Keaton Studio
- Lady Cops (and Harold Lloyd) Reveal 1914 Lost LA Treasures
- Silent Locations YouTube Channel
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Category Archives: Chaplin Tour
The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube
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
Posted in Chaplin Tour, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Movie Locations, The Kid, then and now
5 Comments
The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days
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
Posted in Chaplin Tour, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Movie Locations, The Kid, then and now
1 Comment
Chaplin’s Bay Area Footsteps
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
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
Silent Era Hollywood Tour – Cinecon 50 – Author Presentation
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
Posted in Chaplin Tour, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Tour
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Locations, Keaton Studio, Lloyd Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
1 Comment
Charlie Chaplin’s Echo Park Home – 100 Years Later
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
Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio
Tagged A Film Johnnie, A Flirt's Mistake, Chaplin Locations, Charlie Chaplin, Cruel Cruel Love, Echo Park, Keystone Studio, Mabel Normand, Roscoe Arbuckle, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
15 Comments
Chaplin’s First Scene – a Very Busy Place to Film
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
Chaplin Leads the Gang to the Hollywood Police
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
Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Easy Street, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, High Society, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Locations, Lloyd Hamilton, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, Stan Laurel, The Kid, The Last Edition, then and now
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Perry Mason at the Chaplin Studio – The Case of the Homecoming Kid
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
Posted in Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Jackie Coogan, Perry Mason, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Case of the Final Fade-Out, The Kid, then and now
26 Comments
Silent Era Hollywood Tour – Cinecon 49 – Author Presentation
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
Posted in Chaplin Tour, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Tour
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Locations, Keaton Studio, Lloyd Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
5 Comments
Author Appearance at TCM Classic Film Festival – Free Tour
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
Posted in Chaplin Tour, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Tour, Uncategorized
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Locations, Keaton Studio, Lloyd Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, then and now
5 Comments
Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd – One Block in Silent-Era Hollywood (update)
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 Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
3 Comments
Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd – One Block in Silent-Era Hollywood
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 Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
5 Comments
Chaplin – A Film Johnnie at the Bryson
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
Harold Lloyd Hollywood Tour
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 Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Lloyd Studio, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies
12 Comments
Chaplin’s Very First Scene – Now a Jack-in-the-Box
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
Tour of Chaplin’s The Kid
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 Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Kid
4 Comments
Details Behind Video Tour of Chaplin Keystone Locations
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
Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) 