Category Archives: Harold Lloyd

The Ghosts of Trolleys Past – Harold Lloyd’s Haunted Spooks

Posted on June 10, 2023 by John Bengtson

Paul Ayers, attorney, SoCal historian, and Altadena hiking trail expert and restorer (Paul on Facebook, Paul’s channel on YouTube) has shared many remarkable location discoveries over the years, including the Little Tramp’s walking-away-alone finale spot from Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus … Continue reading →

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New revelations about Safety Last! and The Kid

Posted on November 12, 2022 by John Bengtson

Two recent YouTube videos revealing new details from Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, are now uploaded to my YouTube Channel. The channel includes a playlist of other video presentations hosted by museums and other groups. Hang … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Safety Last!, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Harold Lloyd’s “Hot Water” Sherlock turkey troubles

Posted on October 15, 2022 by John Bengtson

Wrangling a live turkey on a trolley, forced to walk it home, overlapping Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr., even more visual history is now revealed from Harold Lloyd’s Hot Water (1924). Newlywed Harold’s day is shattered when his better half calls … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Hot Water, Lyons and Moran, Sherlock Jr. | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Harold Lloyd’s “Hot Water” “Happy Days” Home

Posted on September 3, 2022 by John Bengtson

Harold’s home stands on two different blocks and TV’s Happy Days Cunningham home appears nearby. So many new locales from Hot Water (1924) were found and shared by eagle-eyed reader Zebra 3, a self-described film location hobbyist, who shares what … Continue reading →

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Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd

Posted on June 18, 2022 by John Bengtson

Now streaming on the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s website, Harry Carey’s 1925 action/drama Soft Shoes, in which Carey (right) seeks to rescue a young woman from a life of crime, was purportedly set in San Francisco. Yet the film’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Buster, Harold, Mabel, and Doug, and the murder of Wm. Desmond Taylor!

Posted on October 25, 2020 by John Bengtson

This post contains a variety of odds and ends. To begin, thanks to Tommy Dangcil we can see exactly where Buster Keaton staged a scene from Cops (1922) in front of the grand stairway leading to the former First Baptist … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Doug MacLean, Harold Lloyd, Mabel Normand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Lyons & Moran – the “good” old days on New High Street

Posted on October 11, 2020 by John Bengtson

One of my all-time favorite discoveries are the young girls caught on camera intently watching Charlie Chaplin filming scenes from The Kid (1921) (read more HERE). A closer study of Harold Lloyd’s early short From Hand to Mouth (1919) reveals … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Lyons and Moran, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harold Lloyd’s Earliest Days Filming in Edendale

Posted on May 10, 2020 by John Bengtson

The cinematic roots for the three great kings of comedy, Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, trace back to the earliest days of filmmaking. As reported HERE, Chaplin staged scenes from his 1914 Keystone films Those Love Pangs and Tillie’s Punctured Romance … Continue reading →

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Three Good Fellows – Harold Lloyd, Doug MacLean, and Ben Model

Posted on March 15, 2020 by John Bengtson

Musician Ben Model is a silent film super-hero. Aside from his duties as resident accompanist for MoMA in New York, the Library of Congress, and performing at silent screenings around the county, his indie Undercrank Productions has released over 20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Ben Model, Doug MacLean, Harold Lloyd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The nearly last – Safety Last – joke

Posted on July 18, 2019 by John Bengtson

Surviving his heroic climb up a skyscraper during Safety Last!, Harold Lloyd falls into the arms of his loving fiancé Mildred Davis, waiting for him on the rooftop. As reported in another post, this satisfying conclusion was actually filmed from … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The Office – Film Noir – and Harold Lloyd

Posted on June 19, 2019 by John Bengtson

What do the television show The Office, the 1950 film noir drama Edge of Doom, and Harold Lloyd’s final silent comedy Speedy (1928) have in common?  They all filmed scenes looking southwest down Witmer Street towards the front of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Noir, Harold Lloyd, Speedy, The Office, TV Shows | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Harold Lloyd’s The Kid Brother Was Close to Home

Posted on March 24, 2019 by John Bengtson

It’s time to celebrate the wonderful new Blu-ray release of Harold Lloyd’s classic comedy The Kid Brother by the Criterion Collection. Considered by many to be Lloyd’s masterpiece, this release is simply stunning, a beautiful clear crisp print, a choice … Continue reading →

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Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin’s Breakaway Home, and Keaton’s Italian Villa

Posted on March 5, 2019 by John Bengtson

Below, 1937, Harold Lloyd’s Green Acres (red), Doug and Mary’s Pickfair (blue), Charlie Chaplin’s home (yellow), and Buster Keaton’s Italian Villa (orange). Who knew they were all spaced so close together? I knew Charlie Chaplin’s home (yellow above and left) … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Doug Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Mary Pickford | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Chaplin falls for The Kid – every scene now identified

Posted on November 24, 2018 by John Bengtson

Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece The Kid (1921) tells the story of the Little Tramp discovering, trying to avoid, and eventually falling in love with an abandoned infant, played out scene by scene at the end of this post. As I write … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, For Heaven's Sake, Harold Lloyd, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

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

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

The Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Hollywood Alley

Posted on October 26, 2016 by John Bengtson

Hollywood Heritage celebrated the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley on 9-29-2021, National Silent Movie Day, by dedicating a special plaque (see below). Three of the greatest comedies of all time, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921), Buster Keaton’s Cops (1922), and Harold Lloyd’s Safety … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Safety Last!, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Saving the Best for (Safety) Last!

Posted on June 14, 2016 by John Bengtson

There is no better way to experience Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! than in a giant 1920’s movie palace packed with audience members gasping and shrieking at every turn. The Los Angeles Conservancy screens this classic thrill comedy on Saturday, June … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed Bumping Into Broadway

Posted on April 30, 2016 by John Bengtson

Harold Lloyd’s debut two-reel comedy featuring his ‘Glass Character,’ Bumping Into Broadway (1919), appears in a sparkling restoration as part of the new Criterion Collection Blu-ray release of Speedy (1928). Lloyd filmed many scenes in downtown Los Angeles, including Weller … Continue reading →

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