Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- Buster Keaton - Ghosts of Go West
- Cagney and Harlow on The Public Enemy's Miracle Mile
- Caught on Camera - Buster Keaton's The Cameraman in New York
- Charlie Chaplin's Echo Park Home - 100 Years Later
- A new version of Keaton's The Blacksmith - part 3, Robin Hood's castle and more surprises
- Buster and the Three Stooges at the Columbia Ranch - Part 1
- It's The Old Army Game - W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks Bring Magazines to Life
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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
- 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
- Charley Chase “Fast Work” Around Hollywood
- The “Never Give A Sucker An Even Break” Car Chase – Part 2
- The “Never Give A Sucker An Even Break” Car Chase – Part 1
- Farewell – a sudden lost Our Gang landmark
- The Red Kimono – A Vast Record of Early Los Angeles
- Another Lois Weber First – Using Locations
- Keaton’s “What No Beer?” Barrel Avalanche
- Arbuckle – Keaton at the Bronx Biograph Studio
- Buster’s Manhattan Apartment – The Cameraman Part III
- Arbuckle – Keaton – the Good Night Nurse Hot Springs
- Chaplin’s San Jose Day Making A Night Out
- Buster Keaton’s Haunted House
- Chaplin – Pavlova – Lois Weber – at the Castle Sans Souci
- Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman leads the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
- Hollywood’s Silent Echoes – 2017 FIAF/FLC Tour
- Keaton’s The Goat – the geography of a gag
- Buster with a Bullitt – Keaton and Steve McQueen’s SF Stunts
- Keaton and Orson Welles – A High Sign Touch of Evil
- Keaton and Hitchcock’s Vertigo Day Dreams
- Keaton’s Cops and Go West – Peeking Over the School Fence
- Chaplin – Inside “The Kid” Maternity Hospital
- Where Roscoe Arbuckle Filmed His Brooklyn Vitaphone Shorts
- Marc Wanamaker and Bruce Torrence – Hollywood’s Photo History Heroes
- Buster Keaton, Seven Chances, and Warren Beatty?
- Buster Keaton, The General, and Animal House?
- How Chaplin Filmed The Champion – on Location in Niles
- The Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Hollywood Alley
- Chaplin’s The Tramp – ‘New’ Views of One of Cinema’s Most Iconic Scenes
- Silent Witness – the House that Watched Over Chaplin and Keaton
- The Modern Times – Citizen Kane – Humphrey Bogart Factory Gate
- Cinecon 2016 Silent Echoes Hollywood Walking Tours
- Amazing New Keaton Discoveries – My Wife’s Relations
- Saving the Best for (Safety) Last!
- Reflections on Keaton’s Cops at the SF Silent Film Festival
- Columbo and the Silent Clowns – Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Bumping Into Broadway
- Buster in Cops Cruising Santa Monica Boulevard
- Chaplin – Keaton Studio Connections – The Fireman and Convict 13
- How Mabel Normand filmed her Safety Last! Moment (Before Harold Lloyd Did)
- Mostly Lost – Keaton Found (Stan Laurel too) at Hollywood and Western
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Categories
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- Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- The Artist
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- The Cameraman
- The Freshman
- The General
- The Goat
- The Grim Game
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- The Scarecrow
- The Strong Man
- The Turning Point
- Three Stooges
- Tillie's Punctured Romance
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- W.C. Fields
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Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)- 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
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Category Archives: Harold Lloyd
Harold Lloyd’s Earliest Days Filming in Edendale
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
Posted in Edendale, Harold Lloyd, Keystone Studio
Tagged Fatty's New Role, Fatty's Tintype Tangle, Harold Lloyd, Hey There, Keystone Studio, Lonesome Luke, Lonesome Luke Circus King, Norbig Studio, Peanuts and Bullets, Ruses Rhymes and Roughnecks, Selig Polyscope Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Movie Locations, then and now
3 Comments
Three Good Fellows – Harold Lloyd, Doug MacLean, and Ben Model
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
The nearly last – Safety Last – joke
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
The Office – Film Noir – and Harold Lloyd
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
Harold Lloyd’s The Kid Brother Was Close to Home
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
Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin’s Breakaway Home, and Keaton’s Italian Villa
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
Chaplin falls for The Kid – every scene now identified
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 Alameda Street, Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Chaplin Locations, Charlie Chaplin, For Heaven's Sake, From Hand to Mouth, Harold Lloyd, New High Street, Ord Street, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Kid, then and now
11 Comments
Restoration Premiere of Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
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
Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman leads the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
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
Hollywood’s Silent Echoes – 2017 FIAF/FLC Tour
[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
The Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Hollywood Alley
Three of the greatest comedies of all time, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921), Buster Keaton’s Cops (1922), and Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! (1923), were filmed in the heart of Hollywood at the unnamed alley running just south of Hollywood Boulevard … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Safety Last!, The Kid
Tagged Buster Keaton, Cahuenga, Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Cosmo, East Cahuenga Alley, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood, Safety Last!, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Kid, then and now
24 Comments
Saving the Best for (Safety) Last!
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
How Harold Lloyd Filmed Bumping Into Broadway
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
Keaton – Langdon – Lloyd on Larchmont – Ebell Club Author Talk
Developed along a street car line (always ripe for slapstick antics), Larchmont Boulevard has been a popular movie location for nearly 100 years. Harold Lloyd filmed there as early as 1917. During my luncheon talk at the Ebell Club on … Continue reading
Posted in Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon
Tagged Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Ebell Club, Ebell of Los Angeles, For Heaven's Sake, Fremont Place, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, His Marriage Wow, Hot Water, Larchmont, Larchmont Village, Poodles Hanneford, Saturday Afternoon, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Red Kimona, then and now
1 Comment
Harold Lloyd’s Speedy – Five Fun Facts
This Saturday morning, May 30, Harold Lloyd’s granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd and I will be introducing Lloyd’s final silent comedy Speedy (1928) at the Castro Theater as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s 20th anniversary program. Live musical accompaniment … Continue reading
Posted in Harold Lloyd, New York, Speedy
Tagged Harold Lloyd, Manhattan, New York, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Speedy, then and now
4 Comments
The Artist and its Amazing Ties to Chaplin, Pickford, Keaton and Lloyd
Tonight marks the Turner Classic Movie Channel premiere of the 2011 multi-Oscar-winning Best Picture The Artist. Depicting the silent movie era, and filmed on location in Hollywood, the movie has many amazing connections to early Hollywood history and its biggest … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Mary Pickford, The Artist
Tagged Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, City Lights, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood, One Week, Safety Last!, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, the artist filming locations, The Artist locations, The Kid, then and now, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
1 Comment
Even More Speedy – New York Locations
Harold Lloyd’s final silent comedy Speedy, filmed on location in New York during the summer of 1927, is a goldmine of vintage Manhattan locations. While my book Silent Visions devotes 100 pages to the dozens of NYC (and Los Angeles) … Continue reading
How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Bank
Charlie Chaplin’s Essanay comedy The Bank (1915) marks his final cinematic footsteps in downtown Los Angeles. While Broadway, and other nearby Historic Core streets appear in several of his early Keystone films, including Making A Living, His Favorite Pastime, The … Continue reading
Harold Lloyd’s Why Worry? TCM Hollywood Connection
In honor of the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival screening of Harold Lloyd’s 1923 feature comedy Why Worry? at the Egyptian Theater on Friday, April 11 at 7:15 pm, here are a couple of quick views from the conclusion of … Continue reading
