Category Archives: Harold Lloyd

Silent Cameos of the lost Southern Pacific Depot

Posted on January 15, 2013 by John Bengtson

Before the beautiful downtown Los Angeles Union Train Station opened in 1939, built on the site of the original Chinatown, the various railroads serving L.A. each operated from their own stations.  Union Station helped to reduce downtown noise and congestion … Continue reading →

Posted in Douglas Fairbanks, Girl Shy, Hal Roach Studios, Harold Lloyd, Los Angeles Historic Core, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Front and Back Cameos – 100 years of a Hollywood landmark

Posted on December 27, 2012 by John Bengtson

Toberman Hall has stood at 6410-6414 Hollywood Boulevard (each oval above) since 1907.  Its original two-story neighbor to the left, at the southwest corner of Cahuenga and Hollywood Boulevard (pictured in the black & white images above) was expanded into … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, The Goat, Tillie's Punctured Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

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

Posted on October 15, 2012 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Harold Lloyd – By the Sad, Santa Monica Waves

Posted on September 25, 2012 by John Bengtson

During Harold Lloyd’s 1917 short film, By The Sad Sea Waves, Harold pretends to be a beach life guard in order to impress the ladies.  Filmed where David Hasselhoff would film Baywatch many decades later, By The Sad Sea Waves … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

More Buster in Manhattan – The Cameraman, Part II

Posted on July 29, 2012 by John Bengtson

Bob Egan’s fascinating website PopSpotsNYC.com explores visual archeology similar to my own.  But instead of looking at silent-era comics, his site concerns places “where interesting events in the history of Pop Culture took place; like album cover shots, places where … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Manhattan, The Cameraman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin – Four Silent Jailbreaks

Posted on June 25, 2012 by John Bengtson

Jails and silent comedies!  A match made in heaven.  This post shows where (ONE) Laurel and Hardy filmed the jailbreak scene from The Second Hundred Years, (TWO) Charlie Chaplin filmed a prison release scene in Police, (THREE) Laurel and Hardy … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Two Hollywood Stunts – Lloyd and Keaton

Posted on June 16, 2012 by John Bengtson

Just a quick post here about this aerial view taken in 1922 as the prominent Security Bank Building, at the NE corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga, nears completion.  I could point out so many filming spots in this photo, … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Cops, Girl Shy, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed Girl Shy on Bunker Hill

Posted on April 11, 2012 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed the Girl Shy Trolley Stunts

Posted on March 19, 2012 by John Bengtson

Following the great success of Safety Last! (1923), Harold Lloyd further cemented his reputation as a dare-devil comic with his first independently produced feature comedy Girl Shy (1924).  In that film, Harold discovers the woman he loves is about to … Continue reading →

Posted in Girl Shy, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Lloyd Thrill Pictures | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!

Posted on February 29, 2012 by John Bengtson

The image of Harold Lloyd hanging desperately from the hands of a skyscraper clock during Safety Last! (1923) is one of the greatest icons in cinematic history.  Using maps, aerial views, and vintage photographs, my book Silent Visions shows how … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 51 Comments

New York, Harold Lloyd, and Adam Sandler?!

Posted on February 6, 2012 by John Bengtson

After matching The Artist (2011) and Harold Lloyd in a prior post, how about pairing Harold and Adam Sandler for an encore?  I haven’t seen many of Sandler’s films, but once I realized Big Daddy was shot on location in … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Tour, Manhattan, New York, Speedy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Chaplin’s Modern (Los Angeles) Times

Posted on January 26, 2012 by John Bengtson

As I explain in my visual essay included in the Criterion Collection Blu-ray edition of Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936), Chaplin filmed scenes for his first movie Making A Living (1914) beside the third Los Angeles Times Building that once … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, For Heaven's Sake, Harold Lloyd, Modern Times | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Artist Locations Part 4, Bradbury, Chaplin, and Lloyd

Posted on January 20, 2012 by John Bengtson

During a pivotal scene in The Artist (2011), fading silent film star George Valentin and rising ingénue Peppy Miller pass each other on a staircase at the Kinograph Studios where they work, their career trajectories mirrored by their relative positions … Continue reading →

Posted in Angels Flight, Charlie Chaplin, Hal Roach Studios, Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Los Angeles Historic Core, Los Angeles Tunnels, Safety Last!, The Artist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The Artist Locations Part 3, Harold Lloyd, and Safety Last!

Posted on January 14, 2012 by John Bengtson

After first posting about the location and studio connections between The Artist (2011) and Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, and then posting about the connections between The Artist and Roger Rabbit and Buster Keaton, it’s time for Harold Lloyd to … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last!, The Artist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 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

New Photos – Babe Ruth’s Orphanage Cameo in Speedy

Posted on October 8, 2011 by John Bengtson

Babe Ruth’s hilarious cameo appearance is one of the many highlights in Harold Lloyd’s final silent comedy Speedy (1928), which I am presenting at 3:10 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012, and at 7:30 pm on Monday, October 22,  at … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Manhattan, New York, Speedy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

Posted on September 26, 2011 by John Bengtson

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

Cameo Squared – Lou Gehrig in Ruth’s Speedy Cameo

Posted on September 23, 2011 by John Bengtson

Eagle-eyed reader Kevin Dale not only recognized the setting of the very first shot of Charlie Chaplin’s career (see prior post), he also notified me of this amazing discovery. During the concluding scenes from Babe Ruth’s cameo appearance in Speedy … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Manhattan, New York, Speedy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Silent Era New York – Harold Lloyd’s Speedy – Part 1

Posted on September 17, 2011 by John Bengtson

  I will be presenting Harold Lloyd’s final silent comedy Speedy (1928) at 3:10 pm on Sunday, October 21, 2012, and at 7:30 pm on Monday, October 22,  at Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, New York, NY 10014, based … Continue reading →

Posted in Brooklyn, Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Tour, Manhattan, New York, Speedy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

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

Posted on September 9, 2011 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments