Category Archives: Harold Lloyd

Charlie Chaplin and Film Noir? – It’s Also True

Posted on September 3, 2011 by John Bengtson

Charlie Chaplin and and film noir?  It’s also true.  As with my prior post about Harold Lloyd, Chaplin also has a connection to The Turning Point (1952), a noir crime drama where William Holden plays a cynical reporter investigating a … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, Film Noir, For Heaven's Sake, Harold Lloyd, Modern Times, The Turning Point | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Harold Lloyd and Film Noir? – It’s True

Posted on August 19, 2011 by John Bengtson

Harold Lloyd and film noir?  It’s true.  Lloyd filmed frequently on Bunker Hill and at other downtown locations, far more so than did Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.  After decades of accumulated grime and neglect, the benign settings appearing in … Continue reading →

Posted in Angels Flight, Bunker Hill, Film Noir, Harold Lloyd, Hot Water, Los Angeles Historic Core, The Turning Point | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Safety Last! Mr. Epstein’s Writing on the Wall

Posted on June 26, 2011 by John Bengtson

With a can of paint and a cooperative landlord, ladies tailor Jacob Epstein bought himself a bit of movie immortality.  During the iconic skyscraper clock sequence in Harold Lloyd’s 1923 master thrill comedy Safety Last!,  you can clearly see, visible … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Harold Lloyd Safety Last! Downtown Tour

Posted on June 21, 2011 by John Bengtson

In conjunction with the sold-out Los Angeles Conservancy “Last Remaining Seats” screening of Safety Last! on June 29 at the Orpheum Theatre, I am posting here a self-guided walking tour of the downtown Los Angeles locations Harold Lloyd used in … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Studio, Lloyd Thrill Pictures, Lloyd Tour, Los Angeles Historic Core, Safety Last! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harold – Buster – and Bergdorf Goodman – NYC Then and Now

Posted on June 19, 2011 by John Bengtson

Towards the end of Harold Lloyd’s manic taxi-ride driving Babe Ruth up 5th Avenue in New York during Speedy (released in 1928, but filmed during the summer of 1927), they approach W 57th Street, and the final of five traffic … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Manhattan, Speedy, The Cameraman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

College Days for Harold and Buster

Posted on June 3, 2011 by John Bengtson

Neither Harold Lloyd nor Buster Keaton attended college (were there any silent stars who did?), yet they each made campus comedy feature films.  Lloyd’s The Freshman (1925) was a smash hit, while Keaton made his modest College (1927) as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, College, Exposition Park, Harold Lloyd, The Freshman, USC | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Harold Lloyd’s Manhattan cigar

Posted on May 26, 2011 by John Bengtson

I’m excited to report that my new Harold Lloyd book Silent Visions is now available.  Nearly five years in the making, it is such a relief to finally have the book in hand.  As shown below, the book includes nearly … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Tour, Manhattan, New York, Speedy | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Harold Lloyd – lasting impressions at Grauman’s Chinese

Posted on May 21, 2011 by John Bengtson

The short Harold Lloyd walking tour I gave prior to my presentation at the Egyptian Theater included a stop at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. There, on November 21, 1927, Harold Lloyd became the fifth celebrity, and the first comedian, to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Harold Lloyd Brooklyn – Speedy Tour

Posted on May 16, 2011 by John Bengtson

Harold Lloyd Brooklyn – Speedy Tour – Film Forum October 21, 22, 2012 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,  … Continue reading →

Posted in Brooklyn, Harold Lloyd, Lloyd Tour, Manhattan, New York, Speedy | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Harold Lloyd on Deadman’s Island

Posted on May 7, 2011 by John Bengtson

It sounds like an adventure befitting Indiana Jones, but in the waning days of 1916 Harold Lloyd filmed his sixth “Lonesome Luke” production on Deadman’s Island near San Pedro.  Rising up from the extreme tip of Terminal Island, the spectral … Continue reading →

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

Meet Buster in Goatland at the Silver Spray Pier

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John Bengtson

Believe it or not, renting goat carts to travel around the Southern California beach amusement piers was once a popular entertainment. In this scene from the Roscoe Arbuckle – Buster Keaton comedy The Cook (1918) (Milestone Film & Video), Buster … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

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