Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- The Lens of History - Hollywood before the Chaplin Studio
- Groucho, Buster, and Noir - at the Pasadena Jewett Estate
- Buster Keaton's Kennel on the MGM lot
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- How Harold Lloyd filmed the Safety Last! finale (at three places)
- Harold Lloyd - lasting impressions at Grauman's Chinese
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- Harold Lloyd - Film Noir - Criss Cross and the Hill Street Tunnel
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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
- 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
- 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
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- Follow Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) on WordPress.com
Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)
- 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
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Category Archives: Keaton Studio
Happy “Roaring Twenties” New Year at Keaton’s Bungalow
Happy New Year everyone! For some reason 2020 and its prior century silent-era counterpart resonate with me more so than 2019-1919 ever did. The Roaring Twenties are with us again. This widely viewed classic photo of Buster making his 1929 … Continue reading
Keaton’s Bungalow Outside MGM
When Buster Keaton joined MGM in 1928, he rented a bungalow near, but off site from, the MGM campus, infuriating studio head Louis B. Mayer, as Keaton was (one of) the only star(s) to rent space off of the lot. … Continue reading
Buster Keaton’s Kennel on the MGM lot
As one of MGM’s biggest stars, Buster Keaton once had a private bungalow dressing room on the studio lot, jokingly dubbed “Keaton’s Kennel.” A reader correctly wrote long ago that the Kennel stood along the north side of the lot, … Continue reading
New Buster Keaton Self-Guided Tours
The Buster Keaton June 15-17 Celebration Weekend was a huge success, and the site of Buster’s former studio (where Chaplin also filmed his Mutual shorts) is now graced with a beautiful commemorative plaque. As part of the long weekend, I … Continue reading
The Surviving Sherlock Jr. Bungalow
A bungalow that appears in Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. (1924), and in his early short film Convict 13 (1920), is still standing today at 4908 McKinley Avenue, when it was moved 11 miles away from Buster’s studio in 1926, the … Continue reading
The Surviving Keaton Studio Neighbors
Buster Keaton unwittingly documented the urbanization of the once agricultural Colegrove region of Hollywood in the background of his films. As reported in my book Silent Echoes, the quaint Cahuenga Valley Lemon Growers Exchange warehouse once stood across the street … Continue reading
Keaton’s The Goat – the geography of a gag
Particular yet pragmatic, Buster Keaton would travel hundreds of miles to find just the right setting for a joke, while also filming dozens of mundane locations within steps of his small studio in Hollywood. This post breaks down the geography … Continue reading
Keaton’s Cops and Go West – Peeking Over the School Fence
Rebuilt over the years, but pre-dating 1912, the Vine Street (Colgrove) Elementary School still stands between Romaine and Willoughby, kitty-corner from the site of the former Keaton Studio block in Hollywood. The back of the school, with its distinctive series … Continue reading
Chaplin – Keaton Studio Connections – The Fireman and Convict 13
Because Charlie Chaplin filmed his Mutual comedy shorts (1916-17) at the same small studio where Buster Keaton later filmed his independent shorts and features (1920-28), many common locations and settings appear in their films (see above). I explain this in … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin Studio, Charlie Chaplin, Convict 13, Keaton Studio
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Studio, Charlie Chaplin, Convict 13, Keaton Locations, Keaton Studio, Sherlock Jr., Silent Comedians, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Fireman, The Playhouse, then and now
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Found – a new version of Keaton’s The Blacksmith and the tales it tells
As reported in Variety, lightning struck twice for film historian Fernando Pena. The same gentleman from Argentina who discovered a complete version of the Fritz Lang 1927 epic Metropolis has now unveiled a 9.5 mm print of Buster Keaton’s 1922 … Continue reading
Keaton – Seven Chances Filmed Close to Studio
(You’ll find most Seven Chances filming locations at this earlier post.) Now that the Keaton films are all available on Blu-ray, I not only continue to make new discoveries, but to my great satisfaction I am also increasingly able to … Continue reading
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
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Hollywood 1926 – The Big Picture and How the Pieces Fit
As much as I enjoy solving a movie location puzzle, and learning where a favorite scene was filmed, what I enjoy more is getting a sense of the context of how the movie was made. I appreciate the craft that … Continue reading
Posted in Chaplin Studio, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Studio, Lloyd Studio
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Studio, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood History, Hollywood Landmarks, Hollywood Studios, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Studio, Lloyd Studio, Pickford - Fairbanks Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
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Mr. Keaton’s Neighborhood
Buster Keaton would travel hundreds of miles to find just the right setting for a shot. But he was also practical, and filmed dozens of exterior scenes at or adjacent to his small studio. I am not aware of any … Continue reading
The Artist Locations Part 2, Roger Rabbit, and Buster Keaton’s Debut – One Week
The Artist depicts the romance between a fading silent film star and a rising “talkie” ingénue, set in Hollywood during 1927 to 1932. Writer-director Michel Hazanavicius, and his mostly French cast and crew, traveled to California to film at true … Continue reading
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
View Academy Lecture on The General Locations
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has posted the PowerPoint presentation I gave on July 20, 2011 concerning Buster Keaton’s Civil War comedy The General (1927). You can watch the presentation here. You can find a complete report … Continue reading
New locations from The General
On July 20, 2011, Kevin Brownlow screened Buster Keaton’s Civil War comedy The General (1927) as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “Summer of Silents” film series, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Before … Continue reading
Buster Keaton Steamboat Bill, Jr. locations
Buster Keaton filmed his final independent production Steamboat Bill, Jr. in Sacramento, California. By the time Keaton and company came to town, Sacramento had become a popular location for Hollywood films. Historian Paul Frobose discovered these Sacramento locations, and has … 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