Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- Case Closed! How Buster Keaton filmed Sherlock Jr.
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- Charlie Chaplin's One A.M. Mystery
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- Chaplin's San Jose Day Making A Night Out
- Leave it to Santa Monica - Beaver and Harold Lloyd
- How Harold Lloyd filmed the Safety Last! finale (at three places)
- The Lens of History - Hollywood before the Chaplin Studio
- Laurel & Hardy's Liberty Rooftop
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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
- Case Closed! How Buster Keaton filmed Sherlock Jr.
- Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
- Charlie Chaplin’s One A.M. Mystery
- Keaton Sherlock Jr. – Valentino Blood and Sand – at Avalon Silent Film Showcase
- The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to live cinema – Steamboat Bill, Jr. – Penrod and Sam
- Buster Keaton’s Lost and Found “Seven Chances” Homes
- Buster Keaton’s riverbank footsteps – Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- SF Silent Film Festival Returns to Live Cinema with Chaplin’s City Lights
- Take the Tour – the Buster Keaton Studio
- Lady Cops (and Harold Lloyd) Reveal 1914 Lost LA Treasures
- Silent Locations YouTube Channel
- Ben Model presents Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies
- The Roaring Road – rare ‘new’ views of early Hollywood
- Silent Movie Day celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Step by silent footstep – how the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was revealed
- Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Solved! Buster Keaton’s Mystery Colegrove Building
- The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube
- The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days
- Silent Footsteps Now Online – SFSFF Amazing Tales
- Silent Footsteps – SFSFF Amazing Tales Online
- Worth a Thousand Words – Patrick Mate’s Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley Cartoon
- Chaplin’s Bay Area Footsteps
- Charlie, Buster, and Harold Silent Footsteps LA Tour
- Columbo and Mannix Save Us, Again
- Early Hollywood Visual Tour at HippFest 2021
- Buster Keaton’s Early Days on Los Feliz
- Incredible new Laurel “OR” Hardy film collection
- 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
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Categories
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- Speedy
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- Follow Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) on WordPress.com
Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)- Case Closed! How Buster Keaton filmed Sherlock Jr.
- Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
- Charlie Chaplin’s One A.M. Mystery
- Keaton Sherlock Jr. – Valentino Blood and Sand – at Avalon Silent Film Showcase
- The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to live cinema – Steamboat Bill, Jr. – Penrod and Sam
- Buster Keaton’s Lost and Found “Seven Chances” Homes
- Buster Keaton’s riverbank footsteps – Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- SF Silent Film Festival Returns to Live Cinema with Chaplin’s City Lights
- Take the Tour – the Buster Keaton Studio
- Lady Cops (and Harold Lloyd) Reveal 1914 Lost LA Treasures
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Category Archives: The Kid
The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube
The 2021 Chaplin Days online festival hosted by the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum includes my all-new video tour of Charlie’s century-old masterpiece The Kid (1921), revealing locations and the incredible visual history hidden in the background of the film. … Continue reading
Posted in Chaplin Tour, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Movie Locations, The Kid, then and now
5 Comments
The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days
As part of the 2021 Chaplin Days hosted June 25-27 online by the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, I will be presenting an all-new video tour of the locations and incredible visual history hidden in the background of Charlie Chaplin’s … Continue reading
Posted in Chaplin Tour, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Movie Locations, The Kid, then and now
1 Comment
Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Lyons & Moran – the “good” old days on New High Street
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 Charlie Chaplin, From Hand to Mouth, Harold Lloyd, Harry Houdini, Lyons and Moran, New High Street, Philipe the Original, Silent Movie Locations, That's Him, The Grim Game, The Kid, then and now, What A Clue Will Do
2 Comments
How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part Two
In Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) Mary Pickford portrays an endearing young orphan later sent to college by an anonymous benefactor. Complications ensue when Mary meets her sponsor, unaware of his status, and they fall for each other. Pickford’s most financially successful production … Continue reading
Posted in Mary Pickford, The Kid
Tagged Busch Gardens, Busch Sunken Gardens, Charlie Chaplin, Daddy Long Legs, Fremont Place, Harold Lloyd, Haunted Spooks, Los Angeles Orphanage, Malibu rock pool, Mary Pickford, Millspaugh Hall, Occidental College, Silent Movie Locations, Southern Pacific Depot, St. James Park, Stella Maris, The Kid, then and now, Windsor Square
5 Comments
How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part One
In Daddy-Long-Legs (1919) Mary Pickford portrays an endearing young orphan later sent to college by an anonymous benefactor. Complications ensue when Mary meets her sponsor, unaware of his status, and they fall for each other. In what was Pickford’s most … 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
12 Comments
Chaplin – Inside “The Kid” Maternity Hospital
In a prior post, How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Kid, I explain that the former Occidental College Hall of Letters building, once visited by Presidents Taft and Teddy Roosevelt, portrays the Dickensian maternity hospital where single mother Edna Purviance is … Continue reading
The Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Hollywood Alley
Hollywood Heritage will celebrate the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley on 9-29-2021, National Silent Movie Day, with a GoFundMe campaign for a plaque and even a mural. Three of the greatest comedies of all time, Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid (1921), Buster Keaton’s Cops … 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
26 Comments
The Kid – Charlie Chaplin’s Onscreen Fans
[Update: I found where this scene with the girl was filmed – read HERE] While Chaplin fans packed theaters worldwide to watch his onscreen antics, during several scenes in The Kid you can see fans watching him onscreen as well. … Continue reading
How Charlie Chaplin filmed The Kid
Filmed mostly in 1920, The Kid utilizes more historic settings and extant locations than any other Chaplin film. A century later you can still visit Edna Purviance’s Dickensian maternity ward, the mansion (later owned by Muhammad Ali) where she abandons … Continue reading
Perry Mason at the Chaplin Studio – The Case of the Homecoming Kid
One of the most gratifying experiences to come from working on my Charlie Chaplin book Silent Traces was being given a private tour of the Chaplin Studios, at 1416 N. La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, now home to The Jim … Continue reading
Posted in Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Jackie Coogan, Perry Mason, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Case of the Final Fade-Out, The Kid, then and now
26 Comments
Johnny Depp and Buster Keaton at the Cops/Ed Wood alley
To go with the Hollywood’s Silent Echoes presentation I gave last month at the Cinecon 49 Classic Film Festival at the Egyptian Theater, I prepared a tour of nearly 50 silent-era Hollywood landmarks and film locations you can access HERE. … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Hollywood Tour, The Kid
Tagged Benny and Joon, Buster Keaton, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, EaCa, East Cahuenga Alley, Ed Wood, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Johnny Depp, Keaton Locations, Keaton Tour, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now, Tim Burton
4 Comments
The Kid – Cops – Safety Last! Three comic masterpieces filmed at a common Hollywood alley you can still visit today
Charlie Chaplin encountered the abandoned infant who will become his son in The Kid (1921) along an alley running east-west between Cosmo and Cahuenga just south of and parallel to Hollywood Boulevard. A gang of police would later chase Buster … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood Tour, Safety Last!, The Kid, The Last Edition
Tagged Brian Unger, Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Harold Lloyd, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Locations, Safety Last!, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Kid, then and now, Time Traveling with Brian Unger, Tramping Through Hollywood, Travel Channel
17 Comments
How Charlie Chaplin made The Kid (older post)
In an early post I uploaded a PowerPoint presentation highlighting some of the historic settings in Chinatown and the Plaza de Los Angeles where Chaplin filmed his early masterpiece The Kid (1921). You can download the 60 MB file here. … Continue reading
Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, The Kid
Tagged chaplin films, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, charles chaplin, Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, How Chaplin filmed The Kid, Olvera Street, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Artist, The Kid, then and now
4 Comments
Charlie Chaplin – The Kid’s Tearful Olvera Street Reunion
The heart-tugging reunion in The Kid (1921) played between Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp and his “adopted” son (Jackie Coogan) remains one of the most emotionally charged scenes in all of film history. Remarkably, the setting for this iconic scene remains … Continue reading
The Artist – Locations 1 of 5, Chaplin, and Pickford (repost)
Set in Hollywood during 1927 to 1932, The Artist depicts the romance between a fading silent film star and a rising “talkie” ingénue. The Artist has received glowing reviews and numerous awards, and is noteworthy for being presented in black … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, One Week, The Artist, The Kid
Tagged Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, One Week, Silent Comedians, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Artist, the artist filming locations, The Artist locations, then and now
7 Comments
The Artist – Locations, Chaplin, and Pickford
Set in Hollywood during 1927 to 1932, The Artist depicts the romance between a fading silent film star and a rising “talkie” ingénue. The Artist has received glowing reviews and numerous awards, and is noteworthy for being presented in black … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, One Week, The Artist, The Kid
Tagged Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, One Week, Silent Comedians, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Artist, the artist filming locations, The Artist locations, then and now
20 Comments
Tour of Chaplin’s The Kid
Attached below is a PowerPoint presentation showing the historic settings in Chinatown and the Plaza de Los Angeles where Chaplin filmed his early masterpiece The Kid (1921). The file is about 60MB, and you will need a PowerPoint viewer to … Continue reading
Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, The Kid
Tagged Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Kid
4 Comments
Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) 