Category Archives: The Kid

The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube

Posted on July 13, 2021 by John Bengtson

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 →

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The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days

Posted on June 19, 2021 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Lyons & Moran – the “good” old days on New High Street

Posted on October 11, 2020 by John Bengtson

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 →

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How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part Two

Posted on November 6, 2019 by John Bengtson

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 →

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How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part One

Posted on August 31, 2019 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Chaplin falls for The Kid – every scene now identified

Posted on November 24, 2018 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Chaplin – Inside “The Kid” Maternity Hospital

Posted on February 11, 2017 by John Bengtson

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 →

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The Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Hollywood Alley

Posted on October 26, 2016 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

The Kid – Charlie Chaplin’s Onscreen Fans

Posted on February 14, 2016 by John Bengtson

[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 →

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How Charlie Chaplin filmed The Kid

Posted on January 9, 2016 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Perry Mason at the Chaplin Studio – The Case of the Homecoming Kid

Posted on March 18, 2014 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Johnny Depp and Buster Keaton at the Cops/Ed Wood alley

Posted on September 8, 2013 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Kid – Cops – Safety Last! Three comic masterpieces filmed at a common Hollywood alley you can still visit today

Posted on August 10, 2013 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

How Charlie Chaplin made The Kid (older post)

Posted on June 11, 2013 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Charlie Chaplin – The Kid’s Tearful Olvera Street Reunion

Posted on August 17, 2012 by John Bengtson

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 →

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The Artist – Locations 1 of 5, Chaplin, and Pickford (repost)

Posted on February 16, 2012 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Artist – Locations, Chaplin, and Pickford

Posted on December 29, 2011 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Stan Laurel in Chaplin’s Footprints

Posted on June 11, 2011 by John Bengtson

Stan Laurel may have crossed paths with Buster Keaton (see former post), but for a time early in his career the English comedian was Charlie Chaplin’s understudy and room-mate, when they were both music hall entertainers touring the United States … Continue reading →

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Tour of Chaplin’s The Kid

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , | 4 Comments