Tag Archives: A Film Johnnie

Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd

Posted on June 18, 2022 by John Bengtson

Now streaming on the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s website, Harry Carey’s 1925 action/drama Soft Shoes, in which Carey (right) seeks to rescue a young woman from a life of crime, was purportedly set in San Francisco. Yet the film’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Charlie Chaplin’s Once Lost Film – A Thief Catcher

Posted on June 6, 2020 by John Bengtson

A once lost Chaplin film rediscovered?! It made international headlines a decade ago when producer-historian Paul Gierucki found and preserved A Thief Catcher (1914), a Ford Sterling comedy featuring Charlie Chaplin in a supporting role portraying a Keystone Cop. You … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Edendale, Keystone Studio, Mabel Normand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Restoration Premiere of Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd

Posted on March 23, 2018 by John Bengtson

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2018 schedule has just been announced! One highlight is the Thursday, May 31 world premiere restoration of Universal’s 1925 Harry Carey action/drama Soft Shoes, in which Carey (right) seeks to rescue a young woman … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Charlie Chaplin’s Echo Park Home – 100 Years Later

Posted on August 12, 2014 by John Bengtson

As I explain in my book Silent Traces, Charlie Chaplin filmed several early comedies in Echo Park, just a few blocks south of the Keystone Studio where he began his film career 100 years ago. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it turns out … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Chaplin – 100 Years Ago on Sunset Boulevard

Posted on April 23, 2014 by John Bengtson

“Sunset Boulevard” – few words evoke the mystique and glamour of Southern California more than the name of this historic street that wends its way west from the heart of downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. As discussed here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Keystone Studio, Tillie's Punctured Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Chaplin – A Film Johnnie at the Bryson

Posted on April 10, 2011 by John Bengtson

The remarkable image quality of the new Chaplin at Keystone collection from Flicker Alley makes it possible to identify several more scenes from Charlie’s earliest films.  As shown here, the extant Bryson Apartments (2701 Wilshire Blvd.) stood in for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments