Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- Keaton's Short Fuse - Cops, Musso & Frank, and enduring Hollywood history
- Cagney and Harlow on The Public Enemy's Miracle Mile
- Charlie Chaplin's Echo Park Home - 100 Years Later
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- The Artist Locations Part 8 - the Paramount Backlot
- Early Thrill Comedies - Who Was First?
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- Harold Lloyd - lasting impressions at Grauman's Chinese
- How Laurel and Hardy Filmed Duck Soup
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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
- 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
- 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
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Categories
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- Speedy
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- The Artist
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- The Cameraman
- The Freshman
- The General
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- Follow Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) on WordPress.com
Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)- 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
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Tag Archives: Chaplin Locations
Chaplin’s Earliest Scenes Beside the Selig Studio
When Charlie Chaplin began his film career at the Keystone Studio in 1914, the Selig Polyscope studio (above) stood just two blocks to the north, sandwiched between Clifford and Duane Streets along Allesandro (now Glendale Boulevard) in Edendale. Opening in … Continue reading
Harry Houdini Solves a Charlie Chaplin Mystery!
Harry Houdini helped to discover where Charlie Chaplin filmed crucial scenes for his very first movie Making a Living (1914). The initial scene of Charlie’s entire career (below), discovered by Kevin Dale and reported HERE, was staged in front of … Continue reading
Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Harry Houdini, Los Angeles Historic Core
Tagged Chaplin Locations, Charlie Chaplin, City Lights, Harry Houdini, Hill Street, Los Angeles Athletic Club, Los Angeles Express, Los Angeles Historic Core, Los Angeles Tribune, Making a Living, Olive Street, Silent Movie Locations, Ville de Paris
11 Comments
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’s The Great Dictator – Author Presentation at the Alex
Charlie Chaplin’s brilliant and courageous challenge to tyranny, The Great Dictator (1940), remains sharply relevant today. I will be introducing this classic film at the beautiful Alex Theater in Glendale on Thursday, April 19, 2018, and signing copies of my … Continue reading
The Surviving Chaplin “The Circus” Tree
Paul Ayers, attorney, SoCal historian, and Altadena hiking trail expert and restorer, has shared many remarkable location discoveries over the years, including the finale from Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus (1928). Stemming from Paul’s discoveries, we now know a tree that … Continue reading
Chaplin’s San Jose Day Making A Night Out
Do you know the way to San Jose? It turns out Charlie Chaplin did. Thanks to the Blu-ray clarity of Charlie’s restored Essanay comedies, and the tenacious research by Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum historian David Kiehn, we now know … Continue reading
How Chaplin Filmed The Champion – on Location in Niles
The upcoming San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s Day of Silents winter program this December 3 at the Castro Theater offers something for everyone, from Ernst Lubitsch’s 1926 Jazz Age gem So This is Paris, to the Oscar’s first ever Best … Continue reading
Silent Witness – the House that Watched Over Chaplin and Keaton
The sturdy two-story home once located at 1022 Cole Avenue had a front row seat to some of the most remarkable scenes in early Hollywood history. Its rear dormer window looked down on the humble open air stage where Charlie … Continue reading
Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Convict 13, Daydreams, Sherlock Jr., The Blacksmith, The Boat
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Charlie Chaplin, Day Dreams, Keaton Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Technicolor Building, The Blacksmith, The Boat, The Floorwalker, then and now
4 Comments
The Modern Times – Citizen Kane – Humphrey Bogart Factory Gate
I recently watched Citizen Kane (1941) for the first time in years, broadcast on TCM, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Having seen it many times before, the scenes and the dialog were all familiar, but still powerful and engaging. But now … Continue reading
Cinecon 2016 Silent Echoes Hollywood Walking Tours
The block of Cahuenga south of Hollywood Boulevard was the setting for more silent movie filming than any other spot in town. I’ll be leading walking tours of this historic site at the upcoming Cinecon 52 Classic Film Festival during … 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
12 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
New Chaplin Discovery – Cinecon Talk and Guided Tour
While preparing my upcoming talk for Cinecon 51 I just realized that Chaplin filmed this rustic church scene from The Pilgrim (1923) in Newhall, near where friend Douglas Fairbanks filmed much of Wild and Woolly in 1917, beside the original … Continue reading
Chaplin, Sinatra, The Pilgrim and Noir
Classic movies filmed on location provide historic views of the past. Moreover, later films shot at a popular location also provide fresh perspectives of earlier movies filmed at the same spot. A case in point is the Saugus train station … Continue reading
Charlie Chaplin City Lights Tour – Author Presentation
As part of the Los Angeles Conservancy Last Remaining Seats film series, on June 13, 2015 I will be introducing Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece City Lights at the spectacular Los Angeles Theater where the film premiered January 30, 1931. Although the … Continue reading
How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Bank
Charlie Chaplin’s Essanay comedy The Bank (1915) marks his final cinematic footsteps in downtown Los Angeles. While Broadway, and other nearby Historic Core streets appear in several of his early Keystone films, including Making A Living, His Favorite Pastime, The … Continue reading
How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Adventurer
Decades before Bugs Bunny delighted audiences by tunneling into madcap predicaments, escaped convict Charlie Chaplin tunneled to freedom in The Adventurer (1917) on a Malibu beach within the shadow of Castle Rock and Haystack Rock, prominent coastal landmarks that stood … Continue reading
Silent Era Hollywood Tour – Cinecon 50 – Author Presentation
Attached to this post is a self-guided written tour to Hollywood silent film locations and studios that I have prepared in connection with the “Hollywood’s Silent Echoes” presentation I will be giving Friday, August 29, 2014, at 10:55 a.m. at … Continue reading
Posted in Chaplin Tour, Keaton Tour, Lloyd Tour
Tagged Buster Keaton, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Studio, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon, Hollywood, Hollywood Tour, Keaton Locations, Keaton Studio, Lloyd Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
1 Comment
Charlie Chaplin’s Echo Park Home – 100 Years Later
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 A Film Johnnie, A Flirt's Mistake, Chaplin Locations, Charlie Chaplin, Cruel Cruel Love, Echo Park, Keystone Studio, Mabel Normand, Roscoe Arbuckle, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
15 Comments
Chaplin – Caught In the Rain 100 Years Ago by the 2nd St Tunnel
Charlie Chaplin’s lucky 13th Keystone Studio movie Caught in the Rain was released May 4, 1914, one hundred years ago today. Although Chaplin credits this film in his autobiography as his first directorial effort, Chaplin biographer David Robinson suggests otherwise, … Continue reading
Posted in Bunker Hill, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio, Los Angeles Historic Core, Los Angeles Tunnels
Tagged bunker hill, Caught In The Rain, Chaplin Locations, Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio, Los Angeles Historic Core, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, then and now
1 Comment
