Tag Archives: Chaplin Locations

SF Silent Film Festival Returns to Live Cinema with Chaplin’s City Lights

Posted on February 5, 2022 by John Bengtson

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to presenting live cinema this February 19 at the Paramount Theater with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra accompanying Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece City Lights (1931), conducted by Timothy Brock. You may order tickets HERE. Along … Continue reading →

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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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Chaplin’s Earliest Scenes Beside the Selig Studio

Posted on October 23, 2019 by John Bengtson

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 →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Edendale, Keystone Studio, Tillie's Punctured Romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Harry Houdini Solves a Charlie Chaplin Mystery!

Posted on September 12, 2019 by John Bengtson

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 →

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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’s The Great Dictator – Author Presentation at the Alex

Posted on April 11, 2018 by John Bengtson

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 →

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The Surviving Chaplin “The Circus” Tree

Posted on February 22, 2018 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Chaplin’s San Jose Day Making A Night Out

Posted on July 13, 2017 by John Bengtson

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 →

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How Chaplin Filmed The Champion – on Location in Niles

Posted on November 7, 2016 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Silent Witness – the House that Watched Over Chaplin and Keaton

Posted on September 20, 2016 by John Bengtson

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

The Modern Times – Citizen Kane – Humphrey Bogart Factory Gate

Posted on September 13, 2016 by John Bengtson

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 →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, Modern Times, Orson Welles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Cinecon 2016 Silent Echoes Hollywood Walking Tours

Posted on August 15, 2016 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Chaplin – Keaton Studio Connections – The Fireman and Convict 13

Posted on March 22, 2016 by John Bengtson

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 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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New Chaplin Discovery – Cinecon Talk and Guided Tour

Posted on August 27, 2015 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Chaplin, Sinatra, The Pilgrim and Noir

Posted on August 8, 2015 by John Bengtson

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 →

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Charlie Chaplin City Lights Tour – Author Presentation

Posted on June 8, 2015 by John Bengtson

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 →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, Charlie Chaplin, City Lights, Los Angeles Historic Core | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Bank

Posted on November 13, 2014 by John Bengtson

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 →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Los Angeles Historic Core | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

How Charlie Chaplin Filmed The Adventurer

Posted on October 17, 2014 by John Bengtson

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 →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments