Tag Archives: Charlie Chaplin

Silent Location Encore Performances

Posted on March 31, 2025 by John Bengtson

Short and sweet, just a few examples of silent film locations making repeat appearances. Sadly, all are long since demolished. The good news, more rare and previously unavailable silent films become accessible on YouTube every day. These YouTube links below … Continue reading →

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Charlie Chaplin’s One A.M. Mystery SOLVED!!

Posted on January 15, 2025 by John Bengtson

Charlie Chaplin’s 1916 film One A.M. begins with him portraying a wealthy drunk struggling to exit a taxicab. Filmed on location, this setting has been a mystery for over a century, until Sarah Lagrillière, a brilliant film preservationist and avid … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Studio, Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood History, Lyons and Moran | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Mack Swain’s Santa Monica Adventures with Laurel & Hardy, Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd

Posted on June 29, 2024 by John Bengtson

Imagine a “lost” silent film providing detailed views of where Laurel & Hardy, Roscoe Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin once filmed. This time it’s the 1918 Mack Swain L-KO comedy Adventurous Ambrose, a beautiful scanned print from … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Culver City, Laurel and Hardy, Santa Monica | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chaplin, Keaton, and Coogan on Sanchez Street – Three Films Revealed in a Brief Glimpse during The Kid

Posted on October 14, 2023 by John Bengtson

Accolades aside, Chaplin’s masterpiece The Kid preserves a treasure trove of visual history, including Olvera Street near the Plaza de Los Angeles, and the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley in Hollywood. It’s complicated (more below), but The Kid also captures the precise spot … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan Made The Kid at the Plaza de Los Angeles

Posted on August 12, 2023 by John Bengtson

Time travel back over a century ago, as Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan lead a personal tour around the Plaza de Los Angeles while making The Kid (1921) and other early films. Charlie and Jackie famously reunite on Olvera Street, … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Keaton-Fairbanks Hollywood Fire Station

Posted on July 22, 2023 by John Bengtson

Buster Keaton filmed FIVE movies at the former Hollywood Fire/Police Station. Douglas Fairbanks was likely the first major star to film here, and so far as known the only star to film the now lost building from all sides. Teaser … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Doug Fairbanks, Gale Henry, Hollywood History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Little Tramp’s Screen Debut – Charlie Chaplin’s Kid Autos – They Were What ?!?

Posted on March 11, 2023 by John Bengtson

My latest YouTube video presents Charlie Chaplin’s screen debut of “The Little Tramp,” while explaining what exactly were “kid auto races.” Below, a few scenes from the video, and further below, my original post about the film from 2011. Inducted … Continue reading →

Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Venice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

New revelations about Safety Last! and The Kid

Posted on November 12, 2022 by John Bengtson

Two recent YouTube videos revealing new details from Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!, and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, are now uploaded to my YouTube Channel. The channel includes a playlist of other video presentations hosted by museums and other groups. Hang … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Safety Last!, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Kid, Cops, Intolerance revealed in a 125 year old photo

Posted on October 29, 2022 by John Bengtson

When the great silent comedians filmed the streets of LA one hundred or more years ago, many of those settings were already decades old. Focusing on a single vintage photo, let’s explore one of the most fascinating film locations in … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Los Angeles Historic Core | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Jackie Coogan’s Charlie Chaplin’s Lost LA Alley – The Rag Man

Posted on September 17, 2022 by John Bengtson

Jackie Coogan returned twice more to an LA alley where he made The Kid with Charlie Chaplin. Early LA streets, now lost, appear in Jackie’s The Rag Man (1925). Jackie plays an orphan who becomes a successful junk dealer working … Continue reading →

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Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” Sanitarium Solved

Posted on August 21, 2022 by John Bengtson

Charlie Chaplin used the former Occidental College Hall of Letters (still standing) to portray the charity hospital where Edna Purviance delivers her baby in The Kid (1921). But “cured of a nervous breakdown but without a job” during Modern Times … Continue reading →

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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 One A.M. Mystery

Posted on May 29, 2022 by John Bengtson

[UPDATE – this post reveals numerous Hollywood locations, but the One A.M. mystery has been solved!] Charlie Chaplin’s 1916 Mutual comedy short One A.M. was unique in many ways. Charlie plays a drunken bon-vivant, returning home after a night on … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin Studio, Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood History, Lyons and Moran | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

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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Take the Tour – the Buster Keaton Studio

Posted on January 8, 2022 by John Bengtson

I first read Rudi Blesh’s biography Keaton in junior high, and was immediately hooked by Buster’s magic and the romance of early filmmaking. I grew up watching silent comedies on public television, and collecting 8mm prints of Charlie Chaplin and … Continue reading →

Posted in Buster Keaton, Keaton Studio, Keaton Tour | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Lady Cops (and Harold Lloyd) Reveal 1914 Lost LA Treasures

Posted on December 12, 2021 by John Bengtson

What time machines! Thanks to the Eastman Museum, vivid details of downtown LA’s most iconic (and now sadly lost) landmarks fill the background of the 1914 gender reversal comedy Forcing the Force, restored and streaming on the museum site. Harold … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Hill, Los Angeles Historic Core | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Silent Movie Day celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley

Posted on October 9, 2021 by John Bengtson

On September 29, 2021, the inaugural National Silent Movie Day, Hollywood Heritage celebrated the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley with this beautiful plaque. This story by the Hollywood Partnership provides a good overview of that special day. https://hollywoodpartnership.com/post/first-ever-national-silent-movie-day-comes-to-hollywood It was crowded by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Hollywood History | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Step by silent footstep – how the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was revealed

Posted on August 29, 2021 by John Bengtson

Step by silent footstep, clues from a dozen silent films collectively reveal a century-old secret, the humble Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley where three timeless comedies were made. This video has been upgraded with a beautiful score composed and performed by Jon C. … Continue reading →

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Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley

Posted on August 14, 2021 by John Bengtson

Hollywood and “the movies” have been synonymous for over 100 years. Handprints in cement and the Walk of Fame honor stars from the past. But only now, thanks to the wonderful Hollywood Heritage organization, Hollywood celebrated its direct geographic connections … Continue reading →

Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Hollywood History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

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 →

Posted in Chaplin Tour, The Kid | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments