Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- Laurel & Hardy's Liberty Rooftop
- Chaplin's Studio Pay Day
- Buster Keaton - Ghosts of Go West
- Hollywood 1926 - The Big Picture and How the Pieces Fit
- Buster, Harold, Mabel, and Doug, and the murder of Wm. Desmond Taylor!
- How Chaplin Filmed The Champion - on Location in Niles
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- Lloyd Tours
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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
- 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
- Marc Wanamaker and Bruce Torrence – Hollywood’s Photo History Heroes
- Buster Keaton, Seven Chances, and Warren Beatty?
- Buster Keaton, The General, and Animal House?
- How Chaplin Filmed The Champion – on Location in Niles
- The Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Hollywood Alley
- Chaplin’s The Tramp – ‘New’ Views of One of Cinema’s Most Iconic Scenes
- Silent Witness – the House that Watched Over Chaplin and Keaton
- The Modern Times – Citizen Kane – Humphrey Bogart Factory Gate
- Cinecon 2016 Silent Echoes Hollywood Walking Tours
- Amazing New Keaton Discoveries – My Wife’s Relations
- Saving the Best for (Safety) Last!
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- Follow Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) on WordPress.com
Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)- 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
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Tag Archives: Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Lyons & Moran – the “good” old days on New High Street
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
Posted in Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Lyons and Moran, The Kid
Tagged Charlie Chaplin, From Hand to Mouth, Harold Lloyd, Harry Houdini, Lyons and Moran, New High Street, Philipe the Original, Silent Movie Locations, That's Him, The Grim Game, The Kid, then and now, What A Clue Will Do
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Charlie Chaplin’s Once Lost Film – A Thief Catcher
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
Silent Comedy’s Crazy Corner
Quick – what are some essential elements for a silent comedy? A park bench? An angry cop? A banana peel? If you think about it, one absolutely essential geographic element is the humble street corner. It doesn’t matter what the … Continue reading
Buster Keaton at the Selig Studio “Prison”
I only recently became aware of the Selig Polyscope Studio, the first permanent studio built in Los Angeles that opened in 1909 two blocks north from where the Keystone Studio would later open. Focusing on the facility’s distinctive walls and … Continue reading
How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part Two
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
Posted in Mary Pickford, The Kid
Tagged Busch Gardens, Busch Sunken Gardens, Charlie Chaplin, Daddy Long Legs, Fremont Place, Harold Lloyd, Haunted Spooks, Los Angeles Orphanage, Malibu rock pool, Mary Pickford, Millspaugh Hall, Occidental College, Silent Movie Locations, Southern Pacific Depot, St. James Park, Stella Maris, The Kid, then and now, Windsor Square
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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
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How Mary Pickford Filmed Daddy-Long-Legs Part One
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
Chaplin, Keaton, and Lois Weber’s “Suspense” in Beverly Hills
The beautiful new Kino Lorber Blu-ray release Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers features dozens of early films created by women, many unseen for decades. One highlight is Lois Weber’s home invasion thriller Suspense (1913). As shown in a prior post, the film provides … Continue reading
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
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Oliver Hardy at the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
The block of Cahuenga south of Hollywood Boulevard was the most popular spot in town to film silent movies. As I’ve written in numerous tours and posts, everyone filmed there, from Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, to Charlie Chaplin, Buster … Continue reading
Posted in Laurel and Hardy
Tagged Billy West, Buster Keaton, Cahuenga, Chaplin - Keaton - Lloyd Alley, Charlie Chaplin, Colleen Moore, Edwin Bergstrom, Harold Lloyd, Harry Houdini, Her Bridal Nightmare, His Day Out, Hollywood, Laurel and Hardy, Laurel and Hardy film locations, Lois Weber, Look Pleasant Please, Nelson Evans, Oliver Hardy, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, The Grim Game, then and now, Where Are My Children
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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
Restoration Premiere of Soft Shoes – Crossing Paths with Chaplin, Laurel, and Lloyd
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
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
The Red Kimono – A Vast Record of Early Los Angeles
The Red Kimono (1925), a searing drama notably produced and written by women, captures a remarkably comprehensive visual record of early Los Angeles. From Broadway and posh gated communities to Chinatown and the amusement park piers, these settings, along with … Continue reading
Another Lois Weber First – Using Locations
In her day, pioneering producer/director/screenwriter Lois Weber ranked alongside D.W. Griffith and Cecile B. DeMille as one of the most successful and influential filmmakers of any gender. As historian Cari Beauchamp writes, though little known today, Weber was the first … 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
Chaplin – Pavlova – Lois Weber – at the Castle Sans Souci
One highlight of the recently concluded San Francisco Silent Film Festival was the Library of Congress restored presentation of pioneering director Lois Weber’s powerful historic epic The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916), starring world-acclaimed ballet dancer Anna Pavlova in her … Continue reading
Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Lois Weber, Tillie's Punctured Romance
Tagged Anna Pavlova, Argyle, Castle Glengarry, Castle Sans Souci, Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood, Lois Weber, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Dumb Girl of Portici, then and now, Tillie's Punctured Romance
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Keaton’s Cops and Go West – Peeking Over the School Fence
Rebuilt over the years, but pre-dating 1912, the Vine Street (Colgrove) Elementary School still stands between Romaine and Willoughby, kitty-corner from the site of the former Keaton Studio block in Hollywood. The back of the school, with its distinctive series … Continue reading
Chaplin – Inside “The Kid” Maternity Hospital
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
