Books by John Bengtson
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Top Posts & Pages
- It's The Old Army Game - W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks in Ocala Florida - Part One
- How Harold Lloyd Filmed Safety Last!
- Green Acres, Pickfair, Chaplin's Breakaway Home, and Keaton's Italian Villa
- Three Good Fellows - Harold Lloyd, Doug MacLean, and Ben Model
- More Discoveries From Keaton's Cops
- How Buster Keaton Filmed The General
- Laurel & Hardy's Liberty Rooftop
- Chaplin Keaton Lloyd Alley
- Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks in Ocala Florida – Part Three – Fields Chased Around Town
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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
- Step by silent footstep – how the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was revealed
- Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Solved! Buster Keaton’s Mystery Colegrove Building
- The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube
- The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days
- Silent Footsteps Now Online – SFSFF Amazing Tales
- Silent Footsteps – SFSFF Amazing Tales Online
- Worth a Thousand Words – Patrick Mate’s Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley Cartoon
- Chaplin’s Bay Area Footsteps
- 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
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Categories
- Angels Flight
- Astoria
- Beverly Hills
- Brooklyn
- Bunker Hill
- Buster Keaton
- Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd Alley
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- City Lights
- College
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- Convict 13
- Cops
- Court Hill
- Culver City
- Daydreams
- Doug Fairbanks
- Doug MacLean
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Duck Soup
- Edendale
- Exposition Park
- Film Noir
- Florida
- For Heaven's Sake
- Girl Shy
- Go West
- Hal Roach Studios
- Harold Lloyd
- Harry Houdini
- Harry Langdon
- Hollywood History
- Hollywood Tour
- Hot Water
- It's The Old Army Game
- James Cagney
- Jewett Estate
- Keaton Studio
- Keaton Tour
- Keystone Studio
- Laurel and Hardy
- Leave It To Beaver
- Lloyd Studio
- Lloyd Thrill Pictures
- Lloyd Tour
- Lois Weber
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- Los Angeles Tunnels
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- Mabel Normand
- Manhattan
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- Modern Times
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- Oliver Hardy
- One Week
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- Our Hospitality
- Pre-Code
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- Safety Last!
- San Francisco
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- Sherlock Jr.
- Speedy
- Stan Laurel
- Steamboat Bill, Jr.
- The Artist
- The Blacksmith
- The Boat
- The Cameraman
- The Freshman
- The General
- The Goat
- The Grim Game
- The Kid
- The Last Edition
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- Tillie's Punctured Romance
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- Follow Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) on WordPress.com
Silent Locations – Chaplin – Keaton – Lloyd (and more)- Step by silent footstep – how the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was revealed
- Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
- Solved! Buster Keaton’s Mystery Colegrove Building
- The Kid – Chaplin’s Silent Footsteps tour now on YouTube
- The Kid – Silent Footsteps a Century Ago – Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum Chaplin Days
- Silent Footsteps Now Online – SFSFF Amazing Tales
- Silent Footsteps – SFSFF Amazing Tales Online
- Worth a Thousand Words – Patrick Mate’s Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley Cartoon
- Chaplin’s Bay Area Footsteps
- Charlie, Buster, and Harold Silent Footsteps LA Tour
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Tag Archives: Keystone Studio
CHASE! A Tribute to the Keystone Cops
CHASE! A Tribute to the Keystone Cops, honors these still universally recognized icons of silent comedy with an anthology of entertaining and informative essays assembled and edited by Lon & Debra Davis. Historian Sam Gill provides the foreword, joined by … Continue reading
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
Harold Lloyd’s Earliest Days Filming in Edendale
The cinematic roots for the three great kings of comedy, Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, trace back to the earliest days of filmmaking. As reported HERE, Chaplin staged scenes from his 1914 Keystone films Those Love Pangs and Tillie’s Punctured Romance … Continue reading
Posted in Edendale, Harold Lloyd, Keystone Studio
Tagged Fatty's New Role, Fatty's Tintype Tangle, Harold Lloyd, Hey There, Keystone Studio, Lonesome Luke, Lonesome Luke Circus King, Norbig Studio, Peanuts and Bullets, Ruses Rhymes and Roughnecks, Selig Polyscope Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Movie Locations, then and now
3 Comments
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
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’s First Scene – a Very Busy Place to Film
One of my earliest posts (reprinted below), reports that the site of Chaplin’s first scene, from his initial movie Making a Living (1914), was discovered by Kevin Dale to have been filmed in front of a residential porch adjacent to … Continue reading
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
Chaplin – 100 Years Ago on Sunset Boulevard
“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 A Film Johnnie, Chaplin Locations, Charlie Chaplin, Cops, Cruel Cruel Love, Hollywood, Keystone Comedies, Keystone Studio, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, Standing Pat, Sunset, Sunset Boulevard, then and now, Tillie's Punctured Romance
17 Comments
Chaplin, Arbuckle and The Rounders
I’ve always enjoyed the comic interplay between Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle during their classic Keystone short The Rounders (1914). Charlie and Roscoe play a couple of good time inebriates, or “rounders,” who empty their wives’ pocketbooks in order … Continue reading
Posted in Charlie Chaplin, Los Angeles Historic Core, Roscoe Arbuckle
Tagged Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Studio, Los Angeles Athletic Club, Los Angeles Historic Core, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Silent Comedians, Silent Comedies, Silent Movie Locations, Silent Movies, The Rounders, then and now, Wilshire Boulevard
9 Comments
Chaplin’s Kid Autos – They Were What ?!?
Inducted now into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal. was Charlie Chaplin’s second motion picture release, and the first release to feature his Little Tramp persona. It was filmed at the … Continue reading
Chaplin – A Film Johnnie at the Bryson
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
Chaplin’s Very First Scene – Now a Jack-in-the-Box
Following the release of the Chaplin at Keystone DVD Collection, for which I prepared a bonus feature program, Kevin Dale contacted me wondering if Chaplin had filmed the opening scene from his inaugural film Making a Living in front of … Continue reading
