Tag Archives: Mabel Normand

Silent Comedy’s Bridges of Hollenbeck Park

The graceful arch bridge that once spanned the narrow lake in Hollenbeck Park has appeared in numerous silent films. USC Digital Library. Perhaps its most celebrated appearance is with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy during their early talkie short Men … Continue reading

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Silent Star Mabel Normand – the Game Girl’s Trio of Triumphs

As seen in the two previous posts, the Wonderful Wanda Wiley leapt between moving cars on Vine Street, and rollicked at the edge of the Santa Monica Slapstick Comedy Cliffs. But silent star “game girl” Mabel Normand took some good … Continue reading

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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

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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

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How Mabel Normand filmed her Safety Last! Moment (Before Harold Lloyd Did)

Mabel Normand’s wildly popular 1918 feature Mickey climaxes with a thrilling roof-top rescue staged years before Harold Lloyd stunned audiences with his high-rise climb in Safety Last! (1923). Reportedly the highest grossing film of the year, Mickey was the only … Continue reading

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San Francisco’s Silent Echoes – Presidio Officers’ Club Talk

Buster Keaton in Pacific Heights? Charlie Chaplin at Fisherman’s Wharf? Harold Lloyd at UC Berkeley? The great silent comedians did not limit themselves to filming in Hollywood, as I will discuss during my San Francisco’s Silent Echoes presentation this Thursday, … Continue reading

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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

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