Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Past chats with our guests.
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

movieman1957 wrote:I found it interesting about the comment on Lloyd and his permission to film on the building for a limited time. Has any of your research showed what kind of problems, if any, the filming had with local officials? There must have been some good relationships as there were so many outside locations.

Are there other books in the works?
Hi Chris - I do not have any direct knowledge of how location filming worked at the time. I have speculated that one reason why Keaton filmed in the skid row part of town was that he might not have been hassled there so much by the police. I don't know if the film-makers at the time had to contact the police, or get a special permit as they do now, or whether they just filmed guerilla style, by showing up, grabbing the needed shots, and leaving. It was a lot easier to do that then, as there was no sound equipment to lug about or set up, nor giant star dressing room trailers, nor union rules dictating that a certain minimum number of people assist with the shot. Conceivably all they needed were the actors, a cameraman, and a few others to supervise. They could all arrive and depart in one car. I simply do not know if they worked around the police, or with them.

I read somewhere that Mack Sennett had filmed so frequently at Echo Park that their were complaints about damage to the flowers and gardens, but I do not know if that came from the neighbors or from city officials.

The chase at the end of Harold Lloyd's Speedy is interesting because there you can see New York policemen holding back traffic so Harold could race by. So that is one instance where they clearly had cooperation from the police. That reminds me, in many silent comedies filmed on the streets, if you look in the distance a block or two down the street you often see cars piled up beyond a certain crosswalk, waiting to go - did the cops or the film people hold those cars back?

The building permit Harold Lloyd obtained to build a set on a rooftop for Safety Last is interesting to me because it is one of the few tangible examples I know about where city approval was actually obtained before filming. Los Angeles had a building height restriction at the time, and they needed a special building permit to build a temporary set on the roof.

I would love to do a book some day about the Hal Roach Studio, combining Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, and others. A great many L&H locations have already been discovered, but I know of many locations from their early solo films, and if I covered other Roach Studio films as well, I am certain there would be plenty of material for a full book. These books take 5-7 years to research, write, and produce - it is kind of like a marathon, so I still am out of gas from working so hard on the Lloyd book. It might also be fun someday to do a hard cover book that includes all of the silent comedians together, offering a more global view of Hollywood and Los Angeles as a whole, rather than focusing solely on one film-maker, and without necessarily trying to be complete about identifying all of the locations from each film.
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

Sue Sue Applegate wrote:Mr. Bengtson,
Thank you for visiting us here at the Silver Screen Oasis. We appreciate your abilities and talents, and hope that you might continue your association with us in the future.

My question is simply if you ever found one particular location and one particular director who had such a supreme challenge that it was questionable if a completed film might ever be finished.

Also, who, in your opinion, was the most daring actress on location as far as dangerous stunts are concerned?

Thank you!

Christy from Texas
Hi Christy - thanks for the welcome.

To address your question, I am aware of many notorious shoots, such as filming Greed in Death Valley in the middle of summer, that must have been unbearable. They had to pack the cameras in ice so the emulsion would not melt off of the film. And there are stories where extras drowned during shoots such as the battle at sea in Ben Hur, or during Noah's Ark, where the stages were flooded with water and the extras became overwhelmed. And any movie filmed extensively outdoors during the summer, before portable trailers and air conditioning, must have been pretty uncomfortable. I know there must be other great examples of horrendous filming conditions, but I am drawing a blank.

As far as Chaplin/Keaton/Lloyd are concerned, I know that to film the underwater sequence from Keaton's The Navigator, they had to film in Lake Tahoe, where the water was clear enough to shoot. The cameraman was in a special submersible box, with a glass window, so he could film. But so the glass would not fog up, they had to make the inside of the box colder than the outside water, so they filled the cameraman's filming box with ice. Apparently Buster got pretty cold too filming in his diving suit.

And Chaplin filmed the opening scenes from The Gold Rush up in the snow by Donner Pass - apparently bringing in bums by train from Sacramento to play extras, who lacked proper winter clothing. Chaplin filmed for two weeks in the snow, and it must have gotten cold wearing his flimsy outfit.

As to women and dangerous stunts, I really am not equipped to address that. The Perils of Pauline and so forth come to mind, but I know little about such films. While not necessarily dangerous, I do admire what a good sport Marion Mack was during the filming of Keaton's The General, as she got tossed about, loaded into sacks, dumped on the ground, stepped on, and even deluged, full force, with the spout from a train station water tank. Sybil Seely got dunked in the water in The Scarecrow - in fact, I guess most Keaton heroines got dragged around some.

Thanks,
John
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

charliechaplinfan wrote:One of the things I really like about silent movies is the use of locations and fashions, there's something about them that feels like watching history that I don't feel as strongly when watching talkies, even the early talkies. I can fully understand how you fell into finding the locations and then finding more, I'm just glad that you decided to make them into a book.

Have you been able see past the films and perhaps get to know something of the comedians themselves, you mention Eleanor Keaton and Suzanne Lloyd. Did they give you insight into the people that weren't apparent in their films? Another thing you said that interested me, mainly because it's something that is hinted at in biographies or works on silent comedies is how well Chaplin/Keaton and Lloyd knew each other. Do you have any feelings about this? Were they friendly rivals, did they admire one another's work? Something I learned from Roscoe Arbuckle's biography is that Chaplin helped him after the scandal by investing money with him into some property. Keaton helped him too in many ways. In the early days of Hollywood there seems to have been a closeness in the Hollywood of the teens and early twenties which make it feel like a community as well as a money making business. I find the whole era fascinating, as you can tell and I'm reading all the posts with great interest.
Eleanor Keaton and Suzanne Lloyd did not really have much information to offer. One thing I found interesting - when I took Eleanor on a tour, it turned out Buster had filmed a lengthy tracking shot running down a street almost immediately adjacent to where he and Eleanor first lived when they got married. She said he had never mentioned to her that he had filmed nearby - it just wasn't something that occurred to him to bother mentioning to her.

We can actually learn things about the comedians from their location work. One thing I find revealing are the little inside jokes that the audience would not necessarily notice or appreciate. Chaplin filmed several scenes using the English country village exterior of his studio as a backdrop in his films. They were usually tight shots, so it was very unlikely contemporary audiences picked up on this. It makes me feel a bit like an insider, peeking behind the curtain, when I figure these things out. That I am in on something that only Chaplin, and a handful of people ever knew at the time. And Keaton filmed dozens of scenes across the street from his studio - again an inside bit of knowledge no audience member would even appreciate. It was fun, too, to discover that Buster used his sister-in-law's apartment house, The Talmadge, as the "mansion" in Battling Butler. Did Buster have to pay Norma a use fee to film at her building? Did they joke about this? There is a small story here that we'll never know.

Roscoe Arbuckle directed a Lloyd Hamilton short, The Movies in 1925, that used the back of Chaplin's studio office, visible from the sidewalk, as a location. They painted a sign that said HOSPITAL, and hung it from the back porch of Chaplin's office. It is very unlikely any one watching in a contemporary audience would catch this. Most likely Roscoe told Charlie about this, and got his permission in advance. Maybe Charlie stepped out to watch them film the scene. Again, I'm not sure why they did this, but here is another small untold story of Chaplin and Arbuckle collaborating on something.

As to friendly rivalry, and mutual admiration, I have not really come upon any new information beyond what I have read in other books. It's marvelous to think, however, that Arbuckle and Chaplin worked together at Keystone, and that Arbuckle would later work with Keaton. So Chaplin and Keaton had their relations with Arbuckle as a big common denominator. And as I mentioned, Keaton filmed at the same studio where Chaplin had worked before during 1916-1917. Overall, Hollywood was such a small town back then, and as shown in my latest post http://silentlocations.wordpress.com/20 ... ieces-fit/, the major star studios, Pickford-Fairbanks, Chaplin, Lloyd, and Keaton, were all situated very close to each other. So the proximity, and the sense of them all working on a common endeavor, making things up along as they go, must have fostered a great sense of camaraderie we'll not likely see again.

Thanks,
John
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

Gagman 66 wrote:Mr. Bengtson,

:) Thank you for addressing my queries.Interesting response to be sure. I've learned a great deal from all the questions you have answered from the various patrons of this board. While I started my Silent film adventure mostly enchanted with the comedy genre, I have to admit that the majority of my most beloved Silents such as THE BIG PARADE, BEAU GESTE, DON JUAN, BARDLEY'S THE MAGNIFICENT, THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG, THE CROWD, etc, are all Drama's.

I would like to see Raymond Griffith's films get a little more attention and made more accessible to the public. I like HANDS UP!, PATHS To PARADISE, and in particular the lesser known THE NIGHT CLUB. Apparently, Paramount has taken no interest in making the pictures available.

As for Chaplin Lloyd and Keaton, my favorite films have long been CITY LIGHTS for Chaplin, THE FRESHMAN for Lloyd, with GIRL SHY a close runner-up. And for Buster, it's always been SEVEN CHANCES. I am anxious for the new Criterion Collection Blu-ray of THE GOLD RUSH to be released in June. Hopefully, the original 1925 release will finally receive the proper treatment on home video it has previously been denied.

Here is a lengthy list of many of my favorite Silent comedies outside of the Big Three. Not all of these titles would specifically qualify as being comedies, but the majority are for the most part. Allot of these you may not have seen yet yourself? So it gives you much to look forward too. As you can see I am a big Ernst Lubitsch fan. Not much into Harry Langdon, personally I prefer Arbuckle, Chase, and even Griffith to Harry.

In the first half of the 20's, I would probably dub Constance Talmadge as having been the screens leading comedian other than Mabel Normand. Her 1920 feature THE LOVE EXPERT is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Constance was just so delightful on-screen. Her drama queen Sister Norma Talmadge also Starred in what I believe to be one of the great forgotten movie comedies KIKI (1926). It's a shame Norma did not make more comedies, given KIKI was such a huge hit back in the day.

After the scandal that destroyed Mabel's career, Colleen Moore would probably have to be considered the most popular screen Comedienne of her time. Though Colleen didn't just make comedies exclusively. I have frequently described Colleen as the female Harold Lloyd. Where as Mabel was often referred to as "The Female Chaplin." I desperately want to for Colleen to see the same type of rediscovery that Lloyd's work is experiencing now. She is very deserving. She is so infectious and has a special charm and magic about her that I believe will resonates well contemporary audiences. Clara Bow made allot of comedies, but can not really be considered a Comedienne. The same with Bessie Love.

Marie Prevost was certainly one of the most naturally funny ladies in film. Though I don't really mention her much in this list at all. Phyllis Haver is another. Marion Davies settled into comedies for awhile starting with BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK in (1926). I love Marion, but her clear influence is Constance Talmadge. While Davies has been described in recent years as the first Screw-ball comedienne I have to disagree. Constance T, Colleen Moore, Marie Prevost, and others were all making essentially the same type of films before Marion was. Davies is well represented on the last with 4 films, and I might have listed a couple more.

List of some of my favorite lesser known Silent Comedies. (Hope that these titles will peak your interest.)

A MODERN MUSKETEER (1917) Douglas Fairbanks.

THE OYSTER PRINCESS (1919) Ossi Owalda. Dire4cted by Ernst Lubitsch.

MALE AND FEMALE (1919) Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan. Directedf by Cecil B. De Mille.

WHY CHANGE YOUR WIFE (1919)-Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan, Bebe Daniels. Directed by De Mille.

THE DOLL (1920)- Ossi Oswalda. Directed by Lubitsch.

DON't CHANGE YOUR HUSBAND? (1919) Gloria Swanson. Directed by De Mille.

THE LOVE EXPERT (1920) Constance Talmadge, Natalie Talmadge.

THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE (1924) Florence Vidor, Marie Prevost, Adolphe Mejou, Monte Blue. Directed by Lubitsch.

HER NIGHT OF ROMANCE (1924)-Constance Talmadge, Ronald Colman. Directed by Sydney Franklin.

HELENS BABIE'S (1924) Baby Peggy Montgomery, Jean Carpenter, Edward Evertt Horton, Clara Bow.

A KISS FOR CINDERELLA-Betty Bronson, Tom Moore. Directed by Herbert Brenon.

ARE PARENTS PEOPLE? (1925) Betty Bronson, Florence Vidor, Adolphe Menjou, Lawrence Gray. (Missing two reels.)

LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN (1925) May McAvoy, Ronald Colman, Irene Rich, Bert Iytell, Edward Martindale. Directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

HER SISTER FROM PARIS (1925) Constance Talmadge, Ronald Colman, George K. Arthur. Directed by Sydney Franklin.

STAGE STRUCK (1925)-Gloria Swanson, Lawrence Gray.

OH DOCTOR! (1925) _Reginald Denny, Mary Astor.

IRENE (1926) Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, George K. Arthur.

ELLA CINDERS (1926)-Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes. )Two reels are missing).

THE DUCHESS OF BUFFALO (1926) Constance Talmadge. Directed by Sydney Franklin.

KIKI (1926) Norma Talmadge, Ronland Colman, Gertrude Astor, George K. Arthur. Directed by Clarence Brown.

SO THIS IS PARIS (1926) Monte Blue, Lillyan Tashman, Patsy Ruth Millier. Ernst Lubitsch.

FIG LEAVES (1926) Olive Borden, George O'Brien, Phyllis Haver. Directed by Howard Hawks.

KID BOOTS (1926) Eddie Cantor, Clara Bow, Billie Dove, Lawrence Gray, Natalie Kingston.

THE BETTER OLE' (1926)-Syd Chaplin

SKINNERS DRESS SUIT (1926)-Reginald Denny, Laura La Plante.

MANTRAP (1926) Clara Bow, Ernst Torrence Percy Marmont. Directed by Victor Fleming.

THE RED MILL (1927)-Marion Davies, Owen Moore, Louise Fazenda, Karl Dane. Directed by Arbuckle.

TWO ARABIAN KNIGHTS (1927) William Boyd, Louis Wolheim, Mary Astor. Directed by Lewis Milestone.

HULA (1927) Clara Bow, Clive Brook, Arlette Marchal. Directed by Victor Fleming.

ORCHIDS AND ERMINE (1927) Colleen Moore, Gwen Lee, Jack Muhall.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN (1928)-Corinne Griffith, Charles Ray, Louise Dresser, Edward Martindale. Directed by Lewis Milestone.

THE PATSY (1928) Marion Davies, Jane Winton, Lawrence Gray. Directed by King Vidor.

A LADY OF CHANCE (1928) Norma Shearer, Johnny Mack Brown. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

SHOW PEOPLE (1928) Marion Davies, William Haines. Directed by King Vidor.

THE CARDBOARD LOVER (1928) Marion Davies, Nils Asther, Jetta Goudal. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

THE MATINEE IDOL (1928) Bessie Love, Johnny Walker, Lionel Belmore, Franklin Pangborn. Directed by Frank Capra.

LADY OF THE PAVEMENTS (1929) William Boyd, Lupe Velez, Jetta Goudal. Directed by D. W. Griffith.

Hi Gagman - thank you for the very interesting post. I really appreciate the list of your suggestions, and again, I am embarrassed to say there are many I have not seen, so I will definitely keep my eye out for them. I've read the Loos book about the Talmadge sisters, and look forward to seeing more of their work. Constance was highly praised for her comedic skills. I think I read that she and Buster, her brother-in-law, got along pretty well, compared to some of the more stuffy types in the family. Constance played a cameo in Seven Chances, and Norma did not - again, an indication that Constance was more fun than stuffy.

Cheers,
John
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Thank you John.

Keaton's films are often discussed here, one of the big differences between Chaplin and Keaton, for me, at least is how they portray women, Chaplin's are there to be courted or mooned over with the exception of the odd harridan like in Pay Day, Buster's suffer much rougher treatment and are often seen to as a hinderance to Buster's life but he either can't or won't shake them lose, as such they get very rough treatment in his films. Marion Byron in Steamboat Bill Jnr was only 16 and as such Buster's own sister was a stunt double for her in the underwater scenes. I don't think Buster would ever ask anyone to do anything he wasn't prepared to do himself it's just that he was prepared to do an awful lot.

Buster went for many years thinking that his early work was destroyed, that would be a big burden for any man but he seemed to accept it and picked himself up and got on with his life, I admire him tremendously for what he overcame.

According to Lita Grey Chaplin, when filming in Truckee at the pass Chaplin got the 'flu like many other members of the cast which delayed filming. Of course he needed Lita as a companion.

Do you ever find yourself either defending one of your subjects or trying to convince others to watch them? I'm thinking about those who might not know the genius or even watched any of the movies but know instead the gossip about them?

Also do you think that the dedicated work you have put in to finding the locations has raised awareness and as such might mean that more of these locations or places might be saved or that the authorities might give more weight to consider saving places when they have planning applications to consider?
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

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Welcome, John. Due to a medical emergency I am in the hospital and won't be able to participate in this or any other events for an unspecified period of time online. I am so happy to see that you have been welcomed. I will be in touch when I can. Thank you very much for being here and doing such good work.

Thanks also to all those who have risen to the occasion and greeted our guest.
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

John, thank you so much for your responses, which are so delightful to read!
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

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Get well soon, Moira, hope they are taking good care of you.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by movieman1957 »

5-7 years is quite an investment but certainly seems like great work.

Do you do all this on your own or do you have a staff that does some of the less interesting but required work? How do you process work? Do you pick a film and then go or see a location and work toward the film?

As much as I love Keaton and Lloyd a book by L & H would be most interesting as well.
Chris

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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by Gagman 66 »

Mr. Bengston,

:) Thanks again for your honest response. By the way, there is also a brand new book out on Colleen Moore by Jeff Codori that was a decade in the making.

:? Just a quick inquiry here. I was wondering if you had seen the Silent version of Lloyd's WELCOME DANGER? I know that Robert Israel composed a score for the film a few years ago that has been preformed at live venues. The early talkie is to say the least most disappointing. Somewhat painful to watch. Though still better than some Talkies of that transitional period. I have heard that the Silent version is far more enjoyable viewing. I have hoped that the Silent version might turn up on TCM eventually. So far that has not been the case. Anyway just curious if you had an opinion on the Silent version at all? Thanks again in advance.
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

charliechaplinfan wrote:Thank you John.

Keaton's films are often discussed here, one of the big differences between Chaplin and Keaton, for me, at least is how they portray women, Chaplin's are there to be courted or mooned over with the exception of the odd harridan like in Pay Day, Buster's suffer much rougher treatment and are often seen to as a hinderance to Buster's life but he either can't or won't shake them lose, as such they get very rough treatment in his films. Marion Byron in Steamboat Bill Jnr was only 16 and as such Buster's own sister was a stunt double for her in the underwater scenes. I don't think Buster would ever ask anyone to do anything he wasn't prepared to do himself it's just that he was prepared to do an awful lot.

Buster went for many years thinking that his early work was destroyed, that would be a big burden for any man but he seemed to accept it and picked himself up and got on with his life, I admire him tremendously for what he overcame.

According to Lita Grey Chaplin, when filming in Truckee at the pass Chaplin got the 'flu like many other members of the cast which delayed filming. Of course he needed Lita as a companion.

Do you ever find yourself either defending one of your subjects or trying to convince others to watch them? I'm thinking about those who might not know the genius or even watched any of the movies but know instead the gossip about them?

Also do you think that the dedicated work you have put in to finding the locations has raised awareness and as such might mean that more of these locations or places might be saved or that the authorities might give more weight to consider saving places when they have planning applications to consider?
Hello again

I agree that there is a huge difference between how Chaplin and Keaton regarded women in their movies. Just one of the many fascinating differences between them.

Regarding defending one versus the other. In high school I was a huge Keaton fan, and though immature - I felt some sort of vicarious jealousy that all this praise and adulation had been heaped onto Chaplin, while Keaton at the time was still relatively unrecognized. It seemed unfair. So at the time I felt disloyal to Buster if I looked kindly at Chaplin. I mellowed over the years, but it was not really until I began my Chaplin book that I realized too how great a talent Chaplin was, and that it was possible to appreciate all of the great comedians, without having to "choose." The silent-era was truly an embarrassment of riches, there were so many great comedians all working at the same time. So now I try to avoid comparison discussion, and focus instead on just how amazing it was there so much talent out there for us all to enjoy.

Your last question, while I hope my work has raised awareness a little bit, realistically I do not see what I do as having any influence at all. As with the recent demotion of the Pickford Building, and more to come, at the former Pickford-Fairbanks Studio, if someone has a mind to tear something down, they will. Also, while I have noticed with approval that places like Hollywood Blvd. are outfitted some special sidewalk signs describing generic history, and particular historic buildings, my sense is that it would be too deep for these types of public signs to identify actual silent-era filming locations. While it is fun to image a series of plaques set out across Hollywood memorializing early filming spots, practically speaking my sense is that this would simply be too obscure to have a chance.

Thanks, John
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

moirafinnie wrote:Welcome, John. Due to a medical emergency I am in the hospital and won't be able to participate in this or any other events for an unspecified period of time online. I am so happy to see that you have been welcomed. I will be in touch when I can. Thank you very much for being here and doing such good work.

Thanks also to all those who have risen to the occasion and greeted our guest.
Hi Moira - thank you so much for writing.

I hope you are comfortable, and feeling better. Please accept my heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery.

Take care,
John
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by Rita Hayworth »

SilentLocations wrote:
moirafinnie wrote:Welcome, John. Due to a medical emergency I am in the hospital and won't be able to participate in this or any other events for an unspecified period of time online. I am so happy to see that you have been welcomed. I will be in touch when I can. Thank you very much for being here and doing such good work.

Thanks also to all those who have risen to the occasion and greeted our guest.
Hi Moira - thank you so much for writing.

I hope you are comfortable, and feeling better. Please accept my heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery.

Take care,
John
I hope for a speedy recovery Moira!
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Rita Hayworth
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Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by Rita Hayworth »

John,

Thanks for your Artist response ...

Any Chance of a sequel of the Artist ... any thoughts on that? ... I would love to see one in the next 2-3 years? ... I just love Silent Movies.
SilentLocations

Re: Welcome to John Bengtson- April 24th-28th

Post by SilentLocations »

movieman1957 wrote:5-7 years is quite an investment but certainly seems like great work.

Do you do all this on your own or do you have a staff that does some of the less interesting but required work? How do you process work? Do you pick a film and then go or see a location and work toward the film?

As much as I love Keaton and Lloyd a book by L & H would be most interesting as well.
Hi Chris - if I give the impression that I have a staff of dedicated workers slaving away on my behalf, then I am reluctant to spoil that illusion! :D

In truth what I do is about as unglamorous as imaginable. I work at a PC, from which I edit photos, scan DVDs, browse online for maps and photos, and compose text.

My process is one of gradual accretion. I don't sit down with one film, and solve the locations in sequential order, and then move on to the next movie. Everything is inter-connected with everything else, so I have to tackle everything, indirectly and simultaneously. There are obvious things of course. I know a lot more about Los Angeles then when I started, so there were some Lloyd locations I "solved" simply because I recognized the building, or doorway, or brick wall from another movie, even though there were no "clues" otherwise available to investigate. I begin the process by going through each film, and capturing frame grabs of all the exterior shots that might be solvable, until I end up with a huge mass of movie frames. I then just sort of absorb them, and assess how to tackle them. Many scenes have a tangible clue, like a visible address, or part of a business name, so I look those up on the LA Library's online city directories. It's surprising that even if all you have to go on are the digits of a street address, LA was so much less densely populated at the time that searching the digits of the street address in the 1923 directory might yield only a handful of hits. I then look up those full addresses on Google Street View, and sometimes can quickly find the correct spot. I also look for unusual street features, such as "T" intersections, curves, dead ends, hills, and so forth, as that helps to narrow things down. If I see a building with unusual features, such as square bay windows, and have a hunch about the location, I can search the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, also online at the LA Library, and see if the candidate building had square bay windows that match. Searching the online photo archives at http://www.lapl.org/, http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/co ... /index.htm, and http://catalog.library.ca.gov/F/?func=f ... ase=images are great resources, as are the vintage USGS topo maps at http://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/6min_los_angeles_county/, and the 1921 Baist Atlas of Los Angeles at http://www.historicmapworks.com/. And finally I have developed an instinct that sometimes leads me to the right spot.

There are times when I really feel my brain firing on all cylinders, when I am in the zone, and it will occur to me that one element from one movie looks familiar, and might be connected to another element from another movie, and so on, and then I'll start opening up movie frames from many different movies, and searching photos and maps online, until I have two dozen windows open at the same time on my computer, and somehow something clicks, the connection reveals itself, and there's the answer. I wish when I have these Eureka moments of insight that it might be about something more useful than obscure movie locations, but it is still quite a rush when it happens, to feel yourself hot on the trail of a hunch, and turning things over and over until the pieces align in just the right way, and out jumps the answer.

Another part of my process is to continue to look at whatever silent films are available for clues. There are certain unphotographed corners of old Los Angeles that I am dying to see. What did this corner look like, but from the other direction? What building was behind that building? In my mind there are hundreds of these unanswered questions. Thus, I am always on the lookout for a silent film that has a lot of exterior scenes, regardless of the star, or quality of the story, because one never knows what one will find. For example, the early Doug Fairbanks short The Mystery of the Leaping Fish has some great shots of Ferguson Alley, where Harold Lloyd filmed. So each film I become exposed to has the possibility of opening another door into the past.

So that is my process. I've come up with some tricks, and have access online to some great resources, but often it is simply a matter chewing on something for years and years until the answer presents itself. There are many locations in each book that I had originally believed were impossible to solve. But because each book took years, there was time for these "impossible" findings to percolate in the back of my mind.

Thanks,
John
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