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The Lens of History – Hollywood before the Chaplin Studio
Above, only part of a vast panoramic view looking south at Hollywood, circa 1906. Can you spot the future site of the Charlie Chaplin Studio, nearly straight ahead? The hill in the foreground would...
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Early Hollywood Visual Tour at HippFest 2021
Scotland’s HippFest Silent Film Festival starts tomorrow, Wednesday March 17 through Sunday March 21. Hosted virtually this year, the festival usually plays in Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinema...
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Solved! Buster Keaton’s Mystery Colegrove Building
Buster Keaton was a pragmatic filmmaker, and it’s been fun discovering how often he would shoot simple scenes nearby, or even across the street from his small Hollywood studio once standing at 1025...
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Hollywood Heritage Celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
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...
View ArticleStep by silent footstep – how the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley was revealed
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...
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Silent Movie Day celebrates the Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd Alley
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...
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The Roaring Road – rare ‘new’ views of early Hollywood
Above, a rare time capsule glimpse looking east from Cahuenga toward the towering Taft Building at the SE corner of Hollywood and Vine, before the neighboring Broadway (B. H. Dyas) Building was built...
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Charlie Chaplin’s One A.M. Mystery
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 the town. Except for a brief exterior scene with his...
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Wonderful Wanda Wiley … Who?
Wonderful Wanda Wiley was a spirited, athletic silent film comedienne, whose charm and girl-next-door appeal made her the female equivalent of Harold Lloyd’s “All-American Boy” (sometimes she even...
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The Keaton-Fairbanks Hollywood Fire Station
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...
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Historic Hollywood Relics Found In “Lost” Films
This post presents bits and pieces of Hollywood history appearing in an assortment of little-known films, many unavailable for decades. I closely follow Dave Glass’s invaluable YouTube channel. You...
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Harold Lloyd, Dorothy Devore, Movie Pilot Frank Clarke – Stunt Birds of a...
Here’s more Hollywood history appearing in another little-known film, this time from a Columbia Studios Screen Snapshots newsreel. Above, Screen Snapshots captured pioneer Hollywood stunt pilot/actor...
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Colleen Moore and Buster Keaton Reveal a “Lost” Hollywood Intersection
Hollywood was a small, undeveloped community during the early years of cinema. Cahuenga Blvd, now a major thoroughfare, once ran south for two blocks from Hollywood Blvd past Selma to where it ended at...
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