Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin [Paperback]

John Bengtson (Author), Kevin Brownlow (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Explore the traces of early Hollywood hidden within Charlie Chaplin’s timeless films. This stunning work of cinematic archeology combines Chaplin’s movie images with archival photographs, vintage maps, and scores of then-and-now comparison photographs to conjure up the silent-movie era from an entirely new perspective. By describing the historical settings found in such Chaplin classics as The Kid, City Lights, and Modern Times, Bengtson illuminates both Chaplin’s genius and the evolving city that served as a backdrop for his art. Part time machine, part detective story, Silent Traces presents a unique look at Chaplin’s work, and a captivating glimpse into Hollywood’s most romantic era.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delightfully obsessive piece of artistic detective work...that would make the ghost of Jacques Derrida weep with pleasure."  —Los Angeles Times Book Review

"John Bengtson has again produced a book that combines film history, social history, and a cultural study of Los Angeles."  —Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian

"John Bengtson uses the films of Charlie Chaplin to perform effortless miracles of observation and detection."  —Los Angeles Times

"What a debt we owe him! . . . Silent Traces is a marvelous sequel to his book on Buster Keaton."  —Kevin Brownlow, director and film historian

"Silent Traces offers fascinating glimpses of Charlie Chaplin's Hollywood in relation to the Hollywood of today." —Bob Mondello, National Public Radio

"Silent Traces is terrific! Bravo!' —Ray Bradbury

"Silent Traces is a fascinating inquiry that transcends the geographical and approaches the spiritual." —Palm Beach Post

"Film history at its most accessible, this volume is a treasure for Chaplin fans."  —Editor's Guild Magazine

From the Back Cover

"John Bengtson uses the films of Charlie Chaplin to perform effortless miracles of observation and detection. He widens our cultural horizons and treats us to a most entertaining education in cinema and California history." -Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"What a debt we owe him! ... Had it not been for John Bengtson's heroic researches, virtually all traces of the silent era would likely have been erased. Silent Traces is a marvelous sequel to his book on Buster Keaton." -Kevin Brownlow, director and film historian

"Silent Traces offers fascinating glimpses of Charlie Chaplin's Hollywood in relation to the Hollywood of today. If you think Chaplin's Hollywood has disappeared, John Bengtson will prove you wrong so entertainingly that you'll half expect the Little Tramp to show up in person to turn the pages." -Bob Mondello, National Public Radio

"John Bengtson has again produced a book that combines film history, social history, and a cultural study of Los Angeles. It's unique and fascinating." -Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Santa Monica Press (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159580014X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595800145
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.6 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Bengtson is a business lawyer and film historian who discovered the magic of silent films at an early age. His books Silent Echoes, Silent Traces, and Silent Visions explore the early Hollywood history hidden in the background of the films of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd. John has presented his work as keynote speaker at events hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, by the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, and by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and has prepared bonus feature programs for a number of Keaton and Chaplin Blu-ray and DVD releases. John lives in the San Francisco bay area with his two daughters.

For silent-era tours, maps, PowerPoint presentations, and new discoveries, visit John's blog: http://SilentLocations.Wordpress.com/

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ABSOLUTE MUST!!!! December 17, 2006

By Richard J. Oravitz

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Along with Bengtson's previous SILENT ECHOES (Buster Keaton) this is absolutely amazing stuff!!! I've been fascinated by this before & after photography since purchasing several Dover books (NEW YORK THEN AND NOW; WASHINGTON...etc)in the 1970's (still available at amazon) & Frassanito's series of Civil War books (GETTYSBURG...ANTIETAM, ETC...1980's) that show modern views of battlefield sites (also still avail...). But Bengtson clearly is the undisputed master of such "STUFF". The detective work involved in locating the actual sites where Chaplin (& Keaton) filmed their masterpieces is nothing less than astounding! Why isn't this guy working for our government on some top-secret spy project? I was & am simply blown away by Bengtson's books! I've revisited Chaplin's & Keaton's films & have enjoyed them even more (if that can possibly be) thanks to Bengtson. What's next...Lloyd?...Sennett& Keystone?...Fatty?
AN ABSOLUTE MUST-HAVE FOR FANS OF CHAPLIN, KEATON & SILENT SCREEN COMEDY!!! BUY AT ALL COSTS.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Part Two of a Trilogy? One Can Only Hope! January 10, 2007

By Edward Dunn

Format:Paperback

In 1999, I posted a 4-star Amazon review of John Bengtson's "Silent Echoes--The Films of Buster Keaton." While I praised the book as a masterpiece of urban archaeology, I think...at the time...I ultimately considered it to be an accomplished curiosity. It's not and, if I had it to do over, I'd opt for a 5+ rating. "Silent Echoes," and now "Silent Traces," are ingenious works of film scholarship that use environment and architecture to map the unique genius of their respectives subjects. At the time of the "Silent Echoes" publication, I lived in California and made a number of trips to LA armed with my now dog-eared copy of the book. (The related website was an equally dazzling revelation in unearthing long-lost LA.) The more I used the book to guide me through the landscape of Keaton's filmography, the more it became apparent that Bengtson was, in fact, charting the manner in which Keaton spun comic genius from the world around him. He constructed a unique world view from the pieces of the real world...a now quaint and unrecognizable LA of a past age more akin to the gentleness of spirit that imbued his work. If nothing else, the book was worth it for its view into the now faded glories of Venice Beach. I'm now on the East Coast, so I'll have less opportunity to trace Chaplin's journey through old LA, but that doesn't make the book any less rewarding. Now, we can only hope that, six or seven years down the road, Mr. Bengtson does the same service to Harold Lloyd, thus completing a study of the Holy Trinity of silent comedy. The rating for the Keaton and Chaplin books: Not enough stars in the heavens!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Chaplin and L.A. Spaces September 26, 2006

By Charles Maland

Format:Paperback

This book is the result of amazing detective work by author John Bengston, who says he hopes to "use Chaplin's films as a portal to the past" by identifying the locations where Chaplin shot his films. Mr. Bengston fully succeeds in achieving his goals in this lavishly illustrated book, which often juxtaposes pictures from spaces in present Hollywood and the surrounding area with photographs and movie stills from Chaplin's era showing those same spaces.

I also appreciated the excellent chapter on the Chaplin Studio, now owned by the Jim Henson Company and adorned at the original entrance by a statue of Kermit the Frog holding a cane and tipping a Chaplinesque derby.

Thanks to Mr. Bengston for his history of the cultural geography of Chaplin and Hollywood.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great - and FUN - Must-Own Chaplin Book For Chaplin-Lovers August 30, 2006

By Lonnie W. Neubauer

Format:Paperback

This is a FUN new book for Chaplin fanatics to own (and I am one of them!) I have purchased, for my personal library, almost every book on Charlie that's been printed over the last 30 years, and I feel that this is a VERY worthy volume - in fact, it's already one of my favorites. It's one of those books that you just know you will be looking at again and again. It has a nice "look" to it inside - alot of nice pictures from Charlie's films, arranged chronologically (the Keystones, then Essanays, then the Mutuals, the First Nationals, and then Chaplin's United Artists and later films). Bengtson examines them, film by film, with alot of pictorial clues (aerial views, maps, etc.) as to exactly where the various shots were done, and "then and now" photos - all laid out in an easy to follow format. My only complaint (and this is a quibble) is that for such a nice book, I wish the publishers had released it in hardback! Oh well. Anyway, this is a very evocative book, and really makes me want to get to L.A. to make a pilgrimage to some of these Chaplin locales myself! I would of course HIGHLY recommend it as a "must own" book to any fellow Charlie-lover, and also to people who like silent films, and classic films, in general.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Silent Film History November 1, 2006

By Not hard to please

Format:Paperback

It's not often that Charlie Chaplin follows Buster Keaton and damn if I know why, but in this case neither Chaplin nor his fans should mind. John Bengtson succeeds brilliantly at the sort of detective work Sherlock Holmes might have chosen with Moriarty truly gone and Holmes' restless curiosity turned to silent film history. I've lived in Los Angeles all my life and it's fascinating to learn how often I have crossed paths with Chaplin in so many familiar places. The area around the Old Plaza and Olvera Street, now including the block of Ord Street leading down to Philippe the Original, has an expanded and sublime new meaning now that I know around which corner Chaplin and Keaton were each chased by police and just where the little tramp hugged Jackie Coogan.