Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood through the Films of Charlie Chaplin

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	• Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie Chaplin John Bengtson Santa Monica Press, 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 15 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A wonder

Bengston is insane. He's also a genius. Only crazy person would put as much work as he did into creating a masterpiece in an art and science that, until he came along, no one ever dreamed of.

Think "silent film archeology," but instead of digging into the earth. Bengston dug *above* ground in today's Hollywood to find remnants of the vanished world Charlie Chaplin used as a backdrop. And he found them - lots and lots of them.

Bengston is a man who deeply loves Chaplin's work, the world Chaplin worked in and the world we live in now and he's expressed that love in an entirely unique unprecedented way. This book is beyond great. It's a WONDER. Get it before it goes out of print. Bengston's similar work on Buster Keaton is selling at a massive premium as well it should.

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Brilliant

I had so much fun reading Silent Traces. I'm a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin and get so much pleasure out of watching his movies. If you're anything like me you can watch his movies over and over and find something new each time. This book helps highlight where scenes were shot and gives background on why certain locations were selected. Its fun to watch the movies, yet again, and hunt for certain landmarks that Silent Traces pointed out. In recounting Chaplin's movies and set locations you also get an idea of how rural Los Angeles was 80 years ago. The contrast in pictures of the same areas from 80+ years ago vs. today are absolutely striking. I found Silent Traces an absolutely fascinating book that I continue to pick up and flip through on a regular basis! This would make an excellent gift for any Charlie Chaplin fan, the silent movie buff, and possibly someone who wants to get an idea of what Los Angeles was like before all the glitz and glam! Enjoy!

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A Must-Have!

Add me to the list of people raving about this book. If you have the Keaton book (Silent Echoes) you'll love this one too. I can't imagine a Chaplin fan (or any fan of classic movies) who wouldn't want to add this to their collection. That "Add To Shopping Cart" button is calling your name!

Silent Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood through the Films of Charlie Chaplin

Excellent book with great number of photographies and explained of very detailed form. I recommend them for buying futures.

John Bengtson Has Done it Again

As an admirer of John Bengtson's Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton, I was delighted to learn of his follow-up book on Charlie Chaplin. One quick glance through the 300 pages of Silent Traces told me that Mr. Bengtson has not only matched his earlier work, he has topped it. The layout of the book is more visually interesting than Silent Echoes, and the photo selection even more comprehensive. As for the groundbreaking detective work of the author, it too has been honed to perfection. I had always thought of Chaplin's films as being studio-bound, and not applicable to this type of then-and-now approach. I was surprised, therefore, to see so many areas of Los Angeles depicted where Chaplin shot his classic scenes. John Bengtson clearly shows us the locations of these scenes as they appear in the twenty-first century.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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.

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