Brings Hollywood's Past Just a Little Closer

books:


	• Silent Echoes: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton John Bengtson Santa Monica Press, 1999 - 231 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I hope this gets re-released.....

After reading and being fascinated by Bengston's Chaplin book (Silent Traces), I really want a brand new copy of the Keaton book. I hope it gets published again. I don't want a used copy for $50. I heard him speak at the Academy last week and he is really interesting.

Wow...

This is a truly different kind of book. We get to see the locations that Buster made his films, and how they have changed through time. We also get to see how the author went about finding these places, a kind of historical research that takes a tremendous amount of time and effort.

This book is one that I automatically pick up when I'm not sure what I want to read, but want something interesting.

If there was a complaint, it would be that many of the pictures and some of the text is really too small. I have great eyesight, some of this is too hard for even me to see, and I know many people have a harder time with small text and pictures. Lay off of our eyesight, eh?

Still, a totally fascinating book. I can't get enough.

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An Excellent Book

This book is a necessity for any Buster Keaton fan or any fan of Hollywood history. It is well researched and absolutely fascinating.

A " Must Have" for any Keaton fan

This is a great book. I love to watch Keaton's movies with this to hand, it gives a whole new insight to the films. It is easy to read and it is interesting to see the sights of LA from the 20's. Sometimes it is sad to see that some of these locations are gone, where the building of freeways have necessitated the removal of whole city blocks. If I ever get to visit LA I know that this book will be going with me.

Brings Hollywood's Past Just a Little Closer

Years ago I purchased Civil War historian William A. Frassanito's excellent books "Gettysburg: A Journey in Time" and "Antietam: The Photographic Legacy of America's Bloodiest Day," which examine and compare historic and modern photographs of these famous battle sites. John Bengtson has done essentially the same thing for Hollywood using Keaton's films, and the result is nothing short of miraculous. Here are scenes of what used to be but are no more, resurrected with the benefit of Bengtson's keen eye, detective-like mind, and obsessive attention to detail. This is one heck of a fun book, and you'll spend many hours going over the photographs.

Amazingly, many of the scenic backdrops that Keaton used in his films still exist, and they serve today as nostalgic reminders of a relatively primitive and innocent time that has all but disappeared.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

John Bengtson has created a unique visual history of early Hollywood (as well as other parts of Los Angeles, and locations in the Northwest, Southwest, and New York City) as depicted in Buster Keatons classic movies. Combining images from Keatons films with archival photographs, historic maps, and scores of dramatic then and now photos, Silent Echoes reveals dozens of movie locations that lay undiscovered for nearly 80 years. Part time machine, part detective story, Silent Echoes presents a fresh look at the matchless Keaton at work, as well as a captivating glimpse of Hollywoods most romantic era. More than a book for film, comedy or history buffs, Silent Echoes appeals to anyone fascinated with solving puzzles or witnessing the awesome passage of time.

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