Buster Keaton's San Francisco footsteps

#BusterKeaton filmed many recognizable scenes in #SanFrancisco, including near three SF landmarks BEFORE they were built. Download a PDF tour of Buster's SF filming sites
silentlocation...
For more vintage SF aerial views and photos - silentlocation...
Buster filmed where #SteveMcQueen would later film Bullitt - read more silentlocation...
Buster also filmed on Lombard where #AlfredHitchcock would later film Vertigo - read more silentlocation...
View the June 9, 1922 Lombard St plans here silentlocation...
View the December 14, 1922 photo of Lombard here opensfhistory....
View the 1925 aerial photo of SF here www.davidrumse...
Public domain musical score - Paragon Rag - 1909 and Rose Leaf Rag - 1907 by Scott Joplin

[@mrsbigbug]

Very well done - enjoyed watching this! Thank you.

[@LovelyRuthie]

Another gem!

[@Moosetta]

Pure joy in every way. HUGE THANKS.

[@ltcolumbo9708]

There your John!! You are a tresure to the silent movie communal

[@MothGirl007]

This is so awesome - thank you so much! ♥♥♥

[@joelbates6499]

Nice work! Very fascinating from both ‘silent movie history’ and ‘city planning’ perspective. Very interesting and now I want to find the two buster films to see them again. Thanks 😊

[@jerseyforhawks]

Sir, I have your book, a treasure. But, this media on You Tube will reach even more. Bravo, your work comes alive even more.❤

[@aboutface7961]

Great work as always. Your website is one of my favourites, and has made me get to know LA very well from the perspective of 100 years ago. Id love to see more info on Larry Semon, as he seems to be rather absent in general silent history, I was looking into locations for his 'wizard of oz'. and there is almost no info on that regarding locations. But im 99% sure i found where they shot the farm stuff at the beginning. ( based solely on the mountain horizon line, how the shapes line up - approximately where Warner ranch was later built. ) Would be great to see a blog on the L.A Vitagraph studios, which retain quite a few original studio elements, including the corner gate.

[@SilentLocationsbyJohnBengtson]

Thank you so much - the Vitagraph gates briefly appear in some Semon shorts, but I've yet to blog about it. Keep me posted if you find more about Oz

[@aboutface7961]

Hi. My pleasure. Indeed, I was watching a few of these vitagraph shorts on youtube. Over the course of a few / some with Oliver Hardy, you also get various angles down the side of the studio and surrounding street corners and up toward the hills where the street is yet to be extended. I will keep watching and looking !. Happy holidays.@@SilentLocationsbyJohnBengtson

[@thecrazycrossstitchlady]

I so enjoy and appreciate the research and work you put into making these videos. Thank you from a grateful Damfino! ☺️

[@gregberkin7599]

Stellar storytelling! What a rare treat to follow along in Buster Keaton’s footsteps in San Francisco. Another spectacular tour de force by the prolific film history author, John Bengtson. Check out all of John’s incredible work! Kudos to -> John Bengtson

[@Geaux_tigers_97]

So great. Thanks John

[@StevenTorrey]

By 1925, 19 years after the quake, the City is practically rebuilt. Somebody actually designed Lombard Street to look like that? Love the Scott Joplin up-tempo music.

[@SilentLocationsbyJohnBengtson]

Thanks Steve - this URL shows the Lombard plans silentlocations.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/lombard-plans-june-9-1922.jpg

[@dmitryberdnikov9130]

Yea, buildings are different, but wooden pols are the same!

[@MikeCohenSF]

Loimbard Street isn't even the crookedest in San Francisco - try Vermont at 22nd