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Summary: Those were the days
Review: John Bengston's book is an amazing testament to the wonders of Buster Keaton. It's a real treat to see the now and then photos taken with painstaking precision. When I recieved the book, I was taken in from the very beginning, I pored over every detail until my back hurt! The next day I picked it up to start all over again. This book is as close to going back in time as a person can get. One is able to picture Buster running down the street from Seven Chances and looking at the contemporary picture, you can think "Buster was here". I highly recommend this book, it will continue to fascinate for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Those were the days
Review: John Bengston's book is an amazing testament to the wonders of Buster Keaton. It's a real treat to see the now and then photos taken with painstaking precision. When I recieved the book, I was taken in from the very beginning, I pored over every detail until my back hurt! The next day I picked it up to start all over again. This book is as close to going back in time as a person can get. One is able to picture Buster running down the street from Seven Chances and looking at the contemporary picture, you can think "Buster was here". I highly recommend this book, it will continue to fascinate for years to come.
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Summary: A New Genre of books
Review: John Bengtson has created a whole new genre of books. This book does not just explore the silent comedies of Buster Keaton. It also will allow the silent film fan to explore early Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other early movie locations in California, Arizona, and Oregon. It is amazing how Bengtson has located the buildings that were in the background scenery of Keaton's films. This book is a look at Los Angeles history, as buildings like the College of Dentistry and hotels that were houses of prostitution no longer exist. Now anyone can walk in the steps of the great comedian, Buster Keaton.
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Summary: A New Genre of books
Review: John Bengtson has created a whole new genre of books. This book does not just explore the silent comedies of Buster Keaton. It also will allow the silent film fan to explore early Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other early movie locations in California, Arizona, and Oregon. It is amazing how Bengtson has located the buildings that were in the background scenery of Keaton's films. This book is a look at Los Angeles history, as buildings like the College of Dentistry and hotels that were houses of prostitution no longer exist. Now anyone can walk in the steps of the great comedian, Buster Keaton.
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Summary: Wow, what a great film history book
Review: John Bengtson has done something so simple yet so essential to film history. If you live in LA the book will have a greater meaning. If not you can marvel at the almost film-archeological work Bengston has done in finding the exact places the great Buster Keaton filmed some of his best films.
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Summary: First Great Movie Book of the Millennium
Review: John Bengtson's book is the kind of thing film lovers dream about. Every Keaton fan or silent movie buff will want this book, but it also makes a wonderful introduction to the silent era's timeless pleasures, especially the always fresh and exciting comedy of Buster Keaton. And on top of everything else, it's a fascinating detective story! Wow! Can you tell I liked this book?
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Summary: A must have for all Keaton fans and Hollywood historians
Review: Just as Keaton's character Sherlock Jr. managed to appear in the right place at the right time, author John Bengtson has done just that. He has found many locations of Buster Keaton's most important silent films. Anyone interested in Keaton's work or the history of early filmaking will find this book to be a treasure.
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Summary: Silent Echoes : Discovering Early Hollywood....Buster Keaton
Review: Silent Echoes is very detail oriented. You must be a serious Buster Keaton fan for this book. If you are, you will enjoy it. John Bengtson put an incredible amount of effort & research into this. Silent Echoes is filled with pictures from Buster's movies made in the 20's along with present-day pictures of the same locations.
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Summary: Film Book of the Year!
Review: The Book of the Year! This has been an exceptionally good year for books on Silent Films! New titles by Basinger, Brownlow, Drew, and Riley (below) - yet Bengston's SILENT ECHOES is ... clearly the Film Book of the Year! Whether you are a longtime fan of Buster Keaton & the Silent Film era or a newcomer, you will want your own personal copy of SILENT ECHOES. Frankly, I'd recommend two: one to wear out from the heavy use you'll give it when you watch the Keaton films discussed in the book, and a second one to put on your bookshelves for safe keeping. You can read about the book's scope & coverage, above. Here, just let me tell you what the book can do for you, personally, as a film lover. It does, in book form, what film critic Richard T. Jameson wrote that only the best films can do: After experiencing it, you see life ... a little differently. Think about the power of a film - or a book - to change your life a little bit. THIS one will! After reading this book, you'll see Keaton's films - and other films of this era - in a different way, too. You will never see Keaton's work in the same light again - you 'll not only enjoy the films even more, you will also notice the world that was being documented in these films, and rejoice that so many of the landscapes that Keaton filmed still exist, today! You'll begin to watch other films of this era with that new perspective, and you may be inspired to create a similar book of your own! Other new titles also recommended: Jeanine Basinger's SILENT STARS Kevin Brownlow's MARY PICKFORD REDISCOVERED Willam M. Drew's AT THE CENTER OF THE FRAME: LEADING LADIES OF THE TWENTIES & THIRTIES Philip J. Riley's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
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Summary: A Bible For Hollywood Tourists
Review: The first time I went to Hollywood, I had this then-new book in my camera bag. If it weren't for this book I would have missed so many interesting spots from Buster's silent comedies. As I tooled up Hollywood Blvd, a street sign for "Cosmos" sounded familiar so I took out Bengtson's book and there it was; a picture of the building in front to my left was in the background of a few scenes in "Cops." Any silent film buff worth their weight in silver nitrate needs this book before they tour Hollywood!
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