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Now and Then: Film and urban history collide

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Now and Then: Film and urban history collide
How did Harold Lloyd turn New York and Los Angeles “into his very own romper room?” During the Golden Age of Comedy, Lloyd’s pictures sold more tickets than any other comic actor of his time. In Silent Visions, a new book by John Bengtson, the film historian explores the settings found in Lloyd’s comedy classics and matches them with archival photos and vintage maps to produce an array of now-and-then comparison photographs that illuminate Lloyd’s genius.

How did Harold Lloyd turn New York and Los Angeles “into his very own romper room?” During the Golden Age of Comedy, Lloyd’s pictures sold more tickets than any other comic actor of his time. In Silent Visions, a new book by John Bengtson, the film historian explores the settings found in Lloyd’s comedy classics and matches them with archival photos and vintage maps to produce an array of now-and-then comparison photographs that illuminate Lloyd’s genius.

Guest:

John Bengtson, author of Silent Visions: Discovering Early Hollywood and New York Through the Films of Harold Lloyd (Independent Publishers Group). Bengtson is a business lawyer and film historian whose previous books include Silent Echoes and Silent Traces.