Bengston is a remarkable detective: he goes through silent movies, frame by frame, and tries to identify where they were filmed, through both evidence from a hundred years ago and modern on-the-ground research in Los Angeles and New York. This particular volume focuses on the work of one of the great comedic stars of the 1920s, Harold Lloyd. I discovered Lloyd's work this past summer because of Turner Classic Movie Channel's Silent Sundays, and it was delightful to learn more about how Lloyd pulled off his brilliant stunts.

And as a writer in full research mode, I was even more delighted to find tons of useful information. This book created a lot more work for for me, but in the end, it'll make my current project much more accurate. I now must get copies of Bengston's two other works in this vein on the works of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. The author's website is also a fantastic resource.

If you're not into silent movies, this book will still be enjoyed by history buffs and urban geographers, especially those with an interest in the Los Angeles area or New York City. ( )

Silent Visions by John Bengtson is the third book to trace the history of early Hollywood through the locations where the films were shot. The previous two cover the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Silent Visions does the same with Harold Lloyd's films.

Each page of Silent Visions has a still or stills from a Harold Lloyd film (and sometimes multiple films), and when the location still exists, a photograph showing how it looks now. For traveling shots, there's often also a map with locations highlighted and linked to relevant frames from the movie.

For silent film enthusiasts and/or readers interested in Los Angeles history in the early decades of the 20th century, Silent Visions (and I'll hazard a guess that the other two) is a fascinating book. There is also a blog called Silent Locations. ( )