Make a left at 1935…

Most New Yorkers we know get a kick out of seeing motion pictures that were shot in the Big Apple. It’s fun to watch for spots you know, to think, “Hey, I live just a few blocks from that restaurant—I had brunch there once” or “I used to walk by that store every day on my way to work.” And even transplants to the city feel like a true New Yorkers when we can spot continuity errors, when a character steps out the door of his building on the Upper East Side, for example, and rounds the corner, only to be on the Upper West Side in the very next shot.

Even more fun is watching classic movies that were filmed in New York (though most NYC-set pictures in those decades were shot on studio lots in Los Angeles). Harold Lloyd‘s Speedy (1928) is a great example of a movie shot in NYC, and Lloyd’s climactic race at the helm of a horse-drawn trolley that covers the length of Manhattan during the picture’s climax provides some terrific opportunities to see New York as it once was (and to watch for a few landmarks, such as the arch in Washington Square Park, that are still standing).

We’ve never resided in Los Angeles (though we’re not averse to the notion), but having spent a week at a time there on several occasions over the past decade, we find that we’re able to spot a number of familiar locales and locations when we watch movies that are set there. And, of course, site spotting while enjoying old movies that are set in Los Angeles is great fun. One of our favorite examples is the frequent appearances made by downtown L.A.’s Bradbury Building; that classic structure shows up in any number of movies, old and new, including the 1950 thriller D.O.A. (in one scene in that noir classic, Edmund O’Brien takes a head-first spill while running through the building’s lobby; when we paid a visit to the Bradbury some years back, we couldn’t resist taking a fall of our own as a sort of tribute).

All of which is by way of setting up the following video clip, which is stock footage shot in 1935 and meant, we presume, to serve as the background for scenes that were meant to take place in automobiles but were filmed in those studio-bound contraptions that were rigged to resemble a car’s interior.

The car carrying the camera that shot this footage starts near Canon Drive and travels east along Wilshire Boulevard through Beverly Hills. If you grew up near there in the 1930s, you’ve got a real treat awaiting you. If you didn’t, this may as close as you can hope to get to experiencing what it was like then.

We can’t help it; we’re suckers for quick trips back in time such as this one.

It’s Free Roscoe Friday

For this week’s Free Roscoe Friday offering, we’re sharing the second half of Coney island, starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton. (If you missed last week’s posting of the first half, it’s here.)

Remember that we’re marking tomorrow’s 125th anniversary of Roscoe’s birth by giving away three copies of The Forgotten Films of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. It’s a four-disc DVD set that features 32 restored comedy classics, one of which is, as you may have guessed, Coney Island.

And as always, you can enter for your chance to win in a myriad of ways (and on a daily basis). Follow the link to your left to enter; retweet one of our “Free Roscoe” tweets on Twitter. Like and/or share one of our “Free Roscoe” posts on Facebook. Like or reblog one of our Arbuckle-themed posts on Tumblr. Heck, you can even share a Free Roscoe post on Google+, if you like.

You’ve got till March 31st to load up on entries and improve your chances to be one of the lucky winners, so make the most of it!

It’s Free Roscoe Friday

For this week’s Free Roscoe Friday offering, we’re sharing the first half of Coney island, a film starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton.

We love old footage of Coney Island and we’re crazy about Buster, so this is one of our favorites among the extant examples of Arbuckle’s work.

It’s interesting to see Keaton’s early cinematic performances; he’s not yet the stoic onscreen figure he would soon become.

Remember that we’re marking the 125th anniversary of Roscoe’s birth by giving away three copies of The Forgotten Films of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. It’s a four-disc DVD set that features 32 restored comedy classics, one of which is, as you may have guessed, “Coney Island” (you may rest assured it looks better on the DVD than in the YouTube clip shared above).

And you can enter for your chance to win in a myriad of ways (and on a daily basis). Follow the link to your left to enter; retweet one of our “Free Roscoe” tweets on Twitter. Like and/or share one of our “Free Roscoe” posts on Facebook. Like or reblog one of our Arbuckle-themed posts on Tumblr. Heck, you can even share a Free Roscoe post on Google+, if you like.

You’ve got till March 31st to load up on entries and improve your chances to be one of the lucky winners, so make the most of it!

It’s Free Roscoe Friday

For this week’s Free Roscoe Friday offering, we’re sharing a video tribute to Roscoe Arbuckle. One might wish the quality of the video were a bit better, but it’s otherwise a nice piece of work.

Remember that we’re marking the 125th anniversary of Roscoe’s birth by giving away three copies of The Forgotten Films of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle.” It’s a four-disc DVD set that features 32 restored comedy classics.

And you can enter in a myriad of ways (and on a daily basis). Follow the link to your left to enter; retweet one of our “Free Roscoe” tweets on Twitter. Like and/or share one of our “Free Roscoe” posts on Facebook. Like or reblog one of our Arbuckle-themed posts on Tumblr. Heck, you can even share a Free Roscoe post on Google+, if you like.

You’ve got till March 31st to load up on entries and improve your chances to be one of the lucky winners, so make the most of it!

Goodbye, Grandma’s Boy

Here’s a two-part video follow-up to last week’s photograph of that “ghost sign” in Vancouver that, ninety years ago, advertised Harold Lloyd‘s first feature-length film, Grandma’s Boy.

1920′s Harold Lloyd Film Poster found in Vancouver from VanArts.

History of Harold Lloyd & “Grandma’s Boy” from VanArts.

The building on which the sign was painted has since been razed, and we’re not happy about that. We can’t help but hope someone tried to preserve the sign.

Though admittedly, there are not that many spots where such a thing could be displayed, so we’re no doubt kidding ourselves.