Brent E. Walker on Charlie Chaplin and Keystone’s Centennial at the LAVA Sunday Salon, July 2014
On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather in downtown Los Angeles, for a structured Salon featuring formal presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community.
At the July 2014 LAVA Sunday Salon, Brent E. Walker presented on Charlie Chaplin & Keystone’s Centennial.
One hundred years ago, Charlie Chaplin made his film debut in Mack Sennett’s Keystone Comedies. Within the year, he would become the biggest star in motion pictures, going on to set filmmaking artistic standards that some feel have never be duplicated. During that first year of 1914, Chaplin filmed in various Los Angeles neighborhoods, and—in several cases—used actual events (ranging from the dedication of a Wilmington wharf to various auto races on streets and tracks) as a backdrop for his comedies. Brent E. Walker, author of Mack Sennett’s Fun Factory, took us on a guided tour of Chaplin in 1914, and the Los Angeles history revealed in these early comedies.