Comments on: SFist: “A Jitney Elopement” — Charlie Chaplin’s San Francisco film

By: VicktheChick

VicktheChick — Fri, 14 May 2010 02:57:08 +0000

Thank you so much for posting this. I have a 4 DVD set of Chaplin and “A Jitney Elopement” is nowhere to be found. I wrote/filmed/directed my own silent movie which was actually filmed in San Francisco though the plot line involves leaving another city to come to the GREATEST CITY THAT EVER WAS — SAN FRANCISCO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhnkZp14fAk

By: richard - sparkletack

richard - sparkletack — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:33:11 +0000

@ Neno, Judy, and John: All righty then, Fisherman’s Wharf it is! Thanks for the insights and clarification.

By: John Bengtson

John Bengtson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:25:41 +0000

I am the author of the Chaplin film location book Silent Traces. As explained in my book, the splash finale to Jitney Elopement takes place at Fisherman’s Wharf. You can see the US Customs House in the background, confirmed with vintage photos. I also show a vintage aerial photo of Golden Gate Park, pinpointing other spots where Chaplin filmed.

Buster Keaton filmed several scenes in San Francisco as well, as explained in my Buster Keaton book Silent Echoes. Both books are listed at Amazon.com or in the library.

Here is a link to a tour of Keaton’s SF locations.

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dhjgwq7x_0f8p5dc

John Bengtson

By: Judy Hitzeman

Judy Hitzeman — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:19:21 +0000

I agree with Neno’s comment. It does not look like Fort Mason; probably somewhere at Fisherman’s Wharf.

By: Neno Maniscalco

Neno Maniscalco — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:25:11 +0000

9:46– Car in to water. Has to be Fisherman’s Wharf.
See the boats backed into the dock on left. I was raised in North Beach. Spent a lot of time there in my youth. Grandfather was a crab fisherman.

By: Bullitt: the greatest car chase ever (from space!) » Sparkletack - the San Francisco History Podcast

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:56:46 +0000

[...] Charlie Chaplin was probably the first to take movie liberties with San Francisco, a half-century before Bullitt editor Frank Keller pulled out the scissors — and now, almost a century later, the list is anything but short. [...]

By: Thomas

Thomas — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:15:47 +0000

A great find! All the streets look wet – so this must have been early in 1915 when the spring rains were still on.

Check out 5:59, just before the cut – there’s a streetcar stopping in front of the windmill!

By: A Jitney Elopement

A Jitney Elopement — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:04:47 +0000

[...] Francisco and noting that the San Francisco Chronicle’s list seemed a little slim. And today Sparkletack posts on a Chaplin film shot in Golden Gate Park, called A Jitney Elopment (more info on the film at [...]