File this -- again -- under "there's ALWAYS a San Francisco connection".
We recently discovered that Charlie Chaplin, America's favourite clown (and perhaps the most influential performer in motion picture history), shot one of his bazillion-odd silent movies on location in and around Golden Gate Park.
"A Jitney Elopement" is classic slapstick, featuring a case of mistaken identity, a jitney (think "flivver"), a mustachioed scoundrel and -- inevitably -- madcap hilarity. This milestone 1915 production has been described as the first "Chaplinesque" Chaplin film, but is that what we're here for?
Nope ... we want to look past the action with San Francisco-tinted glasses and see our city in all its vivid ... okay, in all its grainy black and white early-century glory. The first half of the film takes place indoors, but check out this clip from the second reel, featuring the crucial final ten minutes:
