# Who knew? Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid" was filmed in Olvera Street, pre-makeover. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110 "2006-09-25T19:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/1 "2006-09-25T19:05:41Z")
Any L.A. Dopers who are interested in local history should check out [this](http://jerre.com/TandN/) link. If you go to “The Kid I”, you’ll see a famous scene where Charlie is holding Jackie Coogan in front of a brick building with arched windows. And you’ll also discover the somewhat astonishing fact that this shot was taken in Olvera Street, years before its conversion into a kitschy tourist attraction, when it was just considered a dingy alley hardly worthy of a street name. Another scene from the movie shows Charlie running south, approaching what would shortly become the La Golondria restaurant. When I saw the “now” picture in the link I didn’t even recognize it, thinking it must be some place in Old Pasadena. I love finding stuff like this in old movies! ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/2 "2006-09-25T21:17:59Z")
I don’t live in LA, but I’ve seen the Chaplin Locations site and will happily give your thread some love. It’s remarkable to see how Hollywood/LA has changed since Chaplin’s day, when it was mostly dirt roads and orange groves. (Although the building on Olvera Street has hardly changed at all–even the window grates look the same.) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/3 "2006-09-25T21:22:30Z")
That’s pretty cool. I just passed by Olvera Street a little over an hour ago on my way back from Philippe’s for lunch (yum!). Thanks for the link! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/4 "2006-09-25T22:03:03Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] That’s pretty cool. I just passed by Olvera Street a little over an hour ago on my way back from Philippe’s for lunch (yum!). Thanks for the link! [/QUOTE] I wish I worked downtown and could go for an occasional lunch La Golondrina. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/5 "2006-09-26T04:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=Nonsuch] I don’t live in LA, but I’ve seen the Chaplin Locations site and will happily give your thread some love. It’s remarkable to see how Hollywood/LA has changed since Chaplin’s day, when it was mostly dirt roads and orange groves. (Although the building on Olvera Street has hardly changed at all–even the window grates look the same.) [/QUOTE] Well, the central area (say a four-mile radius around Olvera Street) was pretty well built up even in Chaplin’s day, but a tremendous amount of history has been lost due to the freeways, earthquakes, and misguided redevelopment projects. Other outlying centers such as Hollywood were also somewhat built up, but there was indeed a lot of open space in between. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/6 "2006-09-26T18:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] I wish I worked downtown and could go for an occasional lunch La Golondrina. [/QUOTE] Best. Flautas. Ever. You are right to be envious. I don’t do that nearly often enough. Unfortunately, taking the DASH over there during the lunch hour is a dangerous proposition for anyone trying to keep lunches under two hours. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/7 "2006-09-26T19:19:09Z")
Gee, a lot of L.A. and Hollywood was so rural and pretty back then. I just saw the short “A Day Out” (I think it was called), and was wondering about that intersection showing an obviously newly-built house in the opening scene. It’s amazing that the house is still there. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-knew-charlie-chaplins-the-kid-was-filmed-in-olvera-street-pre-makeover/374110/8 "2006-09-27T17:54:06Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] Best. Flautas. Ever. You are right to be envious. I don’t do that nearly often enough. Unfortunately, taking the DASH over there during the lunch hour is a dangerous proposition for anyone trying to keep lunches under two hours. [/QUOTE] And those margaritas!