Look back at Lon Davis, Silent Lives & Keystone Cops

Today, I hope to experience the same thing as Lon Davis did, as he opened his carton of Silent Lives books. Now there is no interview here and we are re-launching our book, The Sea Gull, but here is the video interview Lon did with KMTR news in Oregon, during the launch of his book Silent Lives.



Also, over at Silents are Golden, Lon and writer, Cheryl Lanning, have one of their first articles ever published, when Lon was 14 years old. This article appeared in Arizona Magazine in 1974. It is a look back at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studio with Keystone cop, Robert Cox.

Lon (and his wife Debra) have three books released,
since Silent Lives was, in 2008.

All these books are available:

Silent Lives
Stooges Among Us
King of the Movies: Francis X. Bushman

Want to see The Three Stooges at work?
Watch on The Three Stooges Minisodes on youtube

King of the Movies: Francis X. Bushman by Lon & Debra Davis

Lon Davis, and his wife Debra, have been busy the last year. After release of 'Silent Lives' and 'Stooges Among Us' in 2008, their latest book is now available. 'King of the Movies: Francis X. Bushman' has been recently released through BearManor.


Lon and Debra actually started working on this book in the early 1980s. But after being turned down from publishers in the 1980s, it took the more 'silent film friendly' audience of today to take a real interest in publishing.

With channels like TCM and silent film festivals, the invention of DVDs and video tape, and great documentaries like David Gill and Kevin Brownlow silent film work, silent films have been re-introduced to a whole new generation around the world. And thankfully they have!


I have not read this book yet, but look forward to. It has two photo sections, with stills from Bushman's private life and from his films. Also, Mrs. Bushman helped in creating this book about her husband, so it has her personal insight into Francis Bushman's life.

It is available now to add to your collection, and looks like a great edition. For Chaplin fans, Bushman met Chaplin during the time Charlie worked for Essanay.

For more on Lon, here is a 2008 video interview about his book 'Silent Lives.'