Silent Film Sure to Have Sound of Laughter

In the 1920s, after making his fortune in oil drawn from deep beneath the Montebello Hills and in walnuts plucked from San Gabriel Valley orchards, Walter Temple began to buy land once held by his grandfather, prominent Los Angeles banker and rancher William Workman.

In what is now the City of Industry, Temple--whose father gave his name to Temple City--built a two-story, Spanish colonial-style mansion. The home incorporated all the conveniences of an opulent Roaring ‘20s lifestyle--including electricity, which for many homeowners was still a novelty, and an auditorium in which Temple entertained his guests with private showings of then-popular silent movies.

In a bow to that past, the Homestead Museum today will screen “The Electric House,” a one-hour silent comedy featuring Buster Keaton. Museum spokeswoman Lenora Stewart said the free movie, which was filmed at the Chaplin Studios in Hollywood, duplicates on a small scale the ambience of that era.

In “The Electric House,” former vaudevillian Keaton is a university graduate given the wrong diploma, one certifying him as an electrical engineer. On the strength of the diploma, he is hired to wire a house for electricity. The movie “takes off from there,” Stewart said.

Filming on the 1920 movie--one of more than 15 classic Keaton comedies made from 1920 to 1922--was interrupted when Keaton broke his ankle while performing a stunt. The movie was completed in 1922.

Filmgoers whose curiosity is piqued can explore the six-acre museum grounds afterward, Stewart said.

The museum complex includes Temple’s home, Workman’s 1840 Gothic and Victorian country home and the family cemetery, one of the oldest private cemeteries in California.

The movie will be shown at 1 p.m. in the Homestead Museum, 15415 E. Don Julian Road, City of Industry. Admission to the movie and the museum grounds is free.

Museum hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.