Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie L.A. [Paperback]

Richard Alleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

The classic guide to who-did-what-where in Los Angeles, on- and off-screen, including:

Film & TV locations: the Hollywood Hills house where Barbara Stanwyck seduced Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity...the funky apartment building where William Holden lived in Sunset Boulevard...the exotic Frank Lloyd Wright mansion that's housed everyone from Harrison Ford in Blade Runner to David Boreanaz on TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer....the landmark Art Deco former department store that has doubled for a glamorous hotel in Topper (1936) and an elegant nightclub in The Aviator (2004)... the Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street houses... the Seinfeld and Alias apartment buildings... the Six Feet Under funeral home...The Brady Bunch and Happy Days houses...the Charlie's Angels office...the real Melrose Place...and many more

VIP tours: from legendary studios like Warner Bros., MGM (now Sony Pictures), and Universal to movie-star homes like Barbra Streisand's former Malibu compound…

Crime scenes and scandal spots: the driveway where Sal Mineo was murdered, the Nicole Brown Simpson condo, the Sharon Tate estate, Marilyn Monroe's last address, the Beverly Hills Mansion where Bugsy Siegal was rubbed out…the Hollywood hotel where Janice Joplin O.D.’d…

Plus: Remarkable new museums...Superstar cemeteries...Historic hotels...Hip clubs and restaurants....Fabulous restored movie palaces… Spectacular movie star mansions and château apartments…

Taking movie lovers behind the gates of the exclusive, often hidden world of Tinsel Town, Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide is the ultimate insider's guide to L.A.'s reel attractions.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Noted travel writer Richard Alleman wrote the definitive guide to Hollywood back in 1985. Twenty years later, online booksellers are getting as much as $100 for used copies of his out-of-print classic. Now Alleman has revised The Movie Lover's Guide to Hollywood in a handsome new edition—totally updated and packed with 33 percent brand-new material.

Taking them behind the gates of the exclusive, often hidden world of Hollywood, Alleman invites movie lovers to travel in the company of Tinseltown's elite—from Lana Turner and Humphrey Bogart to Sofia Coppola and Leonardo DiCaprio. Film fans experience the mood of Old Hollywood, and see where Barbara Stanwyck seduced Fred MacMurray in the film noir classic Double Indemnity, or imagine the future as they glimpse the real buildings used by director Ridley Scott for Blade Runner. This travel guide to movie L.A. provides a starry-eyed look at over 300 attractions, from the glory days of motion pictures to today's hottest New Hollywood scenes. From the überhip Chateau Marmont to the former Malibu compound of Barbra Streisand, this gossipy guide includes insider looks at:

* Historic studios

* Movie-star homes and hotels

* The best nightclubs and restaurants for star spotting

* Classic and contemporary locations

* Burial sites of Hollywood's dearly departed

* Scandal spots

* And much, much more

The ultimate insider's handbook, Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide will have you calling "your people" and "your people's people" to book your trip to this celebrity mecca.

About the Author

RICHARD ALLEMAN, a longtime contributing editor at Travel + Leisure magazine, is a former travel editor of Vogue, where he is still a frequent contributor on travel and entertainment. Currently living in New York City, he has carried on a love affair with Los Angeles, where he lived for several years as an actor and writer.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767916352
• ISBN-13: 978-0767916356
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, but flawed, October 20, 2005

By 

M. Pierce "ReWrite Man" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie L.A. (Paperback)

I too purchased the original 'Movie Lover's Guide to Hollywood' (and 'New York') and thumbed through them until the bindings gave way. Never before or since have so many locations been compiled into one good book. The writing style makes you feel as if you're with a good friend on your own private tour, and without a doubt it's the most comprehensive guide around. I was thrilled to see an updated version was released.

That being said, I was disappointed in numerous factual errors scattered in this revision. The research assistants were apparently moonlighting at another job-or two-vs re-visiting some of the sites. Many of the errors are laughably obvious.
A few examples are: p.30: the photo of the 'Warner Hollywood' is actually the Hollywood/Mark Hellinger Theater on 51st Street in NYC(the same photo is on page 101 of the original 'Movie Lover's NYC');
p.50: the 'organized walking tours' by the Whitley Heights Civic Association tours were discontinued years ago;
p.69: the entire Hollywood Brown Derby building was torn down, the portion that is noted as surviving is representative of the architectural style of the original, but was separated by a driveway;
p.73; a defunct McDonald's, not an existing Burger King was on the site of the Top Hat Malt shop;
p 232: the Trocadero 'steps' were removed about a decade ago
p 313; Sharon Tate's Cielo Drive home has also been demolished although this is not noted in the text.
I could continue, but you get the drift.
Most disappointing was the glaring typo 'Janice' Joplin on the back cover. C'mon folks.
If you're not the nitpicky fact freak as I am, there is alot of good in this book, the additions of websites and phone numbers help and it's again an entertaining read and valuable resource. Just don't take it 'literally'.
And Mr. Alleman, when you go to update version 3, give me a holler. You're a talented writer and deserve better on the next go round.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for Hollywood, September 23, 2007

By 

J. snyder - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie L.A. (Paperback)

As a resident of Los Angeles and a lover of film and the history behind it, this book has been a source of hours of late night reading that lead to hours of next day exploring. You will be amazed to find that your favorite coffee shop sits on a site that was once the location of a great epic or that Cecil B DeMille lived in your neighborhood. this book gives a context and history to Los Angeles and Hollywood that is often forgotten in the current obsessions that the city is associated with today. Not only will you find the address and locations of many famous film locations and movie studios but you will also begin to see the picture of how Hollywood developed and understand the important American cultural history that lies therein.
Keep it in the Glove box of your car or next to your bed or both. Truly enjoyable to the resident or the visitor.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, but ..., November 9, 2006

By 

Jack Lokensky (Pomona, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hollywood: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie L.A. (Paperback)

I was just in L.A. and used this book as a tour guide. I found it to be well researched; however, the directions aren't always clear. Therefore, it is difficult to find the listings without other guidance.