Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

In the late '80's, I went into Dutton's in Manhattan and found this book as well as its companion piece: New York: The Movie Lover's Guide. Both books got quite a workout on my travels to both coasts and showed a lot of wear including crayon marks from the kids. I often wished I had extra copies of both to pass on to my movie crazy friends. Fast forward 20 years. The kids are out of the house and a new and improved version of both books are available at the bookstore. What makes this book particularly endearing is that it doesn't focus on a particular era of film making/celebrity......it covers it all! Whether you are interested in knowing where Laurel and Hardy filmed THE MUSIC BOX or where Howard Hughes maintained his LA offices, it's all here. This is a great book for the merely curious or the die hard movie fanatic and definitely a must-have for the armchair traveler.