Shot On This Site: A Traveler's Guide to the Places and Locations Used to Film Famous Movies and TV Shows (Paperback)

by William A. Gordon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Where was Jurassic Park filmed? How about Beetlejuice? What town was terrorized in The Birds? Where did Meg Ryan "fake it" in When Harry met Sally? Look no further! The author of the authoritative book on famous spots in Hollywood has cast his eyes across the U.S. for sets and sites of interest.

Although this is billed as a good way to visit the sites where hundreds of movies and T.V. series have been filmed, I actually found this more interesting as a resource to select videos which took place in certain locales: "Say, honey, let's watch a movie filmed in Charleston..." --a sad commentary on how sedentary my life has become that I'm traveling by VCR!

From Library Journal
The brief but numerous entries in this work cover nearly 900 film or television show locations in 48 states (North Dakota and Idaho are left out). In the book's preface, the author says he has concentrated his efforts on "box-office favorites released over the past fifteen years and on the few pre-1980 classics that were not filmed on soundstages in Los Angeles." This statement is misleading on two counts. First, the book includes information on many unpopular films and short-lived television shows. Second, shooting films on location became a common practice in the early 1950s. Film and television enthusiasts will find it entertaining to browse through this book, which is finally more of a trivia book than a "tourist guide." Barth's Roadside Hollywood (Contemp Bks., 1991) is a similar but more amusing work. Recommended for film and television collections; an optional purchase for public libraries.
Mary Kalfatovic, Telesec Lib. Svcs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Citadel (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080651647X
• ISBN-13: 978-0806516479
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #955,025 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Organized, Dated Guide to Movie-TV Locations, December 6, 2008

By	Mediaman "TVviewer" (USA) - See all my reviews

What should have been a trip down memory lane turns into a dull meandering drive with little to look at in this book that is a guide to about 1000 locations used for movies and TV shows. The locations are grouped into areas from southern Cal to the Mid-Atlantic States. Then the author gives you the address and a paragraph or two that describes what was shot there.

The problem is that there is almost no detail to the descriptions and the author often misses significant information regarding the shows shot at the location. Instead he just lists four or five shows that shot there with no specifics about scenes, locations on the property, etc. Namely, there isn't enough detail to make it worth buying this book--it's only if you need to know the specific address but most of that is now easily available online. Plus this book is so old that many more popular recent movies or TV shows are not included.

For example, he claims Alamo Square in San Francisco has "the most photographed houses in America," but doesn't explain why. He claims these houses are just like hundreds around the city--but he misses the fact that there is a park-like open green space across the street from the houses that allow TV shows like Full House to easily use the houses to show typical San Francisco homes. And now the houses have turned iconic.

The book should have had two parts--the listings by addresses and then more complete descriptions listed by the name of the movie or TV show. Often a movie pops up at three or four addresses, but instead of the reader being able to just browse through the book looking for a favorite movie they have to go through different sections of addresses.

The addresses may be worth it for a few readers, but most will be frustrated by the lack of detail beyond the address and the failure to have the locations listed by show titles. And there should have been a picture for each location listed but probably 2/3's don't have accompanying photos.