Book Reviewed: Hollywood's Lost Backlot: 40 Acres of Glamour and Mystery by Steven Bingen

Filming in the iconic Culver City Studio backlots called 40 Acres Movie studios are magical locales where films, stories, legends, and matinee idols are created. Although some movie studios offer tours, few guests from outside the Hollywood community have ever witnessed the artistry and the production skills that go into making successful movies and television shows. Backlot trips at the Universal, Warner Brothers and Paramount Studios show a glimpse what goes into creating carefully orchestrated scenes visible during the studio trips. In this book, Hollywood historian Steven Bingen opens the forgotten gates of 40 acres backlot, as it was known in its heydays in Culver City, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. This book has stunning behind-the-scenes photos, maps, and a revealing backstory. It is your ticket to a previously veiled Hollywood paradise. Built in the 1920s by producer Thomas Ince, this was the home for many iconic films and television shows that included numerous stars. This magical place was the location for Tara, a neighborhood in the legendary film Gone with The Wind, and several locations that is supposed to be in Atlanta, GA., scenes from King Kong, Superman, and Cecil DeMille’s 1927 classic King of Kings. This backlot was leased to Cecil B. DeMille’s production of The King of Kings on which he constructed historical Jerusalem at a colossal cost. But that structure remained for the RKO production of King Kong in 1933. TV shows like Andy Griffith Show, Hogan’s Heroes, Gomer Pyle, Bonanza, and Star Trek were also made on this backlot. Stars like Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Fay Wray, H.B. Warner, and Warren Beatty worked here. Legendary producers like David O Selznick and Cecil DeMille, and TV stars like Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts, and many others dazzled in this little area called 40 acres backlot. This backlot, unfortunately is no longer here and has been razed to make new construction amid rapidly grown Culver City, CA. The RKO Pictures originally owned Forty Acres Backlot and later by several other owners including RKO-Pathé Studios, and Desilu Productions of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. This book narrates the tale of one of the most influential and photographed places that were seen on the screen. There are numerous pictures, many in color, of the scenes from Gone with the Wind, King Kong, King of Kings and Andy Griffith Show. This volume makes a great coffee table book. Highly recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood.