I’ve dreamed of walking through those magic-filled backlot sets and workshops. This book allows one the delight of reliving the many layers of illusion created on the studio property. I can feel the ghosts of heroes, villains, gorgeous ladies, skilled artisans, and other beloved characters that inhabited this place. Steve Bingen’s book is the next best thing to being there.
Description
Movie studios are the wondrous, almost magical locales where not just films, but legends, are created. Unfortunately, these celebrity playgrounds are, and always have been, largely hidden from public view. Although some movie studios offer tours, few guests from outside the Hollywood community have ever been witness to the artistry, politics, and scandals that routinely go on behind the soundstage walls and away from the carefully orchestrated scenes visible to them from their tram carts.
In this book, studio staff historian and Hollywood insider Steven Bingen throws open Hollywood’s iron gates and takes you inside the greatest and yet most mysterious movie studio of them all: Warner Bros. Long home to the world’s biggest stars and most memorable films and television shows, the Warner Bros. Studio lot functions as a small city and is even more fascinating, glamorous, and outrageous than any of the stars or movies that it has been routinely minting for more than ninety years. Accompanied by stunning behind-the-scenes photos and maps, and including a revealing backstory, this book is your ticket to a previously veiled Hollywood paradise.
Reviews
I grew up exploring the backlot, as my grandfather, Harry Warner, and his brothers founded the studio, and my writer/producer father, Milton Sperling, gave me errands to do on Saturdays on the lot. If you've ever dreamt of exploring a movie studio, Warner Bros.: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot is the book that will take you into that magical world!
This book is like a magic carpet, taking movie buffs on a journey through the history of Warner Bros., from its dressing rooms and craft departments to its legendary backlot. What a wonderful compendium of history, anecdotes, and even gossip. I loved every bit of it.
I was in the saddle at Warner Bros. for many years, so reading this book brought back lots of memories for me. I’m certain that for the millions who know the studio only through the movies and TV shows which were shot there, exploring the real place will prove to be just as fascinating as it was for me. I take great pride in having been a part of the Warner Bros. story.
