Paramount: City of Dreams

by Steven Bingen

Paramount: City of Dreams brings to life the operations of the world's grandest movie lot as never before by opening its famous gates and revealing - for the first time - the wonderful myriad of soundstages and outdoor sets where, for one hundred years, Paramount has produced the world's most famous films. With hundreds and hundreds of rare and unpublished photographs in color and black & white, readers are launched aboard a fun and entertaining "virtual tour" of Hollywood's first, most famous and most mysterious motion picture studio. Paramount is a self-contained city. But unlike any community in the real world, this city's streets and lawns, its bungalows and backlots, will be familiar even to those who have never been there. Now, for the first time, these much-filmed, much-haunted acres will be explored and the mysteries and myths peeled away - bringing into focus the greatest of all of Hollywood's legendary dream factories.

Genres: Film, History, Nonfiction

312 pages, Paperback

Published February 20, 2020

About the author

Steven Bingen is an author, archivist, lecturer and Hollywood insider who has contributed to dozens of books, articles, and documentaries regarding film history and in particular Hollywood's physical past, including recent successes MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot, Warner Bros.: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot, and Paramount: City of Dreams.

Reviews

[Timothy Rg]

If you cannot handle the minutiae of Water Tower A and Water Tank B, never fear. fast-forward to the chapter on Western Street and take in the sunshine of those darkened streets of the "ghost towns" of westerns-gone-by

Author Bingen was right--ghosts do live at Paramount Studios. And I'm a Protestant!

[Julian Walker]

A highly informative and enjoyable tour of the lot - for real.

Jam-packed with facts, figures, stars, starlets, characters, and even the supernatural - this is a hugely illuminating insight into the world of film which we take for granted.

A great read and a fabulous slice of movie history.

[Ramona]

For every reader who wants to know more about Hollywood Paramount and the people who live a life of the rich and famous, but often many times, a tragic life. Wonderful photos and many tidbits of unknown facts are included.

[Kevin]

Fascinating read covering the long history of Paramount and its start in New York to its current status as the sole major studio still located in Hollywood proper.

[morgan ☽]

"That said, although Paramount is first and foremost a place, it is not only one place."

I need a book of Hollywood ghost stories, please and thank you.