Dear Moira, Gibbons was an amazing, creative art director, who probably had more to do with the look of the 20th century than anyone else. Most Americans discovered art deco, for examples, in movies. It was first seen by most people in his films, and only then was it recreated in the real world. Eve...

This one is for Lynn... I did interview an independent filmmaker who somehow managed to get permission to shoot on the backlot during that period you mention. He was probably one of the last people to film in what was perhaps the most photographed place in the world. As to your questions – 1)I had a...

I promise to try to answer everyone’s questions. If you were nice enough to bother to ask ‘em, the least I can do is throw something back your way. So this one is for “Moria,” and regards weather or not MGM became the Tiffanies of studios by accident or design. My feeling, and this is just a hunch, ...

Thanks to all of you for inviting me. The book came about because, well, let me paraphrase something I told someone the last time I was asked, if I may. To say that I've always been a film buff would be accurate and obvious. But it would also be irrelevant. I didn't grow up in LA, so Hollywood seeme...