1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910789615203321

Autore

Braudy Leo

Titolo

The Hollywood Sign : fantasy and reality of an American icon / / Leo Braudy

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Haven, Connecticut : , : Yale University Press, , [2011]

©2011

ISBN

1-283-05783-2

9786613057839

0-300-15878-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (224 p.)

Collana

Icons of America

Disciplina

384/.80979494

Soggetti

Motion picture industry - California - Los Angeles - History

Motion pictures - United States - History

Hollywood Sign (Los Angeles, Calif.) - History

Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) History

Los Angeles (Calif.) History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages [193]-200) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Prologue -- One. Hollywood Before "Hollywood" -- Two. Hollywood Becomes "Hollywood" -- Three. Hooray for Hollywood -- Four. Shadows on the Sign -- Five. From Eyesore to Icon -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Hollywood's famous sign, constructed of massive white block letters set into a steep hillside, is an emblem of the movie capital it looms over and an international symbol of glamour and star power. To so many who see its image, the sign represents the earthly home of that otherwise ethereal world of fame, stardom, and celebrity--the goal of American and worldwide aspiration to be in the limelight, to be, like the Hollywood sign itself, instantly recognizable. How an advertisement erected in 1923, touting the real estate development Hollywoodland, took on a life of its own is a story worthy of the entertainment world that is its focus. Leo Braudy traces the remarkable history of this distinctly American landmark, which has been saved over the years by a disparate group of fans and supporters, among them Alice Cooper and



Hugh Hefner, who spearheaded its reconstruction in the 1970's. He also uses the sign's history to offer an intriguing look at the rise of the movie business from its earliest, silent days through the development of the studio system that helped define modern Hollywood. Mixing social history, urban studies, literature, and film, along with forays into such topics as the lure of Hollywood for utopian communities and the development of domestic architecture in Los Angeles, The Hollywood Sign is a fascinating account of how a temporary structure has become a permanent icon of American culture.