Hogan’s Heroes Set at 40 Acres Backlot: Then and Now

Sure, the Cuningham Group of Culver City, CA-based architects may try to blow smoke in our direction with such slogans as “We exist to Uplift the Human Experience,” but we know better.  Back in the Cuningham Group’s past lies the depravities of Nazi Germany–a prisoner of war camp, complete with guard towers, barbed wire, fierce… Continue reading Hogan’s Heroes Set at 40 Acres Backlot: Then and Now

Mountain in the Middle of L.A.: Paramount Studios’ Western Street and Its Fake Mountain

Once there was a mountain in the middle of Los Angeles. Most movie studios, in their backlots or in movie ranches in the San Fernando Valley or in environs close to L.A., had a Western town.  It was simply part of the time.  Starting with The Squaw Man in 1913 (or The Great Train Robbery,… Continue reading Mountain in the Middle of L.A.: Paramount Studios’ Western Street and Its Fake Mountain