I happened to find a copy of Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill in my library system, but you can find a copy at the Internet Archive. Reading the book at the archive apparently requires a sign-in. Click here for more information.
Dawson delves into the history of the neighborhood, the politicking over its so-called urban renewal phase (which led to its destruction in the 1960s and eventual replacement), and the impact it had on the film industry. He includes information about writers, including pulp fiction and detective fiction writers, and where they lived. Raymond Chandler, for instance, was a Bunker Hill resident for a time, both before and after his marriage, and drew inspiration from the neighborhood. Chandler grew more and more disillusioned about how Los Angeles accommodated its growing population, and his detective Philip Marlowe refers to this situation occasionally while on his investigations.
Dawson’s book includes lots of photos, which is another plus, of course. Dawson is obviously knowledgeable about his topic, and he includes a lot of information in the photo captions, too. Many of the photos are stills from the films discussed in the book, but quite a few are behind-the-scenes shots of on-location film shoots.
For even more information from Jim Dawson about the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Los Angeles, click here.
If ever the book is updated for a second edition, I have a wish list of suggested changes:
◊ A book index would be extremely helpful for cross referencing. And it should include information from both the text and the photo captions, please.
◊ The map on page 28 should have its own chapter, with a legend showing the ratio of inches (half inches, quarter inches) to miles, more details about the locations featured, and a revised numbering system that follows the numerical sequence more intuitively. And listing it in the contents would make it much easier to find.I don’t want this wish list to sound like a list of complaints because the book is a joy to read. Classic film fans would enjoy all the information and the accompanying photos. The photos include snapshots of the structures that made Bunker Hill so unique: the Victorian era architecture; the hilly terrain that forced builders to include public staircases, innovative building designs, and lengthy tunnels; and the Angels Flight rail, all of which are features in many films noir.
The book is short at only 160 pages total and so it’s a quick read—unless you are someone like me, who likes to cross reference and consult that handy map on page 28. But if you are someone like me, somehow you are going to count that as a plus, too.
The last chapter is titled “A Selective List of Films Shot on Bunker Hill.” It’s an alphabetical list of such films and, once again, films from different types of genres are included.
And now I have a (another) new list of films noir to see.
Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction’s Mean Streets and Film Noir’s Ground Zero! • By Jim Dawson • Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2012
The image of the front cover is from the book published by The History Press.