NONFICTION - Aug. 23, 1992

THE STORY OF HOLLYWOODLAND (Papavasilopoulos Press, 10903 Chandler Blvd., N. Hollywood, CA 90068: $15.95; 44 pp.) Everyone has seen the letters on the hill, 50 feet high, 30 feet wide, to all appearances an oversize tribute to the movie industry. But the legend-deflating truth is that the Hollywood sign used to read “Hollywoodland.” It first saw the light of day in 1923 as a promotion for (what else but) a real-estate development in the then-pristine hinterland of Los Angeles. This slim volume, bursting with vivid vintage photos of Hollywoodland before, during and after its prime, is a wonderful memento of an era when everyone from Bugsy Siegel to Bela Lugosi lived in a location that was all-American enough to lend its streets to Don Siegel’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Those were the days.