Speaking of guidebooks, Harry Medved was kind enough to send me a copy of the book he co-wrote with Bruce Akiyama, “Hollywood Escapes.” It describes itself as “The moviegoing guide to exploring Southern California’s great outdoors.”
The reason this book is mentioned here is because it contains a chapter about Route 66 and its role in movies. The Mother Road played a “major role” in the 1977’s “The Hills Have Eyes,” “Bagdad Cafe,” “The Doors,” and the 2005 version of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
The chapter contains a handy map that donates several Route 66 landmarks and the films in which they were featured:
- Needles Bridge, “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Easy Rider”
- Amboy, “The Hitcher”
- Amboy Crater, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”
- Newberry Springs, “Bagdad Cafe”
- Victorville, “It Came from Outer Space”
The chapter is short, but it includes a Route 66 Driving Tour from Victorville to Needles, and it’s a handy reference guide to Route 66’s role to films shot in Southern California.
Alas, since the book was published, Dixie Evans’ Exotic World Burlesque Museum in Helendale has moved to Las Vegas, where it is supposed to eventually reopen.
Other films that were shot on Route 66 or nearby include “Electra Glide in Blue,” “Grand Theft Auto,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Hair,” “Kill Bill, Vol. 2,” and “Kalifornia.”
Medved also informed me that the new Clint Eastwood-directed film, “Letters from Iwo Jima,” was shot in the Calico Mountains and Pisgah Crater.
thanks Ron very much for mentioning my book on your site – sorry to hear about Dixie moving to Vegas – and if anyone wants to correspond about other California Route 66 sites on film, please email me at hmedved@yahoo.com – all best wishes, Harry
Today’s Los Angeles Daily News U Entertainment section had a two page spread on this book. The author concentrated on the west valley locations, home to the Daily News office, but Route 66 was mentioned.