Perched on the western edge of the North American continent, Hollywood has always looked like America's destiny. From the early settlers in the 1880s to the aspiring stars of the 1930s, Hollywood was the place to start afresh, to build a new life in the sun. In 2002, Hollywood remains the dream factory, a place where every waiter and waitress is an aspiring actor, where every bartender, taxi driver, hotel receptionist, and hired helper has a screenplay tucked away in a drawer at home. The reality of course is different. Part of the city of Los Angeles, California, since 1910, Hollywood is a town like any other, complete with crime, poverty, and its fair share of sleaze. But Hollywood's real location is in the mind.

In 1880, Hollywood was just a ranch, named by Mrs. Daeida Wilcox (1861–1914) after a friend's country house. Aiming to attract midwesterners like themselves to the fertile...