California: A World unto Itself

Andrew Sullivan showcases a fascinating map of California, from 1927 - the very year, I should point out, of the first talkie. It depicts places in California where a studio could shoot a film that is supposed to be taking place somewhere else.

It's particularly insightful as a window into the geographic spread of story locations in films circa 1927, inasmuch as filming locations in California can provide for it. (You may have to leave California to film a scene set on a glacier.) None of the simulated places would seem odd as a setting today - not even Sherwood Forest, apparently (which can be replicated, it seems, somewhere in the Palm Springs area). I do notice, however, that while there are two locations listed that are suitable for a film set in the Alps (one French, one Swiss), all of Africa can be simulated in San Luis Obispo!