The prototypical rust belt city, Cleveland has long served as an emblem of late twentieth-century urban decay. But recent decades have brought a cultural and economic renaissance—a revival that has been reflected and aided by the growing number of films being shot on location there.
This new entry in the World Film Locations series offers the first-ever extended look at Cleveland on screen. Richly illustrated with images from dozens of productions, it reveals Cleveland to be usefully chameleonic, appealing to some filmmakers for its modern downtown’s ability to mimic more prominent (and more expensive) cities, to others for the way its shuttered factories and decaying docks signify contemporary urban distress. With entries on such classics as The Fortune Cookie, The Deer Hunter, A Christmas Story, and Marvel’s The Avengers, as well as lesser-known films, the volume reveals Cleveland to be a far more compelling, and far more varied, on-screen presence than even most film buffs would expect.
Like all the books in this series, World Film Locations: Cleveland is designed to appeal to cinephiles and scholars alike, while also serving as a silver screen souvenir for those who make the city their home as well as for those who visit it.
 

Alberto Zambenedetti is visiting assistant professor of cinema studies and an Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellow at Oberlin College. He is the editor of World Film Locations: Florence and coeditor of Federico Fellini: Riprese, Riletture, (Re)visioni.