MOVIES : A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : HOORAY FOR . . . : A Glamour Capital for Sure, No Doubt

Although many classic movies--”Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz,” for example--have been made in Culver City, they’ve always been referred to as products of Hollywood. That’s about to change. Culver City-based Sony Pictures Entertainment will now trumpet at the end of its films that they are made there. The studio’s two latest releases, “Bugsy” and “Hook,” both identify at which studio the film was made--either Sony Pictures Studios or the nearby Culver Studios--and follow it with the words “Culver City, California.”

According to Culver City Mayor Paul Jacobs, it’s about time. “Finally having the recognition is important,” says Jacobs. “We have always thought that many of the great movies of our time, many of which were made in the city, have never been recognized as being made here.”

Peter Wilkes, Sony Picture’s vice president of executive communications, says, “This is intended to reflect the fact that we have our world headquarters in Culver City. It demonstrates our commitment to the city.”

Some cynics think that the recognition of Culver City by Sony Pictures might be the company’s attempt to gain favor with the city for the studio’s ambitious expansion plans. “This is in no way, shape or form an attempt to ingratiate ourselves with the city of Culver City,” Wilkes insists. “It’s simply our acknowledgment of our home base and where we make our movies.”

Says Mayor Jacobs: “I don’t know what their motives are. They’re making a very large commitment to the Culver City site. It seems to me consistent that they add the tag line.”

Jacobs hasn’t seen “Bugsy” or “Hook” yet, but he and the members of the City Council were given framed versions of the tag line that appears at the end of the films. “I thought that maybe they should also have ‘by the courtesy of the Mayor,’ ” he said.