A Guide to the Best of Southern California : TIP-OFF : Getting the Words Out

From “Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” to “Terminator 2,” Hollywood script merchants have just the ticket for people who want to see their favorite flicks on paper instead of celluloid.

A number of local bookstores deal in the thousands of movie and television show scripts that filter out of the studios. So grab a bag of popcorn and go searching for your own pages of Hollywood history.

Want one of the most popular? Try “Chinatown” or any current blockbuster. What’s one of the most obscure? Maybe “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.” If dealers don’t have a title on hand, they’ll try to hunt it down--although some scripts, such as “Five Easy Pieces,” never seem to surface.

Prices range from $15 to $25 for movie scripts and $7.50 to $17 for teleplays, depending on the shop. Collectors Book Store also offers original studio screenplays, some of them leather-bound and autographed, for as much as $150.

Those on a budget might prefer to visit the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Library, which stocks more than 8,000 film titles and lists holdings at other libraries. But be warned: Photocopying is forbidden.

Book City Collectibles, 6631 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (213) 466-0120; Collectors Book Store, 1708 N. Vine St., Hollywood, (213) 467-3296; Hollywood Book & Poster Co., 6349 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (213) 465-8764; Script City, mail and phone orders only, 8033 Sunset Blvd., P.O. Box 1500, Los Angeles, 90046, (213) 871-0707; The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Library, 333 S. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 247-3020.