Hollywood Theatre

The Hollywood is the oldest existing movie theatre in Hollywood. Its owner H.L. Lewis, had it built in the popular Romanesque style. Architects Kremple and Erkes face the building’s facade in white semi-glazed brick and the lobby was done in marble tile. The 750 seat auditorium had coffered ceilings supported by Corinthian columns. The facade was remodeled 1936 by architects S. Charles Lee and Clifford Balch into a combination of Moderne and Art Deco styles. In 1991 it was remodeled into the Guiness World of Records exhibition, ending its life as a movie theatre.

Mann theatres did a quick remodel to this theatre in June of 1977. Down the street at the Chinese theatre a little film opened, around the 3rd week of May. Mann theatres booked this film as a filler before the big summer film from Universal “Sorcerer” opened. So on that 3rd week of May, “Star Wars” opened to blockbuster business at the Chinese and the Avco in Westwood (note: only two theatres). The only Mann theatre near the Chinese, was the Hollywood . So Mann did a quick remodel. With this remodel they enclosed the lobby and torn out the old box office and added 70mm projection equipment and a Dolby 6 track Stereo Sound System. So they could move-over “Star Wars” for the 5 to 6 weeks booking of “Sorcerer” in the Chinese. But “Sorcerer” did not do the business, it had hoped for, it bombed. So Mann moved “Star Wars ” back to the Chinese for the rest of the run. But 20th Century Fox did not like, Mann moving “Star Wars” into a smaller house (half the size of the Chinese [1400 vs. 750]. Fox would start a battle that would last over 15 years. No Big Fox feature would play a Mann theatre. So in Hollywood, The Egyptian would be the Fox showcase house and in Westwood the UA and Avco theatres would be the showcase houses. Around this time General Cinemas closed the Beverly theatre in Beverly Hills. They moved some of the stage speakers to the Avco for “Star Wars”.