Holly Cinema

The Holly started it's life as the Studio theatre designed by S. Charles Lee. For a new company formed by a former president of Fox West Coast theatres and Howard Hughes (Franklin and Hughes). The Studio was a prototype of what they called the automatic theatre. It was to be manned by a cashier and projectionist and a manager. The Studio theatre opened July 31, 1931, at a cost of $12,000. S. Charles Lee remodeled a store into the 303 seat theatre. The theatre was art deco. The name changed to the Holly in the 60's and was remodeled. All the art deco was covered up behind curtains false ceilings. The Holly theatre was part of many chains over the years. (Statewide, Century, Loew's, GCC, the last chain SRO). From a store to a theatre and now back to a store. The Holly sits almost across the street from the old Fox theatre in Hollywood. (Hollywood Blvd and Wilcox).

During the 50's this theatre was known as the Music Hall theatre.

The Holly was also known as the Academy Theatre.

In the late 70s, I can remember the Holly projectionist, John Oblinger (aka, Steven Gates), the Paramount (El Capitan) projectionist, Bob Seeling, and I would meet almost everynight for a few beers after work. I was the relief projectionist for them as well as every other theater in Hollywood.

Where did you go? To the Frolic Room next to the Pantages. That's the only place I can see Steve Gates in. :)

HA! He was a character, well, that is, when he wasn't reciting Nostrodomus.

I remember this theater as the colony 1938 to 1944

I read all of the above comments with much interest. I was a manager of the Holly Theater for two full years, in 1983 through 1984. Our company (SRO) ran this movie theatre, as well as the Paramount Theatre (now known as the El Capitan) located further down the street. (SRO also ran a dozen or so other theatres in Southern California.)

Earlier this evening I was inside what used to be the Holly Theatre. As of this date, it's now an L. Ron Hubbard store. I was hoping to reminisce and see SOME signs of my old movie theatre, but as such it is unrecognizable. The upstairs projection booth is gone, (the entire 2nd floor was gone!) the small, manager's office in the basement was gone... walls and doors that I remember were removed... If it weren't for the address outside, I would not have recognized the place!

Stephen Gates was my projectionist for the entire time I was there and I can confirm he was indeed a character!

I think my longest run was the film "Private Lessons." I recall showing that pic for what seemed like forever.

An old, 1981 SRO newsletter of mine reports that "Caligua" opened at the Holly Theatre in April of 1980 and closed on June 25, 1981 after running for 62 consecutive weeks. With its daily matinees and $7.50 per person admission price (inexpensive by today's standards but very pricey then!) the Holly Theatre grossed approximately $1 million showing "Caligula."

I did not manage this theatre until 1983, so I was not a part of "Caligula."

I saw many a movie on Hollywood Blvd between 1939 and 1943
I know this theatre was called the Colony. In 1939 you could see a double feature for 25 cents ( 10 cents for me ) at any time
As I remember it was the Admiral that became the Academy The Vine

No, No No! The Admiral became the Vine Theatre, which is still operating as a 600 seat theatre.

The Holly was originally the Studio, it could have been renamed the Colony? (I have a listing of a Colony Theatre on Hollywood Blvd in the 1941 Film Daily Yearbook with 475 seats, but no address) then it was named the Music Hall, then the Academy and finally the Holly Theatre.

This theatre was indeed renamed the Colony Theatre at one point in the 1940s.

When it first opened in 1931 as the Studio Theatre, it was billed on the marquee as being 'The Worlds Most Unusual Theatre'. The new concept was that it was the first 'automatic' theatre in the area. It had no ushers, just a cashier, a manager and a projectionist. Patrons passed through a turnstyle after purchasing their tickets. The turnstyle operated automatic doors and candy, cigarettes and drinks were sold via coin-operated machines.

It closed as the Holly Theatre in the summer of 1986.

The Motion Picture Herald issue of December 12, 1936, Better Theatres section, announced the re-opening of this theater as the Colony, following an "expensive remodeling" by S. Charles Lee. Apparently, the Automatic Theater thing didn't work out as planned. The operator of the Colony was named as Albert A. Galston, and the article also said that the remodeled theater had 500 seats.

What is in this building now, if anything, or is it one of the many abandoned, boarded up theaters on Hollywood Blvd?

The building was being used as a shoe shop a couple of years ago. Currently it is a temporary home to the Christian Scientology sect who normally operate out the former Christie Hotel on Hollywood Blvd, which is currently being renovated. The former Holly theatre is called the Scientology Learning Centre!

Thank's Ken. Now I remember which theater this one was. I think I did notice a theater with a Scientology Learning Centre sign on it.
I wish I took photos of all these theaters, as it would have helped me remember.

UCLA's S. Charles Lee page mistakenly refers to the Studio Theater opening "next to a Spanish Colonial style building on Sunset Blvd." The address of this building can be clearly seen as 6521 in this pic:

http://digital.library.ucla.edu/sclee/servlet/SCLeeServlet?ITEMID=0061205&FULLSIZE=y

You said "Christian Scientology sect". Do you mean Christian Science (a fairly respectable group based in Boston, which has lots of Reading Rooms around the country) or Scientology (a wacky and sinister cult described in great detail at www.xenu.net)? Given that this is Hollywood, I suspect the latter.

Ron;
You guessed correcly. It is the latter. They should really call it an indoctrination (brainwashing) centre rather than a reading room!

Once their Hollywood headquarters are re-furbished in the former Christie Hotel on Hollywood Blvd, they will vacate the Holly Theatre and I am told it could be converted into a restaurant and possibly a Hollywood Visitor Information Centre.

Oops! Sorry but my link above does not seem to be working. Guess you have to use the front door.

Was this the Academy Theatre where the 1948 (March 1949) awards were hosted by Robert Montgomery? My source is "The Viewers Guide to the Academy Awards" by Joseph Stewart, 1995. It just says Academy Theater, Hollywood.

I doubt it, simply because of its size... or lack thereof. The Holly was a VERY small theatre. During the two full years that I ran the theatre, (mid 1980s) I saw many movies at every movie theatre on Hollywood Blvd. The Holly Theatre was undoubtedly the smallest theatre of them all, both in terms of screen size and seating capacity. I can't imagine the Holly being capable of hosting the Academy Awards, even back in 1949. (But this is just an educated guess... I don't know one way or the other.)

The 1948 Academy Awards were presented at the Academy Award Theater located on Melrose Ave. It was AMPAS headquarters then and the only time the awards were presented there.

What was the name of this theater during 1953/1955?

It was called the Music Hall (Hollywood Music Hall), during that time.

I worked here just as Caligulia was ending its run. My managers were Lori Ham and Dewayne Stickney. I remember the projectionest crazy Steve too, I think he ran Caligulia too many times. :)
After Caligulia, we had, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Private Lessions, Escape From NY, Looker, The Night The LIghts Went Out In Gerogia,( there is a big Oscar picture ,LOL) For Your Eyes Only, to name a few, This theatre was a second run double feature house. It was ran by SRO, ( standing room only LOL !!!!!)
I think it sat approx. 450. The films came to us after opening in a first run house, and before it went to the VINE or the WORLD.
Those were the days , sure do miss them.
I was in Hollywood in July 2001, I could only find the space by address only, It has no recognizeable attractions to it today. It was a crappy little store that had 3 pairs of shoes in the window and a couple of cheap thongs on a rack in side for sale. Sad sad end to a fun theatre, even tho small. But the Egyptian 2 and 3 behind the Egypatian, were the smallest on the Boulevard.

Be Supreme....

Twistr54, did you work under Jim Sisk? Jim was the manager there, before I took over as manager, about 1983 or so. I'm almost positive Jim worked there during most of Caligula's run. In fact, I think I still have an old SRO newsletter article that Jim wrote, talking about Caligula, and the money it made.

Here's a pic of the building I took last year, in 2004:
www.edcollins.com/photos/holly-theatre-in-2004.jpg

Compare that photo with the one at the link posted by Manwithnoname in an earlier post:
www.edcollins.com/photos/early-holly-theatre.jpg

The upper floor window is about the only thing that remained the same!

Ed Collins

YES, Jim was the main manager, I couldnt remember his name, but then again it was him, :) and under Jim was Lori and Dewayne.

Ill look for my pics of the marquee.

Is this theatre still occupied by Scientology or has it been returned to some sort of respectable use?

From Loew's 1970 annual report:

"Another phase of the [Loew's theatre] growth program involves acquisition and modernization of existing properties, often in downtown areas. A representative acquisition during fiscal 1970 was the Loews Holly in Hollywood, California.

A five-week renovation period followed our acquisition of this theatre in June: During this time, the interior was completely refurnished and redecorated: new seats, a new curtain, new projection equipment, new air conditioning and new lounge facilities were installed. The exterior was given a totally new look by remodeling the boxoffice and reconstructing the marquee to contemporary standards."

The report includes a photo of the theatre exterior. The sign says LOEW'S HOLLY, even though the annual report says Loews Holly; apparently this company has trouble deciding whether its name contains an apostrophe or not. On the marquee is a double feature of GETTING STRAIGHT - Also "MEDIUM COOL".

Hey Ed Collins, it's Mike Lancaster. I stumbled on this site while looking up info about "Caligula" for my bad movie awards site, www.thestinkers.com

I have a few memories of the Holly, and especially that psycho projectionist Stephen Gates (originally known as John Oblinger). Is he still alive? If so, where is he now? He was so funny. He had such a bad reputation as an oddball -- OK, let's call him eccentric. I remember his solution was to no longer go by the name John Oblinger. He legally changed his name. I guess he figured that if he changed his name that would automatically change people's opinions about him. Kind of like cleaning the slate. It didn't and he continued to act weird. The guy was a legend.

As the assistant manager of the Paramount from 1981-1983 I remember that the Holly cross-plugged everything we ran. So we had to send them trailers that had been running for a while as "coming soon." Gates would get really upset when he discovered that our projectionist (the ultra cool Bob Selig) would snip off those ugly green (sometimes red) bands that say, "This preview has been approved for all audiences...". Gates would demand that they be put back on. This was an argument that erupted every time the Paramount sent the Holly a trailer.

Gates would spend a lot of his time in the projection booth typing memos on an old typewriter. He would sign his memos as being from the "Projection Department" at the Holly. Ha ha ha. What a wacko. He was on a one-man crusade to get SRO to adopt his policy that no trailer was to be shown without the green or red bands. When SRO laughed him off, he demanded that I be reprimanded because I was not adhering to HIS policy at the Holly. He would routinely refuse to accept trailers and return them to us and demand new ones. We refused to play his game. SRO sided with us and told him to run what we gave him. He then tried to get the projectionist union involved by demanding sanctions be placed against Bob for "destroying film." When that failed, he sent mail to the M.P.A.A. about our projectionist tampering with and destroying copyrighted material. We know all of this because he made carbon copies of everything and mailed them to us! I wish now that we had kept them, but they were trashed as soon as they were read. This guy had way too much time on his hands.

I remember that one week he decided to claim that I had stolen a trailer. I'll never forget this. It was Pia Zadora’s film "Butterfly." Of course, I didn't do it. And I have no knowledge of anyone who was involved, directly or otherwise. And anyone who remembers Gates knows that lack of pesky things like "proof" and "evidence" never stopped him from accusing people of wrongdoing. A few months after the movie ran at the Holly, National Screen Service was trying to bill the Holly for the lost trailer. Ed, you or whomever the manager was, brought this matter to Gates' attention and he exploded. It was a simple case of the trailer being left out with film cans at the Paramount (a weekly occurance) and the trailer somehow not being logged in at National Screen Service. I think it was probably a $10 charge. But Gates wanted blood. He accused our whole operation of being slipshod because we didn't track the whereabouts of that trailer from the moment it came in to the building to the moment it left.

We had no problem paying for the lost item -- and really, the money to pay for it came from the same SRO bank account regardless of whether the Paramount or Holly paid for it. But in Gates' warped mind, the whole episode was a sinister conspiracy plot to have the Holly pay the $10 and make him look bad. Weird.

Even though I worked down the street from him it was hard to steer clear of this clown. He had a bug up his ass 24/7. He seemed to have a vendetta against anyone that didn't agree with him. If you crossed him, you would be subjected to what we called “Memo Wars.” Ed, I don't know how you could stand working with him.

As for the Holly, I distinctly remember that after the year-long run of "Caligula" SRO was eager to find a new booking. They attempted to book a Disney double feature and Disney freaked! They refused to allow the booking because, in their eyes, the Holly was now "tainted" as a porno house, akin to the one across the street where you and I saw "Deep Throat" and "The Devil in Miss Jones."

One day I'll write a book about my movie theater experiences. "Telephone, telegraph, tell Keg Cory!" Those were awesome years.

Mike: Barton is looking for you.

I just e-mailed him. This wouldn't be the infamous Mr. Rogers would it? How's the movie biz in NYC?

I'm having the time of my live, running all the sxxt that Hollywood has to offer. What's new?

e-mail me at mikelancasterghs@adelphia.net so we can take the conversation out of the forum.

I worked here in 1981(left late Jan. of 1982.), crazy theatre, crazy projectionest, and Caligula on its last 2 weeks, soon we would be a second run double feature, I remember THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA ( I think that was the only place it played), LOOKER, RICH AND FAMOUS,RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.
, ESCAPE FROM NY, and many others.
I worked with asst. managers Lori Ham and Dewayne Stickney, and I think the head manager's name was Jim.
And reading the previous comments on Steve the projectionest, its all true, he was/is psycho.
I used to go to the Paramount, now the El Capatian, sit in the closed balcony, watch French Lts. Woman,( and many others ) eating Burger King . Now, those were the days.
The Holly was ran by SRO Sterling Rec. Org., we called it S#itty Release Org.( seemed we always got the crappy pictures, HEARTBEEPS with Bernadette Peters and Andy Kaufman opened at the Paramount, I dont think they even had 500 people the first week ) but SRO liked to be referred to as Standing Room Only,,, All the time I worked at the Holly, there was NEVER anything close to a sell out.(Nor at the Paramount then, even then (81) there was talk of the Paramount building to go down, Im so glad it didnt, I was at the ElCapatian in 2001. Im glad someone saved this Boulevard gem.

I was in Hollywood in July 2001, and a store was in place of the former Holly, no visible traces of it being a theatre.

Cabaret playing in 1972
http://www.hollywoodphotographs.com/detail.asp?im=%2D1&cat=43&offset=128&ID=4198

I am looking at an old photo of the theater. The photograph was taken the week prior to May 16, 1938. The marqee says "GALA PREMIERE THU. NIGHT MAY 16 - DANIELLE DARRIEUX & JOHN LODER in HIS MAJESTY'S MISTRESS also TORPEDOED with H.B. WARNER"

I looked the debut film up and found it. It was renamed "KATIA" in everything I am reading, so perhaps the original title was a bit too spicy for the time. The theater in 1938 was called the ADMIRAL and the front of the building is fantastic art deco fantasy. On the left side of the lobby entrance is a "See's Candy" shop and on the right is a "Health Juice Bar".

The co-feature "Torpedoed" is dated 1937 and was renamed "Our Fighting Navy", probably around the time World War 2 started.

Now this is a story - and from the looks of it, 4 years in the making. I have been in the area, but never to these theatres.

A high school classmate who was looking at some theatre history stuff, tipped me off to this discussion. We are hosting a class reunion in '07 and John Oblinger was in the 1967 graduating class at Lake Forest High School, in Lake Forest, Illinois. We never knew him as Stephen Gates, but he is listed under that name in some alumni information. And from the discussion, it sounds like he just might have some "ice breaking" stories to tell his classmates.

Judging by the span between some of these posts, I won't hold my breath. But, if anyone knows how to contact him, please let me know.
Biff Thiele - GTOUSPL@aol.com or LFHSClassof67@aol.com

Yes, John Oblinger and Steve Gates are the same person. He worked as a projectionist with Local 150 in Los Angeles. But that was over 10 ten years ago. When there was a lot more union jobs as projectionist in theatres.

Here's an aerial view of the former Holly:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=pph7kr5453q0&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=6892022

Here is a photo of the Holly Theater from the Theatre Historical Society of America.

Wow, great find! It certainly don't look like that anymore when I past it the other week!

Hello Biff Thiele... from another LFHS grad (79). Have a great time at the reunion!

Wow... what a shame. The Studio Theatre was really cool looking with the horizontal banding and the awesome circular neon pattern in the marquee. Sad to see that wonderful deco bon-bon bit the dust to make way to build that grotesque faux-Mansard monstrosity with the oversized carriage lamp stuck on it. My god... what were they thinking?

6523 Hollywood Blvd. today:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdHollysite2.jpg

Here is an LA Times ad from February 1975:
http://tinyurl.com/ysqsh2

What sticks out in my mind from the "Caligula" era, was that the Holly was one of the few theaters chosen to run the pic exclusively. There was one theater in New York , one in San Francisco, and one in Chicago, I believe. Guccione refused to release it to video for at least the first 3 years of release , and needless to say, it caused a huge unrequited demand. Until of course the managers, ushers and sundry employees of the Holly staged a fake robbery of the 35mm projection print in order to let a fellow in the Valley make 3/4" video dupes. Rumour has it the Holly employees were payed over $80,000 by the video duplicator. Funny, most of them quit shirtly after this caper.

Just kidding....

I managed this theatre in 1971 and 72 and was a complete hoot! Being the small fry of the chain, we would get smaller films: "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever", "Harold and Maude", "Love Story" and actually got to premiere "The Last Picture Show". I was amazed how many people demanded a refund because it was black and white.

On occasion we were called upon to help out bigger openings at the "Paramount" (El Capitan) for "The Godfather", "The Cowboys" and so on, plus further afield at the "Baldwin" in Baldwin Hills for the opening of stinkers like "Cool Breeze".

The "Academy" was chopped into thirds with the "Holly" taking the middle slice. It wasn't evenly split and the center of the theatre was off kilter to the left a bit which necessitated putting (I think) five seats on the left side of the aisle and three on the right. There were shops installed on either side. To the left, was a jewelry shop that was regularly held up giving us front row seats to the SWAT team.

But them were the days, at night the sidewalks were a parade of hippies, pot, tourists, Hari Krishnas and old character actors. We were always changing hands and never for the better. During the "Kung-Fu" years, the "Holly" took a dreadful beating, with seats cut up and once the drapes set ablaze. For awhile we tried "Adult Films" like "The Eroticon" and sister theatre "The Century" became a gay house.

The Manager's office was in the basement.

José the projectionist was from Argentina and ever so clever. He had a television rigged inside of an old speaker box on the wall. By opening the front of the speaker box, the TV would come on. Should anyone open the projection room door, the speaker box would close and TV turn off, thus management never caught him watching TV.

After I left, the theatre had a gala celebration for the 25th Anniversary of "War of the Worlds" and "When Worlds Collide".

Here is a 1954 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/yqxpk9

Do you guys remember an usher by the name of Jerri Hovey who worked there during the Caligula years? And there was another unsher there, I think the popcorn girl,Patti, Patty? She looked like a model.They had some hot girls there at that time.

Here are photos of the Studio and Colony:
http://tinyurl.com/38bxbo
http://tinyurl.com/39lpm9

I always hated these Mansard roof facades. It seems many theaters were "modernized" with these in the 60s. Yuck!!!

The former Holly can be seen in the background in these two 1992 photos from the LAPL:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045163.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics47/00043452.jpg

Here are some October 2008 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/4xtbwd
http://tinyurl.com/3jkszy
http://tinyurl.com/4a22sb
http://tinyurl.com/3q8n4p

I loved working at this theatre, and the Paramount (El Cap) also.

John Oblinger or Steve Gates, what happened to him? Did one of you guys pop him? hehehehe

Has anyone noticed that the Scientologists now own at least a half dozen buildings in Hollywood, some of them quite large? They must be doing OK.

I guess that they got my donation.

Here are some early 1930s views from the UCLA collection:
http://tinyurl.com/98q3hh

As a kid,i saw "Bugsy Malone" and "The Big Bus" as a double feature in 1976 at the Holly.

It looks like the theater has always occupied the right or east side of the building, with retail or some other enterprise on the west side. This is despite the fact that one building has always encompassed both businesses.

Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cogzd6

Aside from the theater looking much more run down today, it hasn't changed all that much.

Here is a January 1939 ad for the Colony from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/ntn524