Hilan Theatre

During my 16 month stay in Atlanta (1964 and 65) I was able to attend this theatre only once. I saw a black and white film, “The Hill”, a good one, directed by Lumet and starring Sean Connery just after “Dr. No”, and Harry Andrews. It was not one of the movie palaces but it was a nice neighborhood theatre, just around the corner from the Plaza theatre.

check the top floor of the main branch of the fulton county library. you will have to look around a bit but there is a wealth of material there literally rotting away.

I worked there in the concession stand in 64. Remember popping popcorn in the bathtub upstairs and bring it downstairs. I also remember the candy was out in the open and had to watch people like hawks to keep them from stealing. Remember when Hard Days night played and sat up in the projection booth and watched the girls screaming. Also learned how to change reels and watch for the dots to appear. I Also worked a couple shifts at the Emory

I worked concession at the Hilan in 1964-5 while a senior at Bass High School in Little Five Points.
Previously I had worked at the Emory, and on occasion, I picked up shifts at the Rhodes. I remember
changing the marquee at the Hilan with my friend and fellow Bass student, Steve. We’d spread the letters out on the sidewalk, I’d hand them up to Steve who manned the ladder. It was always a challenge to find enough letters to do the job. Those things were duct taped and chipped, but didn’t look too bad up on the marquee. Pay for concession was .60 an hour.
I too remember the projectionist, Horace Biggers (couldn’t remember his first name until I read these
posts, but then I don’t think I ever knew his first name – everyone just called him “Biggers.”) Yes, he
was a character – always had some little construction project going. A big tall man and a nice guy.
Enjoyed the posts – great Atlanta Baby Boomer nostalgia. All you Storey alumnae, be sure to
check out the Emory and Rhodes on Cinema Treasures, too. Thanks all.

Here is a vintage movie ad
View link

1983 photo of the Hilan Theatre. In 1983 it was the Hilan Metro Community Church.
View link

This is a December 1937 ad for the Hilan Theater.

That makes sense, I went away to school in 1970 and lost track of the fate of a number of Atlanta movie theaters in the years that followed.

During the 1950’s, the Hilan Theatre in the Virginia-Highlands area was one of the nicer neighborhood theaters on Atlanta’s east side. When I was a boy, my father took me to the Hilan often, along with Plaza Theatre at 1083 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE; the Euclid at 1099 Euclid Avenue in Little Five Points; the Kirkwood Theatre at 1965 Boulevard Drive, SE in Kirkwood; the Madison at 496 Flat Shoals Road, SE in East Atlanta; the Ponce de Leon Theatre at 506 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE (near the intersection of Ponce de Leon and Monroe Drive); the Tenth Street Theatre at 990 Peachtree Road, NE (it once stood in front of the Margaret Mitchell residence); and the Techwood Theatre at 132 North Avenue, NW.

The only buildings still standing are the Hilan, Plaza (still in operation at this writing!), and the Madison (now being restored according to this site). The Hilan did stay in business through much of the 1960’s, but by that time the neighborhood theaters in Atlanta were losing business to the newer theaters in shopping centers.