Paris Theatre
6262 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6262 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
7 people
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Showing 26 - 47 of 47 comments
In true Hollywood fashion, the site of the former Hitching Post Theater is changing once again. The entrance to the subway station stairs remain, but the W hotel is currently in construction.
Here is the link to the CinemaTreasures page for the Santa Monica Hitching Post Theatre:
/theaters/2384/
Can you offer any info about it William?
Yes there was a theatre called the Hitching Post in Santa Monica.
Were there two Hitching Post theaters? Because my memory places it in Santa Monica in the late 40’s, and yes indeed it had an actual ‘hitching post’ out in front.
The site of the Hitiching Post is no longer a vacant lot, but is now the plaza for the Hollywood & Vine Red Line station.
The Hitching Post Theatre is not listed in the 1941 edition of Film Daily Yearbook, but it is listed in the 1943 edition
Does anyone know the exact year the “The Hitching Post” opened? I went there with my brother I thought in the early 1940s when I was 5,6,7.Thought We saw William Boyd in Hopalong cassiday but that might have been on TV.
An expanded view of the photo at the top of the page:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics21/00030124.jpg
There is an awesome photo on this site for sale of this theatre.
View link
Howdy to all…and thanks for sharing your memories regarding The Hitching Post Theater. Although I spent hundreds of hours in various hometown theaters, I only learned about The Hitching Post a few years ago while reading a book titled; Saturday Afternoon at the Movies. They had a photo and the Marquee displayed 8 Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson in Wild Horse Stampede and Gene Autry in Ride Tenderfoot Ride. I thought, that has to be the greatest name I have ever heard for a theater that shows westerns. The Statler Brothers told the story the best with their song The Strand. The Strand stood for all of the hometown theaters that all of us Buckaroos attended every Saturday. My personal favorite was the Superba in Denison, Texas…that was my hitching post. Why didn’t someone save The Hitching Post in Hollywood…what a shame. Thanks again Pardners for talking about this great movie house.
Doug Bruton, Denison, Texas
According to the latest Filmfax Magazine, the “bad film” Plan Nine From Outer Space premiered here. That would have been in 1959.
I believe this building was torn down in early 1953. A theater was being demolished east of Vine on the south side of Hollywood Blvd when I first moved there in 53.
The Hitching Post Theatre, Hollywood. operated from the mid 1940’s until the mid-1950’s. Film Daily Yearbooks give a seating capacity of 400.
Children were encouraged to attend the Saturday morning performances wearing their cowboy outfits, but had to check-in their cap pistols in the lobby.
There is a great photo of the kids in their outfits queuing up to enter the theatre. On the marquee the attractions are; Charles Starrett in “Outlaws of the Rockies” plus “Indian Agent” with Tim Holt. A notice on the box office window states ‘Guns must be checked inside’.
The site of the theatre, directly across from the Hollywood Pantages Theater is now the open piazza which leads to the Red-Line Metro station.
The Mirth which became Milwaukee’s Hitching Post had admission prices were much higher than the other theaters which also regulary showed cowboy films. That is probably the reason that Milwaukee"s Hitching Post did not catch on.
The Hitching Post theater in Milwaukee lasted for only for a short time.
Fox Wisconsin Amusement Corp which owned the Mirth never bothered to change the name on the marquee or add any cowboy features to the decor. Within a month or two the Mirth was the Mirth again showing regular Hollywood features
At the Pearl, Grace, Park, Midget or Mozart in Milwaukee theaters which always had coboy pictures,whenever Andy Clyde came on the screen the audience cheered.
Was he as funny as he was in the movies when he had the job of scout master?
I wrote a short story about attending the Hitching Post Theater’s western movies when I was a kid growing up in Hollywood. We checked our cap guns at the candy stand before entering the theater. I remember the noise and popcorn bag throwing during the singing or “love scenes” between the cowboy star and the banker’s daughter on the front porch of their ranch house. I also remember the calm that came over the crowded theater when the shooting resumed and the good guys chased the bad guys. I also remember Andy Clyde as my Cub Scout Leader when I attended Cheremoya grammar school.
Morley J. Helfand
The Hitching Post Theatre seated 350 people.
The Hitching Post is a good moniker for a Westerns cinema, and the former MIRTH THEATRE in Milwaukee was known by the locals as the ‘Hitching Post’ during the 40s and 50s, according to the nearby local bank president recalling the days of his youth when he and his pals went there every Saturday matinee. I don’t know if there was a literal hitching post in front (though many of the older homes in the neighborhood had hitching rings cast into the pavement!) but it shows the favor of Westerns to the innocent youths of years ago.
This has got to be the second coolest movie theatre name I have ever seen! (The coolest was the Flicker Shack in Sedona, AZ.)
This opened a 10:00 am on Saturday Not only the two movies you got
a serial G-Men vs The Black Dragon ( Rod Cameron ) It gave you time
catch another flim on the Blvd. The seats slid back rather than lifting Not only the Hitching post out side you had to check your Six gun(The Texan or The Texan Jr.) cap guns at the box office
The Hitching Post Theatre had an actual hitching post out front along the curb. Westerns were shown; Bob Steele, early John Wayne, Gene Autry, and even Spade Cooley. The building was demolished way, way back (don’t have the date) and remained a parking lot next to a two-story bookshop (now long gone). A small theatre, it was cozy and you stuffed your face with popcorn, watching the action and shoot-outs on screen. In the photo above you can see the streetecar tracks along Hollywood Boulevarad. Just a couple doors west of the theatre was the intersection of Hollywood and Vine.