Hollywood Theatre
6764 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6764 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
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Showing 76 - 98 of 98 comments
Thanks – I’ll look them up now.
The Admiral is listed as the Vine Theatre and the Academy is listed as the Holly Theatre on this site.
The other two “budget” theaters on the boulevard that no one has mentioned were the Admiral and the Academy, both on the north side of the street close to Vine (one is still there and goes by the name The Vine). If you want to see the Hollywood in all its 70s glory, rent the DVD of The First Nudie Musical and watch the musical number, The Lights and The Smiles, part of which was shot outside the Hollywood (you also get a great view of The Pix, which was across from the Pantages.
1938, from the LA Library:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014704.jpg
Thanks for the pictures of the theatre Robert. Since my friends and I worked there for quite a while,we look forward to spotting a familar face or two or perhaps a faded memory.
A great pic here
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A great pic here
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A great pic here
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Most of my ads are from New York but here is one from an American International double bill playing the Hollywood.
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The Hollywood was a kind of dumpy picture show while I lived there in 1953/55, but was open all night. I saw “On the waterfront” in 1954/5 after working the 2nd shift at a Standerd Station nearby.
Of all the shows on the blvd, it was the last choice for second run pictures. However further down the street was a late nighter called the “News-View” that only showed news reels. Later in 1953 because of of up and coming television competition it started to show 3rd rate movies and I noticed a change in the name by dropping the “S” and the dash to read “New View”.At the time I thought it was very clever.
Thanks for the picture of the theatre during the early eighties.Anyone have ANY pictures-either inside or outside the theatre during the late sixties or early seventies?
Here is the Hollywood playing Chariots of Fire.
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my friends and I worked at the theater during the late sixties and throughout most of the seventies. I remember working till close at 5 in the morning;the blvd. regulars; the drug scene; the hidden room above the stage; the friends ;the managers; the old ticket booth;watching the christmas parade from atop the roof;looking for wallets between the seats after we closed;the metal light fixtures that hung on the walls going down the aisles were with red bulbs for warmth in the winter and blue in the summer
This place has memories for me because I saw “Star Wars” here for the very first time, during it’s brief, controversial move-over engagement. The 70mm six-track Dolby Stereo sound was impressive. In 1982, “Blade Runner” opened here, also in 70mm.
Not much was left after Mann Theatres did the conversion back in 1977 to move-over “Star Wars” from the Chinese. And when they did the conversion to become the museum. All that left is the marquee.
The real budget houses on Hollywood Blvd. were the World Theatre, New View (Ritz), Vine. The Hollywood Theatre did do a grind house policy during the 70’s., when it was part of the National General chain.
I went to this theater about 5 years ago (as the Guiness Museum of course). I don’t remember what if any ornamentation of the interior survive the conversion, if anything.
Does anything of the interior survive? Was it gutted or just covered if it is not visable?
Wondering if this is the theatre that had the dollar movies in the 70’s. I went to college at Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood (no longer there now) in 1971 and remember attending a theatre inexpensively once in awhile to break the monotony of working full time and going to school full time. I only lived there for less than a year, transferring to a Kansas college, so didn’t remember the name of the theatre, but this looks like what I remember.
It used to be a bear getting into the projection room. You had to slide around a beam to get into it.
The theatres address is 6764 Hollywood Blvd..
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.
The Hollywood Theatre got a remodel in 1927 and another remodel by S. Charles Lee in 1936 and would stay like that till it’s final remodel in 1977. Before closing in the early 90’s to become the Guinness Book of World Records.
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”.
I worked at this theatre in the early 70’s. It was nice to see that the marquee. However the ceiling light bulbs used to go back a lot farther. When National General sold it to Mann’s they remodeled and tore out a stand alone box office and enclosed all that area into a lobby.