Hollywood Theatre

DavidZornig on July 1, 2020 at 2:40 pm

Five August 1928 images and description added courtesy of bldg. 51 archive and Urban Remains. (Via Urban Remains Facebook page)

“finally beginning to digitize a massive pile of original 8 x 10 silver gelatin photographic prints of work done by the short-lived chicago architectural firm of graven and mayger (1927-28). i hope to have this project completed by the end of the month.

i’ve included a few images (interior and posterior) of detroit’s 3400-seat holywood theater completed in 1927. the theater was demolished in 1963 to make way for a parking lot."

chicago architects graven and mayger had apprenticed with noted theater architects c.w. rapp and g.l. rapp, whose chicago firm designed some 400 movie palaces across the country, starting in 1921 with the lavish french baroque chicago theater.

compared to rapp & rapp, the firm of graven & mayger was a flash in the pan. in a partnership spanning just 15 months in 1927-1928, the pair designed eight grand theaters across the country before finding their way to obscurity."

jamestv on November 4, 2015 at 5:59 pm

The Arkansas Theatre in Little Rock also never remodeled for Cinemascope—-Cinemascope and Panavision films were run letterboxed!

RDtoo on February 3, 2011 at 7:27 am

My father, Howard Denial, told me he managed this theatre. I suppose this would have been in the 1940s or 1950s. He would later manage the Wyandotte and Southland theatres. If anyone has any info on him at the Hollywood, I would be interested.

JohnMLauter on January 2, 2008 at 1:25 am

GWaterman—there is no evidence that the DETROIT Hollywood theatre ever became a burlesque house. It was a movie palace, its days in the sun were very brief due to the misfortune of its location, and it settled into life as a movie house quicker than its downtown rivals. We had Burley-Q theaters in Detroit, the Gayety being the most notable, but not the Hollywood.

johnlauter on April 1, 2006 at 4:11 am

I was wrong in the figure I quoted for what Henry Przybylski paid for the Hollywood Barton—It was $3,151.51, still a stragetic sum. Hank’s son Michael corrected me.

johnlauter on December 2, 2004 at 2:15 pm

Apparently—I trust Bryan Krefft, his information is usually solid. This would have limited the Hollwood to B-grade fare during the crucial post-television era where innovations like Widescreen (cinemascope) and 4 channel mag sound were in all the big houses—that showed all the big features. I still think that the Hollywood’s location was unfortunate, and that if they had built along Woodward, or perhaps Bagley they would have had so much more traffic. Given Detroit’s average, it might still be there if that were the case. There must have been a point reached sometime where the smaller audiences due to location affected the quality of product they could afford, which caused less attendance—a downward spiral.

johnlauter on December 2, 2004 at 5:33 am

The Hollywood was a fantastic theatre built in the wrong part of town. The developers (Ben & Lou Cohen) obviously were trying to escape high land costs in the central downtown area (where all the people and theatres are!) and instead built west of downtown in a highly industrial area. The business there never was what they had hoped, and the Hollwood limped along until the late 50’s. I'ts Barton organ was thought by the 20’s organists to be the second best theatre organ in Detroit, behind the Wurlitzer in the Broadway-Capitol. It is one of three of the largest “stock model” Bartons. Detroit theatre organ enthusast Roger Mumbrue played the Hollywood Barton many times over a 4 year period, and attests to it’s quality. The Late Henry Przybylski purchased the organ in a sealed bid auction (for $3551.51—a stratigic sum) before the theatre was demolished. It sat in storage in his basement, attic and garage for decades before being purchased from his widow. It is now owned by a private individual who wants to restore it and install it into a public venue. Henry took an amazing set of slides of the demolition of the Hollywood. I have seen his narrated show twice, and almost feel as though I have been there. The demolition was so problem ridden that it drove the first two contractors broke.