Tele-View / Hitching Post / Paris Theatre

6262 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028  | map |

Opened: November 9, 1938 as the Tele-View Theatre. It was a project of "eastern theatreman" Arthur Klein, who planned on opening a string of newsreel houses. It was a remodel of an existing building. In 1941 it was renamed the Hitching Post and went to a policy of all westerns. Thanks to Bill Sasser for sharing this detail from a 1946 postcard on Cinema Treasures. The theatre ended up as a foreign film house called the Paris. 

Seating: 350 

 

The L.A. Times covered the opening with this November 10, 1938 article. 

 

It was even approved by the PTA. This article was in the May 28, 1939 issue of the Times.

A June 1939 ad in the Times calling it the News - Reel. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the find -- it's down at the bottom of a much larger ad for "Maisie" that he posted for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.

A 1939 L.A. Times article. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it. 

 

 

 

Chaplin and others attended regularly. This article appeared in the August 2, 1939 issue of the Times. The theatre didn't make it into the 1939 city directory. 

 

 

"One Hour -- Complete Show." It's a January 7, 1940 listing in the Times. The Marcal had a later life as the World Theatre. The Regal was a recently opened house later known as the Studio Theatre. The Colony was later known as the Holly Theatre.

 

An expansion occurred in May 1940 when the Tele-View team also took over operation of the News-View Theatre at 6656 Hollywood Blvd. After its newsreel days were over, the News-View would then be known as the New View and, later, as the Pussycat and Ritz. 

  

 

A May 29, 1940 ad. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the research.

 

A June 1940 ad from the Hollywood Citizen-News. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this one for a post for the Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. 

 

 

A June 18, 1940 ad located by Ken. 

Beginning November 9, 1940 this initial Hollywood newsreel house at Hollywood and Vine wasn't running newsreels anymore. Their programming shifted to revivals and foreign films with the theatre being advertised as the Tele-View Revival. 

 

In addition to regular 35mm houses occasionally offering older films, there were a number of locations in the 40s and into the 50s running silent films, usually on 16mm. See our 16mm Revival Theatres page for a survey of those venues. 

 

A January 1941 Hollywood Citizen-News article about "M" coming to the Tele-View. 

 

January 1941 ads in the Citizen-News for the Tele-View and other Hollywood area independent theatres. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating these two 1941 items for a Facebook post on Ken's Movie Page. In the lower right note the ad for The Movie Parade, a short-lived 16mm revival operation that was on Highland, just north of Hollywood Blvd. 

Soon the Tele-View was renamed the Hitching Post. An L.A. Times article from January 20, 1941 located by Ken McIntyre noted:

"Hollywood's only western theater will open Friday night when the Hitching Post, formerly the Tele-View, holds a colorful pioneer parade and premiere, in which stars of the western screen will participate. The name Tele-View will again be used in conjunction with newsreels at the News-View Theater. 

 

"The Hitching Post, located at Hollywood and Vine, has signed contracts with Republic and other western producers for their pictures. Friday night's opening will be 'Melody Ranch,' starring Gene Autry, Ann Miller, Jimmy Durante and Barbara Allen."

"Melody Ranch" was a November 1940 release. As the Hitching Post, it ran double feature westerns. You had to check your cap gun in the lobby. The News-View Theatre mentioned in the article that was going to start using the Tele-View brand was, of course, the house up the street at 6656 Hollywood Blvd., the later New-View / Pussycat.

As the Hitching Post it was operated by ABC Theatres, a local circuit owned by Buddy Adler, Horace Boos and Gregory Carter -- no relation to the later national circuit known as ABC Paramount.

In the 1942 city directory, it's just listed as the Western Theatre. This was one of at least three theatres that were called Hitching Post. Others were in Santa Monica (renamed the Riviera in 1950) and Beverly Hills (renamed the Canon in 1947, later known as the Beverly Canon). 

A Boxoffice magazine article in the December 7, 1946 issue stated that there were five Hitching Post Theatres including venues in Pasadena and Long Beach. A search of city directories comes up with nothing in either city. Long Beach did have a theatre devoted, for a time anyway, to westerns called the Wigwam (later renamed the Victor) but that era was long before the Hitching Post chain.

 

 

An item about bookings from July 18, 1947. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating it for a 2023 thread about the Hitching Post theatres for the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.  

 

 

"Prairie Express" and "The Man From Utah." It's a November 29, 1947 ad located by Ken. 

 

"Sunset in Eldorado" and "Stage to Mesa City." It's a February 1948 listing from the Times. 

 

A January 1949 ABC Theatres ad in the Hollywood Citizen-News. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this for a thread about Hollywood newsreel theatres for the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. Ken noted that the "Winter Blitz Hits West" had meant snow in downtown Los Angeles.

In November 1949 this one in Hollywood got rebranded as an art house called the Paris and reopened with the British film "Passport to Pimlico." Here it's in the third week of the run. The Canon is the former Hitching Post in Beverly Hills. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the ad for a post for Photos of Los Angeles.

A 1950 Times ad for the Paris and the Canon. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the ad for a post for the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook group. 

 

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this 1950 Times ad for the Paris for a Photos of Los Angeles post. 

A February 25, 1951 ad located by Ken McIntyre for another post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.

A 1951 Times ad. Thanks to Ken for posting it on Photos of Los Angeles.

The theatre closed later in 1951. With a reopening, it turned to more risque product. An item in the December 20, 1951 Times located by Ken McIntyre noted: 

 

"Sally Forrest will be unhappy to learn that her early film 'The Daring Miss Jones' will re-open the Paris theater on Hollywood boulevard. This was the movie in which Sally dashed through a forest in scanties."

Top quality product playing in 1952: "Isle of Forbidden Love" and "Rape of Innocents." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for the Times listings.

Status: It was running at least into 1953. The building it was in has been demolished. The site was later used for a burger and hot dog stand called The Dog House. It makes an appearance in the 1988 movie "Salsa." Everything on the block with the exception of the Taft Building was demolished in 1992.

The site is now part of the W Hotel development. The entrance to the Red Line station is about where the Hitching Post once was.

 

1936 - A pre-Tele-View look look west toward Hollywood and Vine from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The photo also appears in the Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their #HB-181. 

 

1936 - A detail from the previous photo. When the theatre did arrive several years later it was in the building just beyond the streetlamp. Also see a 1936 view of the block on the USC Digital Library website from the California Historical Society. At the time, the building that would become the theatre was occupied by Pulver Used Cars.

c.1939 - Down the street, this side of the Taft Building, the vertical sign for the Tele-View Theatre can be seen. That's the Music Box on the left. This is one of over 800 images in the great book "The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History" by Gregory Paul Williams, available on Amazon. This photo is on page 190. There's a preview of the book to browse on Google Books. 

c.1940 - D.W. Griffith and Lillian Gish are attending a premiere at the Pantages. The Tele-View is seen across the street. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo.

1941 - A photo showing the first version of the Hitching Post's marquee. Thanks to Martin Turnbull, the author of the "Garden of Allah" novels, for locating this. He has it on his entertaining "Hollywood Places - F to O" page. You have to look down under the Ls -- he calls it the "Little Hitching Post."

Mr. Turnbull also has a blog post about the Hitching Post with the same photo. It also appears on page 225 of "The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History" by Gregory Paul Williams. That page appears in the Google Books preview for the book.

 

1942 - A photo by Waldemar Sievers with the Hitching Post on the left hiding behind Santa. The Pantages was running "Nightmare." Thanks to Phillip Cutler for locating this for a post on his Classic Hollywood/Los Angeles/SFV Facebook page. It can also be seen on the art poster sites Pixels and FineArtAmerica where they'll sell you a print or the image on a coffee mug. Glen Norman comments: "Non-illuminated Santas replaced the metal Christmas Trees for the war years 1942, 1943, and 1944. The street lights are also wearing their wartime Blackout/Dimout caps."

1943 - A look across the street at the Hitching Post -- here with a newer marquee. They were running "Canyon City" and "Along the Rio Grande." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on Photos of Los Angeles.

The photo also appears in the Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their #T-021-3. A cropped version appears on page 70 of the Arcadia Publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Marc Wanamaker. There's a preview to browse on Google Books.

 

1943 - A wider version of the view above. It's in the Historic Hollywood Photographs collection as their #HB-244. Thanks!

1944 - A view with the Abbott & Costello film "In Society," an August release, at the Pantages. It's a photo in the collection of Hollywood Heritage. Richard Adkins, president of the organization, notes that the photo was previously in the collection of ABC, once headquartered on Vine St. It was one of a number of items they were going to put in the trash that he rescued when he worked there.

1944 - A detail of the "All Western Theatre" from the Hollywood Heritage photo. It's a Texas double feature with Roy Rogers and Trigger in "Yellow Rose of Texas," a June release." The second feature was "West of Texas," a May 1943 release with Dave O'Brien and James Newill.

 

 

1944 - Jimmy Wakely and Carolina Cotton visit the theatre. Thanks to the All Movie Theatres Facebook page for sharing the image. They note that it comes from Carolina's daughter. "South of Santa Fe" was a February 1942 release with Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes and Linda Hayes. "Sheriff of Sundown" starred Allan Lane, Linda Stirling and Max Terhune. It was out in November 1944.  

 

1946 - A great postcard with "Heading West" and Thunder Town" at the Hitching Post. Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality found it on eBay and had it on his Noirish post #7262. Versions have also appeared on Facebook from Jon Haimowitz on Vintage Los Angeles and Ken McIntyre on Photos of Los Angeles.

1946 - An elegant shot from the Christmas season that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection showing the Hitching Post's marquee on the left. They're running "Rainbow Over Texas" with Roy Rogers. At the Pantages: "The Jolson Story."

1946 - A detail from the LAPL photo.

 

 

1947 - A Christmas view with the theatre running "Thunder Mountain," a June release, along with "Death Valley," out in August 1946. Thanks to Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality for spotting the negative for sale on eBay. He shared the image on Noirish post #56171.

1948 - A photo of the theatre from the amazing Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection.

1949 - A photo appearing on the Facebook page Great Movie Cowboys as a post from Billy Holcomb. He notes that the photo showing Rocky Lane and Cheryl Barnett Rogers in front of the theatre was from a magazine called Movie Album. The bill was Roy Rogers and Trigger in "Susanna Pass" along with Lane in "Frontier Investigator." Thanks to Woody Wise for spotting the photo for a share on his page All Movie Theatres.

1949 - The Hitching Post, over on the left with "HP" still on the facade, has given up on westerns and is running "The Facts of Love." Thanks to Martin Pal for including the photo with many other interesting Hollywood views in his Noirish Los Angeles post #50025. He notes that the film was originally released in the United Kingdom in 1945 with the title "29 Acacia Avenue." At the Pantages it's "Bride For Sale," a November release with Claudette Colbert, George Brent and Robert Young. It's a photo from the collection of Eric Lynxwiler that he's shared on Flickr. Thanks, Eric!

  

 

1950 - A view of the new Paris marquee seen during the Academy Awards. The awards were right across the street at the Pantages. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. 

 

1950 - The Paris is over there on the right in this June 27 Korean War shot by Loomis Dean. It's on Google's Life Photo collection. Ten of the Hollywood and Vine shots taken that day by Mr. Dean can also be seen on a Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook post by Scott Collette. The Pantages was running a reissue bill of "China Sky and "Valley of the Sun."

 

 

1951 - A photo taken during the Academy Awards at the Pantages. It's a Herald Examiner photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Note that the theatre's facade got extended upward a bit compared to the early 40s photos.

1951 - Another Herald Examiner photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection taken during the Academy Awards.

1951 - A September Examiner photo taken by Olmo that's in the USC Digital Library collection. The occasion was a firemen's parade on Hollywood Blvd. At the Paris that week you could see Merle Oberon in "Queen of the Damned." The letters "HP" are still evident above the marquee. Linked with this one are two other views of the event. Also see four additional shots taken at the time, all showing the Paris marquee.

1952/1953 - On the left the Paris is advertising the "First L.A. Showing" of something called "Venus of Paris" along with "Indiscretion." At the Pantages it's "Blackbeard the Pirate" with Robert Newton, Linda Darnell and William Bendix. It had its premiere at the Pantages December 24, 1952 and opened in New York the following day. Many thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection. 

 

1953 - There's a bit of the Paris on the left in this Academy Awards night view. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.  

 

 

1953 - The Paris marquee gets only a supporting role in this shot posted on the Elizabeth Taylor Archives Facebook page. Their caption: "Elizabeth, accompanied by the always dashing Michael Wilding, stops to sign an autograph for a young fan before entering the RKO Pantages Theater in Hollywood for the 25th Academy Awards ceremony on March 19, 1953. This was the first year the awards were televised."

1992 - A photo of the block taken by Jay More in February, shortly before demolition for construction of the W Hotel and Red Line station. That's Argyle on the left and the Taft Building on the right. The restaurant in the lot this side of the Taft where the Hitching Post had been was called The Dog House. It makes an appearance in the 1988 movie "Salsa."

 

The photo is featured in "Jay More Documenting Forgotten LA," a three+ minute video on YouTube from the Los Angeles Public Library that features photo collection librarian Wendy Horowitz discussing the Library's collection of thousands of Jay's photos. He and his daughter Danielle would read the Times looking for notifications of buildings about to be demolished and then run out to get the shots. Thanks to Lisa Kouza Braddock for locating the video. 

 

 

2019 - Looking west from Argyle toward Vine St. in search of the Hitching Post location. The W Hotel complex and the Metro station entrance have gobbled up all the space on the block except for the Taft Building. Photo: Bill Counter 

 

The Hitching Post in the Movies:

 

A look west toward Hollywood and Vine from "Hollywood Canteen" (Warner Bros., 1944). A banner for the Hitching Post can be seen in the lower left. Across the street the Pantages was running "Secret Command," a July 1944 release with Pat O'Brien and Carole Landis. The film, written and directed by Delmer Daves, features Joan Leslie, Bette Davis, John Garfield, the Andrews Sisters and dozens of other stars. The cinematography was by Bert Glennon. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for a shot of the Canteen as well as a view of the film's opening at the Warner Hollywood. 

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page for lots of stories. 

On the same block: Pantages    A block east: Music Box / Fonda Theatre

 

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