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.
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.
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:
"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).
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.
A February 25, 1951 ad located by Ken McIntyre for another post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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!
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.
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:
More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page for lots of stories.
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