Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

lay 10, 1930 Exhibitors Herald-World 27 ^Varners' New Hollywood in New York A notable addition to the playhouses on Broadway, built in memory of Sam Warner, who died at the dawn of Warner power 3 ROADWAY’S newest playhouse is a motion picture neatre named after the lain center of motion icture production. Erected and operated y Warner Brothers, he Hollywood stands at [roadway and 51st freet, extending back hrough a commercial milding deep into the lock. It was ceremoniusly opened by officials f Warner Brothers and ther celebrities of the iheatrical world, the vening of April 22, vith a Warner Brothrs picture, “Hold Everything,” as the inain screen attraction. Besides being a notable theatre in architecture and ilane of operation, the Hollywood is a monument to the n e m o r y of Sam Warner, mother of those who have jkchieved what he along with hem once sought. Sam Warier headed a Warner Brothers nuch more modest in its operadons than those it directs today. There was dire financial diffiiulty. Then came a “talking nachine synchronized with moion pictures.” Warner Brothers called it Vitaphone. Then Sam died. ... A plaque prominently displayed in a foyer of he Hollywood theatre dedicates this theatre to him. The Hollywood is not a large theatre, particularly in its seating eapacity, which is only 1,600. It therefore has an air of friendly intimacy that larger theatres, perforce, do not possess. The architecture of the exterior is of the usual modern American pattern for business buildings, with only three stories adjoining the street. The theatre itself, including its lobby, foyers and other chambers, is of French motifs, modern styles being used for most of the subordinate parts, and baroque being used for the auditorium. Patrons enter the Hollywood theatre on Broadway, through a lobby of French modernistic design, with mirrored walls enriched with bronze, marble and a plas An exterior view of the Hollywood, showing the main entrance on Broadway and a special exit on 51st Street. Also shown in the huge sign, which is reproduced in detail below. This sign is operated by a new system of lighting control. tic ceiling. Basically ultra-modern in design the lobby is yet subdued in treatment, creating a rather reposeful impression and connoting entire practicability. The lobby leads to an entrosole, which takes one into an oval rotunda, which serves as the grand foyer. In this foyer the decorations are in French baroque, which is the motif carried out, in the main, throughout the building. Engaged columns support great arches of the foyer and a gracefully winding stairway and magnificent marble fountain are blended into the mood of the period decorations. The ceiling reveals an exquisite mural re flecting again the atmosphere of the foyer and showing symbolically the arts and learning. The grand staircase winds to a mezzanine overlooking the grand foyer. On the promenade a restful atmosphere has been created, heightened by glimpses of beautiful appointments arranged in curved balconettes and along the decorative paneled walls. A colorful, soft glow emanates from lighting fixtures of delicate cast, while occasional pieces of period furniture embellish the decorative ensemble. From the grand foyer one descends a graceful marble stairway to a lounge. Here again the French baroque is the predominating note. This is an oval shaped room, aisled with a stately but not heavy marble collonade. At one side a great open fireplace is set and the furnishings are in keeping with the architecture. Off the lounge are elaborate retiring rooms. A women’s cosmetic room is decorated and furnished in the Louis XVI period. The women’s retiring room adjoins it. It has rather severe modernistic appointments. The men’s smoking and retiring rooms are plainer, yet they are richly done. The style of them is Spanish. The auditorium, which strikes one as being even smaller than it is because of the wealth of decoration, is extremely elegant in earlier French baroque styles. The floors are carpeted in a deep warm red, the seats are somewhat brighter, and the paneled walls are done in another shade of red, which blends with the balance of the decorations. The structure is flanked with columns, arches, architraves and decorative figures, while the curved walls reflect an abundance of detail in strength as well as beauty. The coloring is dull gold embellished with red and blue. Perhaps the most ornamental single