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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Hollywood Theatre (Portland, Oregon)
The Hollywood Theatre is a historic movie theater in northeast Portland, Oregon built in 1926. It is a central historical landmark of the Hollywood District, which is named after the theatre itself. The theatre is located at 4122 NE Sandy Blvd, and is operated by a non-profit organization. The Hollywood Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and is considered to be a gem of Northeast Portland's historic culture and tradition. It is the only theater in Oregon showing movies in 70mm film.

History

Commissioned by the theatre chain Jensen and Herberg as a companion to the Liberty Theater in Astoria, Oregon, architects Bennes and Herzog designed the building in multiple styles including Spanish Colonial Revival (exterior) and after the Baths of Caracalla and Bernini (interior). The theater opened on Saturday, July 17, 1926, with 1,491 seats, as a venue for vaudeville and silent movies.

The venue became a Cinerama theater in 1961, utilizing the ultra-widescreen process until 1963. It was still labelled a "Cinerama theater" until 1969, running exclusively 70-millimeter films. On June 13, 1968, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey opened, and ran for over 10 months.

In 1975, the theater was divided into three auditoriums, and ran second run films throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

The theater became a non-profit organization in 1997. Starting in 2011, major renovations were done, including new seats, screens, sound systems and an updated paint job. In 2013, a Kickstarter campaign raised the funds necessary to erect a new marquee, and in 2015, 70-millimeter capability was re-installed, making it the sole remaining theater in the state to have it.

The Hollywood Theatre currently screens first run films; along with a wide range of both well known and obscure classic cinema, offbeat exploitation, educational, independent and experimental films; with a focus of screening repertory films on 35-millimeter and 70-millimeter. The theater also has hosted many special guests since 2015, including Quentin Tarantino, Pam Grier, Michael Ironside, Piper Laurie and Joe Dante. The main auditorium has a 50-foot screen and 384 seats, while two smaller auditoriums are located upstairs, each seating 111.

The theater is self-owned and operated by a non-profit organization of the same name. Its mission is to preserve and maintain the historic theater and use it to present a diverse program of films.

Airport theater

In December 2015, Hollywood Theatre announced plans to open an annex theater in Portland International Airport. The theater will seat 18 with standing room for 10 to 20 people and also have space for live performances. The theatre will show short films no longer than 20 minutes and be free of charge. In mid-February 2017, it was reported that the airport "microcinema" would open on February 23 and have seating for 17 people.

Movie Madness

In 2017, the Hollywood Theatre purchased the iconic Portland video store Movie Madness, and its collection of over 90,000 movies.

  • Exterior at night with neon sign illuminated (2011)
    Exterior at night with neon sign illuminated (2011)
  • Lobby with chandelier
    Lobby with chandelier

References

  1. ^ "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 25, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Portland Historic Landmarks Commission (July 2010), Historic Landmarks -- Portland, Oregon (XLS), retrieved October 3, 2013.
  3. ^ Fitzgibbon, Joe. "Hollywood Theatre". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Portland State University. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  4. ^ Lacher, Gary; Stone, Steve (2009). Theatres of Portland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7385-7147-8.
  5. ^ "Hollywood Theatre Announces 70 mm Screening Series for the Final Week of 2023". Willamette Week. 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  6. ^ Brosseau, Carli (December 25, 2015). "Coming attractions: A miniature movie theater at PDX". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2017-03-24. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  7. ^ Wang, Amy (February 16, 2017). "New mini-cinema will show free movies at Portland International Airport". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  8. ^ "Movie Madness To Close? Not If The Hollywood Theatre Can Save It". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
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