Hollywood Theatre, La Crosse WI

John J. Friedl was the head of Minnesota Amusement Company, which was the theatre subsidiary of Paramount in MN, WI, ND and SD. This theatre was in that chain for a number of years, from inception. Liebenberg designed a lot of theatres for Paramount/Minnesota Amusement in the 1920s, 30s and many remodelings in the 40s and 50s. A few theatres were divested in the 1950s by decree, and some closed and others continued on. The early 50’s merger between Paramount theate chain and ABC created “AB-Paramount Theatres” and by 1968 the name was just ABC Theatres. This particular region was called ABC North Central Theatres, sold to Plitt in 1974. Friedl was of the 1930s and 40s; he had successors such as Harry French, Charles Winchell, etc. The “Minnesota Amusement Company” name was dropped around 1968, then “ABC Theatres” logo became to be used in the newspaper ads.