Hollywood Theatre

Thanks Ron.

Yes, it was. It was located across from the west wall of the Navy Yard. Every building there was demolished in the late-1940s for the right-of-way for the approach to the south end of the Mystic River Bridge (Tobin Bridge). The Hollywood was supposedly built in 1929. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for the Hollywood has an exterior photo dated March 1941. The entrance was in the middle of a commercial building at least 2 stories high. There was a rectangular marquee with “Hollywood” in big bulbed letters on the front. Under the marquee was a centered ticket booth; with narrow poster cases on either side of the entrance. A metal grate has been drawn across the entrance. To the left of the entrance is Blackie’s Locker Hall, open 24 hours. These locker facilities were very common near the gates of Navy bases; the sailors used them to store their belongings. The Hollywood Theatre undoubtedly drew much of its patronage from the sailors and marines at the base. Somewhere I heard that toward the end of its existence, it was only open on weekends.