Hollywood Theatre

411 N. Liberty Street,
Winston-Salem, NC 27101

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: B & B Theatres, Blumenthal Circuit, Piedmont Amusement Co. Inc.

Previous Names: Elmont Theatre, Ideal Theatre

Nearby Theaters

Hollywood Theatre

The Elmont Theatre was opened in 1912. By 1923 it had been renamed Ideal Theatre. It was renamed Hollywood Theatre on April 6, 1934. Seating was listed at 595. One of many downtown houses in Winston-Salem. The theatre was operated by Blumenthal Circuit and later by B&B Theatres.

The Hollywood Theatre closed in the mid-1970’s.

Contributed by Chuck

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on April 9, 2011 at 3:37 am

If there was a Hollywood Theatre in the 500 block of Liberty Street, it couldn’t have had that name between 1934 and 1948, when there was a Hollywood Theatre in the 400 block of the same street.

Information accompanying this photo from the 1910s says that this house opened in 1912 as the Elmont Theatre, and was later known as the Ideal Theatre before becoming the Hollywood Theatre. It gives the address as 411 N. Liberty Street, and says that it burned in 1948.

Information with this photo showing the tile at the entrance, all that survived after demolition, says the house had become the Ideal in 1927 and the Hollywood in 1934.

Here is a 1940s photo (1946 movie on marquee) showing the Hollywood at right and the Colonial Theatre farther along the block.

I’ve been unable to find any references on the Internet to a theater in the 500 block of N. Liberty Street.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on August 11, 2013 at 12:52 pm

The FDY’s address had to have been wrong, Ken. Not only does the third photo I linked to in my previous comment show the Hollywood Theatre in the same block as the Colonial Theatre (at 427 N. Liberty), but the address 512 N.Liberty would be under the footprint of the large government building (probably the Post Office) which is on the northwest corner of 5th and Liberty, and looks like it was built no later than the 1930s.

The Hollywood Theatre was at 411 N. Liberty, and both it and the nearby Colonial Theatre have been demolished.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on November 24, 2022 at 10:01 pm

In the 1923 city directory, 411 N. Liberty is listed as the address of the Ideal Theatre. A July 7, 2013 article in the Winston-Salem Journal said that the Ideal had opened in 1912 as the Elmont Theatre. The article doesn’t give the years of the name changes, but the house was still listed as the Elmont in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 23, 2023 at 2:16 pm

Renamed Hollywood as announced on the stage on April 6th, 1934. Ad posted.

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