Hollywood Heritage

Vancouver's venerable Hollywood Theatre is closing this Sunday, May 29--which, depending on when you read this, is either tomorrow, today or yesterday (almost the title of a Vittorio De Sica Sophia Loren-Marcello Mastroianni film).

The Hollywood has been screening films (in the past thirty years or so, well-chosen double bills) for more than three-quarters of a century. It was opened by the Fairleigh family in 1935, and the Fairleigh family has run it ever since. The Art Deco design was the work of architect Harold Cullerene, and its neon sign has brightened West Broadway for more than seven decades. 

Dwindling audiences have forced the Fairleighs to turn off the projector, but the Hollywood will go out in style Sunday evening, with a Buster Keaton short, a silent movie pianist, and the film "Cinema Paradiso," which is an homage to movie houses of the 1930s. 

Now here is what the Pointless Digressions crew thinks: the Hollywood should be declared a heritage site, and turned into a centre for film studies. Its basic library should be formed by the acquisition of the extraordinary collection of Videomatica films, covering all film-making countries and reaching back to the earliest days of what were once called the flicks.  

Probably this will be another excellent idea of PD ignored by decision makers, but hey, it's out there. Add your voice.  And see you at the Hollywood Sunday night.