The Day the Movies Died

"Sixty Years of Movie Magic" reads the headline of the Oct. 4, 1995 newspaper clip on the wall commemorating the Hollywood Theater's anniversary and its venerated status as a neighborhood landmark.

"It was an epitath," said Larry Bell, the theater's manager. "Within 11 days it was all gone."

For many who lived in Arbutus, the Oct. 15 Hollywood Theater fire sixteen years ago was a shocking loss.

"When the 60-year-old Hollywood Theater in Arbutus burned Sunday, scores of residents came to watch, many of them in tears," the Baltimore Sun reported at the time. "The Hollywood was more than a building, they say. It was an old friend and a monument to the close-knit community."

For Bell, who lived in an apartment above the movie house, the fire was personal as well. Bell lost his home, all of his possessions except for the clothing on his back, and his job.

"That's when my nightmare began," he said. "I lost my home. I lost my theater. I lost everything."

Bell was at home with his girlfriend when the fire began. At around 5 p.m. he noticed a swirl of smoke curling from beneath his livingroom rug.

"By the time we got out, the theater was filled with smoke," he recalled. "When I opened the theater's door to get outside, it snapped off in my hand."

Fueled by the dry circa-1935 wood from which the movie house weas constructed, the fire raged into an inferno that consumed the building.

Clem Kaikis, owner of Paul's Restaurant next door to the Hollywood, was summoned to Arbutus by a frantic phone call from his wife.

"When I turned off Southwestern Boulevard onto Sulphur Spring, you couldn't see a thing because of the smoke," he said.

Hearts sank as the Hollywood's massive marquee fell to the sidewalk. "When the marquee fell, the noise was like an atom bomb going off in downtown Arbutus," Kaikis said.

The north wall of the Hollywood collapsed on Paul's. "About a third of the restraurant was destroyed," said Kaikis. "And then there was the water damage."

Aside from destroying the Hollywood, the fire took out Paul's Restaurant, and the pharmacy and jewelry shop that were on the other side of the theater. "The fire was catastrophic for the community," said Kaikis.

As the pile of rubble smouldered for two days, locals took bricks from the old Hollywood to keep as mementos.

Arbutus was without a movie theater for more than a year. The Hollywood Theater was rebuilt, and continues to live up to its landmark status as the last remaining neighborhood movie theater in Baltimore County.

Despite the rising popularity of DVDs and streaming movies, Bell said that attendance at the Hollywood keeps the business afloat.

"We still have a good following," Bell said. "Attendance is up this year."

Paul's was rebuilt as well, with an extension to the restaurant in the year and a streetscaped sidewalk in front.

Walking along the sidewalk today, it's hard to envision the block of Arbutus as it used to be. A new generation has come along with no first-hand memory of the old Hollywood Theater.

But those who witnessed the fire will never forget.