The Movie Goes to the Movies: Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood Boulevard (1976, Joe Dante & Allen Arkush)
The Gilmore Drive-In
Los Angeles, CA


"World premiere, huh?"
"Okay, so it played three days in Manila"

This month last year I posted this entry of The Movies Go to the Movies featuring a quick cutaway from Woody Allen's Annie Hall where House of Exorcism (the re-edited version of Mario Bava's Lisa and the Devil) is seen on a marquee. At the time I admitted I did not know which theatre it was. I do now. My problem was that I was looking for a indoor theatre, when the marquee was from a drive-in, The Gilmore Drive-In.


Joe Dante and Allen Arkush who were trailer editors for Roger Corman's New World Pictures, got an opportunity to make their debut film (not counting The Movie Orgy) when they promised Corman they could make the cheapest movie in his company's history. Armed with a $60,0000 budget and using the Corman archives' as frequent cutaway inserts, the directors sculpted a loving tribute and parody to the drive-in guru, featuring Corman regular Dick Miller as a stand-in for the producer, and a reimagined studio named Miracle Pictures ("If it's a good picture, it's a Miracle!")


The Gilmore Drive-in opened in 1948 as Drive-ins were becoming de rigour amongst the introduction of television. Located near the Fairfax Farmer's Market, the Gilmore stood until the late 1970's when it's valuable mid-City land led to it being razed for development. It's now the Disney-ish shopping mecca, The Grove.

Here's a nice bonus, list making blogger Rupert Pupkin got Joe Dante to contribute a list of 10 underrated horror films, and Dante as good of a drive-in authority as you can find.