The Hohman Theater
Hammond, Indiana 
5311 S Hohman Avenue
    

 
What's playing at the Hohman Theater in 1937 ?

Thanks to HHS '59 Classmate Arnold Kunert, now an award winning Hollywood movie producer living in California, two 1937 films on the Hohman Avenue marquee were quite entertaining and had a list of Hollywood actors who were well known at the time. Arnold writes:

“23 ˝ Hours Leave” (1937) starred Arthur Lake, who, one year later, would begin playing Dagwood Bumstead in a series of low-budget, but very successful, films based on the “Blondie” comic strip character.  Lake played Dagwood from 1938 until 1950.  A few years later, he played Dagwood in 17 TV episodes, but by then the popularity of the films had worn off.  The woman who played Blondie in all of the feature films was Penny Singleton.

 In the early 1960s, Penny did the voice for Jane Jetson in the Hanna-Barbera animated series, “The Jetsons.” 

I met Penny when I was producing my one-hour documentary about Daws Butler, who, among other things, was the voice of Elroy Jetson.  Daws put me in touch with Penny and she did a lovely interview for me.  Penny did not work with Arthur Lake on the TV version of “Blondie.”  By then, she was busy with many other projects.

“Sweethearts of the Navy,” also 1937, was even more modestly-budgeted than “23 ˝ Hours Leave.”  In fact, the only name in the cast I recognized was Ray Teal, who wasn’t even listed in the film’s credits onscreen.  Ray Teal is best known to HHS grads as Sheriff Roy Coffee on “Bonanza.”  Teal played Coffee in 96 episodes from 1960-1972, and apparently had a great time.

I have no idea when the Hohman Theater closed its doors, but I vividly remember seeing a very low-budget science-fiction film called “Flight to Mars” in 1951.  Other than that, I have no other memories of the old palace, so it may have gone out of business a year or two later.

All the best,

Arnold Kunert
HHS '59


 

  

 

The Hohman Theater sought to cash in on the popularity of movie houses in Hammond. However, running second and third rate movies did not create demand at the box office.  

Here is another one of the popular movies in the Blondie series. It reveals the style and character of American life as seen by the celluloid industry in 1938.

 
Let's go inside and watch a movie!


The history of the Hohman Theater was short lived and in the only other image we could find, the Hohman Theater was hosting the Swift Cooking School and giving away a free Universal Gas Range. Notice that housewives are lined up to the corner. The exterior of the building has a new facade.

          
                                                                                                                      

 

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  Hohman - 1930s   Hohman - 1940s   Hohman - 1950s   Hohman - 1960s  

These images and the web pages are maintained by Richard Barnes, HHS'59.

Visit us for more pictures and history of Hammond, Indiana at
www.hhs59.com
email us at:
hhs59@yahoo.com

 

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