and the 51st Street entrance for legitimate productions. Abbott's play Sweet River opened that October and closed after just five performances. The 51st Street Theatre reverted to film in 1937; Warner Bros. planned to either host its own films or rent the theater out for screenings. The Hollywood Theatre name was restored in August 1937 with the screening of The Life of Emile Zola, the first premiere at the theater since A Midsummer Night's Dream. Further films followed until October 1938, when another live production opened, the Gilbert and Sullivan-themed musical Knights of Song. This was followed by the 1939 edition of George White's Scandals, a transfer from the Alvin Theatre, which ran for a month at the Hollywood. In 1940, the theater was again renamed the 51st Street Theatre, presenting a revival of Romeo and Juliet with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier that May. Though the play had been highly promoted, it ran for only 36 performances. This was followed in October 1940 by a three-week performance by the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, then in November by performances from Colonel Wassily de Basil's Original Ballet Russe. The theater reverted to the Hollywood Theatre name and again began showing films. A renovation of the Hollywood Theatre was announced in mid-1941, when Eddie Cantor's musical Banjo Eyes was booked. Banjo Eyes opened in December 1941 and ran for 129 performances, ultimately closing after Cantor became ill. Following Banjo Eyes, the Hollywood returned to showing films exclusively for several years. The film Casablanca, which subsequently became a hit and a classic, premiered at the Hollywood in 1942. Among the films screened at the Hollywood in the mid-1940s were This Is the Army (1943), Old Acquaintance (1943), The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), The Corn is Green (1945), and Night and Day (1946). The Hollywood Theatre became the Warner Theatre in August 1947 with the premiere of the film Life with Father. Mark Hellinger Theatre Late 1940s and 1950s Wealthy producer Anthony Brady Farrell agreed to purchase the Warner Theatre in June 1948 for about $1.5 million; the sale was finalized the next month. Farrell planned to rename the theater for Mark Hellinger, a Broadway journalist and critic who had died the year before, and he proposed renovating the theater for legitimate plays and musicals. The theater was dedicated under its new name on January 16, 1949, and Farrell's musical All for Love