TCL Chinese Theatre

to Escott N.–

as always thank you for your reply. I just read the Wikipedia articles on both films and its still a bit confusing. the site states the 3 songs from The King and I were just recorded but never actually filmed which is confusing. I remember seeing a stills montage to go along with what Deborah Kerr and Marni Nixon recorded for “Shall I Tell…”. so if there are stills from “Shall I Tell….” doesn’t that indicate it was actually shot contradicting what Wikipedia says. i guess the definitive answer would come from Patrick Adriarte who played the King’s oldest son who is I believe the only major cast member of the film still alive.

also the Wikipedia article on Carousel is likewise confusing. it says the two songs i mentioned were left out of the release print of the film because Fox wanted to keep the film at 2hrs. 8mins. they don’t actually say the songs were never filmed which leads me to believe the two songs were in fact shot. I suppose the definitive answer to my query could be asked of Shirley Jones the only major cast member
of the film still alive.

Good question. A classic Wikipedia assumption is that the scenes were never filmed, but the comment is based on a NYTimes article which only says they are not included, not that they were never shot! Who knows, maybe they were shot and they will someday be located! http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0CE3D6143BE03ABC4151DFB066838D649EDE

There is precedent for this, with Wizard of Oz jitterbug number for instance.

Hello to All-

one of my favorite musicals ever is The King and I which premiered at this theater. to which a question. on the soundtrack album are three tracks/scenes which never appeared in any release of
the film-a)My Lord and Master sung by Tuptim, b)Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You sung by Mrs. Anna and one of the two duets between Tuptim and Long Tu. now for devotees of this film- were those 3 tracks recorded but never filmed or were recorded and filmed but 20th Century Fox for whatever reason in the post-production process decided not to use them. it must have seemed strange at the time for them to release a soundtrack album with songs not in the film. you figure they’d only put songs on the album that were in the film.

20th Century Fox did this again with Carousel which also premiered at this theater in 1956. two songs on the soundtrack album a)You’re A Queer One Julie Jordan and b)Stonecutters Cut It In Stone were never included in any release print of the film. so like The King and I were these two songs recorded but never filmed or were they filmed as well and the footage for whatever reason was never used.

Hey Big Joe, no need to get personal! I love the craziness of Times Square, was just there for the LHAT conference and had a great time! I am just hypothesizing about the reason such a beautiful theatre that is so easy to get to is not full more often.

In my opinion, one of the biggest differences between New York and Los Angeles is the ease of getting around on mass transit. We are just now getting a mediocre transit system and New York has had a great one for decades. We decentralized to the suburbs 30 years ago and it is an uphill battle bringing suburbans back to the historic centers like Hollywood and Downtown, where all of the best historic theaters are.

Things are changing for Los Angeles, we now have a fast growing downtown population, and Hollywood is also going through a huge growth spurt. I think we will see new life for our theaters partially supported by the new younger urban residents. That is part of the current focus of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation, getting these new audiences aware of the theatres in their own new neighborhoods. We are working with the Chinese and other theatre owners on special events to raise awareness! www.LAHTF.org

BigJoe59, It is true that there are not sell out crowds on a regular basis. Personally, as a resident and frequent theatre goer, part of the problem is the “circus” atmosphere on Hollywood Blvd. I don’t mind the tourists, but I do not like pushing my way past the sometimes aggressive sweaty costumed characters. If you haven’t been here recently, think Times Square. Of course, that makes entering into the relative peace and beauty of the Chinese even more wonderful!

I think the other bigger issue with long time residents is getting back into the habit of coming to Hollywood to see a movie after years of going to suburban theaters. This will take time to change, and I think it will. It is surprisingly easy to get there on the Metro (subway) because there is a stop right at the corner. I can get on in Downtown L.A. where I live and be at the Chinese in 25 minutes without having to deal with traffic or parking! This might be normal in NY but for a native of Los Angeles this is remarkable, and a lot of people still aren’t used to it!

Hello from NYC-

I find all the tech talk fascinating, especially screen aspect ratios. but is my assessment correct that the IMAX-ing of the Chinese though given an A+ hasn’t really brought in the crowds to the extant they thought it would?

Thanks Danny – so is everything presented in 1.90:1 and cropped? The only Digital IMAX presentation I have seen (at an AMC) was Thor: The Dark World. It seemed letterboxed on the screen but not to full 2.35.

I am curious if a 2.35 film would appear roughly the same size on the Chinese IMAX screen as it was on the old Chinese screen.

I am curious if anyone knows the info on image sizes for:

Current Chinese IMAX: – when playing a film released 1.85:1 – when playing a film released 2.35:1

Is there any masking for unused screen?

What are the dimensions of the screen for full Digital IMAX?

Will any of this change when the go laser?

PRE-IMAX conversion:
– what was the screen size for 1.85:1
– what was the screen size for 2.35:1

Have not been able to make it yet to the Chinese post IMAX remodel. Thanks!

70mm IMAX or 70mm 5-perf?

So the news on the interweb is that the Chinese is getting 70mm projection installed for the engagement of “interstellar”.

bigjoe59: I’m not an administrator, but I’ve been posting here for so many years that I’ve probably come to sound a bit possessive about the site. To answer your question, no, I don’t know of any theaters in the United States other than the Chinese that opened before 1941 as first run movie houses and have remained first run throughout their history. Most of them were downtown theaters, and as movie attendance shifted to the suburbs starting in the 1950s the old palaces began closing one after another. The survival of the Chinese can probably be attributed to its location in Hollywood more than any other single factor.

Hello Again to Joe Vogel-

from the wording of your reply about the Fine Arts it appears you might be an administrator of this site. if you are a question for you-

the golden age of grand old movie theater building was approx. 1914-1941. now many of said grand old theaters built during this period were built from the get go as 2nd/3rd run neighborhood houses. the Castro in S.F. a perfect example. which brings me to my question. I created a project to see how many of said grand old movie theaters that were built from the get go as premiere 1st run venues have continued to operate as such since the day they opened. the only one I have been able to find is the Chinese. so is it really possible that of all the grand old movie theaters built 1914-1941 from the get go as premiere 1st run venues the Chinese is the only one in all 50 states that has continued to operate as such? very sad if that’s the case.

bigjoe59: They must be referring to what is now the Cecchi Gori Fine Arts Cinema. It’s in Beverly Hills. I’ve never heard of it having been called the Fox Fine Arts, and we don’t list that as an aka, so that’s why it didn’t turn up in your search.