TCL Chinese Theatre

Regarding CConnolly’s comment, I do believe people from outside the area see movies at Grauman’s Chinese.

I know I do. As a teenager in the 1980s, I would drive to the Chinese Theatre with friends from my hometown of Cerritos, CA… a total tract house and shopping center kind of place; I just liked the gritty urban environment of Hollywood Boulevard back then and the history associated with the Chinese Theatre, it was so different from the “looks like everything was built yesterday”-environment that I grew up in. Some movies I saw back then: “The Lost Boys,” “The Witches of Eastwick.” In 1992 I saw the 50th Anniversary restored/re-released version of “Casablanca” at the Chinese Theatre. It was even presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. That really was a big treat.

I now live in South Pasadena. I still catch movies at the Chinese occasionally. Hollywood Blvd. is slightly more cleaned-up than it was in the 1980s, and now I don’t have to worry about driving there and parking because the Metro Rail now goes to my area; I can take the Gold Line train from South Pasadena to Union Station, transfer to the Red Line subway, go all the way to the Hollywood and Highland station, go up the escalator, and voila! I’m right there!

Going through my personal archives recently I pulled out an original Program from the Dedication of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre" “Presenting the premier of the supreme production of all times, past, present and future CECIL B. DEMILLE’S "The King of Kings” by Jeanie Macpherson on “Wednesday Evening May Eighteenth.” It is about ½ thick and is full of wonderful pictures and line drawings of everyone from May Robson, to Beatrice Joy, Sid Grauman, Cecil B. Demille, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, on and on. It has artist drawings of the Theatre’s interior and even4 color Art Deco graphics of the theatre, plus of course, advertising. It shows some wear but really is quite remarkable. Has anyone seen one of these?

Thanks “GraMann” for the wonderful photos. Now, I am homesick. I absolutely love the Chinese. Your photos really bring back fond memories. Did you ever get a photo of Ted Mann and his wife’s wax figures in the lobby?

As mentioned above on this page, I did relief work as a projectionist there, off and on, for 20 years.

Performances there used to be absolute perfection. The union business agent, Ralph Kemp (Local 150, IATSE), before sending me to break-in, told me this. “This is the most famous theater in the world. If you screw up something there, you will read about it in Variety and Hollywood Reporter the next day.

If they ever employed full-time projectionists again, I would leave New York in a heartbeat and return. Did you know Kenny Krenz, Bob Purlmutter or Mike Schliger, the regular operators?

Yes, gas pipes feeding exit signs were very common in theaters and other buildings even through the mid-20th century. The reason being was that if the electricity were to fail, the gas lights would still illuminate the exits in an emergency. Nowadays, back up emergency light systems work with a battery circuit to continue the lighting in case of power failures.

Yes, the “Chinese 6” is a seperate structure adjacent to the original, along with a shopping center. The original auditorium is intact, but lost a few rows of seats downstairs when the snack bar was opened up and extended back.

When the Chinese was a single screen theater, they also had this really great tradition of painting the poster art for the film playing on the side exterior wall of the theater. These were HUGE and always well done! The “Superman” S, the “Earthquake” poster art, and the “Star Wars” logo come to mind. You can sometimes find photos that show this wall art. Very cool!

I heard that it interfered with the large screen projection. You would think that during the “restoration” it could have been reworked so as to be able to be withdrawn automatically up into the attic just as the movie began (and then lowered automatically at the end of the projection), rather the way the chandeliers are raised and lowered in the Kennedy Center, but that would have probably added a thousand dollars to the cost.

“GrauMann” is to be praised for the service he has done everyone in preserving on-line for posterity these two souvenir brochures with wonderful photos of the wonderful Chinese Theatre. The earlier one with the finely detailed text by the late Terry Helgesen is especially good, and reveals the changes that have occurred over the years to this theatrical mecca. A memorial biography of him occurs in Marquee magazine of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America, of which he was a member for decades. His vast collection of theatres memorabilia is now preserved at the Archive of the Society in Elmhurst, Ill. ( www.HistoricTheatres.org ) Brochures such as these are often referred to as ephemera since such often disappear after a few years, so they are the more valuable as reproduced here; it is only a pity that there is not some way to enlarge them on screen so as to better read the text.

I have been to Hollywood many times, but only got to see a movie in the Chinese theater once. Each other time I was there, there was never a good movie to see there.
It was so impressive to see the interior of the theater. It has such a glow of the glory days of Hollywood.

I have seen movies at the Chinese since the late 1960’s. I have seen movies like Hello Dolly, Whats UP Doc,Batman, Jagged Edge, Interview With a Vampire and many others. I actually sat in the two row balcony for the movie The Goodfellas before the recent renovation. The Chinese always has a superb film presentation. Isn’t it wonderful to have the curtains open and close for the presentation. During the current renovation the lobby was expanded into the back of the Auditoruim where the projection booth was and a few rows were lost. Before the renovation the Chinese sat 1500 and now it seats around 1100.The best film presentation in LA is the Chinese, El Capitan ,Cinerama Dome, Fox-Village,and National of LA’s surviving single screen theatres. These are also industry theatres that host many premieres.brucec

For those of you outside of LA, and wanting to see a vision of this famous theatre, there is a VHS video that has at least ten minutes within its 55-minute length devoted to color filming of the ornate CHINESE THEATRE. It is called “The Movie Palaces” and is part of the “America’s Castles” series filmed for A&E television network. My detailed review of it, and ordering instructions for it are at: View link
This video was filmed before the recent restoration, and therefore is a time capsule of sorts, and those desiring to view the theatre in other stages of its life would do well to contact the Theatre Historical Soc. which has a great many photos as well as drawings of this palace.

PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either “Marquee” or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on their first page the link “PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List” and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The “Marquee” magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall (‘portrait’) format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long (‘landscape’) format, and are anywhere from 26 to 40 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to loan it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]

Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.

Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at:
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)

Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM—4PM, CT)

The original projection room was upstairs. Then, in the late 40s, it was moved downstairs. When I worked there in the 70s to 90s, to enter it, I had to walk into the left entrance of the main auditorium, the same as the public. The projection room was to the immediate right, covered by a doorsize, burgundy drape. The area upstairs that once had been the projection room was converted into a small, two-row balcony (I think it had 14 seats), but it was never open to the public during regular movie presentations. Instead, it was where celebrities were allowed to sit, having entered the side of the building from a concealed, non-public door. Today, the projection room is back upstairs to its original location, and only a couple “out-of-view” seats remain.