Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Grauman's Chinese Theater opened May 18, 1927. The architects were Meyer & Holler. Theater decorator was Raymond Kennedy.

When "Earthquake" played here and that rumbling started, remembering the age of the place I thought that huge chandelier might come down.

For the first time in decades the theater is no longer Mann's Chinese but once again designated Grauman's. The 6 screens next door are part of a shopping mall which is designed to resemble the famous sets from "Intolerance". All 7 theaters share a common box office.

This IS the most famous movie theater in the world! This is where KING KONG was shown on its premiere engagement in 1933, and a 13-year-old boy named Ray Harryhausen sat in the dark and was mesmerized by movie monsters, and became one of the 20th Century Hollywood's greatest cinema geniuses. This is where Forrest J. Ackerman sat in the dark watching KONG and was transported to Skull Island, and became the world's leading authority on sci-fi, fantasy and horror, and his friend Ray Bradbury saw it with him there again in 1938.

And this is where I saw the wonder film of the 20th Century - MGM's FORBIDDEN PLANET in CinemaScope, Eastmancolor and Stereophonic sound, as a special birthday gift from my dad on my 9th birthday, August 9, 1956. It was an unforgettable experience. The doorman led us into another world.

Robby the Robot was there in the theater lobby, behind velvet ropes, standing guard in a corner, his electronic computer brain and lights flashing every so often, his head turning, and saying, "Welcome to Altair-4!"

We returned in October to see "The King And I" in CinemaScope 55 there. I have returned often, with all the classic Hollywood movie stars' hand-and-footprints, and the touristy stuff, there's a lot to see besides a movie! This is the Mecca for all Hollywood film fans the world over.

Grauman's Chinese was where CinemaScope was introduced in Hollywood with the premier of "The Robe" in 1953, followed by most of the widescreen 20th Century-Fox epics of the period. During the peak Cinemascope years a hugh electric sign/marquee spanned the forecourt. It was quite spectacular but obliterated the famous entrance. It was replaced by two flashy but more conventional marquees on either side of the forecourt. These too have been removed.

On April 9, 1958 Grauman's Chinese Theatre had the world premiere of "WINDJAMMER" projected in the CineMiracle process. CineMiracle was almost the same as 3-strip CINERAMA and in fact was shown in many CINERAMA theatres and ended up being owned by CINERAMA.

WOW, such a nice theatre! Great to see it restored

better weblink is http://mann.moviefone.com/services/graumanmain.adp

I saw "Earthquake" at the Chinese Theatre as well as many other first run movies (I especially remember "Dirty Harry"). Does anyone remember if, in addition to the "sensurround" sound, if there were also fake debris that fell from the ceiling during the quake scenes? For some reason I remember that happening.
Where does the time go?
RockDoc

I also saw "Earthquake" there and if debris fell from the ceiling it wasn't fake. I also saw "Dirty Harry" first run but it was across the street at the Paramount (now El Capitan).

I thought Paramount and Warner Bros did a nice job restoring the Chinese. I wish they would bring back the neon dragons on the marquee. I heard they are stored on the Paramount Lot. The small movie signs they put up are a little blah and they are not original from any period. Brucec

"Magnum Force" played the Chinese Theatre. Like themanwithnoname said "Dirty Harry" played at the Paramount Theatre across the street. And "The Enforcer" played over at the Pantages Theatre.

I believe that the two theatres (Chinese 2 & 3) added adjacent to the main house that were subsequently razed, was in 1979, not 1999.

Click to see a couple photo's of the large electric sign mentioned above, spanning the forecourt.
1956 - http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014606.jpg
1953 - http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014683.jpg

I was a projectionist there off and on between 1979 (when the two adjacent theaters were built) until 1999 (when the two adjacent theaters were torn down). I started with a 70 mm. print of Superman and ended with a 70mm. print of Titanic. I was there from open to close, seven days a week for three months when Titanic played. It was and is the greatest movie theater in the world. I miss it and the premieres so much...

I wonder how Kenny, the recently retired chief projectionist there for those 20 years, is doing today?

I have several postcards of the theater dating from 1931 to just now, and it's interesting to see how the facade has changed. In '31 the windows with the tent roofs on both 'tower-fronts' were all clear and clean with decorated arches above them. At some point (Fifties?) the arches were obscured by marquees with the neon dragons. Also, Mann added "Mann's" signs at the bottem of the window in the top of each tower-front.

Years ago, after a premiere or the Academy Awards, celebrities were always seen entering but not exiting the Chinese. Reason being, there was an underground tunnel that led accross the street to the Roosevelt Hotel (Sid Grauman had an interest in the hotel also). That way, celebrities could leave anonymously. The tunnel had not been used in the past 30 years. The tunnel is gone, and access to it from either the theatre or hotel was sealed up when the subway between the two building was built under Hollywood Blvd., a couple years ago.

I stand corrected about "Dirty Harry." You are correct--it was premiered at the Paramount. I did see the "Magnum Force" premiere at the Chinese.
I remember sitting right behind David Caradine and Barbara (Hershey) Seagull when they were in the throes of their big romance. I don't know what was more entertaining, the movie or their interaction in the theatre!
Great memories of a great historical treasure.
RockDoc

Where are the courtyard trees and awning?

They were removed during the recent renovation a few years ago.

I thought the trees were especially important to the ambience of the courtyard, the awning I guess can go. Maybe they need more room for the paw prints of stars.

If you visit LA or even live there, if you haven't experienced seeing a movie at Grauman's then you just aren't a part of LA history. I was 9yrs old and I knew I was someplace special when I saw the small brass courtesy light on the side aisle that read, -l o g e-


Elegant but, you can wear your walking shorts
if you show a little respect for the grand old dame

Hollywood’s only Royal Pavilion

I've visited this theater on the trips I've made to LA and saw "Star Trek: Generations", in 1994, in the smaller auditorium, which was quite impressive soundwise (it was THX). It wasn't until 2001, I went and experienced a movie, in the main auditorium, and saw Angelina Jolie's "Original Sin". The theater was going through a renovation and the balcony was closed :( . The movie, itself, was quite a bore as it put me to sleep, not too bad if you need a sleeping aid. The sound seemed a bit muddled and quiet, not the fault of the theater's sound system but the film's soundtrack. Perhaps, the next time I visit there, there will be an event film booked there so I can experience the theater's full sound potential.

The whole theater design is quite impressive and is unlike any other I've been in. And, yes, like the proverbial tourist, I tried to match my foot and handprints to the some of the stars on the sidewalk. The help staff, in their Asian costumes, are a nice touch. In the Washington DC area, you don't see the help staff in uniform much anymore at any place, much less costumed, even for event films.

As an FYI, the Chinese does not have a balcony.

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.

So there was a balcony! ;) My recollection of my only time inside the main auditorium was that there were these seats that were on an upper level, but were obscured by a ceiling to floor plastic drape of some kind. Judging by the looks of it, at the time, it seemed like one to me. Whatever the case, it is a nice theater.

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: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767015363/qid%3D1081320338/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-3261481-1446205
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: execdir@historictheatres.org
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)

When I worked for Mann many years ago, I was able to go work the preview of City Slickers. The back half of the auditorium was assigned seats and the studio took care of that. The front half was general seating for other celebrities, which is where I was working. I remember seeing Jim Carrey during his early In Living Color days sitting next to Tom Bradley who was dressed in Cowboy garb for the event. Mr. Bradley turned to Jim and asked him "What do you do?". Later, we got to watch the the movie from the small private balcony. I think it was called the Cathay lounge.

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

Here are some interesting pics, the first one interesting to me because it's from the 1950s and it's in color, plus you can see a PE Red Car rolling along in front of Grauman's. And in my opinion this part of Hollywood Boulevard looks better now than it did then:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/chinese.JPG
These next two photos are interesting to me because they show Grauman's Chinese theater the night of March 8, 1946, when the Academy Awards were held there for the 3rd and last time; the 1st pic shows the theater itself, the 2nd pic shows the fans seated in bleachers across the street:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics50/00044983.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics50/00044961.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics50/00044961.jpg

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.

For pictures of the theater when it was owned by National General, look here:

http://members.dslextreme.com/~swstanton/grauman/index.html

This is the complete souvenir book they used to sell at the gift shop in the forecourt. When I worked there (beginning in 1981), they revamped the book for the Mann Theatre chain, so these just sat in storage. I've got another great book to scan in with even older photos in it. Keep an eye on my web site for more coming soon.

It's too bad there is no picture of the now demolished Chinese Twin Theater. Built in 1979 and owned by Ted Mann (not the Mann Corp.) it paled in comparison design-wise to the original Chinese next door. The auditoirims were nice, though: they each held about 750 with wide, comfy seats.

I took a bunch of color slides of the interior and exterior of both theatres for a film school project. here is a shot of the exterior of the Chinese Twin in 1981 when Disney's "Song of the South" was playing there:

http://members.dslextreme.com/~swstanton/g_imgs/sos.jpg

Wow! 36 pages, and I'm exhausted. But I had to smile when page 6 listed among its premieres of outstanding productions that nearly-forgotton Jackie Susann potboiler "The Love Machine." Ah, Hollywood in the 1970's.

Here's some more pictures from the Chinese Theatre's early days:

http://members.dslextreme.com/~swstanton/grauman_LA/index.html

There's some shots before sound was installed, as well as an exterior of the "Windjammer" marquee, and a couple taken around the construction of the theatre.

"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.

Thanks, Jim, I'm glad you enjoyed the brochures. Yes, it's a bit a of a shame about the text, but the current image size was chosen to optimize them for downloading and to save on disk space. They were scanned in larger, but when posted big enough to see the text, a fair amount of scrolling becomes involved to see the image. Right now, I'm just using the free space given to me by my ISP to host these images--if I move them, I may change the size.

Soon, I'll be posting some of my color slides I took in 1981 of both the Chinese and the Chinese Twin when I worked there. they include some shots i took of Sid Grauman's private office, which is on the second floor. The stairwell on the westt side of the forecourt leads right up to it. I wish I had more photos "behind the scenes." As an Asst. Manager, I had a key to every door in the place. Upstairs was Sid's old office, private restrooms, the usher & usherettes dressing rooms and the Cathey Lounge (the former projection booth converted to a private balconey--complete with bar!) There was also the catwalks to access the winch in the ceiling that lowered the main chandelier. Behind the screen was the old stage and dressing rooms from the pre-sound stage. I knew pretty much every inch of that place--it was incredible to explore! I oughta devote some space on the web site to that info....

Why haven't they rehung the lantern on the main auditorium chandelier?

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.

The first film I ever saw at the Chinese was "Earthquake" in '74, and I'll never forget it. They had strung fishnets all across the ornate platerwork on the ceiling. This caused a lot of nervous chatter and laughter among the audience before the movie started. I'll never forget the SENSURROUND announcement before the movie started. This loud male voice booms out "ATTENTION!!" and everyone jumped! Since then, I've seen countless films there, always a great show. The adjecent twin theaters were also really good. Picture and sound were state of the art. I saw "Gremlins", "Ghostbusters" and "Dune" there.

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'm a little confused about the "7 screens" when I was there about 10 years ago, the original auditorium was intact. Are the additional 6 screens built adjacent to the original theater? I can't imagine that they would have cut up the main auditorium.

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.

In reference to the question about the lantern, I believe it was taken down during the remodeling for "Windjammer" which included a new wide screen and relocating the projection booth to the back of the auditorium.

When I worked there, we inquired about the lantern, but no one seemed to know its whereabouts. It may have been lost or destroyed. The maintenance of the chandelier was very time consuming. It had over 300 bulbs and when they relamped it, they would start early in the morning and begin lowering it from a winch above the ceiling. It took so long to lower it, they usually only went halfway and used a scaffold to meet it.

A note about the lighting: all the light fixtures in the Chinese auditorium are on two circuits. The fixtures are lamped with red, yellow, blue, green, and white lights. Nowadays, when you go in there, they are usually ALL on. But they are lamped that way for a reason. During the winter, the RED & YELLOW circuit was turned on to give the theater a "warmer" feel. In the summer, we turned on the BLUE & GREEN circuit to give the theater a "cooler" feel.

Additionally, we were told that in the early days, the Chinese had both electric and gas lighting. If you look closely at the EXIT signs in the lobby, you can see the capped off gas pipes coming out of the wall. Don't know if this is true, but the pipes are there!

I have added some more pictures of the Chinese and Chinese Twin theatres taken on the morning of 10/25/81. These images are from color slides taken for a project I was doing at school. From the standpoint of framing, exposure, etc. they are fairly mediocre. Now, 23 years later, they stand as a unique snapshot of the time, especially since the main theater has undergone so many cosmetic changes and the twin theatre has been demolished.

The slides are grouped by theatre in no particular order:

http://members.dslextreme.com/~swstanton/grauman_slide_gallery/index.html

At some point I will add more descriptive details to each shot. In the meantime, I think the image names are somewhat decipherable.

There seems to be statuary missing from upstairs private box/projection room area in main auditorium.

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.

Has anyone ever been in the theatre during an earthquake/power failure?

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?

I was at the Chinese a few times but never saw a movie in the old twin. Thanks for sharing the pics.

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 1/2 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?

Question: does this theater do well? Do people come from outside the area to see movies here?

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!

I do believe people from outside the area see movies at Grauman's Chinese.


Hey, I live in New York, and I always try to see a movie there when in California! Actually, I was pretty impressed in how Hollywood Blvd has improved over the last decade. I have been there for the first time around 1991, most recently in 2003, and many times in between, and each time I go it looks better and better.

I will definitely drive from Alhambra to Hollywood for the Chinese or the Dome. How many people in the world get to attend the most famous theater on the face of the Earth? There are advantages to living in So Cal.

I agree with Manwithnoname, I live (actually close to him) in Monterey Park and go to the Chinese a lot. It will sell a lot of shows during the week, especially when a huge movie opens.

I was raised in Hollywood and I remember seeing "Windjammer", "Pepe" and the premiere of "Darby O'Gill and the LIttle People"... "Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" and "How the West Was Won" were spectacular memories. The last time I went there to see a movie was "EARTHQUAKE" in 1974 and it was towards the end of the run. I clearly remember they added a huge net under the ceiling to catch bits of plaster that had been falling down early in it's run. It was very distracting to see it up there and wondering if something would fall during he Sensuround experience. I am happy they have decided to take away the clunky neon from the front. I visited the forecourt a few months ago and I think it looks gorgeous.

I am planning a trip to California. I want to spend time in a original LA Picture Palace. Was the original auditorium divided to multiplex the theater?

No, the Chineese theater's auditorium is completely intact. The extra screens were next door, not a part of the original auditorium itself.
They play many of the current movies in the original auditorium. For example, I have seen Dumb and Dumber in the Chineese theater when it was out some years ago.

Thanks Bway, I hope the family wants to see this place too. Hey, it you go to Hollywood, you must see a movie.

Christian speaks of a "huge net under the ceiling to catch bits of plaster" supposedly falling due to the then sensation of low frequency sound of "Sensurround" for the 1974 movie "Earthquake." I will bet dollars to doughnuts that the entire net and any seeming plaster in it were entirely props to promote the new sound technique (which was NOT all that novel nor convincing in actuality!) It was typical Hollywood hyperbole ('hype') that intended to scare the potential patron a little as if to say: 'Are you man enough to sit in a place that might lose its plaster while watching LA being reduced to rubble?!!' This ploy was used across the nation as advance men wrote letters to the local papers by a "concerned citizen" to have local theaters inspected for cracks before the film was allowed to play. Such ad men then prevailed upon local building inspectors to parade through movie palaces (there were a few more in business then) with a TV camera crew and supposedly 'inspect' and 'certify' the "old" building as resistant to their vaunted "Sensurround!!" And, yes, the theatres were in on the joke. It was free publicity as the local TV stations all took it seriously, not knowing or caring anything about 'old' theatres which they naively implied were close to falling down anyway. It all worked: people voiced concern about "old" buildings and the movie made millions without any theatre anywhere ever losing anything legitimately in a structural sense, even if some of the patrons came there to really experience something falling from a ceiling, as opposed to enjoying one of the first of the 'Disaster films'. One cannot help but wonder how much more vandalism to the interiors of palaces was prompted by this disdainful approach to our theatres heritage.

Movie palaces were HEAVILY built and anyone having any real knowledge of construction would have laughed at their attempts to gain publicity at the expense of the "old" theatres. Any such man would have said that if anything were to fall, it would be the lightweight Fiberglas acoustic ceiling rectangles in the jerrybuilt cinemas then sprouting around the country. Earthquakes can take down theatres and their plaster, but not some silly contrivance of louder sound waves. (Yes, I know; sound waves of sufficient amplitude can, in theory, destroy a building, but had the sound been anywhere near that strong, the audience would have left, or died in their seats! Obviously not the outcome the promoters had in mind for maximum ticket sales.)

Still, the whole thing was FUN.

Hi Jim, You are probably right about the "Sensurround" hype to gain audiences, but I can tell you without any reservation that when it came time for the earthquake sequences in the film, the huge black speakers at the back of the auditorium rumbled with some heavy ultralow frequencies, which were nothing short of terrifying. Added to that, they must have had other speakers somewhere else, because there were the sounds of screams and breaking glass at the rear of the theater along with the low rumbling sounds at the back of the lower floor. After the movie, I remember many of us went over to look at the massive speakers. I don't recall any sound system that intense until the advent of THX sound.

I also totally agree with your comment that the old theaters were BUILT... and built far more sound proof and far more substantial than todays boxes. They were more spectacular, beautiful, stylish and atmospheric than almost any modern "theater" today. They were as much of the show as the movies were.

Christian, "Earthquake" played in 35mm four track magnetic sound. The "sensurround" control tones were located in the very low frequences, which would trigger the sub woofers. The sounds heard in the rear were from the surround (fourth channel)track.
Fun was it not?

AS anyone who read my comment carefully will know, I didn't say it wasn't fun, I simply said it wasn't real in the sense of being able to damage any theatre. I enjoyed the film in "Sensurround" also, but I was under no illusion as to where the sounds were coming from and what was going to happen to me or the theatre during "Earthquake." Further insight into the whole thing is the development and popularity then of true four channel sound, as on the 'quad' amplifiers that nobody could seem to live without then. Also, new high Q ferromagnetic high compliance speakers had just come upon the scene making the subwoofer possible at a smaller size and price than huge pro equipment, and I will bet that the speaker makers were in cahoots with the film maker to to promote this 'new' sound. "Now your living room can sound just like the theatre!!" is it easy to remember then saying. It may have all been fun, but just let's keep the idea of old, falling-down movie palaces out of it!

Frankly, I don't remember the net under the chandelier but I do remember the sound as my much earlier post indicated. In any event, the hype continued beyond the theatrical run. When the film premiered on network TV it was accompanied by an FM simulcast so viewers at home could crank up the volume and simulate the Sensurround experience. After a few more films ("Midway", "Battlestar Galactica") the Sensurround gimmick disappeared.

The last sensurround release I can recall was "Zoot Suit"
Why in heavens name it was produced that way was anyone's guess.

I understand it was only at the very end of the fun of "Earthquake" that the net was added, so most people who went to see it never saw the net rigging. I was there in the last week or two of the run. I do remember that the stories of falling plaster were from patrons, not the management of the theater. I myself never saw any plaster bits or even dust coming down during the film I do recall I was a little concerned, which is why we sat towards the rear of the theater, and not under the ornate light fixture. Is it possible the net was added by request of the insurance company and not because of some "hype?"

The information on the sound system is enlightening... I never knew how the process worked! I also did not know that many films were made in "Sensurround". I think with the advent of THX, the process is pretty much obsolete now. Yes Vito, it sure was fun!

It is unlikely in the extreme that any insurance company demanded a net below the ceiling as part of their policy coverage, but since insurance lives on premiums paid by the insured, and the insured can only pay premiums if they are making money, then any company would cooperate in any scheme to prosper the insured if no one would attach any suspicion of compliance to the insurance company. Insurers are very savvy as to what can damage an insured and foster a claim -- something to be avoided -- so they would have barred any theatre from employing any method that might cause a claim. Standard language to this effect is in all policies, even in a homeowners' policy to the effect that one cannot put any property in jeopardy. Especially in Hollywood are such antics to be expected, and the insurance industry has long worked with them and knows the score. As to THX, that was an attempt at greater fidelity; "Sensurround" was strictly intentional rumbling noise, and thus a very limited gimmick in the face of Dolby, THX and other greater fidelity systems which can virtually shatter ears in normal use anyway.

Yes Jim, Dolby noise reduction and stereo tracks greatly enhanced the movie going experience. As for THX, it is just speaker array
and baffle system with it's own cross-over network. Did you know, theatres with THX have to be certified by them? An inspection team visits the theatere from time to time to rate the quality of the presentation right down to the noise level of the HVAC (heat/ac)

Hello Jim .. yes I think most of us on this site understand that THX has vastly improved the sound fidelity of film and understand that Dolby was basically a noise reduction system. The point I was trying to make is that since the THX system has superior lower frequency capability (as well having improved the entire sound spectrum), then it makes sense that the old "Sensurround" system in theaters is indeed obsolete. To put it another way, a film like "Earthquake" or "Rollercoaster" made in the old "Sensurround" system can be played in a theater once more with the same (or more accurately, far better) effect than the old "Sunsurround" system ever could... thus the old "Sensurround" system as it was installed in theaters is now obsolete since I would imagine a modern THX system could replicate the effect.

As for Hollywood using "gimmicks" and "tricks"... all I can say is that it is part of show business and whether 3-D glasses, Sensurround, Smell-o-rama, or Cinemascope, it brought them into the movie palaces and in my book, it is part of the lore of the classic cinemas.

Well said Christian, during the 50s hollywood did all it could to beat the evil black box popping up in homes across the world.
Sure they were gimmicks, but oh my, what fun in those good ole days.

Here is a link to some trivia about Sensurround and "Earthquake".
Some of the facts are extremely dubious and dippy, but there's a
photo of the installation of the speakers taking place at the Chinese.

http://members.aol.com/earthquakemovie/trivia.html

After Sensurround fell from popularity in the late seventies, Universal
shut down development and sold off the equipment. The Sensurround horns
became highly sought after by Home Theater buffs (the real kind that have
projectors in their houses).
A couple years ago, the Directors Guild had a retrospective on great movie
sound. They painstakingly reconstructed a Sensurround system from parts they
found wherever they could. Universal supplied a 4-track mag stereo Sensurround
print of "Earthquake", and the show was an absolute sold-out event!

Is there a way I can find just what's playing in the original theater when I visit California?

Here is your link Gustavelifting...

http://mann.moviefone.com/showtimes/theater.adp?theaterid=2

Another link some of you might enjoy is the LIVE Web Cameras at the theater which are on-line at the following link. Both cameras are placed in the forecourt so you can view the tourists viewing the names of the stars, or if you time it just right, witness a gala premier in action as the stars arrive. One camera is mounted right above the front door....

http://www.manntheatres.com/webcam/

Thank you guys. I hope these will be helpful when I visit California in March.

Did any of you guys in California know that Grauman's Chinese Theater is the setting for the Day in Hollywood from the 1970s Broadway Musical "A Day in Hollywood/ A Night in the Ukraine"?

I also noticed that in the movie "The Majestic" with Jim Carrey, they use the Chinese theater both outside in the courtyard and in the auditorium at the beginning of the movie.
Also, while on the subject of "The Majestic", does anyone know where the "Majestic" Theater is that they use in that film is? They use the interior and exterior of an old theater as the basis of the film, and was wondering if it was a real theater, and if it is, where it is and what it's called.

The village of Ferndale California was the site of the mock-up of the facade of the title cinema for the film THE MAJESTIC. They have a web site showing a sequence of photos of the construction of the facade on a parking lot there: www.victorianferndale.org/chamber/parklot.htm
The sequence of photos displays in the same spot as the page loads upon your screen, so be patient for all of them to load.

A complete site for the movie on the Internet Movie Data Base is found here. The actual model for the MAJESTIC was no one theatre, but an amalgam of several facades of the past with the plot line and interior of the lobby of the BIJOU in the 1951 film THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH. It too was a series of set pieces so well strung together that one believes that he is in the same place. In fact, when the MAJESTIC was being planned, the Director wrote to the Guestbook of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America, and I was among those who responded to his inquiry for examples of historic movie palaces to draw his inspiration from and to direct his art department to. I replied with various examples, and inquired if he knew of the British film of 1951 I mention above, and he replied that he was amazed that anyone remembered the little-known film. It turned out that his design for the lobby of the MAJESTIC was based on that film, though the lobby of the 19th century BIJOU was really out of date with any movie palace, though I doubt he realized or cared about that. So, the MAJESTIC was also a series of sets and no such actual theatre existed for the film of 2001.

Jim, thanks! That's just what I was looking for!
I suspected it may be a set (meaning not a real theater), and that website is great that shows the progression of the set building!Were the interior scenes a set too?

Many people have wondered if the theatre building shown in the MAJESTIC film were actual theatres dressed for the sake of the movie, and the answer to this is 'no'; both the exterior and the interiors were very elaborate sets actually crafted to "give homage" to Hollywood's EGYPTIAN theatre (hence the strange mixture of Art Deco, Baroque, and Egyptian decor) and because the director spent part of his youth as an usher in movie palaces. From the extraordinary details one can, when viewing stills on the DVD of the film, notice e

I found a wonderful photograph of the "Etude Ethiopian Chorus" onstage at Grauman's Chinese theater performing a live musical prologue that came just before the showing of the movie "TRADER HORN"... the photo is dated 1931....

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics04/00001962.jpg

There is a movie about a company that performs prologues for movie theaters... and it contains some great muscial numbers by Busby Berkeley that could not possibly be performed on a real stage. The movie is called "Footlight Parade" and starred James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, and Ruby Keeler from 1933. Future stars Dorothy LaMour and Ann Southern played chorus girls and were not credited in the titles.

Does anyone know other prologues that were performed at the Chinese Theater or any other theater and perhaps how common they were?

Thank you, Christian, for that great photograph. I always enjoy seeing the photos of the stage shows these theatres used to have, even if it's just to see what I have missed (sigh). "Footlight Parade", by the way, is one of my favorite films!

Does anyone know if it is true that various celebrities' names in concrete in the forecort have been removed to allow room for latter day stars' imprints? If so, which?

Jim
I always wondered also how they have not run out of room all these years if they did not move some of them.

Hi Jim and RobertR, As far as I know, no names have been removed to make way for someone else (although it is possible for another reason) and we have never run out of room in the forecourt yet.

If memory serves me, 1 or 2 of the stars did put their prints in the cement, and because it was not prepared correctly those squares crumbled in a short while, so those stars were asked back to put their prints in cement once more, although I don't believe with a second ceremony. Although there are a couple of hundred stars whos names are imprinted, there is still cement left in the forecourt for more, but the ceremony is now only reserved for major movie stars only (although I am not sure how they judge that criteria).

When the Chinese Theater was restored 3 or 4 years ago, they removed a long awning that ran for many years from the sidewalk to the main entrance... that opened up some concrete patches, then they also removed some palm trees. In these areas, there is new space to add future names.

There is a page that has a map of the forecourt and where to find the stars.... if you look at the map, you will see a light blue area around the footprint squares... that is aprox. how much room is left. Perhaps 2/3 to 3/4 of the space has been used so far. It should last a little while longer .....
http://www.seeing-stars.com/Maps/MannsForeCourtMap.shtml

The removal of footprints at the Chinese has always been hotly debated. When I began working there in 1981, we did some of the stars of that era (including Rhonda Fleming, because she was married to the owner, Ted Mann) and I believe a couple of those have been reutilized--but I can't say which ones for certain.

Quite a few were removed temporarily from the east side of the forecourt when the plumbing in the Men's room had major problems and they could only access the lines from underneath the forecourt. They were sent to an undisclosed location and I remeber they broke th corner of one of the print slabs reinstalling it and had to "recreate" the date. I don't recall whose porints they are, but you can see the "newer" rectangle with the date in the lower right corner.

Since they've renovated I have noticed one person's footprints who are missing: the Talent show winner! His footprints were on the east forecourt against the back wall where they now have an entry way to the Mann Chinese 6. It's all new cement and the poor talent show winner's prize is long gone. They shouldn't have done that. I wonder if the time capsule near Greer Garson's prints is still under the cement? I'll bet we must be getting close to the year of its unearthing....

There is one name that comes to mind, Edward Purdom that his footprints removed from the forecourt in the late 50's. He was one of the stars in the Fox Feature "The Egyptian" (1954).

GrauMann, thanks for the details. I think Rhonda Fleming, who was Mr. Mann's wife, is still there, but I cannot be sure. She sure was a fine actress, however, and don't think her name should be removed. Her square was just to the left hand side of the main doorway. She is still on the unofficial map of the forecourt.

William, I recall "The Egyptian". It was a magnificent technicolor epic which also starred Jean Simmons and Victor Mature. The name of the star was "Edmund Purdom" (who replaced Marlon Brando when he turned down the role). If they took his name away, that's a real shame. He is still alive and well in Europe and has been living in Rome and has been making films in that country for the last few decades. He will be 80 years old this year. Wouldn't it be great if we could get him to come back and re-do his slab? "The Egyptian" is available on DVD and even the soundtrack co-written by Bernard Hermann and Alfred Newman is available on Amazon. It's an incredible score.

Another square that is missing from the forecourt is the one Charlie Chaplin did in January of 1928 for the opening of his film "The Circus". At some point during the Senator Joseph McCarthy hearings in the early 1950's, the hate campaign directed at Chaplin resulted in his square being removed. One story has it that Fox West Coast Theatres the operators of the Chinese Theatre, became tried of the nuisance of cleaning up the daily vandalism of his square.

Also the first square that Jean Hersholt did with the Dionne Quintuplets in October of 1938. Was replaced with a pair of squares for stars Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. Jean Hersholt later did a second square in October of 1949.

On Edward Purdom's square it was later replaced by Yul Brynner's square. The story has it that Fox West Coast Theatres decreed that Purdom's square should be removed on "Moral Grounds" as he had become romantically involved with Linda Christan, who at the time was married to (Fox star) Tyrone Power. The affair caused a considerable scandal for the time. And also shows the power and pull of the Studio had.

A set of imprints were done for just promotional purposes for the film "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" in 1977 of Herbie the Love Bug car.

According to the play I mentioned earlier, A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD/ A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE, Grauman got the idea for the footprints when he accidentally stepped back into wet cement while watching the masons laying the pavement. Is that an accurate account? Did they take artistic liberties?

Hi Gustavelifting... I understood it was Norma Talmadge who was being given the tour by Sid Grauman and it was poor Norma who made the mis-step. Her square is very prominant in front of the entrance doorway.

William, that is great information! I also have another tidbit concerning Yul Brynner's square. At the time of the premier for "The King and I", which also starred Deborah Kerr, it was said the 2 were not on speaking terms and quite angry with each other because each thought they deserved top billing in the film. Yul apparently was asked to come to place his prints first, so he had his ceremony and wrote "THE KING" along the top of his square in huge letters. When Deborah placed her prints in the cement in a separate ceremony a short time later next to his, she wrote "AND I" in letters that were even larger than Yul's. If that is a true story, it sure is a good one, because after seeing their squares in person, it looks like it could have happend that way. Her "AND I" is absolutely gigantic! Have you heard that one?

I heard it was an actress too.

In one scene in the new flick 'Be Cool', John Travolta and Uma Thurman are shown driving away from the Million Dollar Theater, while the follow-up shot is of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. (Also, on prominent display on the Grauman's marquee, via either stock footage or some sort of homage, is title signage from 1987's 'The Untouchables'.)

Here's a link to a picture I took in 2003 of the "King and I" footprint block. I hope it works:

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPSharedLargeView?com=usUtil&awp=gstlargeview.html&index=0

Maybe this link will work better:

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=bhuelbig&password=37157343

Hey Bill... Thanks for posting... the photo is great! I think the story of those blocks rate among the best stories of the forecourt. I have a book all about the prints at the theater somewhere in storage. I will try to find it and post some of the other legendary stories. The book also gives the dates and ceremony info. It is long out of print. Has anyone else seen the book?

You're welcome, Christian. That's the first photo I posted to the web - I'm glad it worked. I hope you find your book. I'm looking forward to reading some of those stories.

While on my recent visit to LA, I stopped by the Chinese (as all good theatre lovers should do! lol) and went into the adjacent gift shop. They have on sale the DVD "Hollywood at Your Feet" 'The story of the Chinese Theatre footprints' hosted by Raquel Welch. 53 mins running time. On the Image Entertainment label # ID0964FSDVD

Also, every 15 minutes they announce over a microphone to the crowd viewing the footprints that they can come into the theatre lobby where one of the staff tells you a little about the history of the theatre and you can take photo's. Of course the movie is screening in the auditorium so you're not allowed any further inside. 2 Dollars goes to childrens charity as an entry fee to this short tour.

Restoration work continues on the building with the help and advice of Hollywood Heritage. Recent work completed is the new screen curtain which replicates the original Chinese patterned curtain and replaces the plain red drapes that have been in use the past 40 years or so. Also with help from photographs taken at the time of opening, new replica entrance doors have been made and are now in place. They were designed by studio craftsmen at Warner Brothers studios and look terrific with patterns in real gold leaf etc. A small pagoda has also been replaced over the front entrance. The original disappeared many years ago. Next job is apperently to sort out the electric wiring at the theatre and re-light circuits of decorative lighting that has been out of commission for many years.

KenRoe, I had no idea they were doing that extensive of renovations! That's great news. I am very interested to see the pagoda over the door and the replica doors, as well.

Although I have not yet seen the movie, I noticed in a still from the film "The Aviator", they have replicated the entrance of the Chinese as it looked with specially built neon signs for the movie "Hell's Angels" in 1929. I believe the neon signs were red, and were 2 sided on both sides of the forecourt. I also found a photo of the signs at the following links. Does anyone know what other real neon signs were made just for a film title shown at the Chinese Theater?
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015760.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014618.jpg


Here is another view of the Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr signature blocks ... again, notice her HUGE "and I" in comparision to his "The King" ... below is another unusual "non-star" set of prints, which was Donald O'Connors mother in his block....
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014585.jpg

I was just in California and had the chance to see the Graumans Chinese just before the world premiere of Miss Congeniality 2. I did not stay for the walk down the red carpet, but it looked fabulous with all those lights. Though I have to admit it seemed smaller then I envisioned it. However, those footprints are great and well worth going to see. If they ran the tour that day I would go inside, but, unfortunately they didn't. That theater is a show in itself.

Yes, it is amazing. I was just there this past January. Althought I didn't see a movie there this past January, I did see a movie in the Chinese Theater the last time I was in California some years ago. Unfortunately the last few times I was in California, there were always stupid movies in the Chinese Theater that i had no desire to see, so haven't been inside for a while.

I'd say, spend the $10 and go inside! Who cares what's playing. Remember, we buy tickets to theaters, not movies.

Perhaps, but I was already in the theater a few years earlier, so it's not like I "had" to go inside.

my best friend worked at the theater next to graumans before they tore it down.when they let him go he took the exit signs that were over the doors,he has 2 i have one,its in a asian script,so im happy with my little piece of hollywood.the last movie i saw there was rush hour 2,and the place was empty,it connected to gruamans by some kind of tunnle,i wonder if they incorprated that into the new complex.either way my friend shane got transfered to the dome,and i saw solomon birch there and that was awsome.im a little upset about the whole archlight thing,but at least they kept it.

Wow! 78 Years Ago Today -- Opened For Business!!

One of my fondest childhood memories is waiting outside the theater in line for what seemed like hours to see the original "Star Wars". Even at age 9 I thought it was really cool to be seeing a movie THERE. I'm from Minnesota, and my dad lived in San Diego at the time. I'm not quite clear on how or why we happened to be there right then, but I'm so glad we were. It's a cool story to tell as an adult, especially now with the release of "Revenge of the Sith", and people talking about their own "Star Wars" memories...

Why is the seating capacity listed as "unknown?" The original was 2,258, according to David Naylor's "American Picture Palaces." The Chinese has never been one of my favorites, due to its lack of a balcony, which, IMHO, is one of the essentials of a true movie palace. I felt suffocated by its fairly low ceiling and overpowering Asian decor.

Current seating capacity in the original main auditorium is 1,492. This is due mainly to larger seats and re-spacing plus the loss of several rows from the rear orchestra when the foyer was recently enlarged into the auditorium space to accomodate a concession stand. This area was where the projection booth was located when it was moved from its 'upper location' when Cinemiracle was installed in the 1950's

The Chinese was among the theatres included in the original limited-market launch of "Star Wars." The Chinese's 5/25/77 opening-day gross, according to Daily Variety, was a house record $19,358.

"One of my fondest childhood memories is waiting outside the theater in line for what seemed like hours to see the original "Star Wars". Even at age 9 I thought it was really cool to be seeing a movie THERE. I'm from Minnesota, and my dad lived in San Diego at the time. I'm not quite clear on how or why we happened to be there right then, but I'm so glad we were. It's a cool story to tell as an adult, especially now with the release of "Revenge of the Sith", and people talking about their own "Star Wars" memories..." (MaraC"
**********************************************

A link to a cool "Star Wars" memory article:
http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/star_wars_a_day_long_remembered.htm

Here is a circa-1954 view of the exterior of Grauman's Chinese advertising the Spencer Tracy and Richard Widmark film "Broken Lance".

A link to a cool "Star Wars" memory article:
http://www.fromscripttodvd.com/star_wars_a_day_long_remembered.htm

Thanks Michael for that very informative article.
I was in Hawaii at the time and was very agravated by the fact that we opened the picture in two locations, both in 35mm with mono
sound. The prints were SVA but we did not have Dolby processors for the playback. Later in the run, a Dolby CP100 was installed at the Cinerama. As you know "Empire" and "Jedi" did play in 70mm six track at the Cinerama.

Vito: Didn't George Lucas flee to Hawaii to escape all the craziness when "Star Wars" first opened and the mania began? I think I read that somewhere. Hey, maybe you projected the movie with him in the audience? :)

Vito,
You're welcome regarding the article.

As for George Lucas fleeing to Hawaii to escape the "Star Wars" mania, this is often referenced as having been during the movie's opening weekend. I'm no sure if that is correct as by several accounts they were still working on the sound mix on opening day. Plus, as I pointed out in the Hawaii Cinerama thread (http://cinematreasures.org/theater/359/), Honolulu didn't open the movie until its third week. By then, Lucas had probably already returned to the "mainland" as Hawaiians like to call it. But then, Baxter's (error-ridden) Lucas biography places Lucas on Oahu during the movie's release and claims it opened there the same time as the mainland. Whatever.

I never saw Lucas, but he may have played a role in the Dolby installation at Cinerama. Someone, shocked at the engagement being presented in 35mm mono, went to the Cinerama's owners, Consolidated theatres on Oahu, and convinced them to install Dolby.
Oh by the way Bill, I don't think George would have sat thru his movie the way we were running it in 35mm with mono sound.
I did run a lot of movies for celebs in Hawaii, as well as private screenings at the home office screening room. Jack Lord (Hawaii 5-0) often held private Sunday morning brunch screenings for his celeb pals.

I hope that everyone in California, if not the United States, appreciates what they have in the superb single screen cinemas in Los Angeles. May I just make a comment about Dolby v THX? In my younger days, I was involved in the audio business in the UK, and always used hi fi equipment to listen to my TV with obviously varying results. "Varying" because movies, my main interest, were recorded to Academy Curve, which emphasized the vocal frequencies.
Dolby, up to this point best known for noise reduction systems, entered the
movie sound business with, I think, "Lisztomania" by Ken Russell, because they could reduce noise, and thus the need for the Academy Curve was lessened. I.E. a flatter higher fidelity response could be obtained. Later, I believe for the film "A Star is Born", Barbara Streisand version, rear channels were required. The only way of doing this previously was with expensive 6 channel systems on 70mm film, but Dolby rigged a system based on the old Sansui QS domestic quadraphonic system, which required only two channels to be recorded, which were processed to extract the centre voice channel and the rear effects. This was later modified and improved. Most people's first noticeable exposure to the Dolby Stereo system was with "Star Wars", the opening scene in particular being notable for the effect of the imperial cruiser approaching from above and behind. So, Dolby introduced a cheaper way of getting stereo surround sound into theaters and, soon after, into homes, and deserve more than the "just a noise reduction system" label.
Lucas was later dissatisfied with the performance of the sound systems being used in cinemas, and introduced the TAP, Theater Alignment Program, to certify those cinemas which were superior in their sound qualities. This later spread through the certification of equipment, both home and professional, with Thomas Holliman (?) being the designer. Hence THX, apart from jalopies and student movies, also coming from Thomas Holliman Xperiment.
Recently standing with the rest of the fans at the "Episode III" premiere in Westwood, I realized that "Star Wars", the original, had changed the course of
my life, by taking the audio business towards the film business, this had stimulated my interest in film, and eventually lead to my current attendance of the UCLA School of Film and Television. Which has enabled me to visit the Chinese and all of the other magnificent theatres (sic --- I am English after all) in Los Angeles.

And, oh, if Sensurround did cover the frequencies suggested, down to 5 Hz, probably no sound system in use currently would reach down that far, luckily. 7 Hz at a high enough volume will probably shake your internal organs to bits.

Doug

The Chinese was among the handful of theaters that was equipped with Cinema Digital Sound (CDS), the 1990-1991 precursor to the contemporary digital sound formats.

Great clear night shot:
http://imagesrvr.epnet.com/embimages/imh/archivephoto/full/g1889048.jpg

Caption: Grauman's Chinese Theater at night with floodlights shining at the premiere of The Robe, first film made in Cinemascope, Hollywood, California, 1953.

TC, that's a great night shot! I wanted to add that you can just make out the beautiful and stately HOLLYWOOD HOTEL just next door, in the trees. It was a beautiful hotel that was torn down 3 years after your photo was taken. Here is a photo of the hotel.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics06/00012577.jpg

In 1937 there was a movie called "Hollywood Hotel" that takes place at the hotel with Dick Powell and Benny Goodman. It's the movie that contained the famous Busby Berkeley musical number "Hurray for Hollywood."

Today, the site is home to the Kodak Theater and Hollywood-Highland Shopping Complex.

http://www.westhollywoodca.net/shared/HHMVC-054F.JPG

Thanks for sharing the great photo.

Quenty:

There is a photo on page 191 of "Cinema Year by Year 1894-2004" of the opening night of King of Kings. "Last night the theater was the venue for a special premiere of director Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings before a select audience of 2,000. Outside, a crowd of 50,000 gathered."

Here is a photo of the beautiful auditorium of the Manns Chinese Theatre.

Everyone visiting Hollywood has to take in the Chinese at least once. When I was a theatre manageer in NY The Chinese management were kind enough to let me come and walk around. Later that week I watched from outside the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop II". A few years later I got to see what she could do when I went to see not yet Gov. Arnold in "Eraser". The film wasn't memorable but the presentation was. A huge screen and enough boom booms to satisfy. My last time there they were only starting the Highland and Kodak complex but my next trip out, it's the first place I go.

I believe I visited this legendary theatre only once, on July 1, 1973, when the James Bond film Live and Let Die was playing. I just realized this place is number 1 on Cinema Treasures, as it may be understandably number one in many people's affections.

Nice photo, Chrles. Really red! But I am surprised there is no usual balcony. What is up there on the second level?

All seating (originally the capacity was 2,058 in 1927) is on one level. Where the balcony would normally be located is the projection booth in the centre and two provate boxes either side of it.

The slightly smaller (1,771 seat, same architects) Grauman's Egyptian Theatre along Hollywood Boulevard also had the same seating configuration as the Chinese Theatre.

Thanks, Ken. Have you completed your recent cinema tour of the USA?

During the remodels of the mid 50's and 60's for different widescreen formats. The booth was moved to the main floor for better projection. At the Chinese, in the mid 50's National Theatres "Cinemiracle" version of 3 panel Cinerama. And in the 50's & late 60's Todd-AO & D-150 over at the Egyptian. In the main room of the Chinese Theatre, the area which is now the booth. Was for VIP's, it had two rows of seats in the center and two small other boxes to the right and left of the center. This area was called the Carthay lounge, it had a private snackbar and restrooms. The get to this area was through the managers office area near the men's restroom side of the theatre.

Is the booth back upstairs now? When did the Carthay Lounge exist; was it during the time the booth was downstairs?

The Carthay Lounge was upstairs when the booth was on the main floor.

The Carthay Lounge was upstairs when the booth was on the main floor.

The late 50's to the last major remodel a few years ago.

saps; The booth is back upstairs now. The area in the rear orchestra downstairs (where the booth was for the last 40+ years) and the remainder of that seating area has now become part of an enlarged lobby and concession stand, achieved by constructing a new inner rear wall to the auditorium.

The present projection booth is back upstairs in its original location. There is no Cathay Lounge anymore. The booth is also very small now.

Originally, technology did not require much equipment. When the booth was downstairs, there were numerous projectors and sound dummies for running picture and track. Studio screenings require separate projection (picture) and sound (track) equipment that are synchronized. In many cases, the picture is a rough cut that has just been edited together by a film editor. Therefore, every time the scene changes, the picture noticeably jumps.

Back in the day, we would be handed 1,000 foot reels (10 minutes) to 2,000 foot reels (20 minutes) and make changeovers. In the case of 1,000 foot reels, you had to hustle to thread both picture and track in sync, then, rewind the previous two and tend to the carbon arc lamphouses.

Today, for just a regular presentation, the film is edited onto one platter. If doing picture and track, two platters; one for the picture and one for the soundtrack. Xenon bulbs have replaced carbon arcs, automation takes care of everything else and space is no longer a necessity.

Only on rare ocassion, such as with James Cameron and "Titanic," will he insist that a regular full-time projectionist be there and manually run the presentation with curtains and lights between trailers and the main feature and ride the fader (adjust the sound) to achieve a wider dynamic range.

Hi Saps, how ya doin?

I watched the end of Blazing Saddles last night to get a good look at the Chinese, and I could see the shallow lobby and that the concession stand ("Raisinettes, please.") was just a few feet away from the front door. I guess it has been moved after the booth went back upstairs. Also, in the auditorium scenes I could see some black structure in the rear, which I guess was the booth. The most amazing thing was that Gene Wilder was holding a popcorn bucket that said 35 cents on it; you couldn't get the same size for $3.50 now!

Is the ticket booth still on the street?

Meredith, all is well.

The ticket booth is on the street, but it is now located in the new 6 screens building, built to the right of the main theatre. This has now allowed the original courtyard where that hand and foot prints are, to be totally 'opened up' as originally intended and as seen in original opening photographs.

The "large black structures" you speak of at the rear of the theater were the huge "Sensurround" speakers and sub-woofers installed for the movie "Earthquake" (1974). Both "Blazing Saddles" and "Earthquake" were made in the same year.

Bear in mind, there was no concession stand when the Chinese was built in 27. It came later. Then, for decades, it sat flush with its back wall against the booth wall, in the center of the lobby. Finally, when projection was moved back upstairs, the back wall to the projection booth was removed, and the concession stand now resides in what was the old booth.

"Blazing Saddles" was released in July 1974 (at the Pickwick Drive-In with guests on horseback) and Earthquake was not released until November of that year. I doubt that the Sensurround equipment was installed early enough to be seen in "Saddles".

I've vacationed in Hollywood twice (I'm from Minnesota) and I made sure to visit and see movies at the Chinese both times. The first time, in 1988, I had one of the most unique movie-going experiences I've known. I saw "Memories Of Me" (starring Billy Crystal) there, and walked through the famous courtyard in order to see a film featuring a scene that was set in the very same courtyard I had just walked through...

Here's hoping the Chinese will remain standing as long as Hollywood itself does.

I grew up around Los Angeles but I have no memory of ever going to the Chinese Theater as a child in 1970s or as a teenager in the 1980s. I do however remember going to the Chinese Twin Theaters - to see what I cannot I remember - that were formerly located next to the Chinese Theatre. Even then I was curious about the Chinese Theater however I did not see a film at the Chinese Theatre until I saw "12 Monkeys" in the mid 1990s. I have since seen two other films here, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and very recently "The Dukes of Hazard." On both occasion I saw the films mainly to see the theater. It is an amazing theater with a stellar past. However after going to many other classic movie palaces in Los Angeles that have ceased being regularly operating cinemas and are now used for stage theaters, special events or numerous other uses, I feel the Chinese Theatre benefits from its history, location and continuos operation to give it its larger than life mystique. The many other movie palaces around Los Angeles, and even in Hollywood, match the Chinese Theatre in opulence and grandeur. That is no means demeans the Chinese Theatre, which is an amazing movie palace, but places it in its proper place among a historic group of truly wonderful theaters with the Chinese being the only one to have never succumbed. And that is a grand feat.

Do they have tours of the Chinese Theater? I was there two years ago and bought a ticket to "The School of Rock" mainly to see the theater like Knatcal did. The movie turned out to be very good anyway, but I'd hate to have to sit through something like "The Dukes of Hazzard".

Knatcal is right that the Chinese is really famous for its history and longevity --along with the footprints, etc., in the forecort. It is certainly not the foremost movie palace architecturally in the Los Angeles area, and its fame is therefore not of that origin, contrary to that impression given in the VHS tape "Movie Palaces" put out by a cable TV network a fews years ago and reviewed and offered at www.Amazon.com With the LOS ANGELES, the ORPHEUM, and a host of others, the CHINESE is really more of a phenomenon than the epitome of a movie palace, and, in fact, its unique balcony arrangement really puts it more in a class by itself within the palaces.

First, I have to say that I feel Jim Rankin's comments above are totally on target in assessing the stature of the Chinese as a "phenomenon". My feeling about the Chinese, and likewise the Egyptian, was always that their fame considerably exceeded their intrinsic merits as movie palaces per se. (Maybe it's partly that I don't really enjoy the movie palace experience unless I'm sitting in the balcony -- an impossibility in both those theaters!)

Anyway, I saw A Star Is Born (1976) and Divine Madness (1980) at the Chinese. My recollection is that the projection booth was still at the back of the orchestra level then, that it looked like a tacky addition that didn't belong there, that an aisle actually snaked around it, and that the presentation was marred by the beam being distractingly close overhead. If my memory is incorrect, someone please correct me.

When was the booth relocated to the balcony?

Also, on a slight tangent, I seem to remember that when I was a kid in the 60s there was a coin-operated souvenir machine that cast a miniature replica of the pagoda in a brown waxy resiny plastic kind of material. Does that sound familiar to anybody?

Jim's comments are always both informed and informative. I love the Chinese because it is an event, but it spent a very long time being badly maintained and a lot of its treasures lost or damaged. By the 1990's it had really lost its lustre, having nothing much else but a famous name and a tourist attraction entrance.

The booth moved back upstairs about 4 years ago. The main chandelier is about 50% smaller than it was originally, but is once again lit. Hopefully the horrible red wool curtains on the screen and side walls have gone by now. Mann have spent a lot of money making it look special again but they could spend a whole lot more considering the rep this place has.

Hey, in México city there is another Chinese: the 'Palacio Chino', but it looks very different indeed.

I wonder why you are nobody in Hollywood until Hollywood Boulevard itself, between the streets of LaBrea and Highland, is shut down for your pix's premiere? Could there be a reason why this theater has had more premieres than any theater in the US? Is it the red carpet, the press, the tv coverage (at least in Hollywood), the fans screaming from across the street on bleachers as the limos arrive or the spotlights streaking above the skys? Might this actually be the theater of the STARS' preference since 1927? Ummm... Could the Chinese be HOLLYWOOD?

Everyday that I went to work there, under by breath, I would say, "Good Morning Sid," and "Goodnight Mr. Grauman," as though the man was still there. It didn't matter who the director, producer, star or studio was, my respect went to Sid, The ShowMan!

In my 20s, it was my dream to work there: In my 50s, my recolection is to reminisce.

I attended a showing of Batman Returns at one of the multiplex screens not the original theatre which by the way is still glorious. The modern multiplex is like anyother multiplex in the USA rather boxlike and unimaginative but clean and comfortable. Yet my experience that evning was awful. A woman who sat behind me had the nerve to prop her shoeless feet on then top of the vacan seat next to me inches from my face. Talk about manners! I could have said something to her but was worried I would offend her race and gender. So to prevent another LA riot starting in the theatre I moved my seat. The next place I sat the person next me decides to take a cell phone call. I had it and left. The movie stank any way.

The last time I was in this theater (for Spongebob Squarepants) not only was the red curtain still there but it was torn. There are indeed tours between films and while we were waiting for the show to start tourists stood on stage and took pictures of the auditorium...meaning us. We are not part of somebody's vacation and I didn't appreciate the flashes going off in my eyes.

If memory serves, and it does so less than it used to, "Batman Returns" would have played when the twin was still next door and not the current 6 plex in the new center.

Yes, I do seem to remember the machine that made a keepsake out of a penny but back then many attractions had them including Marineland and Universal Studios when it was really about moviemaking and not a damn theme park.

I don't remember the pagoda machine. Marineland had one that made sea animals and The L.A. Zoo still has some.

"I attended a showing of Batman Returns at one of the multiplex screens not the original theatre" (Valencia, Aug 27, 2005)

"If memory serves, and it does so less than it used to, 'Batman Returns' would have played when the twin was still next door and not the current 6 plex in the new center." (Manwithnoname, Aug 27, 2005)
_________________________________________________

I saw "Batman Returns," the 1992 entry in the movie series, on opening night in the Chinese's original, main auditorium. So either Valencia is confusing one "Batman" movie with another or saw the movie after it had been playing a while and the print had been moved to one of the smaller screens next door.

It's just bats, man.

Stevebob: I absolutely remember the plastic mold machine; it sat on the extreme right of the forecourt (facing towards the entrance) next to the entrance of the gift shop. I last saw it in the early 1990s, but it has gone now. How I wish I had actually made one of the little pagodas on one of my many visits, now the opportunity is lost.

There’s something else that’s missing from the forecourt. Many years ago (in the 1940s, maybe), the theatre held a contest that would allow the winner, just any average Joe, to place his name and prints in cement just like the celebs did. The deal was that the cement slab would remain there forever, just like all the others. Eventually, of course, the slab was moved to an out-of-the-way spot waaaayyyy to the right, not far from the plastic machine mentioned above. I remember seeing it there at the same time I last saw the mold machine. Now, it has gone too. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the winner who was so immortalized, but I remember the words ‘contest winner’ were on the same slab with his prints.

This theatre features prominently in the film "Fade to Black" (1980).

My apology to those who read my comments and were puzzled by the facts. The actual film I was referring to was BATMAN BEGINS . Sorry, I must have been so flustered by my experience I had forgotten the name of the film I saw or in this case didn't see since I left well before the ending. People with stinky feet and cell phones should be banned from any theatre. Were was security or ushers to keep an eye on such nonsence, especially a place like Grauman's!

Theatre chains need to worry about above comments. Presentaiton is a key elemnet missing in many of our theatres across the country. The experience of going to a theatre must competed with DVD'S in todays world. In the old days bad behavior in a theatre wasn't tolerated.brucec

My grandfather, Jean Klossner was on the original Meyer & Holler construction crew that built the Egyptian, Chinese, Mayan and American theaters (among others) ..... After the opening of the Chinese, he performed the footprint ceremonies for over 40 years. He said Sid Grauman always wanted to open a complete chain, each theater with a different theme .... So different than the "Multiplex Giants" of today ......

I have reposted the slides I took on 10/25/81 of the Chinese & Chinese Twin Theatres. Each image now includes a short description to help better identify them.

Thanks...

I have reposted the slides I took on 10/25/81 of the Chinese & Chinese Twin Theatres. Each image now includes a short description to help better identify them.

http://members.dslextreme.com/~swstanton/grauman_slide_gallery/index.html

Thanks...

Once the domain propagates itself, I imagine sometime tomorrow you will be able to go to:

http://www.graumanschinesetheater.net

to see the above mentioned slides along with the Chinese Theater booklet scans all in one convenient place.

CALLING ALL THEATRE / MOVIE ENTHUSIASTS!!!

T'he Los Angeles Theatre' on South Broadway, LA is playing host to the UK television show 'Dead Famous LIVE'. We are currently looking for people who would like to come along as part of the studio audience.

'Dead Famous LIVE' is a studio entertainment show all about Hollywood History and the paranormal. We will be welcoming celebrity guests on to the show and investigating famous locations around Hollywood which are rumoured to be haunted including the Los Angeles Theatre itself.

This is an invaluable chance to get access to the Los Angeles Theatre, the place where Charlie Chaplin's 'City Lights' premiered in 1931 and to have a thoroughly great day out! (And its free!!)

We're transmitting 'Live' back to the United Kingdom so expect it to be exciting and fun!

We will be filming on three days from 11th - 13th November between 11.30am - 4pm. If you are interested in coming on one or all of these days then email me for tickets!

george.hughes@twofour.co.uk

I look forward to your responses!

For those that are interested, a short history of Raymond M. Kennedy, the architect of the Chinese Theater has been recently posted on Wikipedia. Once you are at the Wikipedia web site just type in Raymond M. Kennedy into the search box and click on Go. For some reason if you click search after typing in his name it does not go to his page.

The famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre opened in 1927 with a 3 manual
17 rank Wurlitzer organ. The organ was shipped from North Tonawanda, NY on 12/20/1926 and is known as Opus 1541. The organ chambers are above the auditorium, just in front of the stagehouse. The style 260-special organ with a "small" set of 32' Diaphone pipes installed backstage, the organ was removed from the Chinese Theatre in the early 1950s.

The organ was removed and seriously modified and reinstalled in St. Finbar's R.C. Church in Burbank. In the early 1980s, the organ was either completely removed or again modified. The original Chinese Theatre Wurlitzer console is now playing the superb 20-rank Wurlitzer in the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, CA.

The late theatre organist George Wright (who actually recorded some never-released recordings of the Chinese Wurlitzer) described the organ as having a very pleasing, but distant sound.

The elaborate cieling organ screen is dozens of feet from the actual chamber openings. The organ sound was transported via a large, smooth surface "tone chute".

Like Grauman's Egyptian Theatre (across and down Hollywood Blvd. from the Chinese), the Chinese Wurlitzer console was not on a lift
but sat in a fixed position in the orchestra pit. (The Egyptian Theatre Wurlitzer was the same Wurlitzer style 260 as the Chinese Wurlitzer but was installed in 1922.)

I just received a post card announcing that the original 1925 Raymond Kennedy architectural rendering of the theater is going on auction on eBay on March 30. It states that this is the only signed, color version in existence. The original color rendering for designing the asbestos theater curtain is also going to be auctioned.

I've not been here but its on my list of top 10 places in the world to visit!

"Earthquake" was moved from the Chinese to the Paramount theatre across the street during it's run in 1974?

Anyone planning a trip to Los Angeles must put this theatre on their must see list of places to visit in Los Angeles.

The original rendering of the Chiinese Theater by Raymond Kennedy just went on eBay! If you want to see what the original colors of the theater were, go to eBay. Click on "Buy"(you wont be committed to buy anything) then Art>Drawings> Modern(1900-1949). It went on a few days ago so there are a lot of things that have gone on sale since that time so the easiest way to find it is by "sorting by price-highest" or some other search in that category. I was surprised it is so valuable. It is being sold along with the drawing for the construction of the theater curtain that was interestingly made of woven ASBESTOS fibers! There are some good pictures of that original curtain. Both are quite beautiful drawings!!

Anyone know where I might be able to find a floor plan of the entire theater for a school project? I'm having quite a bit of trouble...thanks very much!

So have they announced which films will play at the Grauman's Chinese during May? There are 4 big films opening in May (MI3, Poseidon, The DaVinci Code, and X-Men 3), and only two big-screen theatres in Hollywood that can play them: The Grauman's Chinese and the Dome at Arclight Hollywood. And isn't it shocking that Grauman's Chinese showed a trailer for 'United 93' nearly a month ago, and it would cause a lot of bad feedback from patrons?

M:I3 is already booked for The Dome. I suspect Poseidon will play at Chinese (since Warner Bros. owns 50% of Mann Theatres). The DaVinci Code will undoubtedly play at The Dome (I saw the trailer there when I saw King Kong) and X3 will probably play at Chinese.

I just read some of the Star Wars stuff up above, I saw the original Star Wars in 70mm at the Chinese way back when and thought I'd get someone else's memory going! I seem to recall that they were running a 70mm copy of "Duck Dodgers" (remember that great Daffy Duck Cartoon!) along with the film, and someone told me that it was a request of George Lucas. I also remember Star Wars as having been one of the first films to use the full 20th Century Fox "CinemaScope Fanfare" in years, it was really a knock-out in 70MM Dolby!!! The Chinese is another one of those wonderful theatres where even a "crappy" movie some how looks and sounds great! Not living in or near LA I have only seen a few films there, but seeing Star Wars there was outstanding, unfortunately, when I got home I had to run the film in 35MM mono, we did get Dolby several weeks into the run but no 70mm.

I just read some of the Star Wars stuff up above, I saw the original Star Wars in 70mm at the Chinese way back when and thought I'd get someone else's memory going! I seem to recall that they were running a 70mm copy of "Duck Dodgers" (remember that great Daffy Duck Cartoon!) along with the film, and someone told me that it was a request of George Lucas. I also remember Star Wars as having been one of the first films to use the full 20th Century Fox "CinemaScope Fanfare" in years, it was really a knock-out in 70MM Dolby!!! The Chinese is another one of those wonderful theatres where even a "crappy" movie some how looks and sounds great! Not living in or near LA I have only seen a few films there, but seeing Star Wars there was outstanding, unfortunately, when I got home I had to run the film in 35MM mono, we did get Dolby several weeks into the run but no 70mm.

"Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century" was shown in 70mm with "Star Wars" at the Cinema 21 in San Francisco.

Posiedon at least had its premiere at the Chinese -- I was down there yesterday afternoon and they were getting ready for the festivities (Hollywood Blvd. westbound closed down in front of the theatre, the sidewalk in front of the theatre itself blocked and the *tackiest* blue carpet I think I've ever seen, bored security guards). Lots of disappointed tourists who wanted to see the footprints and weren't necessarily willing to wait in the heat to see the stars. So, instead of wandering among the footprints after a not-that-satisfactory job interview, I wandered up the "Arcade of Awards" at the Kodak and enjoyed the Intolerance-style elephants.

Hello all, I’m a college student in southern California doing a research paper on Grauman's Chinese Theater. I was hoping I could get a few questions answered, preferably by someone Chinese-American, who knows China's cultural art, and has personally seen the theater. But anyone is free to answer any questions, any answers are greatly appreciated. Please respond ASAP.

Do you think the theater depicts China’s culture accurately? Please explain.
Do you the global exchange of Chinese architecture was a great idea for Hollywood? Why/why not?
What was it like for you when visiting the theater?
Anything else you would like to add.

Thank you for your time and I can't wait to see your response.

The Chinese Theater was an awesome and amazing sight for someone from the New York area like me. Almost all our movie palaces have been destroyed. A famous Chinese-American actor, Keye Luke, designed and painted the murals, wall and ceiling decorations in the theater, and they are truly beautiful.

The theme of the CHINESE was not chosen to 'honor' China any more than the many Spanish-themed movie palaces were so decorated to honor Spain. And so for all the other themed theatres, aside from truly ethnic theaters such as the Germanic PABST in Milwaukee.

College Student would do well to read such as the landmark book at libraries: THE BEST REMAINING SEATS, THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE MOVIE PALACE by the late Ben M. Hall in 1961. It is available at amazon.com as used copies. This book will show the genesis of these theatres, and while great attention to authentic detail was expended, it was to create a theatre type that had no precedent in China at the time, hence the auditorium is necessarily much larger in scale than the original throne room in the Imperial Palace in (then) Peiking. I can't imagine that any of the theatre is an insult to the Chinese, but also we must not be so naive to think that it was designed as a 'monument' to the Chinese. It was designed to strike the fancy of the Los Angeles public as a theatre for maximum profit.

The Chinese theatre is featured as one of Los Angeles's tourist attractions on this website about Los Angeles.
http://www.geocities.com/los_angeles_coast/

College Student should go to Google and type in "Raymond M. Kennedy", there is a Wikipedia bio about him and it gives some info on the theater design.

Bill, what's so nice about the Hollywood area is that so many of the theaters survive. Although compared to what was once there on Hollywood Blvd, it's even suffered a lot too. There are so many closed theaters on Hollywood Blvd (and surrounding) too. But since they had so many, thankfully a few of the gems survive.

All the major Hollywood film palaces are open and being used. The smaller theatres are the ones that are either closed or have been demolished. Every major theatre has been restored or renovated with the exception of the Pacific(Warner).brucec

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to thank all those who responded to my post. All your comments were helpful. I turned in my paper a few days ago, so hopefully I did well. Thanks again! :)
-College Student

does anyone know how many subwoofers the Chinese has?

Last summer I went to the Chinese to see the WAR OF THE WORLDS remake. The film stunk but the THX sound was just awesome.

Shane, come back, Shane....
http://tinyurl.com/rurwh

Two ads from the Los Angeles Times - two big premieres of two big pictures at the Chinese - an overload of celebrity guests. If the hosts of these events had to stop and talk to every one of those guests, the show would never get under way on time.

West Side Story - December 1961:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/wssla.jpg

On the Beach - December 1959:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/onthebeach.jpg

Two big crowd-pleasing 1960's hits at the Chinese:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/bond65.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/fanvoy.jpg

This is an interesting photo from the 1920s as there don't appear to be any footprints in the cement:
http://tinyurl.com/ylv9p9

That photo dates from around mid August of 1929. From when the MGM film "Hollywood Revue of 1929" played the theatre. Up until that time there was only 14 footprint ceremonies held at the theatre. The next one was scheduled on Sept. 14th with Joan Crawford (#15). The first one being of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks on April 30th 1927. The theatre opened to the public on May 19th. 1927.

Is is safe to assume that "Casino Royale" will play here? I thought it would play at the Cinerama Dome since they've been booking tons of Columbia product this year.

Removal of the free-standing ticket book was a crime. The plaza looks open and lifeless now.

Removal of the free-standing ticket booth was a crime. The plaza looks open and lifeless now.

It was definitely a crime to open the forecourt up on one side so that a walkway and escalator connect it with the shopping complex next door. Now, instead of being an enclave and foretaste of the theatre, it's simply a thoroughfare.

When I saw "Da Vinci Code" at the Dome, the trailer for "Casino Royale" was played. I assumed it was coming to the Dome. Instead, we'll have "Happy Feet". "Casino Royale" will probably play at the Chinese.

JSA

Here is an article from the Fresno Bee dated 5/29/31, when Sid ceded control to Fox:

Final papers now are being prepared which will give William Fox control of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, according to announcement made by Harold B. Franklin, president of Fox West
Coast Theaters. Attorneys are now working on the details, Franklin said. Control of Grauman's Chinese Theater, considered the show house of the world, will become effective the minute the final details are completed. Franklin added that the taking over of the famous theater will not in any way affect the Fox plans for the building of a new theater in Hollywood.

Sid Grauman, nationally known and colorful showman, will remain in an advisory capacity in the conduct of the theater under the policy to be set by William Fox when the picturesque playhouse passes to actual participation in the Fox country-wide circuit. The same policy instituted by Grauman will remain under the Fox direction. This means that the theater will continue with prerelease showings of the most outstanding screen attractions and with the stage prologues that have a national reputation for originality, beauty and lavish splendor.

Since the opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theater on May 18th, 1927, it has occupied a unique position in national theatricals. Grauman, of course, had considerable reputation before coming to Los Angeles,
but with opening of the Egyptian Theater, his fame grew to world-wide proportions and when the Chinese Theater opened the event was one of the most colorful in the history of the industry.

With the passing of the Chinese into the control of the Fox organization, the theater becomes a part of the circuit in which the great Roxy Theater, the finest in the East, is a unit. In other important cities of the country, William Fox has erected magnificent playhouses, at the present time there is nearing completion in San Francisco a 5,000-seat Fox Theater and before Fall new Fox Theaters will open in San Diego, Visalia, Hanford and Stockton, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Unfortunately, the two fallen movie palaces are the San Francisco Fox and the Fox Phoenix...

Unfortunately, the two fallen movie palaces were the Fox San Francisco and the Fox Phoenix...

While watching a Christmas parade on WGN/Chicago the announcers pointed out Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre next door. What I didn't know is..."The Chinese remained a three screen theater until 2000 when the two added theaters were razed to make way for the construction of the Kodak Theater -- the new site of the Oscars."

ken mc: In the b/w photo that you posted on July 14, 2006 I was wondering where in that photo is the now Kodak Theatre? And the tall building in the background..is it still there today?

Chuck 1231: I would love to see the interior photo that you posted on July 22,2005! Thanks.

Lost Memory: Can you perhaps provide a photo of this theatre's auditorium. And I didn't know that in 1946 the Academy Awards were held at this theatre for the 3rd and last time.

You can't see the Hollywood Hotel in the 1954 picture. The hotel was on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Highland and was torn down in 1959. The Kodak theater is there now. I believe the taller building is still standing.

A high rise office building was later built on the old Hollywood hotel site east of Grauman's Chinese and for many years until it's demolition in the late 90's sported a huge roof top sign that read FRIES ENTERTAINMENT.

LawMann

The Fries Entertainment sign was on the building across the street from the Chinese.

This is a 1950's photo of Grauman's Chinese Theater advertising "The Robe".

That shot of the Chinese would date around Fall (Sept) 1953.

Thanks William. Here are some recent photos of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Click each photo to expand it.

In February 1963 "Fantasia" played the Chinese in a re-formatted SuperScope print:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/fantchinese.jpg

A 1958 aerial view, taken during the engagement of the Cinemiracle "Windjammer." I hope that the Cinemiracle installation did not cause as much damage to the auditorium as it did to the NYC Roxy, which was never fully repaired, probably because of the Roxy's uncertain future at the time: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/chinese1958.jpg

Warren: Great 1958 photo and seen from a different angle of a famous landmark.

On the right side of the photo, you can see what looks like an excavation. The Hollywood Hotel was at that location, but I recall a newspaper article from 1959 discussing the hotel's imminent demolition.

This 1953 image of a ceremony in the famous forecourt makes one wonder if the two stars also left bosom imprints in the cement:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/chinesegals.jpg

Even R2D2 and C3PO have their "foot" prints in the cement at Grauman's.

Hey that's pretty cool, I am going to be in Hollywood and Los Angeles area in a few weeks, I will have to go check that out. I don't rember that being there the last time I was there some years back, but obviously it was...

Wow, Hollywood sure looked different judging by that aerial view from 1958! I know that church is still there in the background, that's on Highland Ave, but is now somewhat obscured by so many other buildings. When did they put the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd?

History of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Well from reading most of this I would say most of us are still suffering from (((Sensurround))) syndrome I can still the vibrations! That’s why I was pleased when the DVD came out I just cranked up the THX sound system and shock the room to bits at 120dbc!

I am writing a story on the Chinese forecourt and would be very interested in talking to William (above) or anyone with knowledge of removed hand and footprints. Thank you very much.

Chinese Theater, circa 1970's, when it still had its marquees and ornamentation:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdchinesecircaearly1970s.jpg

Chinese Theater from 1988:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdChineseTheater.jpg

Current entrance to the 6 mini-theaters belonging to the Chinese Theater:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdchinesedec2006001.jpg

A lot of the Chinese Theater's beauty is in the details:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdchinesedec2005004.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdChinese070feb2006.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdchinese053mar2006.jpg

2 more details:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdChinese025feb2006.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdChinese015feb2006.jpg

Scans of 2 reproduced old postcards of the Chinese Theater:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdChinesecard01.jpg
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/hollywood90038/hwdChinesecard02.jpg

Last month I took a quick 10-minute tour of the Chinese Theater. From the lobby, we entered the auditorium around the right side of the concession stand. We exited the auditorium via an aisle on the far left side. While heading back up towards the lobby, the guide stopped us and pointed out a mural that was painted on the wall (in the aisle, near the entrance to the left side of the lobby). He told us the painter's name, and I remember saying to myself, "WOW! Wasn't he a famous musician, or bandleader?" Of course, now I can't remember the painter's name.

It is an unusual, but highly recognizable name. I've been searching all over the web looking for a clue. Any help would be most appreciated. :)

Thanks, Spoondoggie.

Was it Keye Luke? On the tour I took, the guide said the well-known Chinese-American actor painted all the murals in the theater.

Bill:

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, Keye Luke is not the name I'm looking for. I understand that Mr. Luke did, indeed, paint the murals in the lobby, but not the one along the far left-side interior wall.

Again, thanks for the help.
~Spoondoggie

Chewbacca the Wookie was arrested in front of Grauman's the other day for abusing a tour guide. Someone from the Kimmel show across the street took video of the wookie being cuffed and put in the police car. Supposedly he (or it) said "Don't mess with this Wookie" on the way to the hoosegow.

This article was in a Long Beach paper on 9/3/57:

PETTING LIE, MAUREEN TELLS JURY

Miss O'Hara Takes Stand in LA. Trial
Not in Grauman's Since 'The Robe' in 1953, Testifies

LOS ANGELES —Confidential magazine's "petting" story about her was untrue, actress Maureen O'Hara testified here today. Moist-eyed and quietly indignant, Miss O'Hara said she attended the September 1953 premier of "The Robe," but had not been in Grauman's Chinese Theater anytime since in 1953 or 1954. The magazine, charged with criminal libel and obscenity, reported Miss O'Hara cuddled with a Latin lover in Grauman's Row 35 in November 1953. Miss O'Hara, who gave her name in court as Maureen FitzSimons, entered the eighth-floor Superior courtroom at 11:15 a.m. She appeared as a voluntary witness for the prosecution. Her appearance followed a court and jury inspection of Grauman's Theater at 10 a.m. today.

THE O'HARA cuddling story has become the cause celebre of the four-week-old trial. The prosecution apparently intends to use Miss O'Hara's denial as a major weapon in proving that Confidential printed lies.

Dep. Dist. Atty. William Ritzi finished his questioning of the beautiful, hazel-eyed actress in about 15 minutes. The preliminary questioning dealt with Miss O'Hara's passport which showed her to be on a filmmaking trip abroad during the time of the alleged theater petting incident. It showed she left Los Angeles Oct. 6, 1953, returning Jan. 12, 1954. Defense Atty. Arthur J. Crowley began his cross-examination shortly before the noon recess.

WEARING her red hair shoulder length and covered with a white hat, Miss O'Hara was attired in a blue and white striped cotton dress. She posed graciously for news photographers at the witness stand before court resumed after the theater field trip. She told the court her September 1953 visit to Grauman's was in the company of her brother, Charles FitzSimons.

MISS O'HARA, a witness before the Grand Jury that indicted Confidential on charges of conspiracy to commit criminal libel and circulate obscene literature, produced passports, photos and other documents to prove she was out of the country in November 1953, the month Craig said the love scene was played. She has filed a five million dollar libel suit over the March 1957 story.

The jury spent 20 minutes in the theater, examining the aisles and the two rows of loges. Judge Walker acted as director of the prosecution, motioning the cast here and there and saying "now let us go out and take a look at the foyer."

Here's an aerial view of the Chinese:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=pph6v9544dyv&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=6892010

I went to the first night of the Israeli Film Festival at Grauman's yesterday. After countless movies at my local shoebox, it was a pleasure to watch as a film as it should be exhibited. My wife had never been to Grauman's before and was amazed by the size and the design, especially the ceiling.

You can see the trees in front of the Hollywood Hotel at the top of this 1936 photo:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011431.jpg

the name you are looking for of the musician who painted the murals on the side walls in the auditorium is xavier cougat

So Nice To See This Movie Palace Still Around For All To Enjoy On It's 80th Anniversary Today !!

I've only had one opportunity to see a movie at this legendary theater. I was visiting family in L.A. at Thanksgiving 1997 and went to see ALIEN RESURECTION back when it was still called Mann's. I expected it to suck and it did, but I didn't care. I would have seen anything that was playing there if it meant I could experience the magic of this theater. It was worth it.

This is a 1961 photo of the Chinese Theater.

Actually, the style of this theater is Chinese Chippendale with an Oriental flavor.

On a trip to Hollywood a few weeks ago to see Harry Pot at the Chinese I was shocked to go into the this great theatre and see bright orange lights on the screen with a digiatl add pre show thing going on the huge curved cinemascope screen. If adds have to be run so, so but to have all the orange lights on the screen Iam glad I did'nt pay to play my adds on the screen, the lights cut out the image. The biggest shock they didn't close the great Chinese curtains after the spots or between the previews. Gone Is this last bit of showmanship at the Chinese. I asked for a Coke at the candy counter they gave me a Pepsi full of Ice! When you go Mann Theatres needs to help pay for the remodel job so they fill your cup all with ice and don't even tell you they have have Pepsi. The Coke people need to check this problem out at the Chinese. The Mann people (Paramount/Warner Bros) Owners of the what is left of the great Fox West Coast Circuit need to get on track with what is going on across the street at Disney's El Capitain Theatre, with long lines to get in across the street a stage show sometimes with live organ, many sets of curtains the poor Chinese sits almost empty after the second week of a movie? With all the Warner Cartoon people why can't they do someting like the guys across the street, Charge a little more, with certain engagements have some pre show entertainment. The kids outside just looking at the footprints and tourists will line up like at the El Capitian.I saw a preview at the Chinese of a new Xmass movie, this is a great time to pull something together to bring people back into the Chinese. And please if you go to the Chinese complain to the manager about bringing the curtains back and put in some blue or red lights in the inside of the theatre during the movie. To see just white lights in the place just doesn't work. Bring back some showmanship. Does anyone know why they don't use the full curve screen for scope prints or digital? Seems like they can go up and out more in the masking.

The Screenvision preshow is a recent distraction at Grauman's. The Mann Village has it too now. Gone are the days of walking into the theater and just enjoying the aura of the space.

The last time I was there (for Grindhouse) the curtains closed after the preshow, opened for the trailers, closed after the trailers, opened for the main feature and then closed at the end of the credits. I'll assume they just forgot to program the curtains for Potter, or the curtains aren't working, or some other excuse. The thought of it being a decision is too horrifying to think of, especially when you consider that they installed new curtains not too long ago.

Re: the screen masking. I have no idea. The screen was slightly masked down during Episode II's run years ago. At the time it was thought this was to compensate for the lack of light output of the DLP projector. It's years later and they should no longer have this problem, for film or digital.

Here are pics from May 2002 showing the masking pulled in slightly.

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6107/graumanscreen2vs3.jpg
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/8586/graumanscreenqc0.jpg

From "Los Angeles Business Journal" August 6, 2007:

Final bids were submitted for the purchase of the property beneath Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The theater itself isn't part of the package until 2023, after the theater's 99-year ground lease expires. Then the historic landmark will pass to the owner of the land. In the meantime, the winner of the bid will be able to collect rent from the Mann Theatres chain, which now owns the theater. Local experts say the rent is below market value because of a historical legacy that links the lease to the price of gold, providing an opportunity for profit; because of the waiting period, however, there is also considerable risk.

Premiere, 1928:
http://tinyurl.com/3c3hf4

This May 1942 ad was in the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/26bcym

Why do people put links to photo bucket? You can't see the photos!

From "los Angeles Times," September 3, 2007

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a Hollywood landmark that attracts millions of tourists each year to its outdoor courtyard where generations of movie stars left their hand and footprints, has been purchased by Hollywood's largest commercial landlord.

CIM Group of Los Angeles says it has no plans to change the 80-year-old theater, and the purchase continues its string of acquisitions in the heart of Hollywood.

The developer already owns nearly all the property on the north side of a two-block stretch of Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Sycamore avenues. That includes the Hollywood & Highland Center, Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, Mann Chinese 6 Theatre multiplex and the Galaxy building.

"It's important to us that key properties like Grauman's don't fall into the wrong hands," said Shaul Kuba, a principal at CIM Group. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Mann Theatres has a long-term lease on the legendary venue for movie premieres and will continue to operate it as a film house. It was sold to CIM by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Center of New York and Barlow Respiratory Hospital of Los Angeles.

"We have been very interested in purchasing the property since we acquired Hollywood & Highland" in 2004, said John Given, another principal at CIM. "Our ownership cements the relationship between the theater and Hollywood & Highland Center."

Built in 1927 by impresario Sid Grauman, the 1,162-seat theater is perhaps the epicenter of Hollywood and one of Southern California's top tourist attractions. Millions of visitors every year step into the footprints of famous movie stars preserved in concrete in its forecourt. Tour buses start and end their journeys out front.

The theater itself is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. Its signature pagoda-inspired entrance features two immense coral red columns topped by wrought iron masks that hold aloft the bronze roof.

Between the columns is a 30-foot dragon carved from stone. Guarding the theater entrance are two giant stone Heaven Dogs, original artifacts brought from China by Grauman.

Previously, Grauman built the Million Dollar Theatre in downtown Los Angeles and the lavish Egyptian Theatre a few blocks from the Chinese Theatre.

Actress Norma Talmadge turned the first shovel of dirt at the groundbreaking, and opening night was a riot of glamour as mobs of fans turned out to see celebrities attend the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's "The King of Kings."

CIM does not own the parking lot west of Grauman's, where Madame Tussauds plans to build a branch of its popular London wax museum. It also does not own an underground city parking lot or subway station below Hollywood and Highland. CIM and the city share ownership of Kodak Theater, home to the annual Academy Awards.

Landlord CIM, with all its properties, "assumes a huge responsibility in Hollywood," said preservationist Robert Nudelman of Hollywood Heritage Inc. "They need to go several steps further because their impact on the district is tremendous. They need to maintain things at a higher level than most do."

CIM was "the absolute logical buyer," said Hollywood real estate broker Christopher Bonbright of Ramsey-Shilling Co., who was not involved in the sale. "It doesn't surprise me they were the successful bidder."

CIM had an incentive to outbid its competitors for the theater because of its importance to the Hollywood & Highland complex and its other nearby properties, Bonbright said. "It's a strategic imperative for them."

The company controls more than a dozen office, retail and residential properties in Hollywood, including the TV Guide building and the former Seven Seas nightclub building across from Grauman's.

It is bringing sought-after clothing stores H&M and Zara to Hollywood Boulevard. CIM also has signed British retailer Tesco to occupy part of the former Hollywood Galaxy shopping center as part of its strategy to bring in businesses that serve local residents.

CIM, founded by Israeli immigrants Kuba and Avi Shemesh with Richard Ressler, specializes in developing and investing in urban centers. It is largely financed by pools of money raised by institutional investors including the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

It reminds of what the new owners said when they bought the Metropolitan/Paramount in Los Angeles in the late fifties. I'm sure most people didn't see that theater being obliterated in a matter of four years or so.

Well the theatre has 16 more years before the ground lease expires in 2023.

Newspaper story Sept. 4, 2024:

Chinese Now Rubble, Developer Claims Error

Hollywood--Residents of Tinseltown are reeling from the destruction of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the early morning hours of of Sept. 3, 2024. Demolition experts blew up the structure and left it to bulldozers to load the debris onto waiting trucks.

A spokesman for CIM, the owner of the site since 2007 and of the building itself for the past year, said the demolition was a mistake. Richard Ressler Jr. said the company said sought a permit to demolish the theater's box office not the theater itself. He said the box office had been stored in a warehouse since it was removed from the theater courtyard in 2004. Since it was not original to the building, CIM planned to destory it and use the warehouse space to store the old film projectors that it planned to removed from the Chinese's projection room.

Preversationists, however aren't so sure. They point to the fact that CIM sought and received a permit to building a parking structure at the same Hollywood Blvd. location, and that Welton Beckett & Sons had been retained to design such a structure.

very clever article, homeboy.

Bite your tongue. Well done, though.

He forgot to say the the foot prints are on sale at the corner of Hollywood and Vine at the Vine Theatre.

Warner Bros and Paramount need to postion the Chinese better and treat the theatre like Disney does with the El Capitan and Pacific's Cinerama Dome/Arc Light complex. A little showmanship wouldn't hurt.brucec

I agree but what kind of showmanship?

In reference to a previous comment about the movie The Majestic...I recall seeing a behind the scene feature that showed how they built the theatre and other buildings in the movie....I can't seem to find that feature anymore on the DVD. Does anyone remember this and know where to find it?

Does anyone know what happened to a bronze plaque commemorating the first CinemaScope picture The Robe premiered at the Chinese Sept. of 53? It used to be imbedded on the cement right next to Jean Simmons foot prints and it is obvious someone removed it or worse yet stole it. Raf.

A recent visit to 'Madame Dara' the gypsy fortune teller in San Francisco CA has told me today the future of the Mann's Grauman's Theatre in Hollywood CA. Looking just 2 years from now; and with city help. The new owners CIM will put a new big fancy hotel above the air space on top of the Chinese Theatre. (Just like in NYC) It will be called the Grauman's CIM Hotel Hollywood. It will have a oriental/tiki look with 600 rooms. The big draw she told me will be all the Movie Star beggers outside dressed for the tourist crowd will move inside the new hotel and offer nite tuck down service to the guests that pay a little extra for a Hollywood touch! Imagine Marilyn or the Pirate can come to your room. The big money thing that the CIM people will do $$$ is put in the Big Tong Gates in front of the forcourt and charge $5 per person to enter and see the movie star prints and take photos (No Video) that's extra. If your on a tour bus the bus people will pay CIM $3 per head for entrance 24/7 The big news that blew me away 'Madame Dara' told me this afternoon when Mann goes out of business two brothers from the San Francisco area will take over the Mann Theatres (what is left after the big LA earthquake and fire in 2008) I asked her the name of the brothers she said it started with a S. I thought it will be the Forman brothers with Pacific she said no. I mentioned Syufy Brothers. Yes she said that will be the new owners of the former Mann Chinese in the future. They are breaking away from the tired Century/Cinemark multiplex folks and go single screen at the Chinese. They will only run the Graumans Chinese Theatre part for the CIM folks. She thinks the 6 plex behind the main Chinese will be a big Chinese food court for the out of town people? Also the Syufys will have to pay 50% of the theatre candy/popcorn sales direct to the CIM owners so they can buy more land in Hollywood. I was thinking when I left 'Ms Dara' today the CIM guys are very smart business people buying the Chinese Theatre and the air space above. Watch for booking reservations in 2010! Superman or Batman can come visit you in you room! Will the old Mann Paramount/Warner Bros Theatre people get a cut of this new room entertainment venture? Big flat wide screen Tv's will be in every room. You will be able to watch the exact movie that is playing in the big curved screen Chinese below you in your room without showmanship; or will they put a little curtain on each TV? A extra charge for Dolby Digital Stereo per movie in your room will be added to your room bill. The CIM people know how to bring in the tourist $$$$. Hollywood needs more nice big hotels bring on this new venture. And thanks to 'Madame Dara' she knows all!

That's cute. As operator of the Chinese, I vote for the Frank Theater chain of South Jersey. Given the Franks' stellar reputation, I would like to see how they would handle a venue such as this.

Does anyone know how the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Center of New York and Barlow Respiratory Hospital of Los Angeles came to own the land ?

In a card game. :)

I have been trying to locate interior photos of the Grauman's lobby from the 40's and 50's but have not been sucessful..Perhaps there are none around..I have an antique dragon motif cast iron. bronze and brass floor standing ashtray/smoking stand I purchased many years ago that I understand was once in the lobby of the Grauman. The adm. of the estate I purchased it from told me it was removed during a renovation and came accompanied with a picture of Cary Grant standing there putting out a cigarette in the very same smoking stand. I have treasured it over the years but always meant to try and find out more about the piece. I called Mann's a few years ago and spoke to someone there and described the ash tray and was told after some deliberation that it was indeed one of a pair that once stood in their lobby. I am an antique collector and bought the piece for it's value as a unique art deco piece of the era but it's connection to the theatre was a real plus and has always had me fascinated. Does anyone know how I could go about getting more info on this fabulous piece.I have visions of not only Cary Grant but the likes of Bette Davis putting her cigs in the ashtray and it gives me goosebumps.

From the CA state library:
http://tinyurl.com/yszuf2
http://tinyurl.com/2aclmr
http://tinyurl.com/yveoqu

From the LAPL:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014572.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014608.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014609.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014571.jpg

Nice shots, but no lobby shots.

I looked for the ashtray, but no luck. I do what I can.

Thanks Ken mc. I know as I have searched for some time..No lobby photos and even if I found some they would have to be from that era..they say a photo is worth a thousand words and as long as I have that Cary Grant photo that might well be all I will ever be able to put together. I often wondered what happened to pieces of decor such as this when remodeling is done and how this person came to be in possesson of it and what the owner's connection to the theatre was if any. Nobody seemd to know at the time.

Here is an October 1953 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2fgjuc

This once great gem on Hollywood Blvd. has slowly been dismantled over the years. While still quite beautiful, its a far cry from Graumans Chinese of the 70's-80's.

How different was the interior in the 70s and 80s in comparison to the 90s? The stage and proscenium collumns were removed decades before if I'm not mistaken. The exterior is certainly better but they should've put back the palm trees and fixed the fountain on the east side. Whenever I'm there it's not working.

Were there ever little bonzai trees in the theater or is this a false memory?

There's lobby shots at http://www.graumanschinesetheater.net

The interior has looked the same to me since the 70's. Still has the 2 mismatched hanging lights in the auditorium. The exterior has gotten dull and boring.

Here is an April 1957 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3c769c

You can see a shot of the marquee of the main house showing "Excalibur" during the film "Death Wish 2".

The last nail in the coffin of the Chinese - after building the horrendous Highland & Hollywood development, removing the old box office and hiring all those kitchy celebrity "impersonators" out front, was the policy of using the screen to project advertisments as "Preshow entertainment" before the feature. No more curtain and a chance to sit and appriciate the decor and motif. Nothing is scared. Now you are bombarded by advertisements whether you want to see them or not. Also their policy of between show tours is terrible. The last time I was there an usher told me I was in the way of the group - and this after I paid for a ticket to the film! This is NOT the same theater Harvey Korman goes to and tries to get in on a student rate in "Blazing Saddles."

Here is a September 1929 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/3b5oty

Here is a 1944 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/2octca

Show Business with Eddie Cantor and George Murphy was released in December of 1944.

My grandfather, Jean Klossner "MR. FOOTPRINT"was on the original Meyer & Holler construction crew that built the Egyptian, Chinese, Mayan and American theaters (among others) .....

After the opening of the Chinese, (1927) he performed the footprint ceremonies for over 30 years. (1927-1962) He said Sid Grauman always wanted to open a complete chain, each theater with a different theme .... So different than the "Multiplex Giants" of today.

Here's MORE Info & Photos:
http://www.angelfire.com/ri2/valleygirl/index.htm
...OR:
http://www.geocities.com/valleygirl_91306/index.html

SORRY! - here's the URL

http://www.angelfire.com/ri2/valleygirl/index.html

From last nights screening of THE WIZARD OF OZ honoring 7 remaining Munchkins who are receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese01Nov192007006.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese02Nov192007005.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese03Nov192007003.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese04Nov1920070029.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese05Nov1920070022.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese06Nov1920070021.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese07MunchkinNov192007003.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese08MunchkinNov192007004.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese08interiorNov1920070016.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese09interiorNov192007001.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese10interiorNov1920070022.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese11interiorNov1920070010.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/hwdChinese12interiorNov192007007.jpg

Great photos. I didn't know there were any Munchkins still alive.

Me either. I need a new camera that works better in low lit situations.

Beautiful. The place is still a wonder.

I don't know if this was posted before, but here is a circa 1934 photo and this is a close-up view.

How sad this once great theatre has become. A trip down to Hollywood this past Friday for the 5pm show of Hitman. Across the street the El Capitan had all the neon on with huge crowds for Enchantment. The Chinese sat dark on the outside at 4:30 PM. Like the problems I had when I visited the Chinese about 6 months ago came to pass again. I asked when I bought my ticket if they close and open the curtain, the lady told me yes. I also asked the doorman the same question he told me they close them after the pre show Screenvision presentation before the main 35mm previews and main feature. To my shock again like 6 months ago the digital pre show comercials were up on the big curved screen in flat without the side masking closed as Hitman is in scope. The whole screen had red/orange and blue lights on the screenvision adds running on the screen. You couldn't see the digital image, all covered by a red/yellow tint. Can you imagine paying for a Sreenvision ad at the Chinese and have it ruined by bad light. I went out to the lobby to look for someone to ask why the curtain lights are on when video is up. They gave me the same run a round like last time. Said it was on a computer. Then the real disapointment came at 5:04 after someone finally shut of the screenvision adds and the red lights and started the main previews. guess what NO CURTAINS close or open. Same thing happend at the start on the Fox logo for Hitman. Well I found my ticketstub and had to track down over three puppet people to get my refund for the red distortion and curtains not closing. Good I asked before. How sad the showmanship is gone at Graumans Chinese. Why have a new curtain if they don't use it! Next time you go complain and get your many back! I had to sign a complaint form. I told about the red and orange lights on the pre show and curtain problem. Today I will call the main office of Screenvision® and tell them what is going on at Manns Graumans Chinese Hollywood. Wait till they start digging in the parking lot next door for the new wax museum as it is all fenched in waiting for the bulldozers. The sound will go thru the walls when a movie is on. You can see why the Disney people make the money across the street with quality presentation. They know how to show off a nice theatre with plenty of curtains that work and a front that doesn't look dead like the cold dark Chinese.

Did you ask to talk with the Manager?

With the closing of the National, and with the comments on this page about not using the curtain, I considered but decided against a vacation in LA that would now be taking place.

** The new owner of the Chinese could care less - Tradition is out the window...

When they covered up my Mother's handprints near the sidewalk (1927),
and Sid Grauman's pet duck prints on the balcony staircase, their answer was: "Oh well, nobody told us they were there" ...

(** It's only been on file with the Hollywood C of C since 1962)

These jerks only see $$$$ signs - The care and preservation of these artifacts means NOTHING to them !!!!!

I made the mistake of going to the Chinese 6 on opening night to see "The Mist." Though I had no expectation of anything other then what you would expect by going to the annex theaters to the Grauman's, I was about to go mental after sitting through almost 30 minutes of commercials, advertisements and banal musical selections in what they call "Screenvision." They should call it "Screamvision" because that's what I wanted to do - scream for them to turn it off! It was truly unbearable. The Mann chain really socks it to you and hits you over the head with their policy of these pre-show advertisments. And now they have joined the ranks of the cel phone addicts where you can "text in" requests or answers to a central phone number. I swore I'd never set foot in that theater again or at least wait outside until all the consumerism ended. Have today's audiences become so jaded and brainwashed that they can actually accept this and sit though this blatant advertisemnets? Remeber when we used to boo and hiss when the old Los Angeles Times commercials came on? What happened to those days? Here's a tip: for an excellant presenation of a film and a wonderful expierence head to The "Vista" and see a film the way it is supposed to be presented. No pre-show canned commercials, but they play music and have great leg room in the seats and fantastic projection and sound all in a wonderful historic theater where you can look up from the screen and marvel and give thanks to the wonderful people who did so mush to restore the theater. And best of all? They have a curtain they raise and lower before and after the feature. I saw "American Gangster" last week and the matinee was only about $8.50. Thank God they is still have theaters in Los Angeles where some things are still scared. Shame on you Mann Theaters.

The Chinese Theatre seems to make its money from unsuspecting tourists and the overly LOUD person(s) giving actual tours of the theater while the movie is running.

As for good showmanship... take a trip to the MAJESTIC CREST THEATRE in Westwood! The JOSEPH MUSIL DESIGN is simply stunning. Blacklight murals of the famous L.A. skyline, two sets of fabulous curtains, a starburst over the procenium, fanfare, great coffee & popcorn and no goofy tourists with loud comments!

Hollywood... your days are numbered.

yet another cinema treasure being overtaken by rich people. Look at the Ziegfeld, another theater now run by corporate bums. Once a great theater, now plays junk.

.... IF All you posters want to tell the "Suits" at Mann what you think ... you can E-Mail them:

Talk2mann@manntheatres.com

Justin! That's a totally unwarranted comment about the Ziegfeld. Have you been reading that theater's page, including special presentations of all sorts of classics and Blade Runner: the Final Cut? I see their mainstream features, usually shown with use of curtain even if after the pre-show. There's much class at the Ziegfeld's presentations.

The Chinese has always made it's money from the tourists. If they could close off that forecourt and sell tickets to that they would have many moons ago. Just think if the Egyptian Theatre was the holder of those footprints, it's forecourt would have been the Star on Hollywood Boulevard. When the Chinese dropped a fulltime projectionist to maintain and watch over the theatre it's presentations died.

Justin: I have to agree with what Howard said. Not only is the Ziegfeld still a great theater, but it's the only one left in Manhattan (not counting Radio City, of course).

Looking forward to seeing "Sweeney Todd" there. I hope Tim Burton doesn't ruin it.

i agree with you. My bad. The Chinese is to West Coast moviegoers what the Ziegfeld is to East Coast moviegoers; both are favorite places for movie premieres.

Sad to hear about the problems over at Grauman's. The Screenvision "preshow" is indeed terrible and also infected the Village in Westwoood.

While the curtains not closing and opening is a big no no I'm more worried about the sound and picture though. The last few times I've been to Grauman's the sound hasn't been cranked and/or the subwoofers haven't been very active. You'd think that with all the premieres that go through there that the sound system would be continually calibrated and maintained, right?

Yes, with each Premiere the studio does a full sound call to check the system. The problem is the way the film is mixed and presented at the theatre vs. the Home Theatre person that runs his or her home systems wrong. Many times I've had patrons ask that the surrounds are not on or the subs are to low or even that the THX is not working. If your Home system is set-up properly like a regular theatre the mix all falls into place. Some theatre driver their sound system hard to make a point. Some film makers love to hear and have their films played very loud, over the normal fader setting in the booth. I've done full sound calls on both coasts, if you go by what Dolby and their units say everything will work out fine. And remember a true projectionist is only in that booth for Premiere and Special media shows, the rest is handled by management people.

What does a sound call consist of? Tones from each channel?

At one time there were sixteen, sixteen inch sub woofers and if fed with 4000W they could produce over 110db of base. That would literally be base you could feel. To really feel the explosions they sub woof channel would have to be set at least ten db over the normal setting. A sound call consists of playing pink noise on all channels one at a time then checking and setting sound levels and response. It also consists of checking the light output of the projector(s). Usually a rehearsal is done and the film the sound call is for is run.

Trip Report for 12/22/07
Curtain lights are indeed on during the Screenvision preshow. Doh.

Curtains didn't close between trailers and main feature. Aww.

Sound system rocked so I'm mostly satisfied. I Am Legend isn't a very sharp film though. The trailers before looked really really detailed but the actual movie was soft, like it had been filtered or the source/DI was less than 2k. Hmm.

Saw "Cloverfield" here on opening night 1/18/08. No, they didn't close the curtains before the show but, Yes, they cranked up the sound system an extra few notches to get us psyched for the flick. It worked! Felt like the good old days!

At night:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseJan29200803.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseJan29200806.jpg

From looking at this link http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=8066
How would one know which is the movie playing in the legendery auditorium and which movies are playing in the standart multiplex?

The listing for Grauman's Chinese is separate from the Chinese 6. Here is the link for Grauman's Chinese: http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=1401

Alright...Thanks for the quick response!

This exterior photo was taken in the mid 1970s:
http://tinyurl.com/2cbccu

What is the source for the photo?

From today:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseApr11200818.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseApr11200832.jpg

This 1961 photo by William Reagh shows the same detail as the 70s photo posted on 3/20/08:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014679.jpg

Here is a 1927 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/5gzdxc

I don't think thats a public domain photo.

... funnny, MOST of the photos here and those in the book "Hollywood at your Feet" are not public domain ....

Nearly all the photos with my Grandfather, Jean Klossner "Mr. Footprint", aren't public domain, but they are all over the internet.. so much for copyright laws ....

JR

My stepmom actually toured the place a few weeks ago while on business leave. She says the original building is still there, alongside the additional screens next to it.

Bracing the west side during construction next door:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/MdmeTussaudsApr24200801.jpg

Iron Man premiere:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseApr30200808.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseApr30200802.jpg

Yeah, Paramount will hold the premiere there but it actually won't play at Grauman's. ::thumbs down::

http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcm2.htm

Larry Harnisch posted the March 1957 Confidential article about Maureen O'Hara on the LA Times' Daily Mirror blog. O'Hara sued and proved she was out of the country on the date in question.
http://tinyurl.com/66595h
http://tinyurl.com/6oxa9v
http://tinyurl.com/643qgp

What is going up next door to the theater?

Not sure. They took out the parking lot west of the building.

A branch of Madame Tussauds (which will probably end the long life of the Hollywood Wax Museum just a few steps east).

81 Years Old And Still Going Strong !!!!

Anyone have any idea what the Chinese is going to get to replace the dud "Speed Racer" since the Arclight seems to get most of the good bookings these days?

Maybe something that's not Indiana Jones and probably will be Sex and the City!

SATC is booked for Arclight Hollywood. Who knows what's gonna be in there next?

According to Arclight's sight (which is obviously subject to change), Arclight Hollywood is supposed to get:
Get Smart
Hellboy 2
Hancock
Hulk
The Dark Knight
Mama Mia
The Happening
Wanted
Kung Fu Panda
The Love Guru
and
Zohan

What exactly is the Chinese going to show this summer? Space Chimps? Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2? There literally isn't a decent movie for them to show this summer until X-Files 2 at the end of July. I figured it was a no-brainer that they'd show Dark Knight, but it's already listed as coming soon to Arclight Hollywood.

The next movie scheduled to play the Chinese is M. Night Shymalan's The Happening.

Yikes, thats still 3 weeks off. I bet they were hoping Speed Racer had done better. Hope Mr. Shymalan is back in form after that stinker "Lady in the Water".

Glad to see others acknowledge the lousy booking Grauman's has been given lately.

It wasn't like that for the first couple years that the Arclight was open, but these days the Arclight is THE place in LA to see a film. Whenever I go you see celebrities and industry people who would really rather not deal with all the tourists on Hollywood Boulevard. My feeling is studios really want their films at the Arclight for the prestige factor. Its sad because the Chinese puts on a good show. A few years ago the Chinese and even Chinese 6 were getting films like Lord of the Rings: FOTR, Black Hawk Down, Star Wars Ep 1 and 2 and Insomnia. All of those would certainly play at the Arclight if released today.

I think it all went down hill a few years ago when Episode 3 ended up in the Dome/Arclight instead of at Grauman's like every other Star Wars film. Then last year Arclight got Transformers and The Simpson's Movie over Grauman's {SM didn't even play at the Village). This year the same thing happened with Iron Man (no Village either). I bet Star Trek will end up showing only at Arclight as well. Blah.

Here's a 1953 view of premiere festivities for the first CinemaScope feature:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/gcrobe.jpg

I do not think that Arclight listing actually indicates all those films will be booked into Hollywood. Since the Arclight Sherman Oaks now shares the same website they list all upcoming films. I'm sure the Chinese will book at least The Dark Knight and maybe something like Get Smart or Wanted.

I find most people will go out of the way to see a film at the main theatre, but will not really go to the Chinese 6 unless totally necessary. The tourist factor does hurt the complex for L.A.'ers.

No, those titles are all listed for Hollywood. Hollywood and Sherman Oaks have their own coming soon pages. I agree that there could be a mistake and they have listed a title for both locations by accident (hence why I said "subject to change"), but as written, Arclight Hollywood is getting all of those titles. Now, someone earlier said the Chinese is getting The Happening (which is currently listed for Arclight Hollywood). If the Chinese gets that, there could be some hope that the coming soon list has more titles than it should.

If the Arclight website is correct then the Chinese is in for a lousy summer, year, what have you. Aside from the Strangers which starts tomorrow at the Chinese and WALL-E, which will most certainly be at the El Capitan, the next wide release coming up that is not listed on the Arclight Hollywood's coming soon page is New Line's Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D on July 11th!!

I really doubt the Chinese will be left high and dry this Summer. Just because it is listed on the Arclight website does not really mean it will play at the Hollywood venue.

yesterday I saw Indy at the Dome and they played The Dark Knight trailer there. Then I went to the Chinese to see The Strangers and the trailers I can remember were Get Smart and Hellboy II. Posters for both of those were in the forecourt of the stars area and listed as their next attractions

Do Paramount and Warner still co-own the Mann theater chain? Paramounts biggest of May - Iron Man and Indy - wound up at the Dome. Warners' new Batman movie will be at the Dome. I guess Mann has new owners now?

Oh yeah, other trailers I remeber seeing at the Chinese yesterday were Journey to the Center of The Earth and a Brad Pitt movie (coming out this fall I think)

Anyone have any info on the new construction going on just west of the theater?

well I see a couple questions I asked were already answered above.

And I also saw the trailer for the new Angelena Jolie film Wanted.

Tralers I saw

Get Smart
Hellboy II
Journey to Center of The Earth
Wanted
Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a christmas release)

Grauman's Chinese is not getting The Happening either; it is now on pre-sale for June 12 Midnite show @ Arclight.

It's a bad sign for "Get Smart" when the target audience doesn't realize that it is based on a television show. I smell a bomb.

Didn't the producers get a hint with such previous stinkers as "I Spy", "Bewitched", "The Avengers", "Dukes of Hazzard", "The Mod Squad", "Leave it to Beaver", "Miami Vice" etc etc that making an old TV show into a movie usually doesn't work?

I'd say "Star Trek" and "The Untouchables" (both from the '70s and '80s) are the only TV show-to-movie adaptations that did work. The rest of them didn't even come close.

ken mc, Don't you mean "I smell a Nude Bomb"? Remember the movie called "The Nude Bomb" from 1980, it was the first "Get Smart" movie and it's Executive Producer was Ted Mann.

During 'The Nude Bomb' period there was a scary wax figure of Rhonda Flemming in the lobby of the Chinese.

Mrs. Mann.

I worked at the Village in Westwood during that time period. Ted and Rhonda came to see just about everything we showed. When we showed Mommie Dearest Ted spent most of the time in the lobby because he hated the film so much. He seemed nice enough when he came in, but it was funny how management acted. Mr. Haines would ran out to Ted's idling car to park it for him; and would be a bundle of nerves all the time he was watching the film. The Mann's came in on Mr. Haines day off and ended up coming in. Oh, those were the days. Westwood and Films were so much fun, moviegoing has lost its lustre.

I worked at a McDonalds in Philly when Ray Kroc decided to pay us a visit. You should have seen the McDonald's bigwigs shaking in terror during his one hour plus visit.

Thats interesting but what does this have to do with the Chinese Theater?

Not much. Thanks for steering the discussion back to the correct topic.

Bill, don't forget "The Fugitive"!

JSA

Boys & Girls ... Could we please use this site to discuss the Chinese Theater, NOT your life history working at McDonald's ???

As for movie discusssions, try IMDB we don't need your critique
on movies here either.......

This site is for the theaters - Thank You

Arclight is pre-sale tickets for The Happening, Love Guru, Get Smart, Wanted and Hancock for Sherman Oaks and not Hollywood. So perhaps the Chinese is going to start getting bookings. Yesterday they had pre-sale for The Happening at Arclight Hollywood, now that is gone. The only upcoming film pre-sale for Hollywood is The Incredible Hulk.

well six hours later I now see Arclight Hollywood preselling Wanted, Love Guru, Happening, and Hancock. Disney has been preselling WALL*E at the El Capitan for some time now.

I think the next film in Graumans auditorium will be Get Smart. Then, three weeks later maybe Hellboy II. Those were the two movie posters that were up in the Forecourt of the Stars, listed as their Next Attraction, when I was there a week ago.

Segask.. you asked about the "new construction" just west of the Chinese Theater. It's literally right next door and it's a huge multi-million dollar project. It will be the brand new "Madame Tussauds" Wax Museum. It is being buit from scratch and a large crane is hauling large I-beams up around the site. I saw the artist conception of the building and it's not much higher than the theater and doesn't appear that it will overtake the height of it, but it will be quite grand and, of course, very modern in design. This museum will probably overtake the very dated "Hollywood Wax Museum" a couple of blocks away. It appears the frame of the building is in place, but they have a way to go as far as wall construction goes. Will be keeping an eye on this.

Just to clear up a few misconceptions I have seen on this site:

1. The celebrity impersonators outside the Grauman’s Chinese theatre have no affiliation with the theatre itself. They are not allowed on to the forecourt and must stay on the sidewalk at all times. People who want to complain about those impersonators needs to contact the Hollywood City of Commerce since Mann has nothing to do with them.

2. Management does not run the projection booth at Grauman’s or Chinese 6-plex. The theatre has a dedicated projection staff that are trained and certified. Union projectionists run all premieres, festivals, and other special screenings.

3. Grauman’s had a problem with dimmers in the auditorium this past winter/spring. It caused the Screenvision pre-show to run with the red stage lights on, on several shows. The theatre is now equipped with a new state of the art lighting system, that is still getting tweaked to this date. In addition to this, the staff is now getting trained in doing a curtain call between the pre-show and the trailers.


As far as digital projection: Grauman’s has a N.E.C. 2K digital projector and a Doremi server installed. Same equipment is in theatre 1, 2, 3. Screen #6 has a Christie 2K projector with a Dolby server with RealD 3D capabilities.

Good News!!!I was at the Chinese a few weeks ago and the curtains closed and opened!!! Now lets get them to put some blue/red and green lights up hi when the film is running. The stereo Dolby Digital® JBL system for Speed Racer was the best bass I have ever heard. Not super loud but very deep. I felt the air move thru my hair. Now that is a super THX sound system at the main Chinese Theatre.

does anyone know what kind of, and how many subwoofers it has? The 'vibrating air' effect doesn't seem as awesome as it used to be before they upgraded the sound system a few years ago.

Saw "Get Smart" here on 6/21/08. Curtains did indeed close after the (STUPID!) Screenvision pre-show and open before the the trailers.

Chris, how was the crowd?

Dark Knight is going to the Dome. So from the list of movies I gave above, only Get Smart and Hellboy 2 are going to find themselves at the Chinese. What exactly is Mann doing?

Mark, the house was roughly 50%-60% full on a Saturday night.

We took about 11 members of my 600 member film club to see it. My assistant event organizer - not knowing that Grauman's seats 1400 - erroneously told the folks to get their tickets online when they actually could have walked up to the ticket booth, bought them on the spot and saved themselves a buck.

"What exactly is Mann doing?"

From my vantage point, looks like Mann is preparing to exit from the game altogether. They just ain't got the mojo anymore. Hate to say it, but the facts are obvious. Wasn't the smartest move in the world building only 6 screens to operate alongside Grauman's vs. the 14 that Pacific/Arclight built alongside Arclight Hollywood. And, later on, taking on the Bevely Center 13 to run 2nd runs at 1st run prices?

Mann is officially a shell of their former selves. Cross your fingers and hope that AMC picks them up - cause if Regal does, Grauman's is gonna get carved up like a cheap Tombstone pizza!

Grauman’s Chinese will not be tossed aside; it still has tremendous historical significance to Hollywood and Southern California.

The problem remains is unavailability of Studio Product. Over the past decade or so between May – July there is less Hollywood Product available. If you look at the release schedules during that time period each weekend seems to have ‘one’ major blockbuster and one or two counter programming titles; in short there is not a lot of films being released even though it seems so. Come August through the end of the year the releases increase. The only thing that could be done is to break the zoning rules and book at both Chinese and Arclight; recently Mann and Pacific have done that with Glendale, not sure how long this will last but it seems to be what was decided on. They could impose a rule that a film cannot play at the Dome or main Chinese simultaneously, other than that option it will remain like this.

I beg to differ, Brad. Arclight/The Dome's 15 screens is a definite advantage. If you open a blockbuster at Grauman's and on 2-3 other screens at Chinese 6, that means that the whole theatre is practically booked. On the other hand, that same blockbuster can open at The Dome and 2-3 other screens at Arclight and you've still got 12 screens available for product.

Let's look at the last 4 films to play at Grauman's Chinese: "Harold & Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay", "Speed Racer", "The Strangers" and "Get Smart". Also opening during that same time period - but not at Grauman's: "Iron Man", "What Happens In Vegas", "Narnia-Prince Caspian", "Indy 4", "Sex and the City", "Kung Fu Panda", "The Incredible Hulk", "You Don't Mess With The Zohan", "The Love Guru", "Wanted" and "Wall-E"...with "Hancock" coming up this week.

Every film on that list would need to run on 2-3 screens minimum on opening weekend. As I said, you execute that plan at Grauman's/Chinese 6 and there's no other room to fit anything else on the schedule. That's not the studios' fault or even Arclight's fault for that matter. That blame goes on Mann's ownership who was obviously stuck in a 1980's mindset when they foolishly thought that 6 screens was enough to support Grauman's.

On paper, SPEED RACER was a can't miss and unfortunately flopped. GET SMART is considered a success and THE STRANGERS was a surprise hit. NARNIA like WALL-E are El Capitan and is a given. Granted Arclight has secured more films, everything you mentioned is virtually everything that Hollywood was offering. There is not alot being released currently. With Chinese's 7, and Arclight's 15 there is definately an over saturation of screens, and both screens almost always play films of more than one screen. August through December there are much more films being released.

At the end of the day, Mann's decision to build a 6 screen theatre to accompany the crown jewel of movie theatres worldwide was not a smart one. I still think that the complex's lack of screenage makes it a less-attractive option for booking a nice array of titles.

It used to be that Grauman's would get the big Fox, Warner, and Paramount films while the Dome/Arclight would get Universal, Sony, Miramax, New Line, etc. Now it's all screwed up. Is it Mann or the studios that are leaving Grauman's with nothing big to show?

It would be worse if Mann still had the twins next door to the main theatre, and was competing with Arclight. The problem with booking at Chinese 6 is that there are only 2 larger screens, I think because the Arclight has overall larger (and more) auditoriums it gets more bookings. The Chinese 6 really is designed for move-overs and is used alot for small film festivals, special screeings and rentals.

INDIANA JONES moves over to Chinese 6 on Wednesday from Arclight.

this was already posted here last fall:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From "Los Angeles Business Journal" August 6, 2007:

Final bids were submitted for the purchase of the property beneath Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The theater itself isn't part of the package until 2023, after the theater's 99-year ground lease expires. Then the historic landmark will pass to the owner of the land. In the meantime, the winner of the bid will be able to collect rent from the Mann Theatres chain, which now owns the theater . . . . .



From "los Angeles Times," September 3, 2007

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, a Hollywood landmark that attracts millions of tourists each year to its outdoor courtyard where generations of movie stars left their hand and footprints, has been purchased by Hollywood's largest commercial landlord . . . . .

. . . . . Mann Theatres has a long-term lease on the legendary venue for movie premieres and will continue to operate it as a film house. It was sold to CIM by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Center of New York and Barlow Respiratory Hospital of Los Angeles . . . .


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

so CIM owns the land and Mann still owns the building? (until 2023?)

Click on the link below to see a 7 min video from The Michael Caine hand- and Foot-print ceremony on July 11, 2008 at the Graumans Forecourt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7L8AVLtYmA

The Chinese theatre complex is underutilized, since it doesn't have enough seating capacity to show a major blockbuster like 'The Dark Knight' on at least 3 screens.

Does anybody remember what movie was playing here on christmas of 1978?

Well "Superman: The Movie" opened on Dec. 14th. 1978 in the main house.

Superman was playing on Christmas day, according to the LA Times.

I think the logical choice would be for Pacific to take over the Chinese. There is not much left to the once powerful Mann theatre chain. The Chinese main theatre should have its choice of bookings like they did in the past. The Chinese use to host the best from Warner Bros and Paramount. Pacific has more clout than the current Mann theatre chain.brucec

I think the adjoing Chinese 6 are a liability to Grauman's Chinese. Arclight may be stronger because the theatres are nicer and have more seating. Most big films are booked for the main theatre while the 6 plex is used for spillover or move-overs.

if Pacific had both the Dome and Grauman's, would they open the big tentpole releases like Indy and Batman in both of them?

Here is an April 1938 ad for "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "Mr. Moto's Gamble".

This is a July 1957 ad for "Island in the Sun".

I liked seeing the Mr. Moto ad with Keye Luke's name displayed, since he painted the beautiful murals in the Chinese Theater's lobby.

Here is a new addition from the LA Library. Looks like an early episode of CSI:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics53/00076438.jpg

What are those fake people doing in the photo? Are they ghosts?

No, it's a re-creation of a crime involving some shooting back and forth.

Here is an undated postcard from the NYPL:
http://tinyurl.com/6bozqy

I like the idea of the "ghosts". Too bad the house isn't haunted. Maybe they could "adopt" a couple ghosts for Halloween.

I was wondering about the restaurant on the right side of the postcard of 8/16/08. Has that part of the building been converted regarding the extra screens that were added?

Here is the LA Times obituary for Bill Hertz, who was involved in the hand and footprint ceremonies at Grauman's for years:
http://tinyurl.com/6z7ttl

Ken, that part of the building is intact. The added screens are in the building next door. See the first photo Hollywood90038 posted on April 30, 2008 under "Iron Man Premiere."

OK, thanks Don. I don't imagine the space has been used as a restaurant for years.

What is going on with the bookings? Is Mann just purposely just letting th Chinese go? Virtually every release this week and next is booked into Arclight. Will it just become a venue mainly for premieres?

They're playing Ghost Town... I guess it's somewhat appropriate.

Mann is slowly but surely withering on the vine. I agree with others that the six-plex was a horrible idea. Pacific thought it through and created two monsters with the Arclight and the Grove. Mann could have done something really spectacular with their expansion, but instead created six 1990s style auditoriums that are no different than something you'd find in any neighborhood multiplex. I love the Chinese, but what I'd love more is something decent to see at the Chinese. That hasn't happened in a long time.

It seems to have been a dreadful summer there.

Are they deliberately letting it go or can they simply not compete for bookings, even with the most recognizable theatre on the planet?

I do not know the mechanations of the booking process or how last-moment changes can happen, but I have noticed at least 2 films lately, "Lakeview Terrace" and "Nights in Rodanthe" were not listed on the early week pre-sale page for Arclight Hollywood (but WERE for Arclight Sherman Oaks) then suddenly on Friday they are playing at the Arclight Hollywood. Is it possible that the Arclight can look at the performance of its slate over a weekend, make some last minute changes, and pull films slated for the Chinese/Chinese 6? This seems to be whats happening.

Mann seems to be heavily renting the Chinese 6 for press screenings and film festivals.

I sad as it sounds, I still wish some other chain would buy Mann (even AMC!!) just so the Chinese could get some films that people actually want to see.

If I remember correctly, I think Mann only has 13 locations to book for. That's not the industry pull that they had in the 1980s when they one of the top operators in the country. I would say the only reason they still get any attention AT ALL is because they still operate the Chinese, Village, and Bruin.

The truth is that Arclight just has more to offer. For example, when Dark Knight opened, the Arclight had 13 sold out shows starting at midnight. Same thing with Indiana Jones. The Chinese just physically can't offer that to a studio. Arclight probably has somewhere in the neighborhood of 6000-7000 seats to offer a studio. Mann can probably only offer half that.

The Chinese complex really needs to be transformed into something spectacular but it's too late for that now. Mann entered a 21st century theater market using a 20th century complex. They were wrong. I think the very best option would be for Pacific to take it over use both complexes (Dark Knight might be in the main Chinese, but with a few smaller screens over the Arclight and vice-versa). Cause any other chain is going to be up against the same challenges that Mann is dealing with right now.

Granted Arclight will get more bookings because of the reputation it has established. But the Chinese would get a fair share of "A" titles and would get some of the blockbusters. Recently, pretty much this year the don't get big bookings. Now they are pretty much getting what Arclight rejects, the 6 plex is mostly used for rentals and move overs (much of the time from Arclight) or more of a explotation theme of films. It is sad. At least the Village still pretty much gets the blockbuster films.

Just an FYI:

My collection of Chinese Theatre photos is no longer at graumanschinesetheater.net.

I let that site close down and they are now at my other site:

http://www.blastfromyourpast.com/graumans/index.html

I still have not had a chance to rescan the slides taken in 1981, which include Sid Grauman's office--but I have not forgotten about them! In the meantime, enjoy!

GrauMann.....

Thanks GrauMann. Would love to see the pictures of the Chinese Twin when you get them up. I went there only once before it was demolished, but have wanted to see it again out of curiosity. Please make an announcement when you get them up.

Mark--
I have also submitted a request to this site to start a page for the Chinese II & Chinese III. It was a terrific theater for its time, and deserves to be remembered. In the meantime, my web site has a picture of the Twin with "Song of the South" on the marquee. What a stroke of luck I snapped the photos on that day!

Here is a November 1972 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/429jcr

That one is kind of blurry.

Someone needs to start up Fox West Coast Theatres again and bring in stage shows at the Chinese with the movies like Disney is doing across the street. The place went down when they got rid of the neon dragons out front! The theatre is so dark and cold out front. Mann needs to add some color lights to the front. If they can't get good first run films then book some 70mm classics and open up the big curved screen to it's full width. Have some movie stars that are still around for the showing. Let's get Doris Day to fly down and show Pillow Talk! or Kim Novak with a new 70mm print of Vertigo! The tourists will come in the doors not just stand out front and take photos. Lets get some SHOWMANSHIP back at the Fox Graumans Chinese Hollywood. The Place To Go!

Someone needs to start up Fox West Coast Theatres again and bring in stage shows at the Chinese with the movies like Disney is doing across the street. The place went down when they got rid of the neon dragons out front! The theatre is so dark and cold out front. Mann needs to add some color lights to the front. If they can't get good first run films then book some 70mm classics and open up the big curved screen to it's full width. Have some movie stars that are still around for the showing. Let's get Doris Day to fly down and show Pillow Talk! or Kim Novak with a new 70mm print of Vertigo! The tourists will come in the doors not just stand out front and take photos. Lets get some SHOWMANSHIP back at the Fox Graumans Chinese Hollywood. The Place To Go!

Here is a January 1928 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/4hx4kc

I waded through the tourists and the lame celebrity impersonators today to take these photos. One tourist was overheard complaining that "I didn't see one famous person here today". I didn't want to tell him that celebrities don't generally spend their Sunday afternoons hanging out at the Chinese.
http://tinyurl.com/3vjk5b
http://tinyurl.com/4d54jc
http://tinyurl.com/3sdoqr
http://tinyurl.com/4q4mt4
http://tinyurl.com/4tbfak
http://tinyurl.com/4pdhge

I'll throw in a few shots from the mall next door:
http://tinyurl.com/4c8gls
http://tinyurl.com/4mlbgf
http://tinyurl.com/3efodk

IN the Sunday LA times it appears that the Chinese and Chinese 6 get the new Ridley Scott film next Friday with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, so I guess there is some life left.

BODY OF LIES along with the thriller QUARANTINE and the family fantasy CITY OF EMBER are opening Friday the 10th. It's about time they get some films, I love Arclight but they seem to have the monopoly of films lately.

Protest in front of the Chinese in 1983, from the LAPL:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00077/00077889.jpg

The theater looks great.

And the hits just keep on rolling (over to the Dome). Quantum of Solace is now on sale at Arclight. So in a single year, the Chinese has managed to lose Indiana Jones, Batman, and now James Bond. If the Chinese manages to lose Star Trek and Harry Potter next summer, it might be time to panic (although I'm sure they'll have no trouble snagging Land of the Lost and Final Destination 4).

So, was that protest just a publicity stunt or were they serious?

I think it was just PR.

Here is the Chinese in 1992 from Life Magazine. Thanks to CT member "misterboo" for the link.

Is there any possibility that the Chinese 6 auditoriums could be converted to stadium seating and/or that the Chinese and the Arclight could share product, much as the Landmark and the AMC Century City 15 did last summer with 'The Dark Knight' and 'Mamma Mia!'?

Chinese 6 is already stadium..

Thanks for the clarification on that, Mark; having never seen a film at the Chinese, I had no idea the newer six screens had stadium seating. Still, I wonder why Mann Theatres doesn't try to negotiate for product-splitting with the Arclight. I'd have to think, based on the history of the Chinese and the quality moviegoing atmosphere at the Arclight (where I have been fortunate enough to see a couple of films), that such an agreement wouldn't hurt either theatre greatly, if even by any negligible margin...

Here is a 1989 Life photo that shows Disney's ersatz Hollywood Boulevard in Florida. You can see the Chinese at the end of the street. Bleh.
http://tinyurl.com/58qwum

This sounds like a bad B-movie script, but it's a real story in the LA Times, dated July 2, 1952. I've condensed it somewhat.

Minutes after a red-haired girl robbed a Grauman's Chinese Theater cashier of $55.91 last night, she was arrested a mile away and confessed, police say. "You can't live on love alone", police say she explained.

The say she confessed not only to the theater hold-up but also to the hold-up last Friday of a candy store on Wilshire Boulevard, netting $6, and to the attempted hold-up of another candy store two blocks from the theater yesterday afternoon.

The girl's sweetheart, a 20 year-old Frenchman, here on a visitor's visa, was arrested about the same time she was arrested but half a mile away. Each was booked on suspicion of robbery.

The girl talked freely, saying romance between the two blossomed when she was a salesclerk and he a stock boy and elevator operator in a downtown department store. Both left their jobs about two weeks ago.

At the theater, the girl walked up to the cashier, handed her a paper bag and said, "Put all the money in the bag. There's a man down the street with a gun, making me do this." When the cashier tried to temporize, the redhead became excited and snapped,"Don't pick up the phone or call police. Put the money in the bag."

She was arrested by cruising police who saw her walking on Hollywood Boulevard. She was still carrying the paper bag containing the money. Police quoted her as saying, "I was hungry. I have been days without food or a place to go. I decided I would pull the robberies to try to get some money for a place to sleep and something to eat."

I think the movie title "What's Love Got to Do with It" has already been used. Sounds like something for NBC to put on in primetime.

Ken MC, that is a curious photo of Disney's MGM Studios in Florida. While the original view up "Hollywood Blvd" there did allow this view, the view has been obstructed by a huge Merlin hat for the last 7-8 years. I wonder if that photo is a new photo (meaning they finally took that hat away), or if it's an old photo from before they put that hat up. I hope it's the former, that they finally took that hat away.

It reminds me of the Grove in Los Angeles-a fake city. I prefer the real thing.

Looks like the Chinese isn't going to get much for the long Thanksgiving weekend. All films opening Wednesday are going to the Arclight (even Transporter 3!!) The Chinese will probably have to keep "Roll Models", which will be on its 3rd weekend by then. 4 of the 6 screens of the Chinese 6 are showing move-overs from the Arclight. Seems like bloodbath continues. Hard to believe just 2 years it was booking event films like "Casino Royale". The Arclight has been open for several years now, so I wonder why it is this year the the Chinese has seen such a precipitous drop in good bookings? Is it Mann's fault? Would another operator like AMC or Regal be able to do any better?

The Chinese should have attempted to get Che instead of The Landmark. A true epic in a roadshow release should be getting the deluxe treatment in one of Los Angeles's premiere houses instead of a megaplex with small auditoriums.

However it's getting the Ziegfeld in New York, one of that city's last premiere houses.

Someone else needs to step in and do the bookings for the Chinese. It really shouldn't have to settle for sloppy seconds. Personally I think Mann is slowly closing shop and would not be surprised if the Chinese falls into another chain within the next few years. It is a landmark theatre that has opened some of the biggest films of all time. I agree that Arclight is a bit greedy this week and should at least pass on Transporter 3 to the Chinese. The Chinese 6 will probably get some Arclight move-overs instead.

Seems like the Arclight these days is grabbing all, holding it for at least 2 weeks since that is when most of the income for a film happens and then getting rid of them quicker than usual

Over the next couple weeks Arclight has booked FROST/NIXON, PUNISHER:WAR ZONE, CADILLAC RECORDS and DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL booked. Yet more films NOT booked into the Chinese. What is the Chinese getting as thier Christmas film?

I'd guess Yes Man. Mann is real big on the Warner Bros. titles.

The trailer for the Nixon movie looks interesting. Too bad they couldn't get Dan Aykroyd to play Nixon instead of Frank Langella.

Pretty sure Yes Man will be at the ArcLights.

How about Gran Torino? That's a WB title and a masterpiece by Eastwood.

According to their official website, the upcoming releases scheduled to open at the Arclight include:

- Bedtime Stories
- Last Chance Harvey
- Marley & Me
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Doubt
- Gran Torino
- Revolutionary Road
- Seven Pounds
- The remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still
- The Spirit
- The Wrestler

Also, for future reference, the link for all upcoming releases at the Arclight:

https://www.arclightcinemas.com/ArcLight/faces/ComingSoon.jsp?movieType=ComingSoon

A low point for the Chinese: they are running Punisher: War Zone in the main auditorium.

Meanwhile, a list of 70mm engagements at the Chinese:

10/2/1930 The Big Trail
4/9/1958 Windjammer
5/10/1961 The King and I (Reissue)
12/14/1961 West Side Story
2/22/1968 Half A Sixpence
12/20/1968 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
12/20/1969 Hello, Dolly
11/16/1971 House Of Wax in 3-D (Reissue)
12/3/1975 Gone With The Wind (Reissue)
12/19/1976 A Star Is Born
5/25/1977 Star Wars
8/3/1977 Star Wars (moveover)
12/15/1978 Superman
4/13/1979 Hurricane
5/4/1979 The Exorcist (Reissue)
11/9/1979 Sleeping Beauty (Reissue)
12/21/1979 The Black Hole
2/29/1980 The Ninth Configuration
9/26/1980 Divine Madness
12/31/1980 Altered States
2/27/1981 Sleeping Beauty/The Black Hole
5/22/1981 Outland
6/12/1981 Raiders Of The Lost Ark
6/19/1981 Superman II (on two screens, possibly at the Twin)
11/13/1981 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Reissue)
5/21/1982 Annie
5/28/1982 Rocky III (possibly at the Twin)
6/4/1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
7/9/1982 Tron
9/24/1982 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Reissue)
1/28/1983 The Road Warrior (Reissue)
3/25/1983 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Reissue)
5/13/1983 Blue Thunder
5/20/1983 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Reissue, possibly at the Twin)
6/17/1983 Superman III
7/15/1983 Staying Alive
7/29/1983 Krull (possibly at the Twin)
9/16/1983 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Reissue)
10/7/1983 Never Say Never Again
10/21/1983 The Right Stuff
3/30/1984 Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan
5/23/1984 Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom (in THX, also at the Twin)
6/8/1984 Ghostbusters (at the Twin)
6/8/1984 Gremlins (at the Twin)
10/19/1984 The Razor's Edge (in THX)
12/7/1984 City Heat (in THX)
12/14/1984 Dune (at the Twin)
12/14/1984 Starman (at the Twin)
6/7/1985 The Goonies (in THX)
6/21/1985 Return To Oz (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
7/10/1985 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (in THX)
7/10/1985 Silverado (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
7/12/1985 Explorers (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
7/24/1985 The Black Cauldron (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
8/16/1985 Year Of The Dragon (in THX)
11/27/1985 Rocky IV (in THX)
12/4/1985 Young Sherlock Holmes (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
12/6/1985 Spies Like Us (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
1/24/1986 The Clan Of The Cave Bear (in THX)
5/16/1986 Top Gun (in THX, possibly moved over to the Twin)
5/22/1986 Cobra (in THX)
8/15/1986 Manhunter (in THX)
10/3/1986 Tough Guys (in THX)
12/19/1986 Little Shop Of Horrors (in THX)
2/13/1987 Over The Top (in THX)
3/6/1987 Lethal Weapon (in THX)
6/12/1987 The Witches Of Eastwick (in THX)
7/1/1987 Innerspace (in THX)
8/7/1987 Who's That Girl? (in THX)
12/9/1987 Empire Of The Sun (in THX)
12/20/1987 The Last Emperor (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
5/20/1988 Willow (in THX, also at the Twin)
6/10/1988 The Presidio (in THX)
8/12/1988 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (in THX)
8/19/1988 The Big Blue (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
5/24/1989 Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (in THX)
6/23/1989 Batman (in THX)
7/7/1989 Lethal Weapon 2 (in THX)
8/18/1989 Casualties Of War (in THX)
9/22/1989 Black Rain (in THX)
12/22/1989 Tango and Cash (in THX)
5/16/1990 The Hunt For Red October (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
6/27/1990 Days Of Thunder (in THX, first appearance of digital sound at the Chinese)
8/10/1990 Flatliners (in THX)
12/7/1990 The Rookie (in THX)
12/21/1990 The Bonfire Of The Vanities (in THX)
12/25/1990 The Godfather Part III (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
12/6/1991 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (in THX)
12/13/1991 The Last Boy Scout (in THX, possibly at the Twin)
4/10/1992 Beauty and The Beast (in THX)
5/15/1992 Lethal Weapon 3 (in THX)
6/5/1992 Patriot Games (in THX)
10/9/1992 1492: Conquest Of Paradise (in THX)
7/15/1994 True Lies (in THX)
12/19/1997 Titanic (in THX)

I really wish someone would take it over if Mann has no booking leverage any longer. Its getting really sad.

I looks like the Chinese will Get VALKYRIE, MARLEY & ME and TALES OF DESPERAUX as thier Christmas line up. That is according to the Arclight flier I picked up this weekend. These are the films NOT booked into Arclight Hollywood. MARLEY & ME looks to be the one of the three that has box office potential. It is sad that this great theatre is losing its edge.

I saw the post about the missing statuary, does anyone know what it looks like?

There are a couple of them missing from the balcony level perches. Look at old theater photographs to see what was once there...

Through Christmas, the Chinese and Chinese 6 have had only 1st run bookings. Its been a while!

Mark, I don't understand your comment. Are you saying "since Christmas" and it has been awhile since what? are you saying no premieres or what?

Meant "since Christmas". This does not include premieres, just regular bookings for the general public. These days the Chinese and Chinese 6 has been losing most releases to the Arclight Hollywood. The mix of films at the Chinese & Chinese 6 has been 2 or 3 less desirable first run features and the rest of the screens showing stuff that has been moved over from the Arclight after it has played out. What I am saying is that since Christmas the Chinese Theatres have (happily) only had first run bookings of their own, rather than move-overs from another theatre.

Don't know if the pattern will continue or if it is merely a result of a lot of product during the holidays. (See conversation above about the lousy year the Chinese and Chinese 6 have had).

Why the hell was "The Unborn" dumped at the Chinese? "Defiance" or "Notorious" would have been much classier choices than another stupid American screw up of an Asian horror flick.

Howard Hughes' spectacular $4 million production of "Hell's Angels" had its world premiere here on May 27th, 1930, with all tickets priced at a whopping $11 (equivalent to about $140 in 2009). But I would guess that most of the celebrities and VIPs were guests of management. Regular performances at "popular prices" started the next day. All showings of "Hell's Angels" included a "Sid Grauman Prologue" on stage. Here's an advance newspaper ad, segmented and complete:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/hell01.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/hell02.jpg

Here is a 1955 photo.

I think it has come down to the Studios prefering the Arclight and would rather have thier "A" films there. Plus, I know for a fact that many locals hate going to the Chinese because of the tourists and the congestion. They rather go to the Arclight or Grove. The landmark status of the Chinese means nothing to many. Not me though.

Also, the Chinese 6 are pretty much useless theatres. They are good for move-overs or crappy films Arclight does not want.

Mann theatres almost seems not to care anymore. They are slowly getting rid of theatres from its chain. When leases expire they do not renew. The pending non-renewal from them re; the Village and Bruin will be our next heartbreak. It a perfect world it would be nice if someone like Pacfic would step and and do something, but in this economy it is not good business sense. It is sad, I still will patronize these theatres first before any other, but I seem to be the only one.

I would gladly go to Grauman's more if they showed movies I wanted to see. Ditching the Screenvision preshow would also help too.

This photo claims to be from March of 1944. The Academy Awards were being held at the Chinese when the photo was taken.

Here is a 1929 photo.

Oh phantom one, have you taken out a subscription to ProCorbis that grants you permission to link their photos to Cinema Treasures?

No, jealous one. I linked to those photos just like anyone else could have done had they been fortunate enough to find them. I find it a bit disturbing that you continue to question my photo links but say nothing about people that remove photos from websites, place them in a Photobucket account and link to those photos as if they were their property. My photo links Always point to the source of the photo. I do not remove photos from websites.

exterior shots from 1992 with displays up for Dracula (released nov 13 1992 and Malcolm X (released nov 18 1992)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2121398582/sizes/l/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2121399786/sizes/l/in/photostream/
shot of hollywood boulevard, the Chinese in the distance and the now demolished Galaxy in the fore ground
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2121396256/sizes/o/

Am I missing something, I didn't see any displays on "Dracula".

Check the first photo, far left.

Well you can see Dracula on the marquee on Chinese theatre 2.

That was all I saw, guess I was looking for something more, like some old fashioned ballyhoo or big displays.

I took a few pictures of the Chinese Theatre last week:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/SDC10343.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/SDC10344.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/SDC10657.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/SDC10341.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/SDC10342.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/theseos/SDC10657.jpg

Grauman's Chinese continues to spiral down. I've been wanting to go see a film there but they continue to get crappy bookings. I thought maybe with all the March releases they would have something I could go see. But EVERYTHING seems to be going to Arclight. Even next week with DUPLICITY, I LOVE YOU MAN and the crappy type of Chi film the Chinese has been getting KNOWING are all opening at Arclight. Are they keeping STREET FIGHTER for another week? Nobody wanted to see it opening weekend. They must be running the film with empty audiences at this point. Mann is a mess, they need let someone else book this theatre. It is a landmark theatre that is turning into a dumping ground for mediocore films. It is very sad.

I'm guessing that this theatre is getting Fast and Furious since the film is compatible with the D-Box motion format and this theatre has it.

Street Fighter is on its 3rd week at the Chinese when most any other theatre has dumped it. Will it do a 4th? Really, if they cannot get good bookings they should show a classic (2001? Lawrence of Arabia?) or plan a week long festival (Classic SciFi? Star Trek I-VI) in the interim to make good use of the theatre that might actually bring in an audience.

I grew up Hollywood - age 11-20 - 1960's, on the streets most of the time starting, at age 12. I often went to this theater to put my hand hand prints and foot prints into the stars prints. Lot's of laughs at this place. It was a fun and free activity. Later after graduating high school I worked down the Blvd. at The Fox Theater. I worked as a loan out candy girl from Fox to this theater a few times. The managers would call other managers, if they needed help. You can read my other posts at Fox and also Hollywood Theaters where I worked. I worked at Fox most of the time. This theater lobby was too big, too cold and very spooky, but lot's of fun outside.

I guess the next film is FAST AND FURIOUS Apr 3rd; advance tickets on sale now for main theatre and Chinese 6 (which yes, is D-Box).

Are Mann Theatres attempting to kill off this famous theatre? The "B" grade bookings of late would seem to indicate the end is near. Do Mann Theatres no longer have any importance with major studios? Would not be surprised to see a policy of Z-grade double features programmed soon in an attempt to justify closure.

The LAPL recently added this view of an unidentified premiere in 1948:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078398.jpg

Here is a postcard, perhaps late twenties or early thirties:
http://tinyurl.com/cvna7r

on the arclight website they are selling advance tix for Star Trek (May 8) at both Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, but they are selling advance tix for Wolverine (also May 8) only at Sherman Oaks. So it looks like Wolverine will play here.

I went to the Chinese to see Fast & Furious (both the opening weekend Thursday midnight and Saturday night shows).

The biggest mistake Mann seems to be making with this theater (other than the bookings, obviously) is that they really seem to be going out of their way to make this theater a tourist trap. Unlike the Dome or the Village, where you really have to make an effort to go to those theaters, the Chinese grabs people off the street with nothing better to do. For the Thursday midnight, that wasn't a problem because only people who really wanted to see the movie were on Hollywood Blvd at that time. The Saturday show was another story entirely with families and yapping teens and crying babies all over the place! Just a really horrible experience. The majesty and the experience of the Chinese is essentially wasted on these people who would be just as happy in a 100 seat AMC auditorium.

After spending so much time with the Arclight and the Dome, the Chinese is really starting to become a disappointment. Mann should be spending more time trying to improve the overall experience for people who make a point to go to the Chinese and less time worrying about pulling people in from the courtyard who are going to see a movie there once and then never come back. The tourists come and go, but the movie-lovers are what has kept that theater successful for decades.

Sadly, it's a shadow of how mighty it once was. I wish Mann would just get out of the movie business already and let someone else (preferably Pacific) put some muscle behind it.

"Titanic" was playing at the Chinese in April 1953:
http://tinyurl.com/dc5at8

Here's a 1983 photo of the Chinese:

http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=chinese&ProductID=23849

Here is a 1980 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/daol7o

advance tickets are on sale for Wolverine.

Re-new link.

Here is a circa 1964 photo from the USC archive:
http://tinyurl.com/c4ec8p

It looks like the surprise success of Fast and Furious has saved the theatre at the moment considering that they've started to get better bookings. Obsessed is currently playing in the main house with Wolverine coming and Fighting is also playing in the Chinese 6. Fast and Furious meanwhile is still running in FOUR auditoriums.

Arclight Hollywood has advance tix on sale for Star Trek, Angels and Demons, Night At The Museum 2, and Terminator Salvation. They are getting all the major May releases except Wolverine. The Pixar movie UP will play at the El Capitan of course. This really sucks.

All the Trek movies played at Graumans. All the Star Wars, Batman, and Indiana Jones movies played at Graumans, but Episode III, Dark Knight, and Crystal Skull wound up at the Dome. Harry Potter 6 will probably wind up at the Dome even though all the other Potter movies played at Graumans.

Great turn out last night for Wolverine at 10:30 p.m. in the main auditorium. Easily 85-90% full.

I have a feeling they might be getting Night At The Museum 2 since Arclight is getting Terminator which opens the same week.

I just saw Wolverine at the Chinese and they had a poster out front for Harry Potter 6 labeled "coming soon."

I was wondering if the Chinese would have HP6. They showed the previous 5 films, but I was not sure if Arclight was going to snatch it from them.

All the Trek movies played at Graumans. All the Star Wars, Batman, and Indiana Jones movies played at Graumans, but Episode III, Dark Knight, and Crystal Skull wound up at the Dome.

"Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" (1984) and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986) played their Hollywood first-run engagements at the Cinerama Dome. "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989) played at the Paramount (known today as the El Capitan).

The original "Star Wars" (1977) played at the Chinese, but "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return Of The Jedi" (1983) played their first runs at the Egyptian.

^oops :) hehe.

thanks for the corrections Michael.

Well the '97 re-releases of Empire and Jedi played at the Chinese.

And I think SW, Empire, and Jedi played at the Dome one Saturday back in '87 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of SW.

Since Paramount owned or co-owned the the Chinese since the '80's (I believe Ted Mann sold the Mann chain to the parent company of Paramount (Gulf + Western?) back in the '80's?), I had mistakenly assumed that all the Trek films played there)

Here is a photo circa 1960:
http://tinyurl.com/ckj3z7

"I have a feeling they might be getting Night At The Museum 2 since Arclight is getting Terminator which opens the same week." -- jeremy w.

Unfortunately Arclight Hollywood has advance tickets on sale for that movie now.

Well at least The Chinese got Wolverine and apparently HP6 this summer. The Pixar movie Up will be at the El Capitan. The Dome will probably get all the other highly anticipated hits besides HP. (Land of the Lost, Transformers 2, Ice Age 3, G.I. Joe)

Unless it's a mistake Terminator Salvation will also be playing at Grauman's. Strange. I don't like having to choose between them since Arclight now has the same digital projection.

RE: TERMINATOR SALVATION

The Arclight has pre-sales still...but not the for the Dome. Grauman's Chinese and Chinese 6 have pre-sale tickets. It looks like both complexes are booking it. It may have something to do with D-Box at the Chinese 6.

Looks like there will be a midnight show of Terminator Salvation in the Dome. It looks maybe 80-90% sold out. The Chinese has NEC 2k projectors? What about the Dome? Does anyone know?

Advance tickets are also on sale for Terminator Salvation over at the Mann Village. There will be midnight shows at all three (Chinese, Dome, Village). Which would you guys choose?

Grauman's, then the Village, then the Dome. I'm still seeing it in theater 10 at Arclight though. It's impressed me the last few times.

I think the Dome has the same NEC 2k projector as Grauman's and the Village. IMO, it doesn't look nearly as good though because of the lack of light on the screen and distorted geometry.

yeah, I'll probably go to Grauman's.

"It looks like both complexes are booking it. It may have something to do with D-Box at the Chinese 6." -- BradE41

I was at Hollywood & Highland today and took a stroll through the Chinese 6 lobby. They had a big kiosk setup promoting Terminator Salvation in D-Box.

In the Chinese 6 lobby, the posters of upcoming movies that I remember seeing besides Terminator Salvation and HP6 were Dance Flick, the Eddie Murphy movie Imagine That, and District 9.

seeing it wednesday at 12:10 am in dbox. saw fast and furious like that and thought it was a lot of fun. I will probably also return at some point to see it in the main auditorium.

YEAH!!!!! terminator at the chinese!!!!! all of us should watch it at the chinese, so the studios can see people perfer to go to the chinese than the craplight oh i mean arclight lol :)

Mann should install some D-Box seats in the Grauman's itself. If that's what it takes to keep getting bookings. I wonder if this is the beginning of the Chinese Theatres and Arclight sharing the same booking just like Mann and Pacific do in Glendale, Mann and Muvico do in Thousand Oaks, AMC and Cinemark in Longbeach, and AMC and Regal in Irvine. Book everything everywhere and let the public decide. I am sure there are some who would rather not pay the Arclight premium for reserved seating, or even deal with reserved seating.

As long as Grauman's shows some movies worth going to I'm happy. Has their presentation quality gone downhill though? The sound has been iffy in the past like with the Village in Westwood. They really need to crank it.

The Main Chinese and 2 of the smaller screens are showing TERMINATOR SALVATION. While the Archlight will showing it on 3 non-Dome screens. Begining May 21. So they are sharing but not with the CHINESE and DOME at the same time. I guess they may be doing this with the understanding that the CHINESE will have the BIG screen.

I'm going to Chinese.

I'm as excited as everyone else to see Grauman's get a movie guaranteed to have a monster opening weekend. Unfortunately it looks like Terminator Salvation won't be packing 'em in much beyond the opening weekend. Right now (tuesday night) its only 5 for 20 at rottentomatoes.com. For some reason Warner Bros hired some guy named McG (best known for Charlies Angels and The Pussycat Dolls) to direct.

Business for this movie will probably nosedive after opening weekend.

I'm wondering if this may be a new booking patern (at least for blockbuster titles) to have Chinese and Arclight bookings at the same opening day. HARRY POTTER perhaps next?

Maybe its like you pointed out earlier. Maybe it's only because the Chinese 6 has D-Box and Arclight doesn't.

Here is a January 1959 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/p7lxy2

If the numbers are decent for both Chinese and Arclight this weekend for Terminator, I am sure there will be consideration of bookings at the same time in the future. They are probably going to study the figures over the next couple of weeks. I still think Warner will let Harry Potter be booked at Arclight also. What is the next D BOX movie?

I think Mann and Arclight should sort out some agreement - Films that open at the Chinese don't play the Dome but can be at Arclight screens, films that Open at the Dome can't play Chinese but can play Chinese 6. Win-win for the Studios - great exposure for a film to be on Hollywood Blvd. at the Graumann's Chinese and Chinese 6 which will overflow with tourists on foot who might not make it to the Arclight. Great for the locals and industry people who would rather go to the Arclight and not deal with tourists.

That and I think Mann should install a few more D-Box seats in different auditoriums including the Grauman's, that way as a film winds down they can still offer D-Box in a smaller auditorium.

I think so also. It may go that direction if this Terminator booking is succesful.

What's a D-Box?

Thanks for the "Auntie Mame" ad, Ken. I'd read a description of it in one of the Oscar reference books, but had never actually seen it.

D-Box is a system for moving seats in sync with a movie, game, etc.

went to the saturday 8:00PM show of Terminator Salvation in Graumans. It was barely half full. Maybe the Laker NBA Finals game going on at the same time diluted the audience, or maybe people were going to the D-Box show instead, or maybe more people were going to Arclight.

The trailers I remember were HP6, District 9, and Sherlock Holmes.

"As long as Grauman's shows some movies worth going to I'm happy. Has their presentation quality gone downhill though? The sound has been iffy in the past like with the Village in Westwood. They really need to crank it." -- posted by Kram Sacul



the Saturday 8:00PM show was cranked up loud. Awesome subwoofer effects from the mushrooms during the THX Amazing Life trailer.

http://www.thx.com/cinema/trailers.html

"went to the saturday 8:00PM show of Terminator Salvation in Graumans. It was barely half full. Maybe the Laker NBA Finals game going on at the same time diluted the audience, or maybe people were going to the D-Box show instead, or maybe more people were going to Arclight."

I would say half full in a 1200 seat auditorium is pretty good, considering it was on 2 more screens at the Chinese 6 and 3 more at Arclight, not to mention several more theatres with in a 5 mile radius. I don't think D-Box would suck too many patrons away form Graumans as there are only a handful of those seats installed at the Chinese 6.

"...I think the Dome has the same NEC 2k projector as Grauman's and the Village..." -- Kram Sacul


I found this press release:
http://www.dcinematoday.com/dc/PR.aspx?newsID=656

its the NEC STARUS NC2500S. I've read elsewhere that the Sony 4k projectors aren't as bright as the best 2k projectors.

I wonder what NEC projectors the regular Arclight theaters have. Look pretty good as far as 2k goes.

Segask, I was at the same show. Keep in mind that "barely half-full" still amounts to 600-700 patrons at the show. Hardly anything to sneeze at.

I do agree...THX/Dolby Digital was extra crispy that night. Reminded me of the "good old days" of the 90's when even cheeseball junk like "Independence Day" & Ahnuld's "Eraser" sprung to life on that sound system.

does anyone have any technical specs of the projection/sound equipment? They have detailed specs on the page for the Empire Leicester Square in London.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/912/

Andy Summers reminds us in every one of his posts on that page that that famous theatre has a 56Kw THX sound system, LOL.

Another forum member, LJ Claydon posted detailed specs for the Empire theatre in London:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
5x Crown CTs2000 amplifiers feed HF and Upper Mid sections of 5x JBL 4-way Custom ScreenArray stage loudspeakers
5x Crown CTs3000 amplifiers feed LF and Lower Mid sections of 5x JBL 4-way Custom ScreenArray stage loudspeakers
8x Crown CTs3000 amplifiers feed 16x JBL 4645C SVG Subwoofers
6x Crown CTs8200 8-channel amplifiers feed 42x JBL 8340A surround loudspeakers arranged as 22 (left/right side) delayed in four banks, 8 (left/right lower rear, concealed), 12 (left/right long-throw upper rear) delayed to match position and curvature of lower bank.

For the watt-counters,

Stage Channels (each) 5,000w (25,000w total)
Sub Bass Channels (total) 24,000w
Surround Channels (total) 10,500w

Total system power, 59,500w



--------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone here have any specs like this for Graumans?

http://www.jblpro.com/press/mann's_grauman's_chinese.html

So is Harry Potter pretty much the only blockbuster the Chinese is getting this Summer?

Wasn't the last part of "Singin' in the Rain" filmed on the Chinese
stage..? And it looks like a lit-up Wurlitzer console is in the pit.
Or it this my fading eyesight and wishful thinking?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in D-Box

Our completely new D-BOX Motion Code™ system, conceived for use within commercial theatres, adds a new dimension to your experience. It allows moviegoers to Live the Action onscreen with an unmatched realism. In other terms, the D-BOX Motion Code™ system creates movements: pitch, roll, heave, and intelligent vibrations — perfectly synchronized with the onscreen action.
Opens July 15 at the Chinese 6

And after its brief return to showing hit titles (Fast and Furious, Obsessed, Wolverine, Terminator Salvation), the Chinese is back to running flops again. Right now, they have Imagine That in Week 3.

Harry Potter tickets are on sale now for July 15. But yeah, Arclight is pretty much getting everything; next week Public Enemies and Ice Age, and probably Bruno the week after. I wonder how many people are showing up for Imagine That? How sad the theatre will be pretty much showing empty performances until the 15th. How great would Public Enemies have been in the Main Theatre for the 2 weeks before Potter? Something is wrong here.

The Chinese can be seen on news broadcasts all over the world tonight. Michael Jackson's star on the Walk of Fame is right in front of the forecourt. Fans are leaving behind flowers, tributes, etc.

In answer to jloew's question about a Wurlitzer console in the pit at the Chinese. The Chinese underwent an extensive remodel in the late 1950's for the installation of Cinemiracle. The projection booth was moved to the orchestra level at the back of the theater. The front of the stage and the proscenium arch was ripped out along with two of the stone columns to the left and right of the stage and a 120' screen holder was installed where the stage once was. I believe the organ was removed at this time as part of the remodel. The pipes for the organ were above the stage and were ducted so that the sound came from the main chandelier.

This was the Chinese in 1965.

From June 26, 2009:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/ChineseJune26200904.jpg

Also June 26:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Chinese61.jpg

Thanx, Roger, for your info on the remodeling. I toured the backstage area of the Chinese 25 years ago---there was no stage left after the Cinemiracle renovations. It had been gutted right to the rear stage wall. I wanted to be sure the 32' diaphone pipes housed
above the stage, had been removed. They had. The organ went to St. Finbar's church in Burbank. Console then went to David Packard where it now controls the Stanford Theatre Wurlitzer in Palo Alto, CA. Organ was installed in the Chinese dome---looks like a steel beam
goes thru that area now. From the outside, you can look up on the roof and I'm guessing that boxed area housed the organ. I suppose owners had to earthquake-proof in that the theatre is brick. That beam thru the roof housing must have been added for bracing.

Here is a 1947 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/mpnhs6

Strange not to see the name of the current feature in that photo. The Chinese usually had big elaborate displays of whatever movie they were playing.

This is a 1928 newspaper ad:
http://tinyurl.com/ltuqrk

Took my film club to see Harry Potter on 7/18 (Saturday night 7:00 PM show). House was 80% or so full. A couple of guys had never been here before - needless to say, the sound/screen/picture/decor blew them away.

Isn't it a crime to not have seen a show at the Chinese? It ought to be...

At least the Chinese has booked something to see. Subpar bookings lately as most film go to the Arclight

Chinese 6:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Marquee.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/BoxOffice-street.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Entrance-south.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/tolobby.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Entrance-north.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/BoxOffice-interior.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/lobby01.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/lobby02.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/lobby03.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Auditorium1.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Auditorium1-interior01.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Auditorium1-interior02.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Auditorium1-interior03.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/tolevel2.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/level2.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Auditorium5-interior01.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Auditorium5-interior02.jpg

Nice photos. You should send them to Cinematour

The pictures above appear to be not of Grauman's Chinese, but of Mann's Chinese 6 which opened as a part of the Hollywood-Highland complex which includes the Kodak Theater.

correct. really there should be 2 separate listings: 1 for Grauman's Chinese and the other for Chinese 6

I disagree, Mark. I think if you split up the listings the comments are going to be intermixed anyway. I am having some problems with the theaters that have megapages, which may be my computer. I wonder if there's a way to add a second page to a theater which may make it easier to load.

I don't follow; why shouldn't the Mann Chinese 6 have its own page? It is (and was constructed as) a separate theater (though in an adjacent building) with its own entrances and box office, and opened after the Grauman name was restored to the classic Chinese. It isn't like the two cinemas that were once next to Grauman's that operated as Grauman's (Mann's) Chinese 2 and 3 until they were torn down for the complex next door. The matter isobviously up to the moderators, but I think a separate entry is called for; the headnote could clarify any connection to to Graumann's Chinese, but I really see very little.

Too many comments on a page? I wonder how that happens. LMAO

I'm not opposed to a separate page, but I can see where someone new to the site is going to see Mann Chinese and start posting items about the older theater. There's going to be a lot of mixed up comments.

I rest my case.

I don't think we need a seperate page. There's an escalator and stairs that goes from the Footprint Forecourt up to the entrance of the multiplex. At the boxoffices (in the multiplex lobby and down on Hollywood Blvd) you can buy a ticket to a movie playing in Graumans or the multiplex. In fact, when you buy a ticket to Graumans the ticket says 'Auditorium 7' I think doesn't it?

The ticket stubs I have don't say Aud 7 on them, they just say Graumans.

To answer Jloew's comment regarding the boxed space that is above what used to be the stage at the Chinese. That boxed space is standard fly space that most older theaters have. The organ was forward of that space. There is space between the ceiling and the roof of the Chinese and the organ was in that space located in rooms that were built to house the organ.

So, Roger, the audience couldn't see the organist performing?

The console of the Wultitzer organ was in the center of the orchestra pit, so could be seen by the audience. The organ chambers were located in the ceiling, above the proscenium. To allow sound from the instrument into the auditorium, there was a tone chute, which allowed the sound to emit through the massive grillework above the main ceiling chandelier, giving an effect of the music seeming to 'float' over the audience.

A similar set up was also at two other Grauman theatres, the Metropolitan in Downtown, and the Egyptian along Hollywood Bouelvard.

The downtown Metropolitan referred to above by Ken, is listed herein as the Paramount, http://cinematreasures.org/theater/495/
and perhaps after the Carthay Circle, might be considered the worst demolition loss of historic Los Angeles cinemas.

Okay, so when you're talking about the organ, you mean the pipes and equipment, not the console. Thanks.

It was a real zoo here last night. The new wax museum was open next to the theater, and a lot of people were congregating around Michael Jackson's star. Plus the Harry Potter movie was playing. It does seem like the costumed characters are stating to overrun the tourists, there must have been thirty of them out there yesterday.

Unless I haven't scrolled far enough up, has anyone experienced a movie here in the D-Box set up? I'm curious to know if it adds to the entertainment or is it just a gimmick? Also, are the screens at the Chinese 6 all the same size? The pictures Hollywood has seem to indicate Auditoriums 1 and 5 are the largest and have somewhat curved screens.

In the mid 90s, I went to Vegas and experienced Doug Trumbull's Showscan 3D extravaganza at the Luxor Hotel. The screens were IMAX-huge and you wore these heavy 3D headsets that had speakers as you sat in motion controlled rocking seats. They were quite cool. I don't remember the exact storyline but it seemed to be a journey through time. There were three parts and three different theaters. There was some prominence of an obelisk and lots of cool visual light shows and ending that reminded me of an expanded version of Back to the Future II's depiction of a skyway. Anyway, D-Box sounds like a miniature version of what I experienced in Vegas. What made it work for me was of course, the humongous, yet clear screen size and sound inundation.

Here are some photos taken yesterday:
http://tinyurl.com/l2v8cr
http://tinyurl.com/nclkvq
http://tinyurl.com/m3ecf3

I'm not sure if this has been posted before. The LAPL caption for this 1979 photo states that this was the biggest opening crowd in the history of the Chinese:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics18/00028719.jpg

"I'm not sure if this has been posted before". That's life. I have to check every link each time I post and so should everyone else. Sorry about that.

It looks like 9 will be booked into both the Chinese and Chinese 6 on September 9th since that will be the latest D-Box feature.

Looks like the Chinese is on the block...again.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ice2557e822899daa3ded85a95a6c1446

The article notes that despite the economy, there is a likelier chance for a buyer to step in since Paramount and Warner Brothers are agreeing to sell theatres individually instead of the "package deal" of previous efforts.

Im surprised that Paramount and Warner Bros allowed the circuit to decline so severely. If they had built up the circuit the way Pacific did it would have more value today. They have been lazy landlords. The Chinese has been booked so poorly in recent years. The Chinese should be treated like a flagship venue and positioned like the El Capitan and Cinerama Dome theatres. The Chinese is an industry venue and hosts many premieres. I hope Paramount and Warner Bros sells the Chinese to someone who will treat it with more dignity and class.brucec

I have been feeling that Mann has been slowly closing shop and I guess I was right. The Chinese would be an easier lure than the Village and Bruin because of its historic value. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Westwood, the Village is still my favorite theatre.

Well remember Mann Theatres owns the building for only 14 more years, when their 99 year ground lease expires. CIM owns the land. So the ground lease expires in 2023.

The trouble is that Hollywood studios forgot, a long time ago, that they are in the "Show Biz". Well except for Disney.
Off the top of my head, I don't have a biz plan for Chinese right now. But I think it is safe to say, "if you can't make it at the World's Most Famous Theatre", then maybe you should run a Burger King!

if anyone but arclight buys the chinese, they will have the same problem mann has had - trying to compete against the 15 screen arclight with only half as many screens at hollywood and highland. For that reason I hope arclight gets it. That way everything except disney/touchstone (which always plays at the el capitan across the street) will be able to play at Graumans.

is it abc that owns disney, or disney that owns abc? I forget. Maybe abc could buy graumans, then disney leases it from them just like they are leasing the el capitan right across the street. Probably only disney/touchstone movies would play there, but at least Graumans would still be a first run movie palace.

Disney owns all things ABC. Somehow,i don't see Pacific picking this one up since they'd probably use it as a moveover theatre for whatever's playing at the Dome/Archlight or vice versa.

Century,Cinemark,Carmike(which would enter the SoCal market with this one and the Westwood screens)even the dreaded monoliths AMC & Regal would have a better chance. Or it could go indie like the Majestic Crest did.

It occured to me that someone here mentioned Kerasoltes as a possible owner/operator. Didn't they take over a Chinese Theatre complex in Colorado that was opened by Mann in the '70s?

That'd be quite a coup,i think.

I would be surprised if a "name" chain buys the theatre. Hefty purcase price, fourteen year operating limit (unless the landlord agrees to what would likely be a very expensive extension), difficult to book competitively, challenging to operate, etc.; the Chinese just doesn't fit with the modern business model most chains follow. I would imagine a private entrepreneur(s) or party working in a joint venture with CIM would be more likely candidates.

It will be interesting to see who bids for this theatre. Does American Cinemateque have deep pockets? They operate Grauman's Egyptian. How ironic would it be if they operated Grauman's Chinese also. They could used the Chinese 6 for "Retro" screenings and perhaps book Hollywood blockbusters at the Egyptian once in a while.

Didn't the American Cinemateque get the theatre from the city of LA for like a dollar. But they had to pay to restore it.

Different using the 600 seat Egyptian main auditorium and the smaller auditorium for classics and filling up huge Chinese and the 6 plex. American Cinemateque can't operate the Chinese.

They're also running the Aero in Santa Monica...

I expect a non-profit or a film fan with deep pockets to buy the theatre. A major studio with a deep library (such as Sony) is another guess.

In other news, it looks like that The Final Destination could play here on August 28th. It is the first film in history to combine REAL-D 3-D with the D-Box motion format.

D-Box is equipped for Chinese 6 - not Grauman's Chinese.

American Cinemateque does not have deep pockets and I doubt they would take on the Chinese even if they had the funds. Cinemateque survives primarily on membership and donations and the staff is comprised mostly of volunteers for it's screening and events. The $10 admission is a bargain as it allows you 2 films in the original format and the best extant print available along with guest speakers who discuss aspects of the film on any given night. I doubt that $10 per head goes a long way in covering their overhead, so I really don't think that Cinemateque is a player in taking over the Chinese. They have their hands full with the Aero and the Egyptian and God bless them for it.

I know that Chris, but they seem to book the same movies in both. Fast and Furious had four prints playing in the seven auditoriums for a month.

I'm not sure a major studio would bite. They have 2 already that do not want it. I still think a major chain could have interest just for the prestige factor. Unlike the Village and Bruin, the Chinese is considered Iconic.

what about Disney? Didn't they build a full scale replica of the Chinese at one of their theme parks in Florida?

Why would Disney want it? They have the El Capitan across the street. Do they have enough quality films to fill two palaces simultaneously?

I think Disney has enough quality films to play at two different theatres. While Up and G-Force get the El Capitan, films like The Proposal and Ponyo along with films from a few other studios (such as DreamWorks, Paramount and Sony, mainly studios that have had or will have alliances with Disney) could play on the theatre's seven screens.

They would have to redo the whole stage area.

I hope AMC or Regal doesn't buy it, since they screw up classic theaters.

So the prestige pictures from Disney would go to the El Capitan while the Chinese gets the scraps? unlikey!

Here's a thought. What if a potential buyer wants the main theatreonly but not the 6-plex? I assume it would it would be an "all or nothing" package deal. But,in this particular scenario,who would/should get what? Or does that just ask for another Hollywood Galaxy disaster?

Something else to consider about Disney and the El Capitan: they've spent so much money restoring the place that even though it's wildly successful, it is not profitable for them. They do it for the prestige. So what would taking over the Chinese do for them exactly?

^
it would be the ultimate in prestige. I bet they probably made an offer to Mann way back in the late '80's/early'90's before settling for the El Capitan across the street.

"What if a potential buyer wants the main theatreonly but not the 6-plex? I assume it would it would be an "all or nothing" package deal." -- Rich37


I think only Grauman's movie palace is for sale here. I don't think Mann owns the six-plex. I think they lease that space from the owner of Hollywood & Highland (CIM).

I believe CIM owns the Hollywood & Highland retail space and also the land underneath. They also own the land underneath Grauman's Chinese. Mann owns the actual theater. In 14 years the 99 year land lease that Sid Grauman obtained when he built the theater will run out and the landowner, CIM, will become owner of the theater.

"it would be the ultimate in prestige."

More ultimate than the El Cap? They've already got a show palace for their big films. Why put their eggs into two baskets? Not to mention that the Chinese doesn't have room for either stage shows or an organ...

definitely more ultimate than the Cap. Grauman's Chinese is the most famous movie theater in the world. When those Starline Tour buses pull up, the tourists don't flock to the Cap, they head straight for the Chinese forecourt. Most people outside of L.A. have probably never heard of the El Capitan theater, unless they are on a Disney mailing list and get those flyer/invitation thingies that Disney mails out to announce the latest big budget blockbuster VIP movie experience they have going on there.

SEGASK---you are correct ... The Chinese is the most famous theater (movie) in the world operating today!

I wouldn't worry about the Chinese Theatre. It will continue as a movie palace. Warner Bros and Paramount will make sure either by sale or lease that it continues as a prestige venue for film. It currently holds more premiere's than any other venue in L.A. It's a protected Historical Landmark.

"the tourists don't flock to the Cap, they head straight for the Chinese forecourt."

Something else I should point out. Those tourists don't flock to the ticket booth.

It doesn't matter who does or doesn't know about the El Capitan. The fact remains that Disney already has an operating prestige venue for their films.

The seldom in stock Chinese Theatre popup card:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff204/hollywood90038/Chinesepopupcard.jpg

One for the rumour file. I hear Hollywood Heritage are very keen to take over this property. Can anyone confirm/deny please?

To comment to what Rich said: no. I'm suggesting that while Disney runs the Disney films at the El Capitan, the other Disney films, along with Touchstone, Miramax and other studios with agreements with Disney run their films at the Chinese.

A concept of what I mean:

Chinese: The Final Destination
Chinese 6: The Final Destination (D-Box auditorium), District 9, Ponyo, G.I. Joe, Julie and Julia, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

This lineup suggests a possibility in which some studios run at the Chinese while others run at Arclight. The deals can create exceptions on processes such as D-Box so a film that normally runs at Arclight can run at the Chinese. Moveovers can also be an exception.

In my idea, Disney could take over the Chinese and creates alliances with companies such as Paramount, Sony and DreamWorks (since Disney will help distribute DreamWorks titles in the future) along with select D-Box titles. Meanwhile, Arclight Hollywood runs films from Fox, Warner Bros., Universal and most of the independents (Summit could get the Chinese though due to teaming up with Disney on Happy-Go-Lucky and the Step Up trilogy).

Here is a 1954 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lfckjk

Does anyone know if something has happened? There are no showtimes listed for today on Fandango, a call to the number on Fandango (323) 464-9624 just rings with no recording and the number listed on this page is disconnected.

There are showtimes listed for a movie today, so there's no need to upset people.

Sounds like the only one getting upset is you, Howie. Just letting us know that you found them and where would have sufficed. In any event, I did find some showtimes on another website but the phone number needs to be updated to (323)464-8111. When you call that number the message is still for showtimes only up to yesterday.

It isn't "Howie" but thanks for correcting me in that you really didn't mean to send out a signal that the landmark theater had suddenly closed.

First off... Mann does not use Fandango for showtimes and tickets. They use Movietickets, and on Movietickets, you could clearly see they are playing Pandorum. Also going to Mann's website would have led you to their listing on Movietickets.

Second, the number listed on Fandango is not a recording line, and the only people who are going to be at the theatre at 7:06 AM are the janitors cleaning up the theatre. They don't answer the phones, even if they are close enough to a phone to do so.

Third, the Chinese is booked through the rest of the year. And as much as I don't like Guy Ritchie movies in general, I can't wait to see Sherlock Holmes at the Chinese.

Another weekend, another flop for the Chinese with Pandorum. The Chinese 6 also played it in the D-Box format but I don't that it would have the film any better (the film was a huge disappointment in my opinion).

They must be desperate for bookings if they're showing dreck like "Pandorum". yech.

Are there any movies out right now? I see a bunch of crap on the top 10 box office, but does any of that count? I seriously doubt that y'all are complaining about not seeing "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" at the glorious Grauman's Chinese Theatre! LOL! :)

It's a sign of the times when a studio opens two films on the same weekend and gives the flop to the Chinese (Overture gave Capitalism: A Love Story to the Arclight).

I hear ya, Chris. In the 1970s I used to see about 45-50 movies a year. This year I've seen about 6.

These days I get my movie fix from a TV show: "Mad Men." It takes place in the '60s, and its quality is comparable to the best theatrical films of the '60s.

The Chinese recently made a cameo in Zombieland with the film 2012 referenced. Zombieland can also be seen at the Chinese right now.

Is this theatre ever going to get a movie I want to see? All the wide releases this week and next are opening at Arclight...except Astro Boy. Really sad. Mann seems to have really just given up and is not putting in any effort anymore.

its been that way for a couple years now. Maybe its just coincidence, but the bookings seems to have gone downhill after CIM became the landowner back in september '07.

The Fourth Kind is currently playing at the Chinese (instead of 2012). Meanwhile, Astro Boy is playing in D-Box at the Chinese 6.

Here's something unexpected: Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" will open this Friday at the Chinese. While I doubt it will do very well there, it's good to see the Chinese finally playing a supposedly GREAT movie again.

The Arclight has no showtimes for Avatar 3-D at the Hollywood location on Dec. 18th, only the Sherman Oaks location. This normally means that the Chinese complex would be getting it. I do know that Fox hosted a screening of Avatar footage for Exhibs recently at the Chinese to promote the 3-D format. Does this mean the Chinese will be getting the film when it is released?

I think it's too early to tell. Is current state of the art 3-D bright enough for a screen as big as Grauman's?

The Village ran 3D with several films (most recently "The Final Destination") and the screen sizes aren't that different.

http://www.tcm.com/festival/

Anybody know any details about this? Tickets go on sale tomorrow, but there's no listing of what the movies will be. If I was the programmer, I'd include "West Side Story" in 70mm here at the Chinese, where it originally played for 58 weeks.

Re:"Bad Lieutenant:Port of Call New Orleans": Apparently,according to www.dvdpricesearch.com,the date for the DVD release of this has already been announced for early February.

The TCM Fest sounds wonderful. I cannot wait to see what will be shown.

Get a load of these prices for the TCM Festival:

http://turnerclassic.moviesunlimited.com/festival/#ClassicPass

Individual tickets to each movie may be available, but they also may not be. No list of all the films yet, but they are showing "2001", "Metropolis", "Breathless" and "A Star is Born" as special events.

Grauman's Chinese is not getting Avatar. Sherlock Holmes has been booked for the theatre for Christmas Day for quite a while now.

Well, good to know they are actually getting something that should do decent business.

Is the Chinese 6 ever going to get 2012 in d-box? It's the only d-box theater that doesn't have it playing. Actually, as of now, there's not any film playing in d-box.

"2012" is showing at Arclight Hollywood.

I guess the Chinese and Arclight could not share the film like they did with the last Terminator film.

The Ziegfeld Theatre in New York shares product with the plexes on 42nd. Street all the time. Right now the Ziegfeld is showing Disney's Christmas Carol in 3D (with a El Capitan type display over at Roseland). Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 is showing Christmas Carol in 3D too.

And the Ziegfeld is about the same distance to 42nd St. as the Chinese is to Arclight.

The Roseland thing is happening for their next film Disney's Princess & the Frog.

The Princess and The Frog is opening at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. I believe the El Capitan will be running Old Dogs instead.

Oh wait, you referring to New York. My mistake.

Princess and the Frog opens at Disney Studios for a 2 week run. Dec 11 opens wide, and will probably be at Arclight Hollywood. The El Capitan has A Christmas Carol booked through New Year's.

2 weeks to go and Avatar tickets are still not on sale at Arclight Hollywood. Are we 100% sure that Avatar won't play at Graumans?

I imagine that Sherlock Holmes will be booked into both the Chinese and Chinese 6 (due to it being in D-Box).

Be a part of cinema history!
Join ROBERT DOWNEY JR. in the famed forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Monday, December 7, as he has his hand and footprints immortalized in cement in celebration of his new movie, “Sherlock Holmes.”

The ceremony begins promptly at 11:30AM in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at
6925 Hollywood Blvd.
Arrive early for best viewing!

“Sherlock Holmes” opens nationwide on Friday, December 25. Nothing escapes him!

Avatar is listed as coming to both Arclight locations.

THEY JUST STARTED SELLING TICKETS FOR AVATAR 3D IN THE CINERAMA DOME.

boo.

Ninja Assassin is currently playing in the Chinese with Armored, Planet 51, Bad Lieutenant and Transylmania (which opened with only $250 per theatre on opening weekend) playing first-run at the Chinese 6.

I'm thrilled the Chinese 6 finally got 2012 in DBOX for a limited run until Wednesday. Thank you whomever noted my pleads... ;)

Does anyone have any tidbits about Mann's plans for this theatre (and their other theatres) when they pull out of Westwood in March 2010?

Actually, Sherlock Holmes is also listed as opening soon at Arclight Hollywood.

On the Arclightwebsite it is listed in the "On Sale Soon" section. That could also mean it is opening at the Sherman Oaks location and not Hollywood.

SHERLOCK HOLMES is opening at the Chinese and Chinese 6. Tickets are currently on sale. The Chinese 6 will be DBOX presentation. ALVIN & THE CHIMPMUNKS opens Dec. 23. These will be the only new movies opening at the CHINESE theatres.

All I know is what I read on the website. It is listed as coming soon for both locations. Could be a mistake:

https://www.arclightcinemas.com/ArcLight/faces/ComingSoon.jsp

Ninja Assassins is entering its 4th (!) week at Grauman's. Chinese 6 has: 2012, The Blind Side, Brothers, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Hurt Locker, The Road and New Moon - ALL ARE 2ND RUN MOVE-OVERS FROM THE ARCLIGHT!! And all they are getting is Sherlock Holmes and torturous Chipmunk sequel? Ugh.....

Dont pick on the CHIPMUNKS---THERE COOL

They would need to install a second digital projector the run Avatar in 3D or at least to run it right because the screen is so big. They installed a two projector set up at the Cinerama Dome. Of course it would be nice to see Avatar at the Chinese.

Didn't AVATAR have its premiere at the Chinese in 3D?

Just went to see Sherlock Holmes; great presentation. The sound is amazing. They appear to be getting The Book of Eli next. Hopefully 2010 will be kinder than 2009 was to Grauman's Chinese.

Brad, how was the crowd?

About 10 people. But it was the 10:45am show. The show afterwards seemed to be bigger. They have it on 2 of the 6 plex screens also.

Danny, yes, Avatar premiered at the Chinese. I don't know if it was in 3D or not.

Saw "The Book of Eli" with my film club on 1/16 - 7:30 PM show. Crowd was roughly 300-400 folks. Ran on film, not DP.

Any idea of what they are getting as a February movie? WOLFMAN perhaps?

I'd say COP OUT is very likely given it's WB. Whether they'll get WOLFMAN or PERCY JACKSON in the meantime is anyone's guess. Like HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, VALENTINE'S DAY appears to be getting the ArcLight treatment even though it's WB.

COP OUT sounds right. They do seem to split the WB films between Arclight and Chinese.

It looks like From Paris With Love will be the next engagement. The Chinese 6 will probably get the D-Box version.

While the Chinese plays the regular version.

ArcLight is getting "From Paris With Love".

Looks like another 2012 case where Los Angeles gets the D-Box run later then.

Well, The Wolf Man is not opening at Chinese, Arclight has tickets on sale now. On a ironic note, The Blind Side is moving back from Chinese 6 to Arclight this weekend. Looks like WB is expanding the run of Blind Side because of Oscars.

According to the LA Times ad, "Book Of Eli" is still in Grauman's this week.

Yes, and unless they take in an Academy return engagement or a moveover next week, it'll still be there. All three films are booked at ArcLight Hollywood.