TCL Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
159 people
favorited this theater
Showing 651 - 675 of 1,670 comments
Silver’s description of that special tour sounds great! That sounds like the kind of tour the new theater owners ought to offer such as one day a week.
dtrigubetz, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your alert 3 days ago to the special Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation’s (lahtf.org) tour this weekend of Grauman’s Chinese. On a whim I went, and that was by far the best $20 I’ve spent in ages. (By comparison, the regular “tour” offered daily to tourists by the theater is a waste). They took us into many non-public areas such as: all backstage and behind the screen, and then down into the massive green room in the basement, and up into Sid Grauman’s private viewing box, and a peek into his office (occupied by the current manager). And even the open areas have many “hidden” features until pointed out by the expert guides. I overheard that about 150 people were there Saturday,(we were broken up into 11 more manageable smaller groups). Finally at the end, we all seated in a Chinese 6 auditorium and got an excellent slide show talk about the history of the theater and of Sid Grauman.
If LAHTF ever offers this tour again, I would recommend making the trip to Hollywood for it. I would definitely repeat the tour in the future. They have a Facebook page and posted several photos.
Also, a blogger went on the tour with his video camera and put together a 3 minute video (which actually covers only some of the tour) and put it on his post: http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/05/lao_behind_the_scenes_gra.php
Some Like It Hot, June 1, is at the Grauman’s Chinese. HOWEVER, the other six nights of the “Marilyn Monroe Film Festival” are in the Chinese 6 theatres, NOT in the big Grauman theater I believe .
The nomenclature is always tricky with this theater. “Grauman’s Chinese” to me refers to the awesome 1927 theater, and not to the generic multiplex “Chinese 6” built next to it in the late 90’s.
It’s being put on by Playboy/Hugh Hefner, who has an affinity for film, and the website says nothing of digital (it normally reads “Digital Presentation”), so I’d say there’s a semi-good chance these are archival prints. Will need to get confirmation, though.
Are this all going to be 2K digital? That screen is so big the 2K digital looks very grainy.
Graumans is showing Marilyn Monroe movies at 8PM on seven consecutive nights. $10 opening night, then $5 per screening or $30 pass for all seven. 6/1 – Some Like It hot 6/2- No Business Like Show Business, 6/3-How to Marry a Millionaire, 6/4- The Seven Year Itch, 6/5-bus Stop, 6/6-The Misfits, 6/7-Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The Chinese is showing “Some Like It Hot” on Friday, 6/1 @ 8PM. Tickets are $10.
http://www.chinesetheatres.com/tickets-showtimes.html
Tickets still available for Saturday’s insider’s tour and presentation. Tours start between 8:30-9:00AM, and participants are offered a discounted $10 movie admission that day.
http://www.lahtf.org/
So nice to see that this theater is still around to celebrate its 85th anniversary this evening!!
I’ve uploaded a photo I took in 1992 when on holiday from Wales UK. It’s of the side & back of the building where there used to be a car park,(sorry lot) Please click on photos.
To bigjoe59 about your April 20th post: Even if it is officially true that the SF Castro Theater was built as a 2nd run neighborhood theater, it is pretty darn grand with awesome organ pipes in the walls, beautiful and detailed decor, balcony, etc. There were many neighborhood theaters (some still standing) from that era that did not get that kind of floor plan and design embellishment. I would call it a palace.
Hello Again-
i’m sure every theater no matter how well built it was or even if still in good condition doesn’t get redone/refurbished etc….to some extant over the years simply to keep it viable. so even if the Chinese has been redone/refurnished etc…over
the years at least its still Chinese in mode and is still a single screen first run theater since the day it opened. so other than the Chinese the only other theater i have found using this site
that fits the criteria in my March 22 post is the Uptown in D.C..
so i thank Danny B. for mentioning the Regency Village. also i guess i should just use the term grand old movie theater rather than palace. to which is the Regency Village still a single screen theater that has operated as a 1st run venue since the day it opened? for instance in terms of grand old movie theaters including palaces we have the Castro in San Francisco which is still a single screen venue and in damn good shape. but although it has been in continuous operation since the day it opened in 1924? it was built from the get go as a 2nd/ 3rd run neighborhood theater. i am referring to theaters built as 1st run venues that have continued to operate as such.
Singing in The Rain was a 2K file according to the TCM programming guide. The only 4K DCP they showed was Two for The Road. 20000 leagues was also 2K. I am not sure why, there are 4K DCP files available, Barco provided a 4K projector, I found it quite disappointing to be honest. I mean 4 day passes are 600 bucks, this is Hollywood, I just assumed that all features on a huge screen would be the best file available. Even the premiere restoration of Warner Bros Cabaret on Opening Night was in 2K, I cannot imagine that Warner’s would not have,and want to show a 4K file.
word was that the 4K DCP (i.e, digital projection) of ‘Singin’ in the Rain' looked and sound amazing at last weekend’s TCM Fest. They also presented the restored ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ in digital (drat! I’d kill to see that on the big screen)
And what do you mean by “original design”? Even the Chinese has been remodeled.
It depends on what the latest opening date you’re willing to accept is and how you’re defining palace (do you mean built in the palace era?). From your criteria, the (Regency) Village is a good start.
Hello- i would greatly appreciate it if my fellow posters could hope me with the question in my post of March 22. thanks in advance.
I saw Snow White and Casablanca last weekend at the TCM fest..it seemed more crowded then last year, but it was just the perfect day. We were in stand by and got seats in the end sections almost next to the side curtains….and it didn’t matter at all. There are no bad seats there with 1000 people sharing the same experience. All digital showings except one or two were all 2K, less then last year. I might get a pass next year, it will even be busier I bet.
First up at 7PM on Monday, 4/23: Breakfast at Tiffanys.
While at the TCM Festival on 4/14 I bought 10 tix(the limit per individual purchase).
I’ll try to check it out. It will be insane though. Hopefully people will go to appreciate the theatre and will sit back and absorb and appreciate the films.
No word on the titles yet, but…
HOLLYWOOD, (KABC) – Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is planning to offer 25-cent admission on select days in honor of the theater’s 85th birthday.
On Mondays, starting April 2, admission to the theater will only cost a quarter. That’s the same as it was on opening day in 1927.
On those Mondays, Grauman’s will show classic films which premiered there over the past eight decades. Locals and visitors alike should come and celebrate!
The Chinese seems to be doing worse than better since Mann sold it. They have not had a big release since last Summer with Harry Potter. The Reserved Seating is silly considering there is no reason to expect a sell out. It seems like the Chinese is just a tourist attraction and a venue for premieres and nothing else.
Hello To My Fellow Posters- i discovered this website a year ago and was hooked. therefore i set up a project for myself- to find grand old movie theaters or palaces to use the popular term that fit these criteria- haven’t been torn down or gutted for retail space, never became a 2nd/3rd run or grind house, never showed porn, never used as a radio or t.v. studio, wasn’t converted to a concert hall or performing arts center, and was never twined, tri-plexed or if large enough quaded but and this is a big BUT has stayed in its original state/design/condition as a 1st run movie theater since the day it opened. using this site the only two i’ve found are the Uptown in D.C. and of course Grauman’s Chinese. they can’t be the only ones in the entire country can they? do my fellow posters know of any other theaters that fit my criteria. many thanks in advance.
Grauman’s Chinese has a 90 foot screen holder. How much of that screen is exposed depends on how wide the masking is opened. Mann management did not make a practice of using the whole screen because there was a problem getting the light levels required. Take the tour of the theater and bring your own tape measure. The screen at Grauman’s is bigger than the screen at the Cinerama Dome.
They should have a least tried to grab up Phantom Menace in 2D. If Arclight has no interest in offering to their customers, the Chinese should be allowed to have it. I am surprised that the studios are letting Arclight dump so much product on The Chinese so quickly. Man on a Ledge goes to the Chinese after only 2 weeks and it looks like Universal is releasing Arclight of their engagement of Big Miracle after only 1 week. I wonder if The Chinese is eager and happy to take these films off Arclight’s hands and that’s why Arclight’s able to move them out so fast. Seems incredibly sad to see the once great and mighty Chinese picking through Arclight’s trash just to get a nibble of something.
I was hoping that Grauman’s would get Phantom Menace 3D, but tickets are now on sale at arclight hollywood. Oh well.