I was one of the people who posted negative reactions to the ‘restored’ Egyptian but I need to clarify my stance. Yes, it’s great that the theater is still open and vital but it did not have to be altered by a group that claims to be about film preservation. On top of that, the Cinemateque boasts that they restored this theater, it’s not a restoration, it’s a remodel. Don’t advertise something you never accomplished or ever attempted. As a side note, I was a projectionist at the Hollywood Egyptian for five years. The sound quality was (when kept up by the notoriously lazy UA) was superb. When we ran 70mm (“Return of the Jedi”/ “Oklahoma”) it was astounding. The theater didn’t have the echo or loss of clarity some concrete palaces suffer.
Other Rialto trivia: It’s the theater in ‘Kentucky Fried Movie’ directed by John Landis and I believe it’s the movie theater in “Nightmare on Elmstreet 4: The Dream Master” directed by Renny Harlin. I also directed a short film in the Rialto’s auditorium. One thing I learned from shooting in the Rialto, it’s hard to get a bad shot in the place – it’s majestic and stunning from just about every angle.
What I find mystifying is that the Cinemateque offers monthly tours of the historic site. How do tour-guides skirt the issue of the total intrusiveness of the remodel? Worse, this tour is touted as a look at the beautiful palace and its ‘restoration’. Even under the most charitable descriptions of this theater’s repair, no one could possibly come away thinking that work could be categorized as restoration. If the Cinemateque wanted to alter the design, that’s one thing but to do so and bask in the glory of rendering some loving restoration, forget it, that’s just plain insulting to the theater’s original owners and designers not to mention lying.
I love what the American Cinemateque stands for, I love their programming and I was quite pleased to hear the announcement that they were revitalizing the historic Egyptian Theater. I had worked for the Egyptian Theater for five years during the 1980’s as its projectionist.
I studied the theater’s fabled past and was always in awe of the building’s majesty. Even under the disinterested watch of United Artist’s Theater Chain, the palace was still a beautiful place to watch films.
Walking down the restored courtyard, I was enthused. The restoration was beatifully realized. However, when I walked into the newly ‘restored’ Egyptian interior, I was, to put it bluntly, horrified. The design was altered so signifigantly that I have to believe that the new designers had nothing but contempt for the building’s symmetry and line.
A few postings above this are tasteful and considerate when speaking of the remodel. They bring up important issues such as the seismic retrofitting and how that necessarily impacts the theater’s new
look. This does not explain how the new designers came to use flimsy spiral staircases, wall ‘sconces’ that can only be described as arbitrary woodcut blobs and the giant, obtrusive black box parked in the middle of what used to be the auditorium’s back section. Even the ceiling’s famous starburst is no longer back lit, they’ve gone the easy route and front lit the ornamation, rendering it flat.
This is not a theater restoration, the biggest scandal in this town is that the theater was destroyed, rendered unrecognizable. The Egyptian is gone. Most people can’t recall how awesome the interior used to be so the loss is nothing more than footprints in the sand.
In one of the first pamphlets the Cinemateque issued after its reopening it claimed that the redesign’s goal was to bring some of the urban environment into the theater, using materials consistant with that goal. Sid Grauman built that theater to leave the city behind you. He made a 160 foot walk away from the street so you would be transported. The Cinemateque either didn’t know of this or didn’t care.
I was one of the people who posted negative reactions to the ‘restored’ Egyptian but I need to clarify my stance. Yes, it’s great that the theater is still open and vital but it did not have to be altered by a group that claims to be about film preservation. On top of that, the Cinemateque boasts that they restored this theater, it’s not a restoration, it’s a remodel. Don’t advertise something you never accomplished or ever attempted. As a side note, I was a projectionist at the Hollywood Egyptian for five years. The sound quality was (when kept up by the notoriously lazy UA) was superb. When we ran 70mm (“Return of the Jedi”/ “Oklahoma”) it was astounding. The theater didn’t have the echo or loss of clarity some concrete palaces suffer.
Other Rialto trivia: It’s the theater in ‘Kentucky Fried Movie’ directed by John Landis and I believe it’s the movie theater in “Nightmare on Elmstreet 4: The Dream Master” directed by Renny Harlin. I also directed a short film in the Rialto’s auditorium. One thing I learned from shooting in the Rialto, it’s hard to get a bad shot in the place – it’s majestic and stunning from just about every angle.
What I find mystifying is that the Cinemateque offers monthly tours of the historic site. How do tour-guides skirt the issue of the total intrusiveness of the remodel? Worse, this tour is touted as a look at the beautiful palace and its ‘restoration’. Even under the most charitable descriptions of this theater’s repair, no one could possibly come away thinking that work could be categorized as restoration. If the Cinemateque wanted to alter the design, that’s one thing but to do so and bask in the glory of rendering some loving restoration, forget it, that’s just plain insulting to the theater’s original owners and designers not to mention lying.
I love what the American Cinemateque stands for, I love their programming and I was quite pleased to hear the announcement that they were revitalizing the historic Egyptian Theater. I had worked for the Egyptian Theater for five years during the 1980’s as its projectionist.
I studied the theater’s fabled past and was always in awe of the building’s majesty. Even under the disinterested watch of United Artist’s Theater Chain, the palace was still a beautiful place to watch films.
Walking down the restored courtyard, I was enthused. The restoration was beatifully realized. However, when I walked into the newly ‘restored’ Egyptian interior, I was, to put it bluntly, horrified. The design was altered so signifigantly that I have to believe that the new designers had nothing but contempt for the building’s symmetry and line.
A few postings above this are tasteful and considerate when speaking of the remodel. They bring up important issues such as the seismic retrofitting and how that necessarily impacts the theater’s new
look. This does not explain how the new designers came to use flimsy spiral staircases, wall ‘sconces’ that can only be described as arbitrary woodcut blobs and the giant, obtrusive black box parked in the middle of what used to be the auditorium’s back section. Even the ceiling’s famous starburst is no longer back lit, they’ve gone the easy route and front lit the ornamation, rendering it flat.
This is not a theater restoration, the biggest scandal in this town is that the theater was destroyed, rendered unrecognizable. The Egyptian is gone. Most people can’t recall how awesome the interior used to be so the loss is nothing more than footprints in the sand.
In one of the first pamphlets the Cinemateque issued after its reopening it claimed that the redesign’s goal was to bring some of the urban environment into the theater, using materials consistant with that goal. Sid Grauman built that theater to leave the city behind you. He made a 160 foot walk away from the street so you would be transported. The Cinemateque either didn’t know of this or didn’t care.