The Chinese Theatre was built by Sid Grauman, who was born in Indiana and came to Los Angeles by way of San Francisco and San Jose.
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, arguably the world’s most famous movie theater, is marking its 90th year on May 18,2017. What’s now called TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX has historic treasures and modern movie magic inside and out.
Seeing stars indoors
The TCL Chinese Theatre’s cement slabs, with their handprints of celebrities, are visited by an estimated 5 million tourists a year. Yet the inside is seen by less than 1 percent of those visitors.
Behind the front doors, the stars of the silver screen are as bright and big as they can be on a 97-foot-wide IMAX screen with the newest laser technology. The theater touts its screen as the most immersive cinematic experience in the world and premieres 35-50 films a year, the most of any theater in the world.
The slogan of the Chinese Theatre is “If you premiere a movie at the Chinese Theater, good fortune will smile on you at the box office.” The list of blockbusters first seen there include “Star Wars” “Titanic” and “Jurassic World.”
Original art painted on the theater’s two story walls in 1927 was created by Xavier Cugat, a famous musician, director and screenwriter.
Several costumes are displayed in the theater – including one from “The Terminator” and one James Dean wore in “Giant” – as well as the tablets from “The Ten Commandments.”
The ceiling was made in China and shipped to Los Angeles in three pieces. The theater is little changed from when it opened in 1927, with a few cosmetic refreshes and earthquake retrofits. The building was designated a cultural landmark by Los Angeles in 1968.
The Chinese Theatre was the first theater to have air conditioning. The wide columns along the walls are the ducts.
Spanning California
The Chinese Theatre was built by Sid Grauman, who was born in Indiana and came to Los Angeles by way of San Francisco and San Jose. Grauman’s father constructed the Unique theater in San Jose, which was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. The father and son were recognized by the city for their efforts to lift morale by showing movies in a canvas tent after the quake.
By 1922, the Graumans were at the epicenter of the movie business in Los Angeles and hosted the first movie premiere at the Egyptian Theater. The Egyptian is a four-minute walk from the Chinese Theatre, but it is a world away with regard to Hollywood lore.
The Egyptian Theater was the first big movie palace, constructed in 1922.
Movie royalty
If you sit in the Chinese Theatre, you will be in the room where Bob Hope announced the best picture Oscar for “Casablanca” in 1944. The Oscars were presented there in 1944,’ 45 and’ 46.
Originally the theater could seat 2,258, was downsized to 1,492 in 1957 and now seats 932. The cost of the construction was $2 million in 1927, which would be about $27 million today.
The stars outside
Sid Grauman died in 1950, and now an anonymous committee selects celebrities to honor with concrete slabs. The only criterion, according to theater historian Levi Tinker, is selectees must have had a major impact on the film industry.
Concrete numbers
Director Ridley Scott on Wednesday became the 304th person to put his name in cement. It will take at least a month before his slab is dry and placed in front of the theater. Every slab has a story, and here are a few.
First star
Grauman’s idea for cementing names struck him after Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into wet cement while touring the theater in 1927. Talmadge was invited back for an official cement signing ceremony and the rest is history. Her slab is right in front of the main doors.
The Duke
John Wayne signed his slab in 1950 for the premiere of “Sands of Iwo Jima.” His slab was made with two 100-pound bags of sand from the Pacific island. Wayne’s footprints look tiny because he was wearing his riding boots. The ceremony was the final one that Sid Grauman presided over before his death.
The Dude
The most recent slab to be placed was Jeff Bridges’ slab in January. Bridges sketched a portrait in the concrete.
Carl and Rob Reiner’s slab is still drying and will be placed soon. Carl Reiner, at age 95, will be the oldest celebrity to have a slab. Shirley Temple is the youngest, having signed one at age 5.
Taking it to 11
Mel Brooks had a little fun with his slab. Count the fingers.
Role reversal
The only slab to be removed was that of Edmund Purdom. If you thought, who?, then you know why. Purdom’s film credits are considered less than stellar.
Sources: Levi Tinker, The TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX, Los Angeles Public Library
Photos by Kurt Snibbe Wikimedia Commons, and courtesy of TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX
