Egyptian Theatre

The former twin was originally a store that was converted into theatres. The last time I saw the twins, they were being used for plays or rock bands. The twin was the worst place to see a movie on Hollywood Blvd. They were just leased to UA, not owned. A few years before UA left the Egyptian Theatre. They had plans to turn the Egyptian Theatre and block area around it, into something like the Arc-Light, Chinese Theatres. They would have the large main theatre plus a modern 6-10 plex theatre location for new & move-over films and new stores and food on the site. But something went wrong with the city end and the plan was dropped and then the Northridge earthquake.

Most of the money for the new Disney concert hall came from Walt’s widow. And that has been a long troubled trip from ground breaking to opening. There would be some problems with returning a large say D-150 type screen back into the theatre. Most of it would be space. The curved screen could not be flown into the fly tower of the theatre like a regular type screen, because to return the former D-150 screen was 90 feet wide.
I would have liked to see the Egyptian Theatre fully restored like it once was. American Cinemateque has done a fine job returning the theatre back from the dead. One of the things they wanted was to have two screening theatres at one location. Like the Motion Picture Academy in Beverly Hills and like the Director’s Guild (which has three screening theatres). If they had not put in that second screening theatre (named after Steven Spielberg). They would have had more room to restore the main house. Every one has brought up good points on the restoration here. It’s like the old theatre owner twinning his single screen theatre. So he could make more money at one location. American Cinemateque can offer a film maker two state of the art screening rooms for his or her films.

Thank you Bruce.
The point I’m trying to make is that you give somebody Sid Grauman’s Hollywood Egyption and they turn it into New York’s Film Forum. If you don’t see that there is something very wrong here you are simply not paying attention. And as for not having money for the Warner or Egyption if LA can find a mountain of money for a new concert hall(and LA needs a new concert hall like Bagdad needs an American Cinemateque) which is nothing but a major vanity production for the architect, the politicians and the LA rich it could have easily found the money to properly restore these two historic buidings. Let’s face it, culturally we have nothing on the people who created these theaters.

The Egyptian Theatre may be seen as a glorified screening room to what it once looked like. But the real damage happened in 1969 when UA did the D-150 install to the theatre. They ripped out the Egyptian proscenium and installed a giant 90 foot screen. And another problem is when UA dropped the theatre, it sat empty. With homeless people and street kids living inside. UA dumpped this once great palace and left it to rot on Hollywood Blvd. If you see the Paramount movie “Jimmy Hollywood”, you can see some of the theatre damage. And being from and living and working in Southern California area. You can’t drop the earthquake idea from the restoration of the theatre. The theatre was built in 1921-22 and has since gone through many rumbles over the years. Since the theatre is made of brick. It may look solid, but the Egyptian did loss some bricks in the fly tower and side walls during the Northridge Earthquake 1994. An earthquake retro-fit can add 12-15 million on to your budget. It’s not just the walls and roof of the building, it’s also the new building codes and wiring too. The Art-Deco Warner Beverly Hills Theatre would still be standing and in use today. Because the building needed a earthquake retro-fit that the owners were not going to do in 1989. The theatre was razed.
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here’s a new idea……………..BE GRATEFUL……a long way from the commonsense and good manners of another decade………perhaps all the moaners of this site might ask themselves:
‘how much in cold hard cash did they contribute to what they are complaining about…… eh?

The Egytian’s makeover is not so much “restoration” as it is “adaptive reuse,” and a very sensitive one at that. I don’t believe anyone living in L.A., with knowledge of the available alternatives for this theatre, begrudge the American Cinemateque in any way. In fact, too many historic or preservation minded organizations in this country don’t understand that in order to make their efforts viable, the end result must be monetarily feasible. Otherwise, these grand old dammes are left as show pieces only, a “museum piece” that just doesn’t work or warrant the huge investment to save.

What the Cinemateque accomplished was actually quite remarkable, given the amount of money put into the project. Today, we have a major, seven-day-a-week, functioning theatre showcase, presenting restored and sometimes forgotten films.

I have to disagree with another, previous post here, that the Northridge quake had something to do with this re-do. The steel tubing now running the length of the walls, are to support rolling speaker panels to present film in surround.

Box employees union is looking for info on roadshow movie houses of the 50’s and 60’s. If you can help, e-mail Barbara at
Thanks

The walls of the auditorium were of the same faux-stone as the exterior, with bas-relief sculptures of Egyptian figures carved into the stone. Unfortunately, all of this detail has been covered over with sound absorbing tiles. The ceiling of the auditorium was atmosphic, meant to evoke the feeling of being in a temple courtyard at night. It is painted a deep blue, and if you look closely you can still see the gold stars painted on this fiels of blue. The real glory of the auditorium was the front proscenium area. The detail here began with elaborately painted columns rising from the orchestra pit. Between the two columns on each side of the pit was a large Sphinx figure on a pedestal. Above the columns were horizontal stepped beams rising toward the center of the proscenium, again with incredibly detailed hieroglyphic designs. This was further topped by the gold scarab and six golden swans which are still visible today. Unfortunately, except for the scarab and the sunburst above, all of the proscenium detailed was removed in 1969 when the proscenium was widened for the installation of a Dimension-150 screen.
Today, the ceiling sunburst is the most arresting detail in the auditorium. This cast plaster sunburst radiates out from the top of the proscenium, backlit by hidden bulbs which shine through the open grillwork. Like the Chinese, this pierced grill served not only as decoration, but also as the mouthpiece of the Wurlitzer. The pipes of the Wurlitzer pipe organ were housed in two large rooms located in the ceiling above the orchestra pit. These rooms opened onto the small attic area above the sunburst. The curved ceiling of this area directed the sound through the sunburst into the auditorium.
The long run policy continued at the Egyptian until July 1927, shortly after the opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre a few blocks away. During the 30’s-40’s the theatre was operated by Fox West Coast Theatres. In 1949 the theatre was acquired by United Artists chain and was extensively remodeled. The entrance with a canopy that represented the Nile River and other alterations took place.
The theatre ran first run policy day-and-date with UA’s downtown house. The long run policy was revived to some extent into the 70’s when Roadshow pictures ran for many months at the Egyptian.
During the 1969 remodel, United Artists closed the theatre briefly, jackhammered out most of the proscenium, the orchestra pit and the stage floor in order to install a Dimension-150 screen equal in size to that of the Cinerama Dome and the Chinese. Much of the unique charm of the auditorium was lost in this insensitive remodel. The screen and speakers now extend nearly to the back wall of the stage, which originally was 30 feet deep and 75 feet from side to side. The D-150 screen was around 90 feet wide.

cinematreasuresm is a very good website but among missing topics is a section on screen size! Where are the biggest size screens?

Due to significant damage from the1994 Northridge earthquake and vandalism, the auditorium of the Egyptiam required major rehabilitation. The steel structure now seen in the auditorium is required to reinforce the building structure. What was left of the original auditorium decor was saved and restored. The additions of the late 50’s (in particular the marquee) were demolished and the courtyard restored. Perhaps not an accurate restoration of the original, but a successful renovation by the American Cinematheque of a neglected Hollywood movie palace.

I suppose this is better than no Egyptian at all. They tore up the front of the house and made the auditorium much shorter to accommodate a larger lobby. Rather then renovate, they built a new theater within the old one. It’s disappointing at best.

I attended the world premier of “Ben-Hur” at The Egyptian.