TCL Chinese Theatre

6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles, CA 90028

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Showing 76 - 100 of 1,676 comments

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on April 9, 2019 at 3:41 pm

A B&W short subject covering the world premiere of MGM’s “Grand Hotel” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in 1932 can be viewed here

RogerA
RogerA on December 8, 2018 at 7:37 pm

The Chinese sound system is not the best. The Chinese is a huge space and hard to fill and there are problems with the acoustics. The El Capitan has a much better sound system and is one of the best if not the best in California. The newly renovated Theater at American Legion Post 43 in Hollywood has better sound than the Chinese.

LARGE_screen_format
LARGE_screen_format on December 7, 2018 at 4:40 pm

AMC Loews 13, Lincoln Square IMAX screen is 100 feet wide by 80 feet high.

TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX screen is 94 feet wide by 46 feet high.

Can anyone confirm if the AMC Metreon 16 IMAX screen is 100 feet wide by 80 feet high or 97 feet wide by 76 feet high?

I believe the above are the three largest IMAX screens in North America unless anyone knows otherwise?

Escott O. Norton
Escott O. Norton on December 7, 2018 at 3:34 pm

The Chinese is not the largest screen, I think the record for that is in Sydney, Australia, and I think it is the 3rd largest screen in the US, but the Chinese is easily the largest IMAX theatre by seating capacity at 932, according to http://www.lfexaminer.com/theaUSA.htm. In my opinion it is the best audio and picture quality I have experienced. And it is a stunningly beautiful historic theatre too!

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on December 7, 2018 at 3:06 pm

Yes. Second place has to be the lincoln square imax, which is an hour away from where i live. I was watching about 45 minutes of Teen Titans Go to the movies, and there’s a cartoon version of the chinese as the superheroes go to the premiere of a superhero movie. It’s also featured in Scooby Doo goes to Hollywood as well.

LARGE_screen_format
LARGE_screen_format on November 4, 2018 at 5:47 pm

Am I correct in thinking this is the best audio and picture quality IMAX screen in the U.S.? Also, the largest.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 3, 2018 at 1:30 am

Theres a scene in the movie “Blazing saddles” showing Mel Brooks going into the theatre, which is screening a premiere of “Blazing saddles”.

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on September 22, 2018 at 4:41 pm

B&W newsreel footage of the Hollywood premiere of “Hell’s Angels” can be viewed here

CStefanic
CStefanic on September 14, 2018 at 7:59 pm

I’m just going to say it – what they did with the Grauman Chinese (It will always be the Grauman Chinese to me) was an abomination.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on August 7, 2018 at 11:05 pm

Water and Power Associates link with the Chinese Theatre and photos of other theatres and buildings.

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_Hollywood%281920%2B%29_Page_6.html

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on July 12, 2018 at 4:23 pm

Hello-

thanks to Escot O. Norton and MSC77 for their replies. I am fascinated as to how long roadshow engagements of films lasted in L.A. as opposed to Manhattan. for instance the shortest roadshow engagement in Manhattan I can remember is Half A Sixpence which ran at the Criterion for a grand total of 6 weeks.

MSC77
MSC77 on July 12, 2018 at 1:57 pm

bigjoe59: Other roadshows at the Chinese included “Half a Sixpence” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

Escott O. Norton
Escott O. Norton on July 11, 2018 at 5:12 pm

BigJoe, I recommend you spend some time on my friend Kurt’s website. He has an exhaustive collection of photos and information, including a COMPLETE list of every movie and show ever presented at the Chinese. Also check out the 1927 tour of the theatre! http://graumanschinese.org

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on July 11, 2018 at 4:47 pm

Hello-

were the engagements of Windjammer, West Side Story
and Hello Dolly the only roadshow engagements the
Chinese has held?

RogerA
RogerA on July 7, 2018 at 9:05 pm

That center aisle and the railings are just bad

LARGE_screen_format
LARGE_screen_format on July 7, 2018 at 7:28 am

That link includes a great interior shot of TCL Chinese Theatre.

Shame they have stairs running right through the centre of so many rows as that is where I prefer to sit, directly in line with the centre of the screen.

CF100
CF100 on July 6, 2018 at 7:53 pm

The replacement seating for the IMAX conversion was a “custom” design supplied by Seating Concepts:

How We Helped the Historic Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles with Its Recent Overhaul—Seating Concepts.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on April 1, 2018 at 4:37 pm

As far as I know neither Raymond Kennedy, chief architect of the Chinese Theatre, nor Donald Wilkinson, head architect of the firm of Meyer & Holler, with whom Kennedy worked closely on the project, ever visited China, but I’m sure Kennedy would have done some study of Chinese design for the project.

Although the theater’s details are Chinese, the building’s form is more European Renaissance, particularly the forecourt. A forecourt is not characteristic of Chinese design. Both Kennedy and Wilkinson were classically trained, and Kennedy was awarded a Diploma as a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he studied for three years.

RogerA
RogerA on April 1, 2018 at 4:12 pm

I don’t think that Sid Grauman ever went to China he just built theaters. Sid built the Egyptian to cash in on the Egyptian revival craze started by discovery of King Tut’s tomb.

moviebuff82
moviebuff82 on April 1, 2018 at 3:50 pm

Did the guy who created the Chinese go to China before making this theater?

leowtyx
leowtyx on April 1, 2018 at 12:54 pm

Dome and Chinese has more bad seats, plus that’s not really a great comparison.

Different locations, different theaters, different times, different prices, different parking rates.

RogerA
RogerA on March 31, 2018 at 6:32 pm

I saw Ready Player One last night looked okay. Not enough base good show great theater. Some people like the 2D version some like the 70mm version and some like the 3D version. The only one the even comes close to filling the theater is the 70mm version in a SMALL theater at the Arclight. There are plenty of seats at the Dome in 3D and plenty of empty seats at the chinese.

Scott Neff
Scott Neff on March 28, 2018 at 9:22 pm

Zubi, thanks for the info on the II-III. When I first started traveling and taking pictures of theatres, I snapped a few shots of the lobby of the II-III after it was closed. Had I known they were going to be torn down I would’ve taken more.

They’re at the bottom of our page for it at Cinematour.com

https://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/2129.html

leowtyx
leowtyx on March 28, 2018 at 5:47 pm

Would you say Chinese is the only theater that shows IMAX Laser in 2D concurrently with 3D when there’s a 3D blockbuster movie?