TCL Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
160 people favorited this theater
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So Nice To See This Movie Palace Still Around For All To Enjoy On It’s 80th Anniversary Today !!
You can see the trees in front of the Hollywood Hotel at the top of this 1936 photo:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011431.jpg
I went to the first night of the Israeli Film Festival at Grauman’s yesterday. After countless movies at my local shoebox, it was a pleasure to watch as a film as it should be exhibited. My wife had never been to Grauman’s before and was amazed by the size and the design, especially the ceiling.
Here’s an aerial view of the Chinese:
View link
This article was in a Long Beach paper on 9/3/57:
PETTING LIE, MAUREEN TELLS JURY
Miss O'Hara Takes Stand in LA. Trial
Not in Grauman’s Since ‘The Robe’ in 1953, Testifies
LOS ANGELES â€"Confidential magazine’s “petting” story about her was untrue, actress Maureen O'Hara testified here today. Moist-eyed and quietly indignant, Miss O'Hara said she attended the September 1953 premier of “The Robe,” but had not been in Grauman’s Chinese Theater anytime since in 1953 or 1954. The magazine, charged with criminal libel and obscenity, reported Miss O'Hara cuddled with a Latin lover in Grauman’s Row 35 in November 1953. Miss O'Hara, who gave her name in court as Maureen FitzSimons, entered the eighth-floor Superior courtroom at 11:15 a.m. She appeared as a voluntary witness for the prosecution. Her appearance followed a court and jury inspection of Grauman’s Theater at 10 a.m. today.
THE O'HARA cuddling story has become the cause celebre of the four-week-old trial. The prosecution apparently intends to use Miss O'Hara’s denial as a major weapon in proving that Confidential printed lies.
Dep. Dist. Atty. William Ritzi finished his questioning of the beautiful, hazel-eyed actress in about 15 minutes. The preliminary questioning dealt with Miss O'Hara’s passport which showed her to be on a filmmaking trip abroad during the time of the alleged theater petting incident. It showed she left Los Angeles Oct. 6, 1953, returning Jan. 12, 1954. Defense Atty. Arthur J. Crowley began his cross-examination shortly before the noon recess.
WEARING her red hair shoulder length and covered with a white hat, Miss O'Hara was attired in a blue and white striped cotton dress. She posed graciously for news photographers at the witness stand before court resumed after the theater field trip. She told the court her September 1953 visit to Grauman’s was in the company of her brother, Charles FitzSimons.
MISS O'HARA, a witness before the Grand Jury that indicted Confidential on charges of conspiracy to commit criminal libel and circulate obscene literature, produced passports, photos and other documents to prove she was out of the country in November 1953, the month Craig said the love scene was played. She has filed a five million dollar libel suit over the March 1957 story.
The jury spent 20 minutes in the theater, examining the aisles and the two rows of loges. Judge Walker acted as director of the prosecution, motioning the cast here and there and saying “now let us go out and take a look at the foyer.”
Chewbacca the Wookie was arrested in front of Grauman’s the other day for abusing a tour guide. Someone from the Kimmel show across the street took video of the wookie being cuffed and put in the police car. Supposedly he (or it) said “Don’t mess with this Wookie” on the way to the hoosegow.
Bill:
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, Keye Luke is not the name I’m looking for. I understand that Mr. Luke did, indeed, paint the murals in the lobby, but not the one along the far left-side interior wall.
Again, thanks for the help.
~Spoondoggie
Was it Keye Luke? On the tour I took, the guide said the well-known Chinese-American actor painted all the murals in the theater.
Last month I took a quick 10-minute tour of the Chinese Theater. From the lobby, we entered the auditorium around the right side of the concession stand. We exited the auditorium via an aisle on the far left side. While heading back up towards the lobby, the guide stopped us and pointed out a mural that was painted on the wall (in the aisle, near the entrance to the left side of the lobby). He told us the painter’s name, and I remember saying to myself, “WOW! Wasn’t he a famous musician, or bandleader?” Of course, now I can’t remember the painter’s name.
It is an unusual, but highly recognizable name. I’ve been searching all over the web looking for a clue. Any help would be most appreciated. :)
Thanks, Spoondoggie.
I am writing a story on the Chinese forecourt and would be very interested in talking to William (above) or anyone with knowledge of removed hand and footprints. Thank you very much.
Well from reading most of this I would say most of us are still suffering from (((Sensurround))) syndrome I can still the vibrations! That’s why I was pleased when the DVD came out I just cranked up the THX sound system and shock the room to bits at 120dbc!
Wow, Hollywood sure looked different judging by that aerial view from 1958! I know that church is still there in the background, that’s on Highland Ave, but is now somewhat obscured by so many other buildings. When did they put the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd?
Hey that’s pretty cool, I am going to be in Hollywood and Los Angeles area in a few weeks, I will have to go check that out. I don’t rember that being there the last time I was there some years back, but obviously it was…
On the right side of the photo, you can see what looks like an excavation. The Hollywood Hotel was at that location, but I recall a newspaper article from 1959 discussing the hotel’s imminent demolition.
Warren: Great 1958 photo and seen from a different angle of a famous landmark.
In February 1963 “Fantasia” played the Chinese in a re-formatted SuperScope print:
View link
That shot of the Chinese would date around Fall (Sept) 1953.
LawMann
The Fries Entertainment sign was on the building across the street from the Chinese.
A high rise office building was later built on the old Hollywood hotel site east of Grauman’s Chinese and for many years until it’s demolition in the late 90’s sported a huge roof top sign that read FRIES ENTERTAINMENT.
You can’t see the Hollywood Hotel in the 1954 picture. The hotel was on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Highland and was torn down in 1959. The Kodak theater is there now. I believe the taller building is still standing.
Lost Memory: Can you perhaps provide a photo of this theatre’s auditorium. And I didn’t know that in 1946 the Academy Awards were held at this theatre for the 3rd and last time.
Chuck 1231: I would love to see the interior photo that you posted on July 22,2005! Thanks.
ken mc: In the b/w photo that you posted on July 14, 2006 I was wondering where in that photo is the now Kodak Theatre? And the tall building in the background..is it still there today?
While watching a Christmas parade on WGN/Chicago the announcers pointed out Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre next door. What I didn’t know is…“The Chinese remained a three screen theater until 2000 when the two added theaters were razed to make way for the construction of the Kodak Theater — the new site of the Oscars.”
Unfortunately, the two fallen movie palaces were the Fox San Francisco and the Fox Phoenix…