TCL Chinese Theatre
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
6925 Hollywood Boulevard,
Los Angeles,
CA
90028
161 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 1,682 comments
I wonder what the chinese will do for its 100th?
Because of prescheduled events both tonight and tomorrow, the Chinese Theatre' 90th Anniversary will be celebrated on Monday the 22nd with a VIP Event in the historic Forecourt. The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation will be a part of the event. www.LAHTF.org. Photos will be shared after the event.
Yea the volume on the trailers to loud and the volume on the feature to low.
Oh the lights in the ceiling are nothing like they should be at one time they were adjustable blue red yellow
Caught Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 this weekend. Packed house. Presentation is second to none. This film begs to be seen in IMAX Laser 3D.
Was just at the Chinese Theatre Hollywood this past week. To bad the fountain on the left is not working and not lit up. The whole courtyard needs come color lights. Like put in some orange lights to light up the main pagoda above the door. Same inside years ago many color lights were used before the movie and when a movie was on. Now everything is turned off. No nice blue/red bulbs under the balcony. A little color is on the main light in the ceiling and a red light on the side but everything goes dark when the movie starts. Looks like they just have boring white led’s in most of the ceiling lights. You would think after spending all the money to put in a semi large curved Imax screen with curtains and install new seats plus dig down with a new slope you can’t see the screen If someone sits in front of you that is tall or If they lean forward,the image is semi blocked. Someone did not do the proper measurements when they put in the seating rows. The best thing about the place is the stereo sound with speakers up in the ceiling now. I liked the smaller cinemas in the back, two of them are a very good size with nice curved screens. Like so many theatres they don’t bother to close the curtains these days in the back cinemas.
“The Bad News Bears” opened here 40 years ago today, where it enjoyed a successful eleven-week run. To commemorate the occasion, here’s my latest historical/retrospective article which mentions the run at the Chinese as well as hundreds of other theaters in which it played. Do take a look if you’re a fan of the movie or if you have fond memories of 1970s era moviegoing.
The ad posted yesterday for “King Kong” failed to give a date, which was March 24th, 1933. Without that vital information, one might guess that it was the grand opening of the now classic movie. But “King Kong” actually had its world premiere in New York City three weeks earlier, on March 2nd, in an unprecedented two-theatre engagement at Radio City Music Hall and the New Roxy (supported at both by stage shows).
So I was at the World Premiere of Star Wars last night and the presentation was flawless . Picture and sound were amazing . The seats are comfy but have and odd tilt when sitting . The rest of the theatre looked tired and not well maintained.
last night star wars held its world premiere that was live streamed by verizon on its website and on fios tv. tightened security as well as lots of fans, stars, and artists. Everyone seems to like it so far.
Hello-
regardless of the quality of the films being shown if the Chinese has in fact been a 1st run venue since the day it opened “neighborhood house” is not an applicable term is anyway. the fact the Chinese may have debuted a new film along with another theater or two in the L.A. area does not make it a neighborhood house. for New Yorkers a “neighborhood house” is a theater in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island that played a film only after it had exhausted its 1st run engagements in Manhattan.
bigjoe59…. Perhaps “neighborhood house” wasn’t the ideal term to use, but, as member macoco has already (and nicely) explained, what I was referring to was the period of time when the Chinese, instead of exclusives, was running a lot of one-and two-week double features and day-and-date bookings with other Southern California theaters.
Hello Again From NYC-
I want to thank macoco again for the reply to my post. in your reply you may have hit on something that explains Coate’s comment. I and anyone in NYC during the period mentioned in your original reply would have classified a “neighborhood house” as a theater within walking distance of your home in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn or Staten Island that played a film after it had exhausted its 1st run bookings in Manhattan. as you stated I am equating “neighborhood house” with 2nd or 3rd run. I know I’m being picky but the term “neighborhood house” should be reserved for only those theaters in the time period you mentioned that played films 2nd or 3rd run. in Coate’s way to liberal interpretation of the term the Loew’s Capitol could have been classified as the “neighborhood house” for Hell’s Kitchen.
Hello bigjoe59—that may have applied to NY and the RKO and Loew’s distribution, but Fox West Coast played first run films in various neighborhoods, in large part because of the spread of LA: downtown, Hollywood, mid-Wilshire/Beverly Hills, Westchester are all different neighborhoods. I suspect you may be equating “neighborhood house” with second-run (i.e. after first-run), which is how the two chains worked in NYC, dividing the market for films after they played Broadway first-run run, usually exclusively. But that was not how exhibition worked in every city. In the time referenced, the Chinese played pretty much to its neighborhood—Hollywood.
Hello Again From NYC-
i want to thank macoco for the detailed look at movie distribution in the 40s, 50s and 60s in L.A.. but as enjoyable as it was to read it still doesn’t explain why Coate referred to the Chinese as a “neighborhood house”. in NYC a “neighborhood” house in the same time period was a theater in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn or Staten Island that played a film AFTER its 1st run engagements in Manhattan. in other words wherever else a movie might have been playing its engagement at the Chinese was its 1s run engagement which disqualifies the Chinese from being a “neighborhood house”.
I was looking for photos of Hollywood in the 30’s and 40’s recently and came across this wonderful website – Bruce Torrence Hollywood Photo Collection – which has 8 pages of photos of the Chinese Theater from construction to late 1970’s:
Chinese Theater
Thanks for the detailed post, macoco. I vaguely remember the day-and-date policy of the big chains in Los Angeles, but by the time I was old enough to pay close attention to which theaters were showing what, the big chains were being divorced from the studios. By the time I started going to movies on my own the Chinese had switched mostly to road shows, and all but one of the big downtown theaters were being run by Sherrill Corwin’s Metropolitan Theatres. Some were still first run houses, but the movies they ran were usually city-wide first runs, showing in maybe two dozen or more houses and drive-ins all over town.
Wow macoco! Thanks for the great post! Are you a member of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation? You sound like a great resource, or at least someone who knows how to get answers! Please email me at escott@lahtf.org, if you are not on our mailing list I’d love to add you.
In the 30s, 40s, and early 50s this was how Fox West Coast, the theater chain subsidiary of 20th Century-Fox, showed first-run films in its theaters in Los Angeles: the Chinese played first-run day and date with a downtown theater (the Loew’s State, then for a short time in the 50s the Los Angeles), a Wilshire Blvd theater (usually the Ritz but sometimes the Carthay Circle if it was not playing a roadshow exclusive run), and a Westchester theater (the Loyola), so that may have been what Coate meant. The Chinese was exclusive for a time after it opened, and then went exclusive again in 1953 some months prior to CinemaScope and The Robe. During the time in between, the Chinese and those other theaters would play an A picture from 20th or MGM or UA double-billed with a B picture, usually for the pictures' first week, and then the double bill would move over to another set of Fox theaters to continue the first-run. This was how The Wizard of Oz opened in LA, for instance. At some point in the 40s, Fox, which was booking Loew’s and UA theatres then too, set up a second first-run block, including the Los Angeles, Egyptian, and Fox-Wilshire, which then mainly showed MGM films starting in the mid-40s, leaving Fox films to the other set-up. Warners did something similar with its first-run films, playing them in its downtown house, Hollywood Blvd theater, and the Wiltern. RKO had only a downtown and Hollywood house, as did Paramount once it took over the old El Capitan and renamed it Hollywood Paramount to go with its big Downtown Paramount. There was also a Music Hall chain with houses downtown, in Hollywood, and Beverly Hills that showed some UA pictures and independents. Until the 50s, exclusive runs played the Carthay (sometimes along with the UA theater downtown) or Four Star, both in the mid-Wilshire district. Most first-runs were double billed and played in the multiple configurations I have described. All of this changed as the consent decree split the theaters, roadshows and exclusive first-runs became more common in LA, and the mix-and-match of day dated theaters in LA ceased to correspond so exactly to the theater chains.
I don’t know if that was what Coate meant, but this was the exhibition pattern in LA during those decades. Fox did something similar with its first-run theaters in Kansas City and also day and dated its downtown Denver house with a neighborhood one. When I am bored I read old issues of Variety and the LA Times, LOL.
Hello Again From NYC-
back in May Coate referred to the Chinese as a neighborhood house for much of its early life. now i have been perplexed for the past 3 months as to what Coate meant. as far as i have read the Chinese has been a 1st run venue since day 1. so my question for L.A. residents- what does Coate mean?
Hi Escott O. Norton,
Thank you so much for your suggestions. I booked the middle one in row P. Hope it would be fine.
Hello-
to Escott N. thanks for your thoughts on the subject. but I am still a bit perplexed as to why Coate referred to the Chinese as a “neighborhood house in its early years”. to New Yorkers a neighborhood house is a 2nd/3rd run theater in the Bronx,Queens,Brooklyn or Staten Island that would play a film after its had exhausted its 1st run engagements in Manhattan.
Big Joe, I’m not sure what Coate is talking about, a quick stroll through Kurt’s wonderful site shows that the Chinese has always been the home for premieres and 1st run engagements. Maybe Coate has an alternate definition for “neighborhood house”?
Zangwill, My favorites are the center aisle seats, top few rows of the lower section. I’ve also seen movies as far forward as the 4th row from the front. If you like to be close, I wouldn’t go much closer that the 4th or 5th row.
Last night I was part of a fantastic event at the Chinese. Cinespia and LA Historic Theatre Foundation collaborated on a special double feature of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 as a benefit for the LAHTF. We sold out the event, and the Chinese graciously supported the event from the very start, even closing off the Forecourt for a private party before and between the movies. Disney and the El Capitan were also very generous in making the event a success. I will post a link to pictures later.
Hello From NYC-
does anyone know what Coate means by “the Chinese was a neighborhood house too for much of its early life”. any help would be appreciated. when was the Chinese ever not a 1st run venue?
Does anybody knows what’s the best seat for watching IMAX in the TCL Chinese Theatre?
Dear Mark in the Dark:
Thank you for the juice. Every great old theatre deserves a web site like this one – but only the Chinese will get one!
Alas, I have no interest in the Chinese Twins or the 6 plex, worthy though they may be. There is only one Maltese Falcon!
I might some day, but I have to construct something on the forecourt first! Projectors are more interesting to me.