Grauman's Chinese: the stage

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The Grauman's Chinese pages: 
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We're offstage right looking along the dimmer board. It was a resistance board with 5 scene pre-select capability. Out of the frame to the right are the basement stairs and the exit passageway along the west side of the building leading to Hollywood Blvd.

The master wheel and levers for each of the 3 color banks are at the left edge of the photo. We're not seeing the full board -- the stage section is out of view to the left. What we see are just dimmers for the house lights. Directly below the board in the basement was the clapper panel with relays controlled by switches on the board for each dimmer.

Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for sharing the photo. It appeared in the February 4, 1928 issue of Motion Picture News in an article about the theatre's communications systems titled "Brain and Arms of Showmanship...." Mike Hume has made it available as a pdf.

Visit Kurt's extraordinary Grauman's Chinese site for a delightful trip through the theatre's history: www.GraumansChinese.org | every film to play the theatre | signage history | Academy Awards at the Chinese | quick view timeline | projection and sound |

 

The set for the prologue to "King of Kings," the opening attraction at the Chinese in May 1927. Photo: Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections.

 

 

A plan of the stage basement with musicians' rooms stage left and the mechanical rooms beyond. Chorus dressing rooms and a shop were stage right. Also see the full basement drawing from the Huntington Library collection.

 

Somehow a number of drawings for the Chinese ended up in the Morgan Walls & Clements Archive at the Huntington. This one is on their website as image #3869. The set of ten pages on the site runs from image #3864 to image #3873. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating these. Visit the page about the Chinese on his Historic Theatre Photography site as well as his Index to the MW&C Drawings.   

   

 

The plan at stage level. It's a detail from the full main floor plan that appeared in American Architect. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for sharing the image. Note the loading door USL and stairs to the basement USL and DSR. The dimmerboard was in the recess stage right and the Peter Clark counterweight system along the stage right wall.

The two rectangles in the pit were the foundations for the crystal sculptures on either side of the proscenium. The organ blower was located in the triangular room downstage of the proscenium stage right, beyond that second column. The two columns closest to the stage were removed when the proscenium was knocked out during the 1958 Cinemiracle renovations.

The Exhibitors Herald issue of April 16, 1927 discussed the wonders of the stage: "The stage floor is ingeniously built in sections, making it possible to drop a portion of the entire stage to a 20-foot pit beneath for disappearing or appearing sets of any magnitude. The entire scenes can be lifted intact to the vast stage loft, and one side of the stage is open, permitting a mammoth scene to be shunted completely set up, on or off the stage at any time." Thanks to Mike Hume for finding the item. He thinks they got a little carried away on the part about enough room in the wings to allow a "mammoth scene" to be shoved offstage.

 

The plan at flyfloor level. Also see the full 2nd floor drawing. It's a detail from image #3870 in the MW&C Archives on the Huntington Library website. Note the dressing rooms on the flyfloor level off left and the walkway along the back wall connecting the two flyfloors. On stage right observe two wells marked "open," indicating the space for counterweight system arbors to pass through.

A section from "American Theatres of Today." Also see the full drawing. Note the loading doors in the wing off left and the flyfloor above. The fire door downstage at flyfloor level went to a fire escape. The stairs we see in the basement at the far left of the drawing are upstage left. In the attic downstage of the proscenium wall are the organ chambers with the angled structure heading out to the center of the auditorium ceiling being the tone chute through which the organ spoke.  


Original proscenium width: 64' -- widened in 1958. Scroll down lower on the page for details about the proscenium and various screen sizes used.

Original proscenium height: 30'. Opened up vertically in 1958.  And again in 2013 for Imax.

Original stage depth: 40' from the asbestos curtain smoke pocket to the face of the back wall columns.

Original apron: 12". The asbestos curtain came down almost to the front of the stage.

Stagehouse wall to wall: 138'. Centerline to stage left wall is 68', Centerline to lockrail (pre-1958) stage right is 67', centerline to stage right wall is 70'.

Loading: The main loading door was upstage left. In addition, there's a narrow passage along the west side of the building that leads backstage.

Backstage crossover: Through the basement -- there are stairs USL and DSR.

Dressing rooms: In the basement and offstage left up on flyfloor level.  

Musicians room: In the basement off left. 

Dimmer board: It was removed in 1958 -- it was originally stage right. The beast was about 24' long.

Rigging: The counterweight system was a Peter Clark installation. The lockrail was at stage level stage right. There were about 40 sets. 32 of them were numbered, plus the asbestos, teaser, house traveler, screen frame, 4 borderlights, the cyc, etc. The lockrail and T-wall have been removed.

A walkway along the back wall at flyfloor height connected the stage left and stage right flyfloors. It may have also been used as a paint bridge. After the 1958 renovations pushed the screen permanently deep onto the stage, a plaster ceiling was installed a bit above flyfloor height to seal off the upper half of the stagehouse. Later a T-bar ceiling was installed just below that (both behind and in front of the screen) with sound absorbent material above it.

See Bob Foreman's article "The Legacy of Peter Clark" on his Vintage Theatre Catalogs site for an extensively researched history of the company and their installations.

Flyfloor height above stage: 34' 

Height to grid: 67'. Access is via a ladder DSR.  

Stage floor to roof: 76'

Basement trap room level below stage: 14'. The front of the auditorium was dropped about 7' below stage level in 1958, all the way to basement level with the 2013 Imax renovations.

Lifts: None. No stage lifts. No orchestra pit lift, no organ lift. The stage could, of course, be trapped as necessary in 4' x 8' sections.

Orchestra pit width at center: 16'. The pit floor level was 6' 4" below stage and 3' below the level of the first row of seats. The pit rail was removed and the pit covered over with steps by the early 50s. What was left under the 1958 floor slab was demo'd during the Imax renovations.

Proscenium to the last row of seats: 125'
 

Pipe organ: Wurlitzer, 3 manual 17 rank. There was a console at either end of the pit -- one a dummy, for a symmetrical look. It was donated to St. Finbar's Catholic Church in Burbank in 1958. It has since been sold for parts. The pipes were in two side-by-side chambers on the roof in front of the proscenium wall and spoke through a tone chute so that the sound emanated from the auditorium ceiling. 

 

See the location of the chambers on a roof plan from the Huntington Library collection. Also see the chambers and tone chute in a section view. To access the now empty chambers, take the DSL stairs to the roof. The chamber door is on the roof nearby. The blower was in a triangular room house left just out beyond the proscenium. The room is now used for storage.

Attic access: Via the organ chambers on the roof.  

 

Screen size: Originally 17'4" high x 23' wide. See an early photo. Currently it's 46' high and 92' wide. See the booth timeline on the projection page for more data about other sizes that were used. 

 

Projection throw: 90' with a screen onstage in the original 1927 position. With the booth on the main floor (as it was from 1958 to 2001), the throw to the center of the Cinemiracle screen for "Windjammer" was 133'. Both Imax and Cinemiracle use a curved screen but it's fairly shallow compared to the original Cinerama or TODD-AO installations. Now, with the big Imax screen pushed back toward the back wall and the booth back upstairs, the throw to the center of the picture is about 106 feet.

 

1958 proscenium renovations: For the 1958 Cinemiracle renovations, the steps and the whole front of the stage were removed. The area where the front half of the stage had been was lowered 7 feet making for some unusual contours both at stage level and in the basement. The proscenium and singer's boxes were removed with new side panels built farther out to frame the wider screen area.

A new concrete flat floor was poured at a height about 7' below stage level from the new screen position out to approximately the middle of the orchestra pit. Then a new floor was poured throughout the remainder of the auditorium as a rising plane toward the rear. It was all sloped, not stepped. A concrete block wall was constructed in the gap between the new floor level and the cut-back stage floor. The resulting "proscenium" area was 97' wide by 40' tall.

The screen frame size was 40' x 100' (measured along the arc) with the picture size for "Windjammer" being 38' x 92.'  The screen had a shallow curve and was a single sheet, not vertical louvers like the more deeply curved Cinerama screens. A new booth was built on the main floor and was used until the 2001 renovations. The screen was masked down for post-"Windjammer" presentations. 

 

2013 Imax renovations: All remnants of the pit area were demolished as the seating area was extended downward into what had been the basement. The width of the opening is unchanged from the 1958 version but there's now an additional 7' of height.

More of the stage was cut away, a deep incursion was made into the stage basement areas and the area under the main floor slab was excavated to accommodate the much taller Imax screen and the new stadium seating rake of the auditorium. The 46' x 92' Imax screen is curved but the curve is fairly shallow. The existing curtain's height was extended so it could be reused. See the the projection page for more data about image sizes.

  

The speaker array onstage for "Hell's Angels" in 1930. The photo appeared in the December 1930 issue of the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers where the presentation at the Chinese was discussed. Thanks to Dan Sherlock at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for making it available.

Three of the Vitaphone horns at the center were in regular use at the theatre. The two side towers and three additional ones in the speaker box at center were brought in just for this engagement and powered by additional amplifiers. They were used only for certain Magnascope sequences where the masking opened and the picture got bigger... and louder. The normal speaker installation (at center) traveled offstage on a trolley when the stage was being used for prologues.
 

See Kurt Wahlner's Projection and Sound Systems at the Chinese for a discussion of both Magnascope and the augmented sound system for "Hell's Angels."

Part of the fun of the world premiere of Raoul Walsh's "The Big Trail" on October 2, 1930 was that the "Curtain of Stars a la Cugat" was unveiled before the film. Yes, it's the bandleader Xavier Cugat who did the design work. It was featured in the center of the program for the film. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for this scan of the program in his collection. See the listing for "The Big Trail" and many other wonders on his GraumansChinese.org site.

No photos of the drop itself have surfaced and it's unknown what became of it. "The Big Trail" got an eight week run in the 70mm Grandeur process using specially made Simplex projectors. You'll find more about Grandeur here on the projection page and also in Kurt's "The Dream Machines," an epic history of projection and sound equipment at the Chinese.

The Etude Ethiopian Chorus on stage at the Chinese in 1931, part of the prologue for the feature "Trader Horn." Photo: Los Angeles Public Library

Sid onstage in a 1931 photo from the Kurt Wahlner collection. Kurt comments: "Sid is presenting a wristwatch to Jackie Cooper as a Christmas present for taking part in the premiere program of the film 'Hell Divers' on December 25, 1931. Note the 'Ermine Curtain Beautiful' which seems to have made its debut during the run of 'Hell's Angels.' It might have been there earlier, but who knows?

A May 13, 1932 L.A. Times article discussing the stage and the set for the prologue with "Grand Hotel." Thanks to Bob Foreman for finding the article. 
 

Oscar Baum at center conducting the Chinese orchestra c.1932 in a Harry Wenger photo. Photo: Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections. 

 

 

Backstage at the Chinese in December 1934. The occasion was the getting the footprints in cement of Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier (at right). The panels would then, when dry, be placed in the forecourt. That's Sid Grauman left of center. It's unknown who the gentleman at the far left is. Thanks to Bob Foreman for locating the photo. See the article "The Legacy of Peter Clark" on Bob's Vintage Theatre Catalogs site for an extensively researched history of the company and their installations.

 

Here we get a somewhat better view of the rigging. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for locating the shot when it was for sale online. Bob Foreman, historian of the Peter Clark company, notes that we have a monster load on what might be set #16, just to the right of Sid's head. See another version of the photo from Kurt's collection that Chevalier autographed decades later.

 

A detail of the upstage end of the strip light above the lockrail taken from a version of the previous photo. There were 32 numbered sets plus a few designated separately. Note the "4B" for the 4th borderlight between sets 20 and 21. The set for the cyc was between 31 and the last set, #32.  

 

 

A detail farther downstage on the index strip. Note Frank Eastman's name on it as the Western Representative for Peter Clark. In ads after the Hillstreet opened in 1922, Clark identified him as F.A. Eastman. At that time he was located in Long Beach, here the strip says he was in Pasadena. Bob Foreman comments: "Of course I didn't know Peter Clark personally, but I don't think he would be too wild about Mr. Eastman painting ads on his (Clark's) index light! I have never run across anything like it."

 

Time for the handprints. The photo appeared in the March 1935 issue of Cinelandia. Another take made it into the April 1935 issue of Movie Classic. Thanks to Bob Foreman for locating this via the site Lantern. Also see another shot with MacDonald and Chevalier that Bob located.

 

 

Another view of Jeanette MacDonald getting footprinted. Here we're onstage -- note the footlights at the lower left. Photo: Kurt Wahlner collection

 

Backstage for a February 1941 Greek War Relief broadcast. The "America Calling" program was broadcast over CBS and NBC with Jack Benny and Bob Hope as MCs. Kurt Wahlner has more details about the fundraiser on his Grauman's Chinese page for the week of February 5, 1941. Wikipedia also has an article about that fundraising event. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for the photo from his collection. Visit his GraumansChinese.org website for a great history of the building.
 

The Academy Awards onstage at the Chinese March 2, 1944. The Awards were held at the theatre in 1944, 1945 and 1946. Thanks to Christopher Crouch on Cinelog for the photo, one appearing on his 2014 post "Two Views of the Oscars..."

 

 

Ingrid Bergman poses for a photo offstage right after winning an Oscar at the 17th Annual Academy Awards, held on March 15. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating a cache of photos of the event taken by Walter Sanders and Martha Holmes for Life magazine. He has sixteen of them in a Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook post (also on Instagram). 

 

 

A dressing room view of Ms. Bergman with Jennifer Jones, the previous year's Best Actress award winner. It's another shot taken for Life that was located by Scott Collette.  

 

A photo taken downstage right by Walter Sanders for Life that was located by Scott Collette. He comments: "In this photo, we see legendary Leo McCarey (right) standing with lyricist/composer/producer Buddy DeSylva (left), each holding Oscars after their hit musical comedy 'Going My Way' won Paramount its first award for Best Picture (the film won seven Oscars in total)." Scott has several versions of the photo, and discusses some unusual editing, in a second Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook post about the event. It's also on Instagram. 

Backstage before the Imax renovations:

Offstage right looking up at the proscenium wall before the Imax renovations. At the left there's the sound absorbent material behind the screen and speakers. At the far right is a ladder to the grid up against the stage right wall. The dimmerboard is no more -- a victim of the proscenium widening remodel in 1958 for Cinemiracle. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

The stairs downstage right to the basement. See the basement page for views of the trap room. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Standing stage right and looking across the stage pre-Imax. To the right we see the sound absorbent material on the rear of the THX style screen wall, installed in the 1980s. The screen and speakers almost completely fill what was once a huge stage used for the Grauman prologues. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Also see a view from stage right, as well as several other backstage views, on Christopher Crouch's 2012 Cinelog post "Underbelly of Grauman's Chinese."

Another stage right view. Note the walkway at flyfloor height along the back wall, possibly used as a paint bridge. There's been some seismic reinforcement of the back wall, somewhat hidden by black fiberglass material added for sound absorption. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page - 2013

The 2013 Imax installation resulted in a screen with less curvature than what we see here. The screen width is about the same as the 100' frame for the 1958 installation but sides of the screen end up closer to the back wall. 

The vista up toward the flyfloor stage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Stage left looking back behind the screen, recessed deeply onto the stage. The backstage wall is at the right. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page - 2012

Downstage left: the view toward the proscenium wall pre-Imax. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Stage left, looking down to the auditorium floor and the offstage edge of the curtain from backstage. The front of the stage got chopped off and the auditorium floor level at the screen seriously lowered during the 1958 modifications to install the huge Cinemiracle screen. While the Cinemiracle screens were generally as large as those in Cinerama installations, they weren't as deeply curved. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

After the Imax renovation the auditorium floor at the screen ended up at what had been basement level. Here it was about 7' below the level of the 1927 stage.

Some steel downstage left installed during the 1958 Cinemiracle installation for a walkway where the stage floor had been cut away. We're looking up toward the stage level from what was then the auditorium floor level. The green door goes to the stairs leading up to the flyfloor/dressing room level and on to the roof. Both the door and the bricks around it were a later addition. Originally the stairs were open to the stage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

David Saffer and Hillsman Wright of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation exploring the flyfloor/dressing room area off stage left up about 34' above stage level. We're looking downstage even with the top of the curtain track, the stage left end of which we see in the foreground. The stairs beyond continue on up to the roof. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page - 2012

Backstage after the 2013 Imax renovations: 

Downstage right. The gray door seen in the added vestibule goes to the exit passage along the west side of the building. Unseen to the left of the gray door are the stairs to the basement. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Looking up downstage right. The concrete beam runs parallel to the stage right wall. The ladder goes to the grid. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

A view higher up the grid ladder. Let's go! Thanks to Mike Hume for this 2019 photo and the others appearing on this page. For more of his great work see the page about the Chinese on his Historic Theatre Photography site.

Stage right with a peek into the house through the drapes. The portion of the proscenium wall where the switchboard once was to the left of the striplight was removed during the 1958 Cinemiracle renovations. The chain link fencing is to keep you from falling to the basement level. It's around a chunk of the stage removed in 1958. Prior to the 2013 Imax renovations the curtain used to travel offstage into that area with the now-unused striplight illuminating the edge of the curtain when it was closed. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The stage stage right striplight. Pull back that drape and you'd be looking into the auditorium. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A look back toward the booth from down right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Another view into the auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

 

The stage right wall with the building's main electrical service. The Peter Clark counterweight system used to be along here. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

A wide angle view to upstage right. The T-bar ceiling is up about 36' from the stage. A couple feet above it there's a plaster ceiling, presumably installed during the 1958 renovations. The back wall is covered in black fiberglass. At the top center of the image note the walkway along the back wall. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A closer look at the back wall walkway. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Looking back to downstage right. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Across toward stage left. A walkway is all that's left of the center portion of the stage. The wall behind the screen is at the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

A look across, this time with more lights on at the upper levels. The black boxes at the lower center are JBL bass cabinets from the theatre's THX sound system installed in the 1980s. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The view back toward the upper right corner of the stage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019 

Upstage center looking down to trap room level. Thanks to Cat Whalen for her photo, one of 30 in a TCL Chinese Theatre album on Facebook with views taken at the November 2019 LAHTF "all-about" tour.

The motors are for the side masking, the traveler, and a spare traveler motor. Out of the frame to the right is a motor for the top masking. The steel stud wall is behind the screen. It's a view that wasn't possible before a big chunk of the stage was removed during the Imax renovations.

Stage left looking back behind the screen with the back wall of the stagehouse on the right. There's just enough of the stage left for a walkway. Below, it's a view of what's left of the trap room Not much. The base of the screen as well as the front of the auditorium are now at basement level. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

The view across from a bit farther offstage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019 

The stairs to the basement upstage left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Looking up behind the screen from stage left. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

A lovely wide angle shot stage left with a view downstage and, on the right, looking back across to stage right. Pull open the drape at the center and you'd be looking across the front of the auditorium. Above, note the triangular cut into the flyfloor/dressing room slab and the steel walkway added in 1958 to allow access to the stairs. Prior to the Imax renovations, the curtain stacked in that recess. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

The underside of the flyfloor/dressing room slab upstage left. Note the walkway at the center running along the back wall of the stagehouse. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Another look up to the slab. The stage left wall is at the left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Part of the stage left wall down lower. Out of the frame to the left are exit doors to a Hollywood & Highland mall (now rebranded as 'Ovation") service corridor. At the time of the photo the seats and other materials on the right were being moved upstairs for storage. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

 

Looking toward the proscenium wall stage left and the unused striplight. The stairway going up (but not down to basement level) is behind the hollow tile wall at the center of the image. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Another view toward the proscenium wall off left. The doorway to the stairs to the floor above (and on to the roof) are around the corner behind the chain link. They're not trying to secure anything with the fencing -- that's where the stage ends. The level beyond is down about 7' -- an area cut away during the 1958 Cinemiracle remodel. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The cutaway area of the stage and a ladder down to where the auditorium floor was after the 1958 renovations. It's now about 7' lower than that level. On the wall to the left of the ladder is an old notice for the janitors to read. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Down left looking back upstage. The lighted area is the passage over to stage right. The room at the right was built as an area to wash and sterilize 3-D glasses. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

On the stairs downstage left, looking back down toward stage level. The stairs go to the flyfloor level and on up to the roof. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Looking onto the flyfloor, 34' above stage level. The triangular cut was made in 1958 for the curtain to stack offstage. The new configuration has it wrapping around the back. On the floor one can see outlines where dressing room walls once had been. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The view down through the cut to the wingspace stage left. The drapes at the left are legs hung perpendicular to the screen, out in front of it. On the right near the red exit sign is the former loading door location, now leading out into an Ovation mall exit corridor. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The floor at flyfloor level, showing where dressing room walls had been removed. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Looking out across the stage. The striplight on the left is in front of the curtain. The white drape is a backing on the valance in front of the traveler. The curved pipe is the track for the traveler. The cable and rollers at the center of the image are the track for the side masking. The curved sliver on the right is a bit of the screen. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Slightly farther upstage with some of the auditorium seating visible. The black drape seen at the bottom is part of the side masking. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The back side of the top of the screen frame. At the right is the steel stud wall behind the screen and speakers, with yellow fiberglass batts on the rear. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

Looking along the backwall from stage left. The ledge, possibly once used as a paint bridge, is the same level as the flyfloor. Above the T-bar ceiling, presumably installed in the 1980s, is a plaster ceiling that seals off the upper part of the stagehouse. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

A portion of the plaster ceiling above the T-bar. Unlike this area, most of it is in good shape. It presumably was installed during the 1958 Cinemiracle renovations and, with the newer ceiling now below it, no longer serves any function. It appears that the only access above from inside the building is the ladder to the grid downstage right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

On the flyfloor looking downstage. The ladder on the far wall goes to a roof hatch. The roof here is substantially lower than the one to the right that is over the stage itself. The stairs on the right continue on up to the roof over the auditorium. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

On the stairs again, looking back down to flyfloor level. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The west exit passageway:

This route along the west side of the building serves as both a stage entrance as well as an exit passage for side exits from the auditorium. At the south end, it empties into the forecourt.

A look along the west side of the building before the theatre's opening in 1927. Note the little fence separating patrons using the exit passageway from the vegetables in the neighbor's garden. The box in front of the proscenium wall is the organ chamber, with the instrument speaking through openings in the auditorium ceiling.

It's a photo by Burton Frasher, Sr. that appears in a 90th Birthday album on the TCL Chinese Facebook page. It can also be seen on Internet Archive, with three other views, in the June 11, 1927 issue of Exhibitors Herald.

The west side of the building in 1955, taken during the run of "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing."  The passage along the building is at a slightly lower level than the parking lot. Thanks to Hector Acuna for finding this one for a post on the non-public Facebook group Mid Century Modern Los Angeles.

Looking along the stagehouse and west side of the auditorium toward Hollywood Blvd. before new construction hemmed in this side of the building. There's now a building on this site housing Madame Tussaud's and other exciting tourist-themed businesses. Photo: Bill Counter - 2007

Until sometime in 2008 the west side of the building could be seen from the parking lot adjacent. At the beginning of the Steven Peros film "Footprints" (Our Gal Pictures, 2009), we get some views of murals once on the wall. The Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post has more shots. 

 

The stagehouse is on the far left in this 2008 view of formwork rising for the new building west of the theatre. Thanks to Peter Joyce for sharing this photo he took on a trip to Los Angeles. Sid Grauman is on the left end of the mural. It's an image from a photo by Kobal taken during the 1950 footprint ceremony with John Wayne. It can be seen on the Shutterstock site.

The west exit passageway is hiding behind Marilyn. The stairs on the right go up to the second floor offices, private boxes and booth. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The view down the west passage toward the stage door. That's the Madame Tussaud's building on the left, dating from 2008. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

A view closer to the stagehouse. Inside the doors on the right (now used for storage) is the room that originally housed the organ blower. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019 

Heading into the stage door at the end of the west passageway. The crowd here is the part of the tour group for a Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation "all-about" tour. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Looking back toward the forecourt. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Around the back: 

A 1981 view from what was then the Holiday Inn (now the Loew's Hollywood) looking at the back of the Chinese Twin and, on the right, the stagehouse of the Chinese. Note the stage door below the dressing room fire escape. It's a photo by Nigel Hailwood-Cook.

A look from above in 1984. It's a Richard Wojcik collection photo appearing on the Facebook page Vintage Los Angeles. On the lower right we're looking down onto the stagehouse and its smoke vents. To the left of the main theatre is the Mann Chinese Twin, demolished in 1999.

Richard notes: "A bus is parked at the lower left on Orchid Ave. close to where it meets Hollywood Blvd -- that section of Orchid Ave. was built over with the construction of the Dolby Theater/Hollywood Highland Center in 2001."

The back wall of the Chinese. That's the dressing room wing in the center and newer mall construction on the left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013


The east exit passageway:

A 1934 shot affording us a view along the east side of the building. At the stage end of the building note the fire escape serving the 2nd floor dressing rooms. They were playing "Queen Christina" with Garbo. Thanks to Jonathan Raines for spotting the photo in Jim Heimann's 2018 Taschen book "California Crazy." It's from Jim's collection. The Guardian featured the photo in their spread "California Crazy: pop architecture from the past - in pictures."

An exciting east parking lot view c.1936 from Life magazine. Thanks to BifRayRock on Noirish Los Angeles for the find. He had it on his Noirish post #40301 with other Life views of Beverly Hills, Wilshire Blvd. and the Four Star Theatre.

 

 

A last look at the east side of the building as construction begins in 1978 for the Mann Chinese Twin. It's a photo from the amazing Bruce Torrence Hollywood Historic Photographs collection. The signage is for "Heaven Can Wait," a film that played 14 weeks beginning June 28.

Part of the east exit passageway seen in 1992. Thanks to Eric Evans for posting his photo on Cinema Treasures. On the left that's the Chinese Twin.

The exit doors from the east exit passage into the forecourt. At the left it's the Starline Tours ticket office, the theatre's original boxoffice. Just out of the frame to the right is the passage into the Hollywood & Highland mall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The east side of the building is now hemmed in by the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and the Dolby Theatre. Here we're in the passage along the side of the building looking toward the stagehouse. Behind us there's the exit to the forecourt. At the end of the corridor to the right are doors to a service corridor in the shopping center. Photo: Mike Hume - 2019

Thanks, Mike! Head to his Historic Theatre Photography site for tech information and thousands of fine photos of the many theatres he's explored in L.A. and elsewhere. And don't miss his page on Grauman's Chinese.

At the stage end of the building looking toward the exit doors into the forecourt. On the left it's store space in the shopping center.  Photo: Bill Counter - 2019

The Grauman's Chinese pages: 
| Chinese overview | street views 1926 to 1954 | street views 1955 to present | forecourt | lobby | lounges | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | upstairs boxes and offices | booth | back to top - stage | basement | attic and roof | Chinese Twin | Chinese 6 |

| Hollywood Theatres: overview and alphabetical lists | Hollywood Theatres: list by address | Downtown theatres | Westside | Westwood and Brentwood | Along the Coast | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | L.A. Theatres: main alphabetical list | L.A. Theatres: list by address | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | theatres in movies | LA Theatres on facebook | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |