Los Angeles Theatres: Grauman's Chinese: vintage auditorium views

1927 - Looking in from the back of the auditorium. It's a Mott Studios view in the collection of the California State Library, one of two photos they catalog as their item #001416434.

The layout of the auditorium, originally with 1,990 seats all on one level. See the full drawing. It's a detail from a plan in the August 20, 1927 issue of The American Architect, part of "Chinese Theatre, at Hollywood California," a ten-page story beginning on page 251. It's on Internet Archive.

Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for locating the drawing. Visit GraumansChinese.org, his amazing site about the theatre. Among other wonders, he's got a playlist of every film that's played the theatre from 1927 to the present. Also see a 1927 seating chart created by Mr. Wahlner.

A section view of the theatre from Volume 1 of "American Theatres of Today" (1927) by R.F. Sexton and B.F. Betts.

A fun cross section split down the center. On the left we look toward the proscenium with the organ chambers on the roof and the stagehouse beyond. In the attic there's an outline of half of the opening for the organ's swell shades. On the right it's half of the view to the rear of the auditorium. It's from a drawing in the Huntington Library collection, #3872.

Somehow a number of Meyer & Holler drawings for the Chinese ended up in the Morgan Walls & Clements Archive at the Huntington. Their set 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. There's also an index by Mike Callahan on Internet Archive.

1927 - A view to the house left side of the proscenium showing a bit of the asbestos curtain. See a rendering of the design for the asbestos curtain. This photo appeared in the August 20, 1927 issue of American Architect. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for reproducing it on the "A Tour of Grauman's Chinese Theatre 1927" page of his site GraumansChinese.org.

1927 - Across the back of the house. It's a Mott Studios photo from the California State Library, their item #1416324.

1927 - Back in the corner house left showing how the seats zig-zagged around the columns. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo, #00014608, that no longer appears on their website.

1927 - Part of the house left wall. It's a detail from the cover photo of the 1969 issue about the Chinese written by Terry Helgesen for Console magazine.

1927 - A wider house left wall view by George D. Haight appearing on page 85 of the January 1928 issue of Architectural Digest as part of a four-page article about the theatre. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating the issue. He curates the Facebook page Forgotten Los Angeles. And thanks to Kurt Wahlner of the site GraumansChinese.org for this version of the image.

1927 - Check out that carpet as we look up the aisle. Several rows we see here at the back of the house are now part of the snack bar area. It's a Mott Studios view in the collection of the California State Library, one they index as their item #001416436 along with two lobby views.

1927 - This photo appeared in the August 20, 1927 issue of The American Architect. Thanks to Kurt Wahler for the scan from a copy in his collection. He says: "I imagine that this chair was along the center isle somewhere close to the front, as you cannot really see any risers. It is difficult to imagine carpet running around the plenum vents, but I understood that they had carpet between the seat rows originally. As did the Pantages.

"Something else that you get from this shot is the sheen on the seat backs. It is definitely leather or leatherette with an imprinted design (how, I don’t know). Must have been some sort of hard-assed way of doing it, though. While the seat bottom is your more usual sculpted velour. These seats were in the house until the CinemaScope refitting. The latest photo I have showing the Chinese designs on the backs dates from late 1949. On the other hand, I have a shot from 1944 which shows that some of the backs had been replaced by then.

"I think the colors they have on the standards today must have been lifted from an original that they found someplace when they were re-created for the 2001 remodel, then made over for the 2013 Imax remodel." There's lots more to learn on GraumansChinese.org, Kurt's extensive site about the theatre.

1927 - The rear of the seating area with the booth and the private boxes above. It's a photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection formerly indexed as #00014609. It seems to have gotten lost in a website makeover. The image is one that appeared in the August 20, 1927 issue of The American Architect, part of "Chinese Theatre, at Hollywood California," a ten-page story beginning on page 251. It's on Internet Archive.

1927 - A house right shot from the 1969 Terry Helgesen Console magazine Chinese Theatre issue. The caption reads "Another view of the auditorium taken when stage curtains were opened and the bare stage could be seen." Thanks to Hillsman Wright for posting this one on the LAHTF Facebook page.

1927 - The house right "singer's box." Notice how the proscenium differs from more recent photos -- most of it was removed in 1958. It's a photo from the California State Library collection that's indexed, along with two exterior views, as their item #001386271. And, no, we don't get an organ grille in this area. Like at the Egyptian, the organ spoke through the ceiling.

1927 - A detail from the view above. The crystal fountains inside the proscenium arch were removed due to problems with audible vibrations when sound films came to the Chinese. That item under cover in the pit is the organ console.

1927 - Another detail from the California Library photo. The singer's boxes on either side of the proscenium, where soloists could perform, were a casualty of remodeling. They got reduced in size in 1953 for the Cinemascope remodeling and that column on the left was removed. Although the screen stayed within the proscenium, evidently they wanted better sightlines from some of those side seats. There was more demo for the wide Cinemiracle screen in 1958 when the entire proscenium was removed.

1927 - A shot of the singer's box by an unknown photographer. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this one from his collection. It's on Flickr. Check out the Angel City Press book Eric wrote with Tom Zimmerman: "Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965." Also see Eric's 2016 book "Signs of Life: Los Angeles is the City of Neon." Kurt Wahlner notes that the photo made an appearance in the July 1927 issue of The Architectural Record.

1927 - A detail taken from Eric's photo above. Also see a photo of the singer's box on Internet Archive, with three other views, in the June 11, 1927 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It's on Internet Archive.

1927 - The house left singer's box. Photo: George D. Haight - Architectural Digest - January 1928

1927 - A collage by Kurt Wahlner on GraumansChinese.org showing how the theatre would have appeared with an 18'x24' screen for its first film, "King of Kings." It's included in the Projection Part One article on his site about the Chinese Theatre's history.

1927 - Arthur Kay at the podium. Note the meters to indicate projector speed and the unique music stands beyond the podium. The photo 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...." Thanks to Mike Hume for making it available as a pdf. mm

Kurt Wahlner comments: "Arthur Kay wrote the score used for 'The Gaucho.' He conducted the orchestra throughout the run, but in December, they added an extra come-on: the introduction of the new Ford. The wheels of the car are visible over the footlights."

1927 - Another look at the music stands. They were wired with three color circuits and were on dimmers. The image is a detail from a photo that had been in the Terry Helgesen collection.

1927 - The set for the prologue to "King of Kings," the opening attraction at the Chinese. The shot by an unknown photographer appears in Charles Beardsley's "Hollywood's Master Showman: The Legendary Sid Grauman" from Cornwall Books, 1983. It can also be seen on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website as part of their Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection in the Margaret Herrick Library.

1927 - Standing on the great stage. It's a photo located by Kurt Wahlner in the August 20, 1927 issue of The American Architect. It's on Internet Archive in a very murky murky version. Visit Kurt's site GraumansChinese.org. The photo is included in his Projection Part One article. Thanks!

c.1928 - A card featuring a photo by Bussey. Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this one on Flickr. Note that we don't yet have any drapes between the side wall columns.

c.1928 - Note the added bank of spotlights in front of the booth. It's a photo from the Terry Helgesen collection, one of many great shots of the theatre in David Naylor's wonderful book "American Picture Palaces, The Architecture of Fantasy," Van Nostrand Reinhold Company New York, 1981. The book is a lush tour through the country's movie palaces with many stunning photos that don't appear elsewhere. Many Los Angeles theatres are represented. It's available on Amazon.

c.1928 - A look back to the house right corner. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

c.1928 - A Mott Studios vista from the singer's box. It's in the California State Library collection, one of two views they catalog as their item #001416434.

c.1929 - A view of the proscenium several years after the opening. Note that the crystal fountains inside the proscenium have disappeared. It's a photo in the California State Library collection, indexed as their item #001433359.

1930 - A collage by Kurt Wahlner on GraumansChinese.org showing how the stage would have appeared with a 23' x 50' screen for "The Big Trail" in the 70mm Grandeur process. It's included in the Projection Part One article on his site.

1931 - This view of the Etude Ethiopian Chorus on stage at the Chinese is in the collection of the Los Angeles Public Library. It was part of a prologue for the feature "Trader Horn."

1930s - This J.C Milligan photo formerly in the collection of Terry Helgesen gives us a wonderful look at the chandelier and ceiling. It's now in the Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection, part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections. The chandelier was later reduced in size.

c.1932 - A photo by Harry Wenger of Oscar Baum at center conducting the Chinese orchestra that's in the Kurt Wahlner collection. Thanks to Kurt for sharing it as part of "A Tour of Grauman's Chinese Theatre 1927." A copy is also in the AMPAS Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection. Kurt recounts Terry Helegesen's description of the house curtain as being of "pale gold silk velvet, with the trees painted on with silver radium paint. The tree design could thus reflect any color of light projected onto them."

c.1934 - A rare early look wide enough to encompass the proscenium as well as the singer's boxes. This is the only shot of this vintage to show the actual screen size. Thanks to Michelle Gerdes for sharing this postcard from her collection, based on a photo by F.A. Bussey. The card was issued with a caption on the left saying "Hand and foot prints Norma Shearer" and a photo of her forecourt imprints on the right. See the original version of the card. They were in the way of our vista of the auditorium so Kurt Wahlner made them vanish.

Kurt scaled the image and notes that the screen we see here was 17'4" high x 23' wide. He notes that the orchestra pit appears to be covered which places the photo perhaps in the late 1934 to 1935 period. He also calls our attention to the openings in the upper portion of the wall behind the house left pagoda, also seen in the photo below. Evidently a rank of 32' Diaphone organ pipes were located in a chamber there.

c.1934 - A Mott Studios look at the house left sidewall after the installation of curtains for sound absorption. It's a photo in the California State Library collection, their item #001433370.

1944 - The Academy Awards were held at the Chinese 1944, 1945 and 1946. Thanks to Christopher Crouch for this photo of the March 2, 1944 ceremony appearing with a 2014 post about the Oscars on his blog Cinelog. You can also find the photo on Kurt Wahlner's fine page "The Academy Awards and Grauman's Chinese."

c.1944 - A look back toward the booth from Marc Wanamaker's collection appearing on the Hollywood Historic Photos site. Check out the mess around the booth ports -- obviously some reconfiguration had been going on. Note that the statuary formerly on each side of the booth (where there are new spot ports) has been removed. Kurt Wahlner speculates that the new ports might have been added for the Oscars, first held in the theatre in 1944.

The seats we see in the photo are the 1927 originals. The reason for the divider in the seats is unknown. Perhaps to delineate the VIP section down front during the Oscar ceremony. Other items of interest are that single bentwood chair in the box on the right -- and no railing. Also note the banks of spotlights in front of the booth and in the box areas left and right.

1945 - The big crowd for the 17th Annual Academy Awards, held on March 15. Note the little control booth upstairs on the left. 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 his Forgotten Los Angeles Facebook post #1 (also on Instagram) and several versions of an additional backstage shot on Forgotten post #2 (also on Instagram).

1945 - A look at the 1927 vintage upholstery. And Ingrid Bergman. Thanks to Scott Collette for locating the Life photo. He comments: "Best Actress that evening was awarded to Ingrid Bergman for the psychological thriller 'Gaslight,' marking the first of her three Oscar wins. She's sitting with producer David O. Selznick (left) and husband Peter Lindstrom, who was a Swedish-American neurosurgeon. Selznick wasn’t a producer on 'Gaslight,' but Bergman was contracted to Selznick International, so he received a special thanks credit for loaning her out to MGM."

1945 - Alan Ladd with Bing Crosby, the star of the previous year's hit "Going My Way." It's another shot at the Academy Awards for Life that was located by Scott Collette.

c.1947 - Another look at the little radio control booth upstairs. Kurt Wahlner notes that, in addition to use for the Oscars, it might have been in used for the Dr. IQ broadcasts from the theatre from February to April 1947. Also observe that the rear section of seats that have been either slipcovered or reupholstered. It's a photo Kurt found in the Getty Images collection.

Summer 1953 - A proscenium view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. Note that the orchestra pit has been covered and replaced with steps leading up to the stage as a transition. The covered item on the right is the organ console. On the left it's just a dummy for the sake of symmetry.

The photo shows the pre-Cinemascope screen as it was masked for "Shane," in June 1953. It was "Presented on Our New Gigantic Panoramic Screen" in a 1.66 to 1 aspect ratio. "Shane" was the first "widescreen" film to play the Chinese since the 70mm Fox Grandeur run of "The Big Trail" in 1930.

Kurt Wahlner calls our attention to the very bottom of the theatre's asbestos curtain hanging down just upstage of the proscenium. Another item of interest is a sliver of a column seen on the extreme left of the photo -- it (but not the proscenium itself) would be removed during Cinemascope renovations in the the fall 1953. Previously there had been films presented on substantially larger than normal screens (but in a traditional 1.37 to 1 ratio) including parts of "Trail of '98" (in "Fantom Screen," a rolling and enlarging screen process, 1928) and "Hell's Angels" (in "Magnascope," 1930).

Fall 1953 - A sidewall view showing renovations for the first Cinemascope feature, "The Robe." It's from Marc Wanamaker's collection on Hollywood Historic Photos. Also see the site's other theatre photos.

Note the new surround speakers between the columns. Those palm trees at the far right are to distract you from all the empty space there where they pulled out a column to improve sightlines for front seats on the sides. Note also the butchered singer's box -- it formerly had a larger and more decorative balcony in front.

Fall 1953 - Kurt Wahlner's visualization of the Cinemascope look for "The Robe" in a 2:55 to 1 aspect ratio with a 24' x 62' picture after installation of the big new screen and the modifications to the side pagodas and columns at the proscenium. "The Dream Machines," his history of projection at the Chinese, has it on page two.

Kurt notes that from the time of "The Robe" in September 1953 until the theatre's closing for the Cinemiracle renovations in February 1958 only one feature wasn't run in Cinemascope. That was the "flat" run of "Giant" in October 1956.

Work in 1958 included removing the front of the stage, resloping the floor, and removing the proscenium to allow for the new 100' wide screen. A faux proscenium was created with murals painted on new walls near the sides of the curtain. Cinemiracle used a curved screen but a much shallower curve than that employed by either Cinerama or for the early TODD-AO installations.

1957 - "Ralph Hathaway, manager of Grauman's Chinese Theater, points to seat in Row 35 where Maureen O'Hara is alleged to have cuddled with a Latin lover. Confidential Magazine trial jury will visit the Hollywood theater to check the setup." The photo by John Duprey for the New York Daily News appeared September 2.

Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for locating the photo via Getty Images. He notes that it has the distinction of being the ONLY vintage view to not only show the whole proscenium but the singer's boxes as well, here seen with their 50s modifications. The whole thing would get ripped out the next year for the Cinemiracle "Windjammer" renovation.

1959 - This murky view toward the screen appeared in the April 6, 1959 issue of Boxoffice as part of a three page story about recent Fox West Coast remodeling projects. They don't mention all the money they wasted on Cinemiracle. Thanks to Mike Hume for finding the story. The caption:

"Heavy pillars on either side of the proscenium opening of the old Chinese Theatre auditorium were reduced in width for an enlarged opening to show pictures in the new mediums. A screen curtain with delicate traceries and wall designs in the Japanese manner add to the new beauty of the auditorium. Theatre chairs were set on wide centers. Full stereophonic sound was installed, as well as a modern automatic air conditioning system. As in all the Fox West Coast houses, exterior neon was reduced to a minimum in order to reduce maintenance costs and time to a minimum. The simple readerboard is used here, also."

c.1959 - Thanks to the wonderful Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection for this post-Cinemiracle renovation view. The collection is now owned by the McAvoy family. This is one of nearly 400 photos of the theatre that they have. They date it as 1955 but it has to be 1958 or later. It also appeared in a Chinese Theatre souvenir booklet published by National General Theatres.

c.1959 - Thanks again to the McAvoy/Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection for another late 50s view. Here showing one take on the theatre's masking down for 1.85 to 1 films after the huge Cinemiracle 100' wide screen was installed. Chinese Theatre historian Kurt Wahlner rightly calls this version "hilarious."

1968 - We get a fine view by cinematographer Joseph Biroc in Robert Aldrich's MGM film "The Legend of Lylah Clare." That's Peter Finch all alone after being told off by his producer. The booth we see, as well as the revised seating, reflect the 1958 remodel for 3-projector Cinemiracle. The big ports on either end of the booth are where mirrors were positioned to bounce the image onto the right and left sides of the huge screen used for "Windjammer." Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for the screenshot. See more about the film on the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post.

1970s - A look toward the rear of the house in a photo appearing in a National General Theatres souvenir booklet sold at the theatre. Here we get another look at the main floor booth and the former booth upstairs that had been converted into a private box.

1974 - Checking out the subwoofers for "Earthquake" in Sensurround. Ted Mann hung netting from the ceiling to catch any falling plaster. Or perhaps it was just for show. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating the photo.

1980s - A photo by Walman Photography from another souvenir booklet, this time one issued by Mann Theatres. The booth is still downstairs and the private box upstairs. At the right center of the image we're looking into the booth ports. The 2001 remodeling would expand the lobby, take away a few rows of seats and move the booth back upstairs to its original 1927 position. The photo appears on a page about Los Angeles theatres on the site Silver Screens.

1980s - A screen view on the site Silver Screens that was taken from the Mann souvenir booklet.

1986 - A look at the screen from a 1986 Mann Theatres souvenir booklet in the collection of Kurt Wahlner. Kurt uses the photo in the Sensurround chapter of his epic discussion of Grauman's Chinese Projection and Sound to show how the screen was masked for 'scope format with a 27' x 65' picture size for "Earthquake" in 1974.

1990s - An auditorium photo from David Levine on his site Bento Press. Note the older drapery treatment between the columns. They became red with the 2001 renovation. The drapes close during films to improve the acoustics. Thanks, David!

1996 - A photo by Berger Conser Architectural Photography of some of the painted ceiling ornament.

1996 - A ceiling photo by Berger Conser Architectural Photography from their book "The Last Remaining Seats: Movie Palaces of Tinseltown."

Los Angeles Theatres

Grauman's Chinese: vintage auditorium views

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