6712 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |
The Egyptian Theatre pages: an overview | Hollywood Blvd. views 1922-1954 | Hollywood Blvd. 1955-present | forecourt | lobby - earlier views | lobby - recent views | auditorium - earlier views | auditorium - recent views | booth | backstage | structural + 2021 renderings | Egyptian 2 & 3 | along Las Palmas Ave. | along McCadden Place |
1955 - "You're in the Show with TODD-AO." Screwing in the last few light bulbs. The Egyptian was the first theatre in Los Angeles to be equipped for the process. It's a Ralph Morris photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The film had a premiere on November 17 and went on to a 51 week reserved-seat run.
1955 - The ladies are up admiring the neon installed on the Egyptian marquee for the roadshow presentation of "Oklahoma." The photo is in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. It can also be seen on Martin Hart's great site American Widescreen Museum. See his TODD-AO section.
1955/56 - The Egyptian facade at night during the run of "Oklahoma." Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles.
1955/56 - A delightful view looking west during the run of "Oklahoma" at the Egyptian. It's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection.
1957 - It's March and the Egyptian was running "Giant" with James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. The film got 15 Academy Award nominations but only won one, for director George Stevens. The initial engagement was a ten week run at the Chinese from October 17 until December 24, 1956. Over on the left the Vogue had "Anastasia" with Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brenner, a moveover from the Chinese.
It's a shot from Getty Images footage that's included in Rick Prelinger's "Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles - 2016,"
an hour and twenty minutes of wonderful images from various sources
that was originally presented in a program at the Los Angeles Public
Library. Also see "Lost Landscapes of Los Angeles - 2019."
This second installment was presented at the Library by the
organization Photo Friends as part of the series L.A. in Focus. Both
compilations are on Vimeo.
1957 - A fine look at the curvy facade with the theatre running "Jeanne Eagels," an August release with Kim Novak. Thanks to Sean Ault for finding the photo.
1957 - A view of the Egyptian running "Pal Joey" with Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak. It was an October release. The photo appeared as a post by Ken McIntyre on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
1959 - Yet another view of the "Anne Frank" opening. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding this one.
1959 - A look east during the run of Hitchcock's "North by Northwest," a September release. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
1959 - The November 29 west coast premiere of "Ben-Hur." Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for spotting this shot from a bit of footage that's included in a two-minute long Red Line Tours promo appearing on YouTube. The film went on to a 98 week reserved seat 70mm run. It was photographed in MGM's Camera 65 process, a format later rebranded as Ultra Panavision. It used a 1.25 anamorphic for a 2.76 to 1 aspect ratio. We were going to get a permanent museum in the forecourt dedicated to items from the film. See "Theater to Have Museum," an article located by Lisa Kouza Braddock.
1959 - A December 3 shot of the theatre hosting a benefit screening of "Ben-Hur" for the Burbank Symphony. Thanks to Eitan Alexander for this photo. It appeared on the cover of "Hollywood's Greatest Themes," Volume 10 of the Longines Symphonette Society's "Family Library of Beautiful Listening" from 1973. And thanks to Matt Spero for doing some color correction. Eitan posted this on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page and listed the signage visible from left to right: Union Pacific Railroad Co., The Orient Art Goods, Harry Dine Menswear, the Egyptian, Pig 'n Whistle (seems to be replaced here by another cafe sign), Citizen's National Bank, Hollywood Inn Hotel, Miller's Books & Stationery.
1959/1960 - A view east taken during the run of "Ben-Hur." Thanks to Robert R for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.
1963 - A look east during the run of "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Marlon Brando. The 70mm Ultra Panavision film opened a reserved seat engagement on November 15, 1962. Martin Turnbull also shared this on his Facebook page and website. Another version of the shot appeared on a Click Americana page with an indication that they found it somewhere on Pinterest.
1964 - Debbie arriving for the show. This is from footage briefly appearing in "Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre,"
the eleven minute Netflix documentary by Angus Wall that was made to
celebrate the theatre's 2023 reopening. This shot, as well as other
premiere clips, can also be seen in "How Netflix saved iconic Grauman's Egyptian in Hollywood," a November 2023 segment from the Today Show. Thanks to Paul Rayton for spotting it on YouTube.
1964 - Thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this postcard view of the October 28 opening of "My Fair Lady" from his collection. It's on Flickr in the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation photo pool. The film, in 70mm, played a 68 week reserved seat run, closing in February 1966. It's a photo by George E. Watson. The copy on the back of the card:
1964 - A "My Fair Lady" premiere view appearing in the Netflix short "Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre."
It can also be seen in "How Netflix saved iconic Grauman's Egyptian in Hollywood," the November 2023 segment from the Today Show. Both are on YouTube. The Los Angeles Public Library has a shot of Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison and Jack Warner at the opening.
1964 - A shot of the marquee for "My Fair Lady" that appears on the site Epnet.com.
1965 - Thanks to Warren Beckerman for this photo he took looking in toward the entrance doors during the run of "My Fair Lady." Matt Spero gets a hand for working on the color.
1966 - A great view of the "World Famous" Egyptian set up for the premiere of "How to Steal a Million" from da90027 on Flickr. It's in his "Old Los Angeles & Nostalgia" collection which also contains many other wonders. The photo also appears on Vintage Los Angeles, credited to the Beverly Hills Public Library. There's also a re-post on VLA and yet another re-post.
1966 - Looking down on the Egyptian during the run of "Hawaii." The film opened October 13 for a 52 week run. Ken McIntyre located the shot for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group. The photo appears on the Water & Power Associates Museum page "Early L.A. Buildings (1900-1925) page 3." It's from the McAvoy/Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their #HB-321.
1968 - The Egyptian running the roadshow engagement of "Funny Girl" -- the first film after the D-150 auditorium remodeling. It's a photo from an unknown source that was located by April Clemmer. Visit her April's Old Hollywood site for information on the events and walking tours she hosts.
1972 - "They Only Kill Their Masters," a November release with James Garner. It's a photo from the McAvoy/Bruce Torrence Historic Hollywood Photographs collection, their #HB-404. Check out the over 200 photos in the terrific Hollywood Boulevard gallery on their site.
1973 - "Fists of Fury" with Bruce Lee and Nora Miao along with Charles Bronson in "Red Sun." Thanks to Mark London for sharing this version of the shot on the Mid Century Modern private Facebook group. He notes: "The slide sold on eBay for over 600 bucks!"
Bruce Kimmel discusses the offerings: "We do miss this magnificent theater. This double bill opened on Wednesday, May 2. Fun to see how many bad movies were playing that week. Everyone looks back at the 1970s as if every movie released was some kind of masterpiece. Most amusingly, Charles Chaplin's movie 'Limelight' began an exclusive Academy Award run - twenty years after it was released, it won an Oscar for best score. 'Pete 'n' Tillie' was in its third 'record breaking week; of being a complete box-office disaster. Pepto Bismal was on sale for sixty-nine cents, down from ninety-nine. You could get thirty count them thirty dance lessons at Arthur Murray for ten bucks. 'Camelot' was back with a special 70mm engagement on the giant screen at the Fox Wilshire.
"'Scarecrow,' according to the ad, was one of the year's best movies. I walked out. 'The Thief Who Came to Dinner' opened to no business on a double bill with 'Rage,' starring George C. Scott. 'Sleuth' was hanging on at a few neighborhood theaters. 'Class of '44,' the sequel to 'Summer of '42' was at the Chinese playing to light houses. 'Doctor Zhivago' was about to open for a run at the Beverly. 'Brother Sun, Sister Moon' was in its 4th 'smash' week (not), and 'Lost Horizon' was in its 9th week at the National and also playing the Hollywood. Who was in the theater nine weeks in is anyone's guess, since it hadn't done much business after the first five days.
"All was not
lost however - 'Save the Tiger' was playing, 'Cabaret' was having its
post-Oscar run, 'High Plains Drifter' was at the Pacific's, 'The Sound of
Music' was playing in 70mm at Pacific's Beverly Hills (the Stanley
Warner), and most amusingly, 'This Is Cinerama' was being shown at the
Dome, not in Cinerama but in 70mm in one of the crappiest looking prints
ever made. And for De Palma fans, 'Sisters' was in its third week at the
Vine. In theater, 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' was about to open at the
Ahmanson, and 'Mind with the Dirty Man' was closing at the Taper, where a
British play was about to open a week and a half later, Peter Nichols' 'Forget-Me-Not Lane,' starring John McMartin, Donald Moffat, but more
importantly, Bud Cort and even more importantly for me, ME. What a
thrill it was to be in that play at that theater."
1973 - Ed Ruscha, perhaps better known for "Twentysix Gasoline Stations" and "Every Building on the Sunset Strip," also had a fling with Hollywood Blvd. Here we get a look at the Egyptian in 1973 and 2002. By this time it was the "Egyptian I-II-III" with the two little auditoria in an adjacent building east of the main theatre. In the 1973 image the big house was running "Emperor of the North," out on May 24.
The video, "Ed Ruscha's Hollywood Blvd.," part of the Getty's "Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.," is a 5 minute look up one side of the street and then down the other. It can be seen on YouTube.
c.1973 - A look west at the Egyptian I-II-III running as a moveover house: "2 big Features" in the main auditorium. The photo appeared on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page as a post from Mark London. The Egyptian II and III were added in a store building facing on Las Palmas in a 1972 expansion. The main auditorium remained untouched.
In the photo beyond the Egyptian we see the Hollywood Theatre and the El Capitan, here in its Loew's days. It went back to being called the Paramount by mid-1974.
1975 - That great epic "Coonskin" playing at the Egyptian. Thanks to John Stewart for his photo, one of fourteen appearing in his Los Angeles Theaters set on Flickr. John is the long-time projectionist at the Austin Paramount. Thanks also to Mike Hume for advising of John's collection.
c.1975 - A great view looking west from the Richard Wojcik collection appearing on the Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page.
1978 - "Jaws 2" opened June 16. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the photo for a post on the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
1978 - Scott Santoro's photo gives us a look at the Egyptian during the run of a 70mm revival of "The Sound of Music" that opened August 25. Thanks, Scott! And thanks as well to Matt Spero for doing some cleanup on the image.
1979 - An "Alien" shot by Tom Speropulos appearing on the site Art Pal. Tom also has a nice black and white "Alien" shot that's on the site. Also see a drive-by view located by Ken McIntyre.
See shots of the "Alien" exhibits in the forecourt taken by Lisa Morton or William Malone: the Space Jockey | other artifacts. Also Check out "Alien Space Jockey Torched: Arson Mystery..." on YouTube from Horror Mike.
1980 - This "Empire" shot appears on the site Alamy with a credit to Robert Landau. Thanks to Terrence Butcher for locating it for a post on the Lost Angeles Facebook group. On the #2 and #3 screens: "All That Jazz" and "Black Stallion."
1980 - Lined up before an "Empire" showing. Playing out back on screens 2 and 3: "Apocalypse Now" and "The Black Stallion." Thanks to Phillip Cutler for locating the shot for a 2016 post on his Classic Hollywood/Los Angeles/SFV Facebook page. It also got a 2024 repost. Jack Feldman includes it on page 12 of his W&PA Museum section "Early Views of Hollywood."
1982 - The big house was running "Summer Lovers," a July release with Darryl Hannah and Peter Gallagher. Thanks to Marc Seavey for sharing his photo. The post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group also included two other Hollywood views. Note the big display for the June release "Author! Author!" with Al Pacino, Dyan Cannon and Tuesday Weld. In a post on the Historic American Theatres Facebook group Richard DuVal commented that it was running in auditorium #2 and they had "Diner" in #3.
1982 - Thanks to American Classic Images for this December photo taken early during the run of "The Verdict." Michael Coate notes that the film played from December 17 until March 24, 1983.
1983 - A fine night view from American Classic Images that was taken in January.
1983 - "Return of The Jedi" is playing in this view on Cinema Treasures. It was added to their collection by John Rice. Thanks, John!
1995 - Awaiting renovations. It appears that the Community Redevelopment Agency dressed up the marquee a bit. Thanks to Brian Michael McCray for sharing his photo. The American Cinematheque got it in 1996. The theatre reopened in 1998 after their renovations.
2002 - A Betty Sword photo of the entrance of the Egyptian from the Cezar Del Valle Theatre Talks collection. Thanks, Cezar!
2010 - Another view of the vertical at night. Photo: Bill Counter
The Egyptian Theatre pages: an overview | Hollywood Blvd. views 1922-1954 | back to top: Hollywood Blvd. 1955-present | forecourt | lobby - earlier views | lobby - recent views | auditorium - earlier views | auditorium - recent views | booth | backstage | structural + 2021 renderings | Egyptian 2 & 3 | along Las Palmas Ave. | along McCadden Place |
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Why was the vertical sign restored with a red background, instead of the original Egyptian deep blue? And why were the palm trees removed from the forecourt? Will they ever be replaced?
ReplyDeleteWell, red is Netflix' favorite color. And it's not like it's a historic sign -- it only dates from the 1990s American Cinematheque renovation. While it was intended to be a replica of a sign installed in the early 1930s, the colors chosen (including the blue background) probably were quite arbitrary. In one color shot from 1948 the base color appears to be red. As for the palm trees, they'll be missed. Netflix wanted to go back to a more original look for the forecourt and the trees were a Cinematheque addition that they didn't like.
DeleteWhat happened to the original; massive curved sign that was over the entrance? It looks like it was taken down during the last renovation
ReplyDeleteWell, it was more than a sign -- it was a massive curved wall of steel and stucco. I'm sure that both the tower portion and the marquee itself just went to the dump in the 1990s renovation by American Cinematheque.
DeleteLook at the 1959/60 "ben Hur" photo. You can see evenly spaced columns. My mother who is 91 and a interior designer, has claimed for decades that in her youth there was a zoo in the court and she drew me a floorplan scetch. The Cinamateque remodel placed palm trees where those columns were and marked the foot print of the long gone zoo.
ReplyDeleteYour mother hasn't been fabricating things. There was always great array of changing exhibits over the years including animal cages in the 1940s. They show up in several photos identified as "1940s" and 1942" on the forecourt page. They were out close to the street, over toward the west wall. There's a link up at the bottom of this page's text or copy this: https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/2017/02/egyptian-forecourt.html
DeleteHaving now been to the Egyptian about 20 times (once in the 2010s, the rest in the past year), I can't imagine how it was ever split into the "Egyptian I II III" as the sign says in older photos. Do we know how that was done? Do blueprints/photos survive?
ReplyDeleteWell, it was never chopped up. The Egyptian II and III were in a separate concrete block building fronting on Las Palmas. It's still there, currently vacant and under separate ownership. Head to the top (or bottom) of this page and you'll find a link to our Egyptian II & III page.
DeleteThank you kindly! Always fascinating.
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