Grauman's Chinese Theater
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grauman's Chinese Theater is a world-famous movie theater located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Built in 1927 by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman, the Chinese was intended to be the world's greatest. It has since become one of Southern California's most recognizable and visited landmarks and is steeped in Hollywood history, having been home to numerous premieres and two Academy Awards ceremonies. Among the theater's most famous traits are the autographed cement blocks that reside in the forecourt, which bear the signatures and markings of many of Hollywood's most revered stars and starlets.
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From 1973 through 2001, the theater was known as Mann's Chinese Theater, owing to its acquisition by Mann Theaters in 1973. In the wake of Mann's bankruptcy, the Chinese, along with the other Mann properties, was sold in 2000 to a partnership comprising Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, who also acquired the Mann brand name. In 2002 the original name was restored to the cinema palace.
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[edit] History
Grauman's Chinese Theater was built by a showman, Sid Grauman, who owned a one-third interest with his partners: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Howard Schenck. This theater was built near the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, as well as the Million Dollar Theater on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. The principal architect of the Chinese Theater was Raymond M. Kennedy, of the firm Meyer and Holler, along with Jean Klossner, Foreman, who later became known as "Mr. Footprint," performing the footprint ceremonies from 1927 thru 1962.
The exterior of the movie theater supposedly resembles a giant, red Chinese pagoda. The architecture features a huge Chinese dragon across the front, two stone lion-dogs guarding the main entrance, and the silhouettes of tiny dragons up and down the sides of the copper roof.
Grauman's is also famous for the collection of handprints, footprints, and autographs that nearly 200 Hollywood celebrities have imprinted in the cement of the theater's forecourt over the years. According to legend, this tradition was started one day in 1927, when Sid Grauman was standing on Hollywood Boulevard supervising the construction of the theater. As he watched a group of workmen who were working on top of the theater's Chinese pagoda, Grauman took a step back to get a better view. In doing so, he accidentally stepped into an area of wet cement, where other workers were paving the sidewalk outside the theater. Looking down, Grauman saw that he had left his footprints in the cement. This gave him the idea to have movie stars place their footprints in cement outside the theater entrance.
Variations of this honored tradition are imprints of the eyeglasses of Harold Lloyd, the cigars of Groucho Marx and George Burns, the legs of Betty Grable, the fist of John Wayne, the knees of Al Jolson, the ice skating blades of Sonja Henie and the noses of Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope.
Western stars William S. Hart and Roy Rogers left imprints of their guns. The hoofprints of "Tony," the horse of Tom Mix, "Champion," the horse of Gene Autry, and "Trigger," the horse of Rogers, were left in the cement beside the prints of the stars who rode them in the movies.
The only person not associated with the movie industry to have a signature and hand print in front of the theater was Grauman's mother.
The theater opened May 18, 1927 to huge fanfare with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, after a well-publicized construction. The Chinese had cost more to build than any other theater to date.
Sid Grauman sold his share to William Fox's Fox West Coast Theaters in 1929 but remained as the theater's Managing Director until his death in 1950.
In 1968 it was declared a historic and cultural landmark, and has undergone restoration projects in the years since then. The theater was purchased in 1973 by Ted Mann, owner of the Mann Theaters chain and husband of actress Rhonda Fleming, who renamed it Mann's Chinese Theater. As of November 9, 2001, the original name was returned to the front of the theater. To the dismay of many fans of historic architecture, the free-standing ticket booth was removed, making the plaza more stark and open to the street.
Grauman's Chinese Theater continues as a first-run movie theater where, for the price of a ticket, a visitor can see a film in the fully renovated and restored auditorium.
Many film premieres are held at the Chinese Theater, often attended by large throngs of celebrities.
The theater was home to the Academy Awards between 1944 and 1946 and is adjacent to the Kodak Theater, the current home of the Awards.
[edit] In pop culture
- In the 1974 comedy spoof Blazing Saddles, a gunfight between the characters played by Cleavon Little and Harvey Korman takes place outside the theater, which is depicted as screening the finished film.
- The theater is featured in a flashback of the title character's disastrous family vacation to Los Angeles in the 1995 movie Stuart Saves His Family. The children in the scene mention seeing the imprints of stars such as Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, and Sophia Loren.
- In a classic episode of I Love Lucy, Lucy and Ethel visit the theater and discover that the cement block that shows John Wayne's footprints is loose, and attempt to steal the block to take home as a souvenir. In the next episode, they meet John Wayne and try to get it replaced.
- On the Simpsons episode "Beyond Blunderdome", they pass Mann's Chinese Theater. It is next to Chinese Man's Theater, which is noticeably more dilapidated.
- In the Futurama episode, "That's Lobstertainment," the theater appears in the 31st century as "Loew's Gaddafi's Mann's Grauman's Chinese Theater."
- A re-creation of the theater is a central attraction at the Walt Disney World theme park, Disney-MGM Studios. The building houses The Great Movie Ride, an attraction that takes visitors through animatronic recreations of classic films.
- In Kelly Rowland's song "Stole," the theater is mentioned in the chorus along with Marilyn Monroe.
- In 1997, the song "Mann's Chinese" was released by the alternative band Naked. The song highlights some events at the Chinese, such as the premiere of Batman Returns, in addition to an underlying criticism about the shallow and vain Hollywood culture. The song was a moderate radio hit and also appeared in an episode of the television show Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
- Up and coming recording artist, Jacob Bellworthy, sings of a 'Mann's Chinese Theater Party' in his hit song 'Chinatown'.
- Grauman's Chinese Theater is also featured on the Hollywood level of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.
- The song "Walter Reed" from the album Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 by Michael Penn contains the lyrics, "I've had my fill of palm trees and lighting up Grauman's Chinese. Tell me now what more do you need, take me to Walter Reed tonight" The contrast presented by these lines suggests that the song title refers not to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but instead to the Walter Reade Theater in New York City.
- On Will Smith's 1997 album Big Willie Style, Keith B. Real mentions being outside "some Chinese Man's Theater" to see Will Smith.
- In an episode of the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies the hillbillies perform the "public service" of filling in the footprints, handprints, writing, and even legprints that various "vandals" put in the sidewalk outside the theater.
- In the recent novel Three Days to Never by Tim Powers, the footprint slab made by Charlie Chaplin in 1928 forms part of a time machine built by Albert Einstein and his daughter. In fact, as in the novel, the Chaplin slab was removed from in front of the theater in the 1950s, when accusations of communism turned much public opinion against the actor, and has since been lost.
- In the Robert Zemeckis film Forrest Gump, the Chinese Theatre can be seen during Jenny's hippie days, playing the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which, in real life, is Tom Hanks' favorite film.
- In the animated movie Cats Don't Dance, the theater is featured on Danny's arrival in Hollywood.
