TCL Chinese Theatre is a cinema palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, United States.
Originally known as Grauman's Chinese Theatre and renamed Mann's Chinese
Theatre in 1973; the current name of the theatre became official January 11,
2013, after Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL Corporation purchased
the naming rights. This resulted in the first affiliation of the Chinese Theatre
with an actual Chinese corporation. The original Chinese Theatre was
commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre,
which opened in 1922. Built by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman over
18 months starting in January 1926, the theatre opened May 18, 1927, with the
premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's film The King of Kings. It has since been home to
many premieres, including the 1977 launch of George Lucas' Star Wars, as
well as birthday parties, corporate junkets, and three Academy Awards
ceremonies. Among the theatre's most distinctive features are the concrete
blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and
handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the
present day. The TCL Chinese Theatre has partnered
with IMAX Corporation to create the single largest IMAX auditorium in the
world. The new theatre seats 932 people, and hosts the third largest commercial
movie screen in North America. History
After his success with the Egyptian Theatre, Sid Grauman turned to Charles
E. Toberman to secure a long-term lease on property at 6925 Hollywood Blvd.
Toberman contracted the firm of Meyer & Holler, designer of the Egyptian, to
design a "palace type theatre" of Chinese design. Grauman financed and
owned a one-third interest in the Chinese Theatre; his partners—Mary
Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Howard Schenck—owned the remainder. The
principal architect of the Chinese Theatre was Raymond M. Kennedy, of Meyer
& Holler. During construction, Grauman hired Jean
Klossner to formulate an extremely hard concrete for the forecourt of the
theatre. Klossner later became known as "Mr. Footprint", performing the
footprint ceremonies from 1927 through 1957.
Many stories exist to explain the origins of the footprints. The theatre's
official account in its books and souvenir programs credit Norma Talmadge
as having inspired the tradition when she accidentally stepped into the wet
concrete. However, in a short interview during the September 13, 1937, Lux Radio
Theatre broadcast of a radio adaptation of A Star Is Born, Grauman related
another version of how he got the idea to put hand and foot prints in the
concrete. He said it was "...pure accident. I walked right into it. While
we were building the theatre, I accidentally happened to step in some
soft concrete. And there it was. So, I went to Mary Pickford immediately. Mary
put her foot into it." Still another account by the construction foreman,
Jean Klossner, recounts that Klossner autographed his work next to the
right-hand poster kiosk and that he and Grauman developed the idea then and
there. His autograph and handprint, dated 1927, remain today. The theatre's
third founding partner, Douglas Fairbanks, was the second celebrity,
after Talmadge, to be immortalized in the concrete.
In 1929, Sid Grauman decided to retire and sell his share to William Fox's Fox
Theatres chain. However, just a few months later, Howard Hughes convinced
Grauman to return to the theatre because he wanted Grauman to produce the world
premiere of his aviation epic Hell's Angels, which would also feature one of
Grauman's famous theatrical prologues before the film. Grauman remained as the
theatre's managing director for the entire run of Hell's Angels, retiring
once again after its run finished. But, unsatisfied with retirement, Grauman
returned to the theatre as managing director on Christmas Day 1931, and kept
that position until his death in 1950. One of the highlights of the Chinese
Theatre has always been its grandeur and décor. In 1952, John Tartaglia, the
artist of nearby Saint Sophia Cathedral, became the head interior decorator of
the Chinese Theatre as well as the theatre chain then owned by Fox West
Coast Theatres. He would later continue the work of Jean Klossner, by
recommendation of J. Walter Bantau, for the Hollywood Footprint Ceremonies.
Tartaglia performed his first ceremony as a Master Mason for Jean Simmons in
1953, for the premiere of The Robe, the first premiere in Cinemascope. Although
replacing Klossner was initially thought to be a temporary job for Tartaglia, his
dedication would result in a 35-year career in which he last performed as the
Master Mason/Concrete Artist in honor of Eddie Murphy in May 1987, leaving behind
one of the greatest legacies in Hollywood.
The Chinese Theatre was declared a historic and cultural landmark in 1968,
and has undergone various restoration projects in the years since then. Ted
Mann, owner of the Mann Theatres chain and husband of actress Rhonda Fleming,
purchased it in 1973. From then until 2001 it was known as Mann's Chinese
Theatre. In the wake of Mann's 2000-bankruptcy, a partnership of Warner
Bros. and Paramount Pictures acquired the theatre, along with the other Mann
properties and the Mann brandname. In 2000, Behr Browers Architects, a firm
previously engaged by Mann Theatres, prepared a restoration and modernization
program for the structure. The program included a seismic upgrade, new
state-of-the-art sound and projection, new vending kiosks and exterior signage,
and the addition of a larger concession area under the balcony. The program
began in 2002 and restored the original name—"Grauman's Chinese Theatre"—to the
cinema palace. As part of the upgrade, Behr Browers also designed a new
Chinese-themed six-plex in the attached Hollywood and Highland mall that
continued to operate under the name Mann's Chinese 6 Theatre.
In 2007, the CIM Group purchased the land on which the theatre sits for an
undisclosed price from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation of New York
and Barlow Respiratory Hospital of Los Angeles. Mann Theatres continued to hold
a long-term lease on the venue for movie premieres and continued to operate it as
a film house. CIM Group also owns the Hollywood and Highland retail mall, as
well as numerous other residential and commercial properties in Hollywood. On
May 27, 2011, Chinese Theatres, LLC, a partnership owned by nightclub
owner/producer Elie Samaha and producer Donald Kushner, purchased both Grauman's
Chinese and the adjacent Mann Chinese 6. The exterior of the theatre is meant to
resemble a giant, red Chinese pagoda. The design features a huge Chinese
dragon across the façade, with two authentic Ming Dynasty guardian lions
guarding the main entrance and the silhouettes of tiny dragons along the
sides of the copper roof. To the dismay of many historic architecture fans, the
free-standing ticket booth, installed in the 1930s, and the left and right neon
marquees have been removed—but their absence restores the theatre to its
original appearance. The auditorium has been completely restored, along with
much of the exterior; however, the wear and tear on the physical structure over
the years has caused some of the external décor to be removed, rather
than repaired. The Chinese Theatre hosted the 1944,
1945, and 1946 Academy Awards ceremonies; they are now held at the
adjacent Dolby Theatre, formerly known as the Kodak Theatre.
TCL Chinese Theatre continues to serve the public as a first-run movie theatre.
Many Hollywood films have had their premieres at the Chinese Theatre
throughout its history. Today, premieres are attended by celebrities and a large
number of fans, just as they have been since 1927.
Handprints There are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity
handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the theatre's
forecourt. Variations of this honored tradition are
imprints of the eyeglasses of Harold Lloyd; the cigar of Groucho Marx; the
wands used by Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert
Grint; the facial profile of John Barrymore; the legs of Betty Grable;
Western stars William S. Hart and Roy Rogers left imprints of their guns.
Herbie, a Volkswagen Beetle, left the imprints of his tires. 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 concrete beside the prints
of the stars who rode them in the movies.
Since 2011, there has been a surge of concrete ceremonies, many of which have
been paid for by movie studios for publicity reasons. One of the theatre's
current owners, Donald Kushner, acknowledged this and referred to them
as mock ceremonies. This influx has been a matter of concern for film buffs and
historians, as well as misleading for fans. However, despite the increase of
cement blocks, the ones placed within the forecourt are still chosen by a
special committee who selects celebrities based on their contributions
to Hollywood cinema. Practice blocks, completed inside the theatre before the
ceremony, are placed on the walls of the Chinese 6 Theatre lobby, which is also
used as an event space. IMAX conversion
In April 2013, owners announced plans to convert the original theatre for IMAX,
which was started thereafter. The Chinese IMAX has the largest seating
capacity of an IMAX theatre in the world. The new 94 ft × 46 ft silver
screen is curved and can be masked for premieres and screening events of
non-IMAX films. To accommodate better sightlines and a taller screen, the
seating is arranged in stepped rows, descending from street level to the
floor of the former basement. The auditorium's decorative walls and
ceiling remain unaltered, the existing curtain was extended, decorative
lighting effects were added and TCL added digital signage. The theatre
reopened on September 20, 2013, with the IMAX 3D version of The Wizard of Oz.
Although opened with only a digital projection system, a 15/70mm projection
system was added for Interstellar. On March 6 2015, the TCL Chinese Theatre
IMAX went dark for 3 weeks, to install the brand new IMAX with Laser
Projection, the theatre reopened to the public on April 3 with world premiere of
Furious 7 in IMAX with Laser. Going forward all IMAX movies screened at the
Chinese will be presented in IMAX with Laser.
See also Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments
in Hollywood The Great Movie Ride, a ride built
inside a recreation of the theatre at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt
Disney World References
External links Official website
Classic Movie Actors and Actresses with imprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Clickable Map of star handprints & footprints
Map and list of celebrity handprints (Photo History)