Grauman's Chinese Theatre opens in Hollywood - May 18th, 1927

On this day in 1927, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre opened on Hollywood Boulevard, marking the debut of one of the world’s most iconic cinemas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a
show that raises the curtain on everyday history and lets
it take a bow. I'm Gabe Bluesier, and in this episode,

(00:23):
we're talking about what might be the most recognizable movie
theater in the world, not to mention one of LA's
must see tourist traps. The day was May eighteenth, nineteen
twenty seven. Grauman's Chinese Theater opened on Hollywood Boulevard, marking

(00:47):
the debut of one of the world's most iconic cinemas.
To celebrate the occasion, the theater hosted the premiere of
The King of Kings, a new silent religious epic from
director Cecil B. De Mille. The theater's mastermind, Sid Grauman,
pulled out all the stops for the event. He even
arranged for an elaborate prologue to precede the screening. It

(01:11):
was called Glories of the Scriptures and was performed live
on stage by a cast of two hundred, with music
provided by a Wurlitzer organ and a sixty five piece orchestra.
The movie stars and other celebrities in attendance were dazzled
by the evening's entertainment, but even more so by the
lavish theater, which was unlike anything else in Hollywood. The

(01:35):
average moviegoer would have to wait until the following day
to get a look inside for themselves, but the showmanship
of sid Grauman ensured it would be worth the wait.
The Chinese Theater was the last of three movie palaces
built by Sidney Grauman, a former vaudeville theater manager who
believed that moving pictures were the future of entertainment. He

(01:57):
decided to get in on the ground floor by opening
a chain of theaters in the heart of Hollywood venues
that would be as beautiful inside and out as the
movies that adorned their screens. The first of these ventures
was the Million Dollar Theatre, which actually cost about eight
hundred thousand dollars to build. It opened in nineteen eighteen

(02:19):
in the downtown core of Los Angeles and was followed
four years later by Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
As the name suggests, Grauman's second movie palace drew inspiration
from Egyptian architecture. Its entrance was marked by four massive columns,
and both the exterior and interior walls were decorated with

(02:41):
Egyptian style paintings, sculptures, and hieroglyphs. That choice of theming
may seem a bit random today, but it aligned perfectly
with the growing public interest in Egyptology in the nineteen twenties.
In fact, archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King
Tutt just two weeks after the Egyptian Theatre's grand opening.

(03:04):
Both of Grauman's theaters proved successful, with their luxurious trappings
helping to lure people to the movies at a time
when the medium was still finding its footing. The success
convinced Grauman to go all out on his next project,
which he decided to base on Chinese architecture. In nineteen
twenty five, he enlisted real estate developer Charles Toberman to

(03:27):
secure a long term lease on a property just a
few blocks down from the Egyptian. At the time, it
was the site of Francis X. Bushman's private mansion, but
Toberman managed to convince the actor to part with the property.
Grauman re hired the design firm responsible for the Egyptian
Theater and worked closely with architect Raymond Kennedy to capture

(03:49):
the Chinese motifs he wanted. Construction began in January of
nineteen twenty six and lasted for eighteen months. Part of
the reason for that lengthy bill time was that Grauman
had to obtain authorization from the US government to import
decorative artifacts from China, and he then had to wait
for them to arrive. The treasures he procured included pagodas,

(04:13):
temple bells, and a pair of giant stone heaven dogs,
which would stand guard at the theatre's entrance. Grauman selected
many of these pieces himself, but he also arranged for
poet and filmmaker Moon Kwan to travel from China and
oversee the creation of original sculptures and statuary, many of
which still decorate the theatre's interior today. Of course, the

(04:37):
exterior of the Movie Palace was and is no slouch either.
It sports a ninety foot high bronze pagoda roof, which
is supported by two enormous coral red columns topped with
wrought iron masks, and between the columns right above the
main entrance, there's a thirty foot high stone relief carving

(04:57):
of a Chinese dragon, a symbol of sar strength and
good fortune. Surprisingly, the theatre's Chinese inspired architecture wasn't its
only defining feature. Another thing that set it apart was
its lack of a full sized stage. Many early movie
theaters had been converted from vaudeville venues, and some owners
hedged their bets by continuing to hold live shows between

(05:21):
movie screenings. Grauman's theaters, on the other hand, had only
a small stage for presenters and were built to showcase
the movie screen first and foremost. The Chinese theater also
distinguished itself by being the first to be equipped with
air conditioning. Large pillars imported from China were installed on
either side of the auditorium, and the vents for the

(05:43):
air and heating system were cleverly concealed within them. All
of its bells and whistles likely would have been enough
to capture the public's attention, but Grauman's Chinese Theater had
one more trick up its sleeve. The now famous forecourt
of the Stars, flanked by forty foot high curved walls
and copper top turrets. The theater's outdoor courtyard is home

(06:06):
to the hand prints, footprints, and signatures of more than
three hundred Hollywood stars. The impressions were immortalized in slabs
of wet cement, allowing future visitors to match palms and
heels with stars from every era of movie making, from
Harold Lloyd and Shirley Temple to Tom Hanks and Lily Tomlin.

(06:27):
You'll also find plenty of impressions besides hands and feet.
For example, Jimmy Durant pressed his distinctive nose into the cement,
Betty Grable did an imprint of her leg, Whoopy Goldbird
used one of her dreadlocks, George Burns left his cigar print,
and John Wayne pressed his fist. The wands of the
three Harry Potter leads are imprinted there as well, and

(06:50):
so are the three treads of Star Wars Droid R
two D two. If you're wondering how the tradition got started,
well you're not the only one. Several origin stories have
been circulated over the years, but the most widely accepted
is that actress Norma Talmidge, a personal friend of Sid Grauman,
began the practice by accident. The story goes that while

(07:13):
touring the theater ahead of its opening, she accidentally stepped into
wet cement which in turn gave Grauman the idea for
a fun new tradition. That said, Grauman himself later claimed
in a radio interview that he was the one who
wandered into fresh concrete, not Talmidge. In either case, the
first official imprints in the forecourt were left by Mary

(07:36):
Pickford and her then husband Douglas Fairbanks Senior. They kicked
off the trend in late April of nineteen twenty seven,
but only dated their imprints for the theatre's opening day.
As for why that duo was the first, it probably
helped that they were co owners of the theater, along
with Grauman and studio executive Howard Schenck. The total cost

(07:58):
to bring Grauman's dream theatre to life was about two
point one million dollars, the equivalent of nearly thirty seven
million dollars in today's money, so you can see why
Grauman had opted to bring in a few partners rather
than footing the bill himself. Sid Grauman eventually sold his
shares to Fox West Coast Theaters in nineteen twenty nine,

(08:20):
but he continued as managing director of the theater until
his death in nineteen fifty. The Chinese Theater was declared
a Historic Cultural Landmark in nineteen sixty eight, and there
have been ongoing restoration projects ever since to help maintain
its beauty. Along with that, there have also been plenty
of expansions and upgrades, including the addition of an IMAX

(08:43):
screen and a state of the art sound system. Since
its soft opening on May eighteenth, nineteen twenty seven, the
Chinese Theater has hosted thousands of movie premieres, including classic
favorites like The King and I, West Side Story, Breakfast
to Tiffany's, Mary Poppin's The Jungle Book, and Star Wars.
The theater was also home to the Academy Awards for

(09:05):
three consecutive years from nineteen forty four to nineteen forty six.
These days, the Oscars are held just down the street,
but high profile movies continue to premiere at the Chinese Theater,
and of course, plenty of modern celebrities still add their
impressions to the forecord of the Stars, a feature that
more than four million tourists come to see each year.

(09:30):
Ownership of the theater has changed hands several times over
the years, and in twenty thirteen, the naming rights were
sold to Chinese Electronics company TCL. That means its current
name is technically the TCL Chinese Theater, but if you
still call it the Graumans, everyone in LA will know
exactly what you mean. I'm Gabe Luzier and hopefully you

(09:55):
now know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's show, consider keeping up
with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show.
You can also rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts,
or you can drop me a line directly by writing
to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler

(10:17):
Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, and thanks
to you for listening. I'll see you back here again
tomorrow for another day in History class.