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Egyptian Theater, Hollywood CA
Egyptian Theater is an old movie palace built in 1922 by Sid Grauman (who also opened Mann's Chinese Theater on Hollywood) on Hollywood Blvd. They were giving a tour so I thought I'd take a few pics.
Like all old movie palaces, it was themed, in this case Egyptian as turn of the century Egyptology was popular. This was a premier theater where tickets would cost $5 (ave. ticket was $0.50 back then from what the tour guide said). They premiered movies here for exclusive runs. Now days it's mainly used for special events/ceremonies, and shows classic films.
1. Big columns at the entrance. From the street, you actually walk down a long open courtyard with long palm trees that line where the red carpet to the front door would be.
2. The palm trees that line the walkway from the street to the entrance.
3. decor on the walls.
4. Some fancy old seats that they used to have. Looks like some first class airline seats.
5. The lounge. All Egyptian decor, even the AC vents were made to look like rolls of papyrus. The two cat statues were supposedly props from Cleopatra starring Liz Taylor.
6. Inside the theater. It was originally for silent films so they later modified the theater to have better acoustics. The theater also has a little balcony where the box seats would be on the side so as the audience would enter, they would be serenaded by singers.
7. Old stairway up to the balcony being restored.
8. View from the balcony.
9. The room that is connected to the balcony had a little dressing room, the bathroom needs a little elbow grease though.
10. Lastly a view from the balcony. We also toured the projection room but it was crowded there, so I didn't really take much pictures of that.
Like all old movie palaces, it was themed, in this case Egyptian as turn of the century Egyptology was popular. This was a premier theater where tickets would cost $5 (ave. ticket was $0.50 back then from what the tour guide said). They premiered movies here for exclusive runs. Now days it's mainly used for special events/ceremonies, and shows classic films.
1. Big columns at the entrance. From the street, you actually walk down a long open courtyard with long palm trees that line where the red carpet to the front door would be.
2. The palm trees that line the walkway from the street to the entrance.
3. decor on the walls.
4. Some fancy old seats that they used to have. Looks like some first class airline seats.
5. The lounge. All Egyptian decor, even the AC vents were made to look like rolls of papyrus. The two cat statues were supposedly props from Cleopatra starring Liz Taylor.
6. Inside the theater. It was originally for silent films so they later modified the theater to have better acoustics. The theater also has a little balcony where the box seats would be on the side so as the audience would enter, they would be serenaded by singers.
7. Old stairway up to the balcony being restored.
8. View from the balcony.
9. The room that is connected to the balcony had a little dressing room, the bathroom needs a little elbow grease though.
10. Lastly a view from the balcony. We also toured the projection room but it was crowded there, so I didn't really take much pictures of that.
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Comments
I was born and raised in LA and I have never been inside this place. Thanks for sharing and taking me on a tour.
Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums
My Smug Site
Nice to see places around town that you've passed by but never really explored.