This photo shows us an important moment in Grauman’s Chinese Theatre’s history: CinemaScope had arrived to lure moviegoers away from their TV screens. The first movie to be shown in the wide-screen format was “The Robe.” The theater closed down for three days (September 21 through 23, 1953) to install the necessary equipment. We can see part of the sign of the previous film, “Gentlemen Prefers Blondes,” which had enjoyed an 8-week run, ending September 20. On the 24th “The Robe” had its splashy premiere ahead of a 13-week run during which time it was the only cinema in L.A. to run CinemaScope’s first outing.
This is how Grauman’s looked in January 2018:
Thanks Martin….great work, as always
Thank you, Joe. I’m glad you enjoy my daily musings!
There’s an old theater in downtown Los Angeles near the old Herald Examiner building. (It might be the Mayan, but I can’t recall.) On the side of the theater, there was a ghost ad for the stage version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which I believe dates back to the 1920s. I used to see it when I was attending meetings in an office building rented by the City for Public Works Department. I kick myself for not taking a photo of that, because it’s since been painted over.
Bill, if you give me your home address, I’ll be happy to come right over and kick you for not thinking of taking a photo of that! The Mayan is near the old Examiner building, so it probably was there.
The ghost of Anita Loos beat you to it!