Here we have a glimpse of the beginning of the end of the silents. The people in this photo are lining up to see John Gilbert in MGM’s “Man, Woman, and Sin” (a silent movie title if ever there was one!) at Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre at 6712 Hollywood Blvd. The movie came out in November 1927, a month after Warner Bros.’ “The Jazz Singer” forever changed the game. We don’t often see that canopy extending from the door of the theater to the sidewalk, but I do like that Egyptian boat design they’ve stenciled on the front. That Sid Grauman was a stickler for details!

Bill C says: “While Grauman was attentive to details, he didn’t do this marquee. It was put up by Fox West Coast after they took over operation of the theater.”

The Egyptian is currently under reconstruction now that Netflix have bought it so the site looks rather forlorn. This image is from July 2020. (And don’t get me started with how the old Pig ‘N Whistle is now a Mexican cantina called Mr. Tempo.)