** UPDATE** – Bill G says: It’s a lovely photo, but it’s not the grand opening. For one thing, it didn’t say “Egyptian” above the entrance then, only “Grauman’s.” It’s the 1926 double premiere of Mary Pickford’s Sparrows and The Black Pirate with Douglas Fairbanks and Billie Dove.”

One of the stops I’d be likely to choose in my Time Travel Machine Adventure is this night. Those people who have gathered in the forecourt of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre at 6708 Hollywood Blvd are there for the theater’s grand opening. The movie chosen to honor the event was “Robin Hood” starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. This night marks the first big, splashy premiere in the city of Hollywood. And according to one report I read, it also introduced the concept of walking the red carpet at the opening of a movie. The tradition itself dates back to 1902, when the New York Central Railroad began using them for their passengers on the 20th Century Limited train, but the night captured in this photo was the first time it was used in Hollywood.

This, however, is what the souvenir program that attendees got at the Egyptian Theatre’s opening night on October 18, 1922:

As we can see from these three images, Bill G was right about adding “Egyptian” later:

Mary M told me that this was the podium where guests signed the guest book, which was located in the courtyard:

Egyptian Theatre model