Here we have several Hollywood icons all in one photo. This is Grauman’s Chinese Theatre during the 6-week run of 20th Century-Fox’s CinemaScope production of “The Seven Year Itch” in June and July of 1955. The shot of Marilyn Monroe in her white dress must be 20 feet tall! I wonder how Marilyn felt when/if she saw that huge picture of herself considering filming that famous subway scene spelled the end of her marriage to Joe DiMaggio (helpfully assisted by Walter Winchell.) But this was also a time when Grauman’s still had that awning from its front doors to the curb, you could still park out front of the theater, and there were convenient parking lots on both the west and east side of the theater.

This is how Grauman’s looked in May 2024. (It looks a little forlorn here, but that probably because Google usually sends its Streetviewmobile out first thing in the morning so that the images aren’t too crowded. As it happens, I was there last night and it the place was bustling.)