About 68 years before I came into the town in my little brown Fiat Spyder (convertible, of course), Sid Grauman opened the 2nd of his Los Angeles movie palaces in 1922 (and if you want to see how apt that description is, find some photos online of these theaters), the first in Hollywood. It would be the first of his three themed theaters on Hollywood Blvd, with the El Capitan (1926) and the Chinese (1927) following. I'm sure some might think the Chinese would rank higher, but I actually don't like to see movies at the Chinese. The floor has too gentle of a sloop and there is no balcony which to my thinking all the great ones need.
The Egyptian wasn't even in operation when I arrived, having fallen into disrepair as much of the rest of Hollywood had at this point. Then in 1996, the City of LA sold it to the American Cinematheque for one dollar in exchange for a commitment to restore it. After $12.8 million, it was ready to be reopened on Dec. 4th, 1998. With the exception of some premieres and current films shown with Q & A's with the filmmakers, most of the movies shown under the incredible Egyptian motif ceiling are revivals of classics, genres (they have yearly festivals for film noir and monster movies) and foreign films. At the moment, they are running new foreign movies that haven't been distributed here yet.
It was also at the Egyptian where I had my own "brush with greatness:" I was there for a screening of Ben Hur from a rare type of print with Moses himself, Charlton Heston doing the Q & A. At the intermission, I was lined up to use the restroom when a voice caught everyone's attention: "Excuse me, fellas, but could I jump to the front here so I can get back in time?" Like the Red Sea we parted, and he slipped in. Michael Moore lost a lot of points with me when he pulled that punk-ass ambush of Heston in Bowling for Columbine and I am so glad I have this later memory of Chuck Heston to remember him by.
If you live in L.A. and claim you are a film fan, you have no excuse if you haven't seen at least movie at this jewel of Old Hollywood.
And they have a balcony.
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