Have you ever seen the Courtyard Murals of Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater? They’re pretty amazing and worth a visit.
Grauman’s Egyptian Theater (yes the same guy who built Hollywood’s Chinese Theater) opened in 1922 just 2 weeks before the discovery of King Tut’s Tomb. The original theater plans called for a Spanish Decor, with an Oriental influence, which proved to costly to build. So the developer turned to something less expensive that also capitalized on the euphoria surrounding the multiple expeditions searching for Tut’s Tomb.
As many of you know, Egyptophilia is a term used to describe the obsession or fascination with all things Egyptian. Structures built in the Egyptian style are referred to as Egyptian Revival. However, because of the association with Art Deco, many Egyptian structures are also referred to as Art Deco. The ziggurat, or terraced steps of the pyramidal structure, also influenced skyscraper designs in the 1920’s. The stair step feature allowed for less canyonization of the streets below, by allowing more light onto the street. That concept has all but disappeared in high rise construction today, however, that design element is also referred to as an Art Deco defining feature.
Other design features that I’d like to point out in the images above, include the zig-zag patterns on the wall mounted light fixtures, as well as the trapezoid shape of the ticket office windows, waterfall and wooden door. Zig zag patterning is a hallmark of art deco, and is often referred to as zig-zag moderne and can be seen on several building facades on Hollywood boulevard. It exemplified the exuberance of the jazz-age 20’s prior to the stock market crash of ’29. After that, art deco styles shifted to streamline moderne, with low slung horizontal lines… sometimes referred to as depression era deco.
During the 80’s and 90’s Hollywood was suffering an economic decline. The theater fell into disrepair and was given to the American Cinematheque in 1996 for $1, yes one dollar, with the provision that the landmark building be restored to its original grandeur and re-open as a movie theater. The theater reopened on December 4, 1998 after a $12.8 million renovation. One of the benefits of that restoration, was the completion of the large scale mural (2nd from the bottom), that had never been completed. All of these murals are inspired by actual Egyptian gods, pharaohs and hieroglyphs. They’re not simply made up for the sake of entertainment.
During my recent visit to the Egyptian Theater to take these photos, I was saddened at how few tourists actually noticed the building or stopped for photos. Hollywood boulevard was crammed with hot sweaty people checking out the trashy stores and the stars embedded in the sidewalk, but the Egyptians courtyard was empty. Therefore, I feel like there’s a missed opportunity with this wide open courtyard, that is sadly starting to look very shoddy. (I will admit I did a little photoshopping to clean up my images for this post). What about a relaxing garden cafe or seating area attached to the Pig & Whistle next door? Or the restoration of the water fountain with a some public seating areas and a few tall Palm Trees as one vintage post card shows? So much could still be done to capitalize on the history of this grand movie theater that predates the Chinese Theater just down the street, and bring in more tourism. Maybe that’s not the objective of the American Cinematheque. I will say that I’m very grateful that the murals have not been graffiti tagged and are in such excellent shape.
Stay tuned for my next blog post, which will include an Egyptian Revival home in the Hollywood Hills. It’s one of Hollywoods best kept secrets and is currently for sale.
If you’d like to read more about this theater, the Coincidental Dandy has an extraordinary blog post from 2011 that’s truly informative.
