Historic Hollywood

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Right: The Egyptian Theater opened
on October 18, 1922, with the gala
premiere of Douglas Fairbank’s Robin
Hood (1922). Created by theater
impresario Sid Grauman, the
Egyptian was the first movie palace
built in Hollywood. The Egyptian
Style “revival” was popular at that
time and became a Hollywood
landmark that is still a unique historic
architectural icon.
Below: The Egyptian Theater in
Hollywood is characterized by a large
forecourt fronting Hollywood
Boulevard. In 1923, Cecil B. DeMille
premiered his then most spectacular
film, The Ten Commandments
(1923), with thousands of spectators
in attendance. The interior of
the theater was decorated with
hieroglyphic murals, a sunburst
ceiling and a giant scarab beetle
over the stage. The theater was
remodeled/restored in the late
1990s and reopened as the American
Cinematheque on December 4, 1998.
the result was Lake Hollywood just above
Wilcox Avenue.
The 1920s also brought nightlife to Hollywood,
with nightclubs and restaurants attracting locals
and tourists alike. The Hollywood Rooftop
Ballroom, the Hollywood Brown Derby, the
Montmartre Café, Henry’s Café, the Gotham Deli,
Musso and Franks Grill and others became
Hollywood landmarks. Speaking about
landmarks, the Hollywood Bowl’s first Easter
Sunrise Service was held March 21, 1921. This
natural amphitheater was traditionally a gathering
place for native Americans in the nineteenth
century and later was used for religious services
until a more formal open air theatre could be built.
By 1922 the Bowl was developed into a proper
theatre with benches and its first shell, which was
nothing but a canopy covering the wooden plank
stage. It wasn’t until 1929 that a more permanent
theatre was constructed with an all-steel shell on
its stage. This landmark shell was demolished in
2003 to make way for a larger shell.
With the collapse of the stock market in 1929,
Hollywood was hit hard due to huge sums of
money that were lost and were to have been used
to continue the subdivision and construction of
new stores and studio expansion. It was between
1926 and 1929 that the studios were gearing up
16 ✦ HISTORIC HOLLYWOOD