HFPA Donates Half a Million Dollars to Renovate Historic Egyptian Theater, Site of First Movie Premiere
Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 7:30AM While known most casually as the Cool Mom of awards ceremonies – here, you and your friends can drink as much champagne as you want but make sure you do it under my roof, in front of my cameras – the Hollywood Foreign Press Association accomplishes much more every year than pulling off Oscar season’s liveliest, sloppiest party. At their annual Grants Banquet last week, the HFPA awarded over two million dollars worth of grants to non-profit arts organizations, higher education fellowships, professional trainings, and other film-centric or adjacent projects and spaces.
To Angelino cinephiles, film history buffs, and fans of landmark cultural sites, one additional grant announcement might spark some interest: a $500,000 grant to renovate and restore the legendary movie palace, the Egyptian Theater. Home to reams of Golden Age Hollywood lore and, contemporarily, the encyclopedic repertory organization American Cinematheque – the recipients of the grant, and masterminds of the theater’s first major renovation in 1996 – the Egyptian has held a special place in the past, present, and future of Hollywood film culture since its construction in 1922 by film exhibition (and cultural appropriation) impresario Sid Grauman. While Grauman’s Chinese Theater would go on to secure higher iconography in the pantheon of movie palaces and cemented handprints, the Egyptian arguably influenced the practices of the Hollywood hype machine more integrally and with more longevity; after all, it hosted the first ever movie premiere in history, for Allan Dwan's Robin Hood starring Douglas Fairbanks.
Which is all to say, where we see movies matters. Whether it’s a packed AMC with the comfiest seats and strongest air conditioning, a local independent theater with roots in the community, or a trusted repertory house with a taste-expanding slate, the environment in which we watch has the capacity to add a special new flavor to your filmgoing experience.
Do you have a favorite theater around where you live that makes you feel warm and fuzzy when the lights dim? Personally, The Neon in Dayton, Ohio makes me as bubbly inside as one of their homemade Italian sodas.
Reader Comments (14)
This is a cool question-i love the personalities that theaters acrue. I know in the Twin Cities, the Trylon, Uptown, and Riverview are the most beloved, but I think for me it's the Edina Landmark. Quiet, beautiful marquee with streetlights that feel like the set of an old Lizabeth Scott movie, and the popcorn is strong (a great selling point) while the patrons are all clearly film lovers. Plus, they get a nice balance of Emglidh-language and foreign language art house.
My local and favourite cinema is the Cameo in Edinburgh. It recently celebrated it's 100th birthday and conserves a lot of its old charm, with a massive main screen (velvet curtain included, it feels like a small Broadway theatre) and a lovely bar/café/ They also tend to have good programmes, with indies, good mainstream and classic projections.
My one real life interaction with Nathaniel was at this theater in 2014. He was in line waiting for a Q&A session for Birdman. The Cinerama Dome is my favorite LA movie palace.
Daniel I didn't know you're from Dayton! The Neon was a second home in college for me! This world is a tiny place
Local theatres are my pride and joy. Gateway Film Center sustains and fulfills my soul LOL
The Egyptian is my favorite rep theater in LA, and I love how much attention it's been getting lately! Between this grant and the Film Foundation/UCLA effort to renovate the projection booth so it can show nitrate, the Egyptian is just getting better and better
Side note. I really hope some of that HFPA money is used to fix the lighting in the balcony. It's so dark up there that I've almost fallen down the stairs (and over the railing to my death) twice.
Anne Marie, are you sure it was only because of the lighting? ;-)
My favorite NYC theaters are long gone- the Lowes Astor Plaza and the glorious Zigfield. Just to think that once upon a time we did have to pay extra to see a movie on big screen
Liked this post--steeped in nostalgia, so Cinema Paradiso-y. I developed my early enjoyment of all things B&W at The Ken in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego, and including my first midnight showing of Rocky Horror. There used to be another cool old theater in Horton Plaza downtown, but probably torn down to make way for the hipster area that's there now. Currently love the Coolidge, the Somerville, and the Loring (esp the balcony) in the Boston area.
For a real retro summer movie feel, the Wellfleet Drive-In is still operating on Cape Cod.
I was just at The Egyptian a few months ago for a screening of Thirteen, with a discussion afterwards with Catherine Hardwicke. It's a cool theater, so that's good news.
My favourite theatre closed many moons ago. It was the local cinema in my home town of Cowra - 'The Savoy'. My grandmother worked as an usher there when my Mum was growing up. Mum used to get into the movies for free. They used to hold rock concerts there as well when my mum was a teenager.
The Savoy was my favourite place when I was a teenager. My friends and I used to sit in the same seats every time, on the right hand side at the back of the cinema. Those seats were right above the candy bar, so we we would get a pleasant waft of hot popcorn coming through the floorboards, but is wasn't overpowering. On Tuesdays, tickets were only $5! That was circa 1996, so twenty years ago.
The cinema closed a little over 10 years ago. It had become too costly to run in a small town. It hurts every time I go home and see it there, virtually abandoned.
I actually live opposite a 5 cinema complex at the moment in a much bigger town. The movies I want to see are rarely showing there, and it has none of the charm of The Savoy, but it's better than nothing!
It would be cool if someone donated money to me for repairs. The prices are just terrible.
You are right about this, of course. I recently finished my renovation and I can say that it is really expensive. Especially the purchase of building materials. And this is despite the fact that I found MGN builders merchants https://www.mgnbm.co.uk/ where the prices are competitive and really lower than in other online stores. In general, if you plan to do repairs, prepare a large budget.
I'm fascinated by Egyptian design and want to incorporate it into my home decor, particularly through tiles. Could you suggest where I can find Egyptian-themed tiles and perhaps a professional tile installer experienced in this style?
Interesting choice. It's not really my thing, but I've seen a couple examples of this style of tile and it looks impressive. When you're looking for tile installation specialists don't forget to check out this site, click here . This is the website of a company of tile installers who have incredible experience in this business and are able to take on even the most difficult project. They are definitely second to none when it comes to quality tile installation. You're welcome.