Author: Katy Dhanens
Last week marked the end of The Egyptian Theater’s popular 11th Annual Noir Festival, which featured classic films, many of which are not on DVD, starring actors Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Ray Milland, Tony Curtis, Dana Andrews, Alan Ladd, and many others.
After initially mistaking the small entrance of the Pig’n’Whistle restaurant for the Egyptian, we realized that the famous theater was actually next to the restaurant. Its famous forecourt is decorated with hieroglyphics and pillars–remnants of a time when, after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, America was enamored with Egypt. The decorations are so kitsch that they have become cool. Although time has worn away much of the Egyptian Theater’s past glamour, it still retains a sense of retro Hollywood. Todd S. Perdum of the New York Times said, “To stand in the old forecourt of Grauman’s Egyptian Theater is to sense for a moment how it was when Hollywood began. This is where flashbulbs first popped and fans turned out for the quintessential Hollywood invention, the celebrity-studded gala premiere.”
The theater’s wide spectrum of films spans many genres and decades, upholding the art of cinema to ensure that great films, stars, and directors will not be forgotten. In addition to its Film Noir Festival, April at the Egyptian included a series on Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s erotic films, a series of films featuring French composers, and an Orson Welles Retrospective. Upcoming April features include “In the Realm of Oshima: The Films of a Japanese Master” from April 23-26 and many one-day-only events. Featured filmmaker Nagisa Oshimas has been called “the greatest living Japanese Filmmaker” and has directed films such as In the Realm of the Senses, Empire of Passion, Cruel Story of Youth, Violence at Noon, Pleasures of the Flesh, Diary of a Shinjuku Thief, and others. The Egyptian also perpetually screens Forever Hollywood, a film shown exclusively at the Egyptian that chronicles Hollywood’s development through the decades with over 400 images from archives and feature films.
Since 1992, the Egyptian has been home to the American Cinematheque, a non-profit, viewer-supported cultural organization created in 1981 to celebrate the art form of the moving picture, ensuring its availability for public presentation and continued success. According to the organization’s website, it “presents the best of film and video – ranging from the classics to the outer frontiers of the art form.” The American Cinematheque centers on making a wide selection of film available to the widest possible spectrum of viewers.
Both the Aero Theater in Santa Monica and the Egyptian in Hollywood provide the American Cinematheque with locations for year-round screenings and it is through the organization that the Egyptian has put on a variety of films and film festivals. The theater is innovative in its goal of showing new independent and innovative films on its Alternative Screen while also reviving older classic films.
Over the years, The Egyptian has witnessed many changes in Hollywood’s demographics and culture. It was built at a time when Hollywood’s population was just starting to burgeon and the city was transitioning from an agriculture-based economy to one dependent on businesses and high-class residences. Today the population has grown to 210,777 people, according to a 2000 census and the Hollywood Boulevard of today bears little resemblance to the boulevard on which the Egyptian was erected. The theater has become a historical landmark and emblem of old Hollywood culture, hosting numerous premieres throughout its fabled history, including My Fair Lady (1964) and Funny Girl (1968).
In 1983, Mike Hughes of Hollywood Studio Magazine, wrote that the Egyptian is “a survivor of the decay that unfortunately characterizes the Hollywood Boulevard of today [and] is a reminder of the glamour that once made the Boulevard famous.”
Today, it is both a historical landmark that attracts Los Angeles tourists and a cultural resource of cinema history and innovation. Its unique film festivals and feature films reflect the Hollywood culture of creativity that is often obscured by the gaudy degradation of Hollywood Boulevard.
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