On this day in 1927, Cecil B. De Mille’s The King of Kings opened in Hollywood, the first film shown at the new Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. Some 100,000 fans swamped the theater, clamoring to see Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who spoke at the opening. The theater, named for its Asian-influenced dÝcor, soon became famous for its sidewalk, where more than 180 film stars placed their hand, foot, or paw prints in the cement during the next seven decades.Theater owner Sidney Patrick Grauman had opened his first theater in the Yukon in the late 1890s. In the early 1900s, he opened theaters in San Francisco and New York, and in 1918 opened his first Los Angeles theater, the Million Dollar. He established several other theaters in L.A., including the Rialto and the Metropolitan, before he opened the Egyptian, his first theater on Hollywood Blvd., in 1922. The first movie shown at the Egyptian was Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn.
In 1927, Cecil B. De Mille’s film version of the life of Christ inaugurated the Chinese Theater, which became a Hollywood institution for decades. Purchased in 1970 by the Mann Theater chain, the theater was renamed Mann’s Chinese Theater. It remains a beacon to California tourists and film buffs.
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