The legendary Egyptian Theatre, which opened its doors in 1922, is back as a major venue for the TCM Film Festival. Recently renovated by Netflix, the theatre is able to show 35mm, 70mm, digital formats, and nitrate prints. The TCM website recently announced that they were screening Annie Get Your Gun (1950) in a 35mm nitrate print. The Egyptian is the only festival venue that can show nitrate films. Seeing this classic on the big screen at the Egyptian should be a festival highlight.
The Egyptian Theatre changed the way movies were shown in Hollywood (and around the world) presenting the first Hollywood premieres. The red carpet—a staple of all major movie premieres and award shows—made its debut at this fabled venue.
The theatre was built by Sid Grauman and real estate
developer Charles E. Toberman, who went on to build two other legendary
theatres, the El Capitan and the Chinese Theatre. The Egyptian cost $800,000 to
build and took 18 months to complete.
Douglas Fairbanks in
Robin Hood was the first-ever Hollywood premiere presented at the Egyptian
on Wednesday, October 18, 1922. Premiere night tickets cost $5, an
extraordinary amount in 1922. Regular admission to the theatre was between $.75
and $1.50.
The TCM Film Festival will be held in Los Angeles, CA, April
18-21, 2024.
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