TCL Chinese Theatre

The TCL Chinese Theatre features a sweeping, curved roof supported by two massive red columns topped with wrought-iron masks. Sid Grauman opened this movie palace in nineteen twenty-seven, banking on the growing appetite for spectacle in Hollywood. During the premiere of The Sign of the Cross, actress Norma Talmadge accidentally stepped into wet cement in the forecourt. Grauman quickly realized the promotional potential, and he invited Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks to repeat the act, creating a tradition that continues today.