A flurry of excited emails arrived in my inbox yesterday, announcing that for the first time since 2019, the Egyptian Theatre will screen movies for the TCM Classic Film Festival.
This is welcome news for classic film fans, who have worried about the fate of the theatre since Netflix acquired the property in the spring of 2020. Corporate ownership of historic theaters has usually meant that massive overhauls to “modernize” the building are imminent, as corporations try to turn their investment into a profit-making endeavor.
To everyone’s surprise and delight, Netflix’s renovations have stayed in line with the character of Sid Grauman’s original theater, which opened in 1922 amid the Egyptian craze accompanying the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. The historic neon sign has been fixed, the hieroglyphics above the entrance have been restored, and the palm trees (dating from the 1990s American Cinematheque renovations) have been removed.
When Netflix bought the theater, Hollywood experts figured that this was an angle to qualify Netflix films for the Academy Awards–because Academy rules stipulate that nominated films have to be shown in theaters. But the deal is more complex than it seems on its face–while Netflix owns the theater and financed the renovations, it only has control over the programming on weekdays. During that time, it uses the theater for screenings and panels, and other industry special events. On the weekends, control reverts to the American Cinematheque, who uses it for repertory programming. The Egyptian is one of only a handful of cinemas in California that are still licensed to exhibit nitrate film stock, and the American Cinematheque is taking full advantage of this distinction. Their Nitrate Film Festival brought a full house to the Egyptian last weekend for 3 screenings of Rebecca (1940), and they hope to repeat the success with 3 more showings of Winchester ’73 (1950) and Spellbound (1945)–playing this weekend and next, respectively.
This is where the TCM Festival comes in. Partnering with the American Cinematheque (and possibly Netflix, depending on when screenings begin) over the weekend of April 18-21, the festival will be able to show 35mm, 70mm, and nitrate prints. TCM has confirmed that there will be at least one nitrate film shown at the Egyptian, a 35mm presentation of Annie Get Your Gun (1950), and a 70mm presentation of Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
More news here as it comes in, but until then, see you at the Egyptian!
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