Charlie Chaplin in the gold rush - 1889 (1925)

GRAUMAN'S EGYPTIAN THEATRE By WALTER B. MACADAMS, Director of Ancient Arts THIS is an edifice whose design and decorative beauty reaches out from the great dim past and enthralls with its mystery, exhilarates with its bold symbol designs, creates a serene restfulness with its gorgeous soft color harmony, and grips the deepest interest by awaken- ing the realization of the life of the golden past it repre- sents, ages and ages old, and re.-ealed in the light of a newer day. The architecture of this theatre adheres strictly to the principles of the Ancient Egyptian, with the modifications necessary to adapt the building to its modern use. The fore-court entrance duplicates the pylons of the ancient palaces and the columns of the lobby are the lotus-bud columns of the architecture of the Pharoahs. At the entrance to the fore- court hang the checkered ban- ners of red, yellow and blue of the Temple of the Sun. on the masts of which, perch the golden hawks, symbols of Horus, the Sun God. Heirarchy of the Ages The pictorial reproductions on the east court wall, are the images in color of the Priestess of the Temple of 1 sis at Philae; an attendant priest of the God Osiris; the Goddess Nepthys, attendant of I sis, w ith headdress bearing the all-seeing eye, sym- b o 1 i c of the predominance of Truth and Good ; and Thoth, w ith the Ibis head, God of Arts, Science and letters. Next is Nefertari, a queen, the Ankh in her hand, the sign of Everlast- ing Life, and lastly, the young Sun God Horus, signifying by his attitude that he is the extoller or voice of the Gods known as Kheron. The fountain is presided over by duplicate images of the winged I sis and her Ka, or soul self. The great pic- torial panel of the west wall near the lobby contains re- productions from the Temple of Thothmes III, of the Haw k-Headed God, Sokaris, who was Ruler of the Land of the Departed, known as the fields of Ialu, teaching the young Pharoah to uphold the principles of the various in- signia of his standard. Also the Tapir-headed God, Set, of the underworld, instructs the young Pharoah in the arts of war, which is represented by the position of the figures in handling the bow and war arrow. The hieroglyphic inscriptions occupying the large space above the figures, make these foregoing explanations and give a few of the young Pharoah's titles, such as "Son of the Sun" and "The Reincarnation of Life Everlasting." The Court of Rameses II The east court, through the arch to the left of the box- office, is replete with interesting and beautiful symbols of antiquity. The long wall to the left chronicles the events in the life of Rameses II. First comes Rameses in his war-chariot, preceded by his mighty Man of Valor and accompanied by his pet lion, overhead the Vulture of Lower Egvpt, protector of Kings, wings its way. In front of them is the standard and royal insignia of Rameses bearing such hieroglyphic inscriptions as "Ramesu-AIerri- Am'en, Ramessu-Merri-Maat, Son of the Sun, etc. These figures are perfect reproductions enlarged to scale and in the work of reproducing them, every effort was made to adhere strictly to even the ancient methods of handling the brush, that all lines would perfectly duplicate the ancient artist of the Court of Rameses. Following these figures are the victorious soldiers of Ram- eses marching over the van- quished Asiatic enemy ; then the kneeling Hapi, God of the Nile, pouring out the blessings of life- giving libations in the Land of Kem, which is Egvpt. Thoth, God of Arts, Science and Letters, sometimes referred to as the Recorder God, is shown recording the life of R a m e s es and counting on the fronds of a palm stem the events in his life, etc. The Shrine of the Xile Next are seen captives of war in slavery under the Egyptian taskmasters. They are drag- ging a gigantic sphinx of black basalt to a temple of Rameses. A slave pours oil before the sled runners, another claps his hands to aid the slave gang in keep- ing step and pulling together. The Shrine of the Nile is the last picture here, and represents the Shrine at Biggeh, with the god, Hapi, in- side the cliff rocks, from whence the waters of the Nile were at that time supposed to come forth. Standing guard over this scene is the gigantic colored statue of the Jackal-headed god, Anubis, worshipped as the keeper of scales of justice, and weigher of the souls of the departed against the feather of truth to determine their elegibility of entering the nether-world. This scene, lit with many lanterns, backed by the moon- glow through the trees, presents an enchanted vista. Beneath the lofty portico supported by the massive lotus- bud columns, twenty doors of antique green-gold bronze, decorated with symbols of Isis and Orisis, open into the broad velvet carpeted lobby, extending in a semi-circle the full width of the theatre auditorium. Thru archies of antique masonry are located the ladies' lounge room, rest rooms and various offices. In the ladies' lounge room the bas-relief image in antique gold of the grimacing little household god, Bes, asserts his right as mirth creator. A DETAIL OF THF. EAST WALL