BACKSTORY: From the Grauman’s website: The grand opening of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on May 18, 1927, was the most spectacular theatre opening in motion picture history. The film being premiered that night was Cecil B. DeMille's “The King of Kings.” The theatre opened to the public the following day, May 19, 1927. One afternoon in 1927, Grauman took actress Norma Talmadge to see the progress of his latest movie palace. She accidentally stepped into a block of newly poured cement, leaving her footprint. Grauman had a creative brainstorm and decided to keep the star’s footprint in the cement and had her add an inscription. Grauman never owned the theatre outright, but held a one-third interest with his partners, Howard Schenck, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Grauman sold his share to Fox West Coast Theatres in 1929 and was the Managing Director of the theatre until his death in 1950. The Grauman’s Chinese Theatre was declared a historic-cultural landmark in 1968.
