Mann's Chinese Theater

We were there in 1999, staying at the nearby Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (also worth a visit BTW, if only just to stroll through and take a few photos…it was where the first Academy Awards were held). Anyway, since it was right there we just had to stroll over and check this place out, we spent a fun hour or so taking pictures, putting our hands where “so and so’s” hands once were, standing where “so and so” once stood. Look for the cast of Star Wars…R2D2’s “footprints” are classic.

The day we were there we just missed by a few hours seeing Susan Sarandon put her handprints in her square….we felt so sorry for the poor security guard who had to sit there literally watching the cement dry (to guard against vandalism I suppose).

Mann’s is right on the Hollywood Walk of Fame too…so if you’re up for the whole kitschy Hollywood experience, it’s all right here. A fun way to spend an hour or two. Don’t forget your camera!

to match your feet to the imprints of the stars. :)

Marilyn Monroe, my hands fit perfect! Her feet however, were about the size of my hands!

I loved telling my friends about how Marilyn Monroe put a diamond in the dot of the ‘i’ in her name, only to have it dug out and stolen by the next morning

You’d think a foot doctor would find this place interesting, and you would be right.

Well, I didn’t go inside of the Graumann’s chinese theatre, but I did get the courage to take my guitar and busk in front of it! yeah, for three hours I sang and played guitar near Elton John’s star on the Walk of Fame!

Made just enough for a cup of coffee, but that wasn’t the point…I just wanted the experience of what it would be like to perform in the Entertainment Capitol of the World…and now I know! Not giving up the day job, but not giving up street performing either! It’s a rush like no other…especially when folks stop to actually listen to your songs!

The theater is fantastic, and the characters dressed up outside the theater on any given day is really something everyone who visits Hollywood should just go and experience for the nostalgia. Most of them dress up and hang out just to make some extra money, but you don’t have to pay them – just go look at the, all, take pics, take the little ones too! It’s a real part of what makes Hollywood, Hollywood – and can be good fun for any age.

If you have a chance to see a film here, do it. You’ll remember it for the rest of your life, and everytime you see it in another movie, you’ll have those dumb, gooey nostalgic feelings that make you go “Hey! I’ve been there!”

Putting your hands in the cement molds is even more ignorant, childish fun, but it’s irreplacable childish fun, so if you aren’t too proud to get yourself a fun little memory, go do that too & get some photo’s of yourself doing it.

When I lived in LA i went often and it is a big part of the great memories I have. Then again, a lot of other things Hollywood has to offer are a big part of the experience, so don’t stop after you’ve gone here! You must also have a PINKS hot dog after a night of clubbing! (But leave the club a tad early because they will close up shop at closing time, even if there are 30 people in line – and there often are) :)

And no it does not smell like urine and bums, reminding you of nothing but broken dreams. Well, unless you’re a miserable person who can’t find magic or some kind of amusement in anything. There are homeless people in the area, yes – but they are forbidden from loitering around this and Hollywood Blvd (and it’s constantly enforced) so if you see a bum – he’s usually walking around minding his own beeswax.

I have been to the Chinese theatre, but i have yet to go inside of it and see a movie there, which is my real goal. the outside of it is def cool tho.

To get closer to Hollywood history, check out the Lasky-DeMille Barn (also in Hollywood, a short drive from here, open on weekends only) which has lots of rare museum and memorabilia pieces, and just across the street from Mann’s is the Roosevelt. The Roosevelt has an exhibit of pictures and info regarding classic Hollywood.

I saw the re-release of The Exorcist here!