Pop Culture

DeKalb’s Historic Egyptian Theatre: A Pharaoh-Inspired Space Gets a Lively Afterlife

Posted on: March 18th, 2013 by Gwendolyn Purdom 5 Comments

(l.) Dekalb's Egyptian Theatre in 1938; (r.) its restored facade today.

For decades, when the people of DeKalb, Ill., have spent an evening out at the movies, or attended a concert or other event, they’ve done so under the watchful eye of Ramses II.

The Egyptian pharaoh, who reigned from 1279 to 1213 BC, served as inspiration to architect Elmer F. Behrns when he designed the northern Illinois community’s downtown landmark, the historic Egyptian Theatre, in 1929. Behrns channeled the ancient ruler as he envisioned a temple-like entrance flanked by two pharaoh sculptures, an elaborate sacred scarab beetle-centered stained glass window, and a colorful tiled lobby floor.

At the time, Egyptian architecture was a nationwide craze set off by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922. Today, DeKalb’s Egyptian is one of few left standing. But standing it is, and even 84 years after it was built, the regal structure is still drawing loyal crowds.... Read More →

Gwendolyn Purdom

Gwendolyn Purdom is an associate editor at Preservation magazine. A Chicago native, Gwendolyn is passionate about the people and stories behind historic places – the quirkier the better.

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Peery’s Egyptian Theater: A Utah Theater Goes From Shutdown to Sundance

Posted on: March 11th, 2013 by David Robert Weible 6 Comments

Third in our series on Egyptian movie theaters around the country.

Opening of the movie "Duel In the Sun," 1946, at Peery's Egyptian Theater.

From small towns on the plains, to inner-city neighborhoods on the coasts, theaters used to be at the center of nearly every American community, right along with the local hardware store and maybe a deli or family-owned grocery. But as indoor shopping malls and multiplexes grew in popularity from the 1970s on, traditional central business districts lost their luster and their patrons.

The script is the same nearly everywhere, and for a while, it looked like Peery’s Egyptian Theater in Ogden, Utah was going to play its part.... Read More →

David Robert Weible

David Robert Weible is an assistant editor at Preservation magazine. He came to DC from Cleveland, Ohio, where he wrote for Sailing World and Outside magazines.

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Boise’s Egyptian Theatre: An Updated Artifact Keeps Historic Downtown Vibrant

Posted on: March 4th, 2013 by Katherine Flynn 1 Comment

Second in our series on Egyptian movie theaters around the country.

The exterior of Boise’s Egyptian Theatre, which has been restored and maintained to look similar to when it was built in 1927.

After Earl Hardy signed the contract to purchase the Egyptian Theatre in Boise, Idaho in 1977, his daughter Kay reports that the first thing he did was return to the office the two shared and say, “I must be crazy.”

The movie theater, built in 1927 in the Egyptian Revival architectural style popularized by the 1922 discovery of King Tut’s tomb, had long been a mainstay of downtown Boise. In 1974 the theater, which was owned by the Oppenheimer-Falk Realty Company at the time, was sold to the Boise Redevelopment Agency. The agency, backed by money from federally-funded urban renewal programs, was pushing to develop an eight-block space in the heart of downtown into an inward-facing shopping mall.

“Four blocks of downtown Boise had been completely leveled,” recalls Kay Hardy, who was working with her father at the time. “We had an urban renewal agency, and a mayor who wanted this downtown mall built. The cost was leveling the town I grew up in.”... Read More →

Katherine Flynn

Katherine Flynn is an editorial assistant at Preservation magazine. Her work has appeared online at the Washington Post and in Consequence of Sound, a music and culture blog.

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Movie History Gets Top Billing at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles

Posted on: February 25th, 2013 by Lauren Walser

View of large crowd outside the Egyptian Theatre for a visit with silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford in 1922.

All eyes were on Hollywood Sunday night, as the biggest names in the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre for the 85th Academy Awards.

Among the stars lining Hollywood Boulevard, there was another celebrated icon a block away from the ceremony: the Egyptian Theater, a Tinseltown landmark since 1922.... Read More →

Lauren Walser

Lauren Walser is an assistant editor at Preservation magazine. She enjoys writing and thinking about history, art, architecture, and public space.

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Downton Abbey in America: San Francisco’s Haas-Lilienthal House

Posted on: February 20th, 2013 by Brian Turner 6 Comments

Alice and Samuel Lilienthal’s wedding, 1909

It makes perfect sense that I would first hear about Downton Abbey from a 20-something visitor to the Haas-Lilienthal House last fall. (Forgive me for being out of the loop so long). PBS’s now top-rated show of all time has predictably created a national fascination with Victoriana.

Now, the National Trust’s work to secure a bright future for the National Treasure-listed House -- along with partner San Francisco Architectural Heritage -- has benefited from the hype, offering tangible proof that the era’s customs, extravagance, and strict social hierarchy extended all the way from the British Isles to the Pacific coast.

So for all of you who have caught the Downton bug, and with sincere apologies to those of you who have not, below is an introduction to the players in Haas-Lilienthal House’s real-life historic drama as compared to the characters in the show that has caught the country by storm.... Read More →

Brian Turner

Brian Turner is Senior Field Officer/Attorney in the San Francisco Field Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He considers himself a passionate enthusiast for wilderness, the environment, and cultural heritage preservation.