Decades may pass, styles of filmmaking may change, but the architecture of the Hollywood premiere/awards show remains the same. The stars get out of cars, stand on ‘the carpet’ to be admired and photographed, then go inside. That’s about it. Yesterday I posted the 1953 version of a premiere. Above is a batch of raw footage from the early 1930s sans sound, covering what appears to be several different premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. I won’t give you the roll-call of ancient celebrities who are seen–the nice YouTube poster who put this up handles that. I will tell you that Marlene Dietrich appears to be pissed off at being there and, at five minutes in, there’s a line of sailors just like there were in yesterday’s post. Was inviting sailors to a Hollywood premiere a form of charity that was practiced over the years? By the way, the clip underneath the premiere footage is Rodgers and Hart’s great early thirties number ‘Hollywood Party’ as sung by the great Frances Williams. Play the song while watching the clip for maximum enjoyment. (You’ll have to loop it three times to cover the footage’s length).Also note that at the end of the reel we’re suddenly on a the set of what appears to be a western, with shots of the camera crew smiling in the hot afternoon sun. This suggests that whoever shot this premiere footage had a little ‘roll-out’ left at the end of the mag and schlepped it to the location he was working at the next day. Or something like that.