Sid Grauman’s original movie palace, opened downtown in 1918 – years before Grauman’s Chinese, El Capitan and the Egyptian moved the movie industry’s commercial epicenter to Hollywood

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 20, 1978

Years before Sid Grauman & Charles Toberman developed Hollywood Blvd. into the glistening commercial center of the movie industry with the Egyptian, El Capitan & Chinese Theatre, Grauman built his first theater on the corner of Broadway & 3rd downtown, on the bottom floor of a 12-story tower. It sits right across from The Bradbury Building, one of the most iconic buildings in America. But the Million Dollar holds its own in terms of historical importance. 

The Million Dollar opened on February 1, 1918 with the star-studded premiere of the western silent film The Silent Man, complete with orchestra, and ushered in a new era of grandeur for movie theaters. There were plenty of elaborate theaters intended for vaudeville, stage plays & concerts, including a number of halls just down the street on Broadway. This was the first in LA that put film-going on an equal footing to the other arts – a proper “movie palace,” with a max capacity of 2,345. 

The Million Dollar was an engineering marvel, too. A structural steel shortage during WWI meant that engineers had to reinforce its balcony with a reinforced concrete girder – the world’s first. Before the theater received permits to open, it had to pass a stress test that loaded 1.5 million pounds of sandbags onto the balcony. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the ornate details on the facade, sculpted by Jo Mora, a CA-based artist with one of those colorful lives for which the term “Renaissance Man” was invented (e.g. his work was adapted for The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo album cover).

The Million Dollar’s story doesn’t end with the movies. In the ‘40s jazz acts like Billie Holiday & Nat King Cole played there. And when Frank Fouce bought it in 1949, he transformed it into the epicenter of Spanish-language entertainment. Countless Latinx actors, comedians and musicians performed in the variedades there, and it hosted Mexican film premieres too. 

After a period as a Spanish-language church, the Million Dollar closed in 2006 for a spell. It’s now available for one-off screenings and film shoots…maybe yours?

Recommended Reading

+Million Dollar Theater @ NRHP website

+Insanely comprehensive history of the Million Dollar including early photos, original construction plans and vintage posters (Los Angeles Theatres blog)

+3-part video tour of the Million Dollar (part 1, part 2 and part 3) from the LA Historic Theatre Foundation

+Million Dollar @ LA Conservancy website