Los Angeles Theatres: Grauman's Chinese: the basement lounges

A plan of the basement lounges, located under the lobby. It's a detail from a plan in the Huntington Library collection. Also see the full basement drawing. Note that some of the men's smoking room is now walled off. And how about "Lounge No. 2" over on the ladies side? Perhaps that was originally a nursery. There was a huge increase in the number of toilets and urinals compared to the Egyptian (1922). We won't even talk about the facilities at Grauman's Million Dollar (1918).

Somehow a number of Meyer & Holler drawings for the Chinese ended up in the Morgan Walls & Clements Archive at the Huntington. The basement plan is on their site as image #3869. The set is on ten pages of their site running from image #3864 to image #3873. Thanks to Mike Hume for locating these. Visit the page about the Chinese on his Historic Theatre Photography site as well as his Index to the MW&C Drawings. There's also an index by Mike Callahan on Internet Archive.

The ladies lounge:

The ladies lounge is in the basement house left. This view looking toward the toilet area shows off the carpet installed during the 2013 Imax renovations. Thanks to Cat Whalen for her photo, one of 30 in a TCL Chinese Theatre album on Facebook with views taken at the November 2019 "all-about" tour offered by the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation.

A lounge wall. Photo: Cat Whalen - 2019

A butterfly wall panel detail. Thanks to Claudia Mullins for her photo, one in a TCL Chinese Theatre Tour album on Facebook featuring 41 photos taken at the November 2019 LAHTF "all-about" tour.

A look in from the vestibule at the bottom of the stairs. No, the Chinese hadn't gone unisex. The group is inspecting the facilities during the 2012 LAHTF tour of the building. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Thanks to Elizabeth Daniels for this view back out toward the stairs, part of her fine 33 photo portfolio that appeared on Curbed L.A. in April 2013 with Adrian Glick Kudler's story: "Touring the Chinese Before it Closes For a Renovation." It's still online but the version now available is missing its photos.

Another lounge view with the earlier carpet. Photo: Elizabeth Daniels - Curbed L.A. - 2013

In the lounge with a peek into the red-tiled toilet area. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

Looking back into the lounge from the toilet area. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

The ladies toilet room at the Chinese -- no longer a vintage look in this part of the theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012

A view of the ladies lounge area before the toilet area upgrades of 2001. Thanks to Stephen Stanton for his 1981 photo.

The men's lounge:

The men's lounge is in the basement house right. Here we're in the east side foyer looking toward the house right wall of the theatre. The stairs down are essentially at the head of the house right aisle. Here in the photo we see a bit of the doorway on the far right. It's an Elizabeth Daniels photo that had appeared with the 2013 Curbed L.A. story "Touring the Chinese Before it Closes For a Renovation."

A closer look at the top of the stairs. Photo: Elizabeth Daniels - Curbed L.A. - 2013

The door straight ahead gets you up to the booth and private boxes as well as into the original boxoffice, now a Starline Tours kiosk. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

At the bottom of the stairs to the men's lounge. The dragon in the new carpet matches the pattern elsewhere in the theatre, such as in front of the curtain. Photo: Bill Counter - 2013

Thanks to Cristopher Crouch of Cinelog fame for this photo. He refers to this as "what may be the most famous cinema restroom in existence."

Los Angeles Theatres

Grauman's Chinese: the basement lounges

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