The Million Dollar Theatre pages: history | vintage exterior views | recent exterior views | ticket lobbies | lobbies and lounges | vintage auditorium views | recent auditorium views | booth | stage | orchestra pit | basement areas |
Ticket lobby #1 - in front of the entrance:
A drawing of the west end of the open air barrel-vaulted ticket lobby. Below are the entrance doors of the theatre. The doors were later moved closer to the street and a dropped ceiling added that conceals the vault and its murals. Note the strange creature painted on the concrete wall above the entrance doors. See a recent photo of that figure.
Thanks to L.A.'s preeminent theatre historian Ed Kelsey for this item from his collection. It appeared in the September 1919 issue of Popular Mechanics. The caption read: "Cost was Not Considered When It was Decided to Make This Theater a Place of Beauty. The Elaborate Carved Wood Decorations Seen Here Adorn the Wall over the Doors in the Lobby."
Looking into the ticket lobby from across the street. Above the chandeliers we can see the mural of the winged figure painted on the west wall. Below are the arched painted areas above the entrance doors. It's a detail from an opening night photo from the Tom B'hend and Preston Kaufmann Collection,
part of the AMPAS Margaret Herrick Digital Library.
A drawing of William Lee Woollett's "King of the Golden River" mural on the south side of the ticket lobby. It appeared with an article by Jo Neely in The Graphic entitled "A Dream Come True," reprinted in the May 1918 issue of Architect and Engineer of California. It's on Internet Archive. Also see a drawing from the issue of a mural for the house right lobby stairs.
A look in toward the boxoffice in 1923, several years after it had been reconfigured and passages were added in front and behind it to connect with the added ticket lobby #2, off to the left. Many thanks to Eric Lynxwiler for sharing this photo from his
collection. And also a shout-out to Michelle Gerdes for passing it
along.
A detail from Eric's 1923 photo. The entrance doors are at the far right.
Thanks to Ed Kelsey for this later look at the ticket lobby. In the display cases are posters for "The Frozen Ghost," a June 1945 release. An island boxoffice had been installed around 1930. Here there's no sign of the earlier boxoffice that been on the left.
Another look toward the entrance doors when they were still in their original location. The 1945 photo from the Ed Kelsey collection appeared as part of a now-vanished 31 item photo gallery with "Touring Broadway's First Movie Palace," Adrian Glick Kudler's Curbed L.A. story about a 2013 LAHTF "all-about" tour of the building.
Looking toward Broadway in 1945 before the arch above the entrance got stuccoed, the ceiling lowered, and the entrance doors moved toward the street. Thanks to Ed Kelsey for this great photo from his collection. It's one that appeared with "Touring Broadway's First Movie Palace," the 2013 Curbed L.A. story.
A c.1983 look at the theatre's 40s vintage Skouras-style boxoffice boxoffice. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo, a post of his on the Photos of Los Angeles Facebook page.
The Million Dollar ready for action before a 2010 screening of "Strangers on a Train." Thanks to Don Solosan for his photo, one appearing in a 24th Annual Last Remaining Seats album on the L.A. Conservancy Facebook page.
A 2012 Stephen Russo photo taken before a LAHTF/UCLA Film Archives screening. It originally appeared on the LAHTF Facebook page.
Behind the south wall:
The south wall of the lobby as it's currently configured. The entrance doors were originally just this side of the stairs. Everything forward of the doors was part of the open-air ticket lobby. When the ticket lobby was expanded shortly after the opening there was an arch behind the boxoffice (about where the second poster from the left currently is) that led to ticket lobby #2, in an area originally intended for retail. There was also a passage between the two ticket lobbies closer to the street, in front of the boxoffice. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Off to the left beyond the stairs is the secret entrance to the corridor behind the furred-out lobby wall that leads to the ticket window, a remnant of the original boxoffice. In the passageway are remains of the original lobby wall surfaces, about two and a half feet behind the current wall position. In addition, there is flooring and other elements that were part of the two passages between the current lobby space and the added ticket lobby in the south bays. Scroll down this page for views of that ticket lobby #2.
In the south end of the inner lobby. The lit doorway heads downstairs to the men's room. The closed door beyond goes behind the south lobby wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Inside the doorway from the lobby. Note the marble flooring. This area evidently was once an alcove of some sort off ticket lobby #2. The passage behind the south lobby wall is behind us. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016
From inside the door looking to the left, under the stairs to the balcony. In the center of the image that lit archway leads on to electric panels and the boxoffice. To the right of that table against the wall is an arch that used to be the entrance to this space when ticket lobby #2 was in use, the area that's now retail space. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Looking south to the arch that used to lead into what is now retail space. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Rotating 180 degrees from the previous photo, looking north toward the electrical panels. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Taking a right turn at the electrical panels and heading down the corridor toward Broadway to the ticket window. The marble on the floor indicates the area this side of the boxoffice where it was a passage between the two ticket lobby areas. Note the faux-travertine on the right -- it's a wall added c.1926 to fill the passage when the second ticket lobby was abandoned. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Through the first doorway looking at the original boxoffice door. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A closer look at the bit of 1918 molding seen in the previous shot. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
In the boxoffice. The current ticket window is on the left. Straight ahead are the remains of the window that was pointed toward Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A plaster medallion once around a ceiling light fixture in the area beyond the boxoffice. It's in a filled-in archway once leading to ticket lobby #2 in the south bays of the building. In the auditorium similar plasterwork surrounds light fixture boxes on the balcony soffit. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016
A detail of some of the original wall surface at the end of the passage, just below the area seen in the previous photo. We're looking toward Broadway, out what had been the ticket window facing that direction. Photo: Bill Counter - 2016
On the left, toward the current island boxoffice, is the furred-out wall. The wall section straight ahead is part of the post-opening expansion when ticket lobby #2 was created. The wall section at the right is a matching area installed c.1926 to seal off the passage in front of the boxoffice that led to ticket lobby #2 when that area was abandoned.
Looking back toward the electric panel area from the boxoffice. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Above the dropped ceiling:
Looking in from the entrance at the current dropped ceiling. The mirrored area where the ceiling drops down is where the entrance doors originally were. Everything this side of that was part of the vaulted open-air ticket lobby. The 40s vintage dome at the top of the photo is part of the dropped ceiling hiding the vault above. Photo: Wendell Benedetti - LAHTF Facebook page - 2017
The Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation is actively involved in the study and preservation of the vintage theatres in the Los Angeles area. The group frequently supports events and offers tours of the buildings. www.lahtf.org | group Facebook page | official FB page
In a room off the landing on the house left stairs that's part of the theatre offices. The hole in the wall is on the side of the ticket lobby's south wall mural, a work titled "The King of the Golden River." The door leads to a corridor behind the mural and pointing toward Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021 Also see a wider view of this room.
Through the door and heading down the corridor toward Broadway. On the left are electrical panels with the mural on the south wall of the ticket lobby behind the wall we see here. On the right, half-way down, is a plaster rosette that once looked out into ticket lobby #2, now retail space south of the theatre entrance. Note the open plywood door. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The plaster rosette, now closed in the center. Or perhaps it was never open. There's nothing interesting to look at on this side of it. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021. Also see a view showing the other side.
Stepping through the plywood door reveals this space behind the terracotta of the south side of the recess above the marquee. The hole straight ahead, perhaps once used for Freon lines from an AC unit, looks out onto the area above the marquee. At the left it's an opening through the east wall of the ticket lobby, created for access when the lobby ceiling was dropped in the 40s. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Stepping through the hole in the wall and looking right in a space parallel to Broadway. Just beyond that conduit on the right there's a door out onto the top of the marquee. On the left it's the back of the plaster above the inside of the entrance doors. That can below is for what had been a readerboard, now just with blank white plastic, visible when exiting the theatre. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
On the marquee looking back in above the lobby ceiling. The black can is the former readerboard above the entrance doors. Note the junction box in the center above that -- it's for the lobby clock. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Peeking out from a gap above the clock junction box that's above the entrance doors. The exit signs we see are actually reflections in mirrors from the exit doors directly below this location. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The arch in the east wall. Before the arch was plastered over during the renovations in the 1940s it was open to look out toward Broadway. The vertical members are wood. At the bottom one can see where the lower section was removed. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A view from on top of the dome. The wood finials in the arch acted as a filter for light coming in from
Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A wider view of the east wall. If the arch weren't plastered, we'd be looking at the upper floors of the Bradbury Building. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
From near the door going out onto the marquee we get a look around toward the mural on the north wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Looking at the middle of the mural from a bit farther around. On the left it's part of the 1940s vintage lobby ceiling dome. No idea what "Per 5000.F" is supposed to mean. The cans are for the transformers for the neon around the cove of the dome. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
"Sail On!, Sail On!, Sail On!" A view from about the same angle as the previous photo but from up higher to get the top of the mural. Thanks to Don Solosan for this 2009 photo taken for the LAHTF.
Don notes: "This would be on the right hand side as you entered the lobby from the street. One of the reasons this one looks so good is that it incorporates gold leaf and gold paint that don't tarnish over time. Note the layers of illusion: just as the walls and ceiling below are false, this is also a fake plaster ceiling. The holes punched through it allow the wires holding up the suspended ceiling to attach to the real ceiling several feet above."
It's unknown what architect and mural designer William Lee Woollett's inspiration was for the maidens with the seahorse tails. Steve Gerdes notes that the "Sail on!
Sail on! Sail on!" title we see may refer to a hymn written in 1908 by Charles H. Gabriel. The site Hymnary has a page about it. Verse one: "Upon a wide and stormy sea, Thou'rt
sailing to eternity, And thy great Admiral orders thee: 'Sail on! sail
on! sail on!'"
Mike Hume notes that several variants of the line occur in Joaquin Miller's poem "Columbus," written in 1900. One line is "Why, you shall say at break of day, 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on.'" The text is on the site CommonLit. Mike also observed that the masthead of the L.A. Times in 1922 featured ships and the line "Sail on, sail on, and on and on."
The ceiling above the north mural. That farthest left flashlight beam is spotting the ornament in the center where the chandelier was hung. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A wider view of the visible portion of the north wall mural. The lower half is hidden behind the furred-out lobby wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The "Sail On!" lady in the upper left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Her colleague in the upper right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Down a bit lower on the right. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A detail closer to center. Note the space between the mural and the 40s vintage lobby wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A look at the west end of the lobby. This mural, painted directly
on concrete, would have been above the entrance doors as you entered the theatre.
Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Hillsman Wright calls this creature "The Fire Maiden." It's unknown what the creature actually is or what inspired William Lee Woollett's design.
Another west wall view. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A detail of the center of the figure. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
It appears that the creature has one arm reaching forward, another back
on a hip. And the head appears rather reptilian. Are those wings
extending horizontally? Mike Hume has another idea: "It looks to me like
a pleading beastie in the center with ornamental stone lintels at
either side. Is the beastie perhaps chained-up to the left side? Who's
he pleading to? What's on the end of his face, is it a snout?"
A detail of the far right "wing" of the creature. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The southwest corner of the space. On the left it's a bit of the mural on the south wall titled "The King of the Golden River." Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Architect William Lee Woollett's inspiration for this mural (and some of the other decorative work in the theatre) was "The King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers: A Legend of
Stiria." It's a Victorian fairy tale written in 1841 by John Ruskin for
12 year old Effie Gray, who later became his wife. For more on Ruskin's epic saga see the Wikipedia article and many items linked on Google. There appears to be no connection between this story and the design of the other two murals in this space.
Looking along the south wall mural toward Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The portion of the mural titled "The King of the Golden River" that's visible above the dropped ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The upper part of the mural on the south wall. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A closer look at the damaged area in the upper left. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
A look across the "King of the Golden River" mural from a bit closer to Broadway. Here somewhat more of the upper part of the mural was still in place. Photo: Don Solosan - LAHTF - 2009. He comments:
"This would be on the left hand side as you entered the
lobby from the street. There is a gap between this wall and the false
wall holding the portraits of the Mexican performers, and the mural
extends down to the floor. This one has been damaged, but is
restorable."
A view across the middle of the mural. The hole through the wall heads to a room in the suite of theatre offices. The corridor allowing access to this space runs behind the mural. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The area where the mural meets the current plaster ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
Looking across the top of the dome to the south wall. Photo: Son Solosan - LAHTF - 2009. Thanks, Don!
Peeking around to the south wall from down a level lower. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The center of the ceiling. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
The ornament where the chandelier had once hung. Photo: Bill Counter - 2021
For a fine video tour of this area see Haeyong Moon's 2009 "Million Dollar Theater: The Hidden Layers." It's on YouTube: Part 1 of the series is largely filmed out on top of the marquee. Part 2 and Part 3
take you on a tour up above the current dropped ceiling in the lobby
with former LAHTF executive director Hillsman Wright. News of
Haeyong's newest work (and that of other artists) appears on www.norestudio.com.
The ticket window you see straight ahead is the one accessed by the winding passageway via a doorway under the south set of lobby stairs. It goes between the original south wall of the ticket lobby and the current furred-out wall.
Ticket lobby #2 - south of the theatre entrance:
A great 1919 look at the south bays when they were open as a ticket lobby. On the plans the space appears as "retail" but the two bays were grabbed by Grauman and Wollett in a move after the theatre's opening opening to create an expanded ticket lobby. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for finding the photo, a post of his on the Facebook page Photos of Los Angeles.
Note all the elaborate work inside the rather plain pilasters that was added when the area was made into the ticket lobby. The large terracotta pieces part way up the arches still remain, but other work (such as the spiral-fluted columns inside the arches) has now been stripped out. Inside the right arch there's a bit of the balcony and its railing that's still in the space.
The south ticket lobby got open sometime in early 1919. The two latest photos extant that show the bays still open are from 1925. By 1927 the space was converted to retail use and the original boxoffice, once with three windows, was down to two. Later an island boxoffice was installed directly in front of the entrance doors.
A detail from an early view from the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The south bays are not yet finished. Note that the large terracotta elements in the south bays have not yet been added nor the arches made more elaborate by adding the spiral columns.
The Huntington Library has a high resolution version of a photo from a similar time period with the "For Rent" sign still up. On the marquee in the Huntington photo is "Fedora" with Pauline Frederick, an August 4, 1918 release.
An early postcard view showing the south bays still closed off. Thanks to Brooklyn-based theatre historian Cezar Del Valle for sharing the card from his collection. Another version of the card is in
the collection of Michelle Gerdes, appearing on Facebook and in a Flickr album. There's also a version in the collection of Loyola Marymount University with a 1922 postmark that was spotted by Yasmin Elming.
A later view with more of the south bay windows filled in but no storefronts. Perhaps waiting for a tenant. It's a detail from a Los Angeles Public Library photo. The Library's caption for the photo says: "Showing at the theater is a film with William S. Hart, 'Shark Control,' and a comedy by Sennett." Perhaps the marquee actually read "Shark Monroe" which was a William S. Hart film released June 30, 1918.
A February or March 1919 view showing the ticket lobby open for business. It's a detail from a photo by C. Haven Bishop in the Huntington Library collection. Thanks to Wendell Benedetti for posting his enhanced version of the image on the LAHTF Facebook page.
The theatre is running "The Girl Dodger" with Charles Ray and Doris May, a film the Times reviewed February 25 after seeing it at the theatre. The Huntington puts a May 1919 date on the photo.
A May 1919 photo from the Michelle Gerdes collection with a fine view of the south ticket lobby. Michelle notes that the photo comes from photographer Tom Zimmerman. "Eyes of the Soul" was reviewed in the Times by Edwin Schallert on May 6.
A view into the bay just south of the theatre's entrance. Note the multi-sided boxoffice at right, parts of which are still in the wall between this space and the theatre entrance as currently configured. The decorative window above the boxoffice still remains as does the balcony at center beyond the chandelier.
Thanks to Ed Kelsey for sharing the photo from his collection, one that appeared in the September 1919 issue of Popular Mechanics. The photo's caption read: "A look into the Lobby: Probably the Decorations in This Western Playhouse Are More Elaborate Than Anything of the Kind Ever Before Attempted. The Chandelier Shown Here is of Carved Wood."
It's 1920 and the Million Dollar is running the February release "On With The Dance" starring Mae Murray and David Powell. Over on the left we get a peek at the expanded ticket lobby. The image appeared as part of a theatre slideshow on the now-vanished site AllyQuest.com. She credited it as being from the 2008 Arcadia publishing book "Theatres in Los Angeles" by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck Hall and Marc Wanamaker. The photo, appearing on page 24, is from Mr. Wanamaker's Bison Archives. There's a preview of the book to browse on Google Books.
The front of the Million Dollar for the 1920 run of "Fighting Chance" and Harold Lloyd's "High and Dizzy." Thanks to Charmaine Zoe for including the photo in her Vintage Cinemas: California Flickr album of treasures from various trade magazines. Also see another "High and Dizzy" photo that Kurt Wahlner found on eBay.
The photo caption: "Sid Grauman's introduced some novel exploitation for "High and Dizzy" when he played this picture at Grauman's theatre, Los Angeles, recently. A photograph fifteen feet in
height, nicely framed, was placed over the lobby entrance, as shown in the above cut, giving Lloyd some personal billing seldom accorded to any star at the 'Million Dollar Cinema Temple.'"
A detail of the ticket lobby in the south bays from the "Fighting Chance"/ "High and Dizzy" photo.
The ticket lobby in 1925 during the run of Erich Von Stroheim's "The Merry Widow" with John Gilbert, an August release. Note the new taller streetlights and letters strung across Broadway. It's a detail from a photo in the California State Library collection, their item #001377963. By this time Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount was operating the theatre. Grauman had sold his share in the downtown theatres in 1923.
A later 1925 view with the south bays still in use as a ticket lobby. It's a detail from a photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. The theatre is running Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" which had its premiere engagement at the Egyptian in June 1925 and didn't make it downtown until later that year.
A 1927 look at the theatre with the two south bays filled in and used for retail. It's a photo discovered on eBay by theatre detective Michelle Gerdes. Playing is "The Magic Flame" with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky. Note that the vertical has been re-done to read "Million Dollar" instead of "Grauman's. Noirish Los Angeles contributor Ethereal Reality has the photo and the program for the engagement on his Noirish post #17525.
A view of the front in 1931. Note the great new marquee and our first look at the island boxoffice installed in front of the theatre's entrance. It's a detail from a Dick Whittington Studio photo in the USC Digital Library collection.
The two bays south of the theatre entrance that used to be ticket lobby #2. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012
A detail of the terra cotta over one of the the south bay entrances. Question: Why is this terra cotta not cream colored like all the other work on the exterior? Photo: Bill Counter - 2012
Inside the former ticket lobby space. At the time of the photo it was being used as an optometrist's office. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012
The balcony on the left presumably was open to a mezzanine lounge area -- currently the space is used as theatre offices. It's reached via the landing half way up the south lobby stairs. Behind the arch at the right is the theatre entrance and boxoffice.
Looking out from the bay next to the current theatre entrance. Photo: Bill Counter - 2012
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These photos and your essay is fantastic. Thank you
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