Million Dollar Theater

The Million Dollar Theater on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, opened in February 1918, is one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. It is the northernmost of the collection of historical movie palaces on Broadway and stands directly across from the landmark Bradbury Building.

The Million Dollar was the first movie house built by entrepreneur Sid Grauman, who was later responsible for the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theater when the popular entertainment district shifted from downtown Los Angeles to Hollywood in the mid-1920s, a shift Grauman himself was partly responsible for. Sculptor Joseph Mora did the elaborate and surprising exterior ornament, including bursts of lavish Churrigueresque decoration, multiple statues, longhorn skulls and other odd features. The auditorium architect was William L. Woollett, and the designer of the twelve-story tower was Los Angeles architect Albert C. Martin. The office building long housed the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.