But even a disaster of that magnitude couldn't stop Sid Grauman. A plan devising in his mind, he bought from a minister a big-top tent and enough pews to seat three thousand people. Only a few days after his theatres had been shaken to their foundations, Grauman was showing movies again. A huge banner proclaimed to moviegoers that there was "nothing to fall on you except canvas." Grauman's canvas theatre - where he showed movies for two years - drew 10,000 people a day.
In 1917, Sid Grauman and his father decided to sell the theatres they had built after the 1906 earthquake and move to Los Angeles. On February 18, 1918, the Graumans' first legendary theatre premiered. Originally an office building, the Million Dollar Theatre had been renovated and redesigned in a gothic/baroque style. The theatre sat 2,345 people and was the largest and most extravagent movie palace on the West Coast. Legends such as Cecil B. deMille, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks were in attendance opening night. The feature was the William S. Hart film "The Silent Man", which was shown following one of the famous Sid Grauman Prologues. These prologues were live song and dance shows that were built around and reflected the theme and mood of the film about to be shown. People went to Grauman's theatres as much for the Prologues as for the movies themselves.
