When you go to the movies these days, you buy a ticket, maybe get some popcorn, and then you go find a seat. But back in 1931, when the Los Angeles Theatre opened at 615 S. Broadway, downtown L.A., a night at the movies was more than just catching the latest Charlie Chaplin flick. In this photo we’re seeing the walnut-paneled basement lounge, where you could go for some refined socializing before or after the show. Or during it. One report I read said that there was a periscope-like system of prisms that relayed the film, allowing patrons to watch the film on a secondary screen. There was also a ballroom, a smoking room, a ladies’ lounge with sixteen private compartments, each finished in a different marble, and a soundproof “crying room” where parents could escape with crying children so as to not spoil the show for their fellow moviegoers. Now that’s what I call civilized.