California Theatre – San Diego, CA

June 30, 2021 / Matt / Leave a comment

This post was originally posted on After the Final Curtain’s Patreon in April 2021. You can become a patron at: https://www.patreon.com/afterthefinalcurtain

Balcony of the California Theatre in San Diego

View of the auditorium from the balcony.

Once billed as “the cathedral of motion pictures” and “an enduring contribution to the artistic beauty of the entire Southland,” The California Theatre in San Diego, CA will be demolished. It could be said its destruction has been ongoing in the last 30 years due to inadequate maintenance. Southern California does not have harsh winters, but it gets rain, and when water comes into a building, it can do significant damage, especially if it’s full of ornamental plasterwork.

California Theatre Auditorium from the Stage

It was named the New California Theatre because there was already a California Theatre in San Diego in 1927. The original California changed its name to the Aztec in 1930, which allowed this one to drop the “new” from its name.

Architect John Paxton Perrine designed the 2,200-seat theater in Spanish Colonial Revival style. The building also housed several restaurants and a high-end department store, Bernard’s, which occupied the entire second floor. It began as a silent film and a Vaudeville theater, before turning to talkies in 1931. Eventually, ornate theater interiors went out of style, and the decorative plasterwork in California’s auditorium was covered by draperies during a remodel in 1963. The California stopped showing films in 1976, and became a performing arts center in 1978. Many famous bands performed at the theater during this time, including; A-HA, Poison, Pete Seeger, The Jerry Garcia Band, Donny Osmond, Jesus and Mary Chain, Melissa Etheridge, The Smithereens, Alice Cooper, Cowboy Junkies, Lou Reed, and Patti Smith.

The lobby of the California Theatre in San Diego

Joseph F Malloy, the theater’s original assistant manager, was shot and killed during a robbery on May 7, 1928.

Ariel Wharton (A.W.) Coggeshall, a San Diego-based businessman, bought the building in 1976. When he died in 1986, he left California to a group of non-profit organizations. The nonprofits formed a consortium called Fourth and C Corp. They were not interested in owning a 2,200-seat theater and planned to sell it to Hillman Properties, a Pittsburgh-based developer. Hillman planned to demolish the building and build a 34-story office complex. Fourth and C Corp gave the tenants of the office building, many of which were month-to-month, 30 days to leave in April 1990. Avalon Attractions, the company that managed the theater, was given until July 1990. The last performances were the Cowboy Junkies on June 20, 1990 and the Final Curtain Concert at the California Theatre, held by the Theatre Organ Society of San Diego on June 24, 1990.

The fire curtain and proscenium arch of the California Theatre in San Diego, CA

The feature presentation on opening night was “Venus of Venice,” a silent romantic comedy starring Constance Talmadge and Antonio Moreno. “Book Ideas,” a vaudeville show by Fanchon and Marco, and a performance by Al Lyons and his band rounded out the opening bill.

However, it wouldn’t be that easy to demolish the California, as it was a historic site grade three, which protected it from being demolished. Fourth and C Corp petitioned the San Diego City Council to change the designation to grade four, which would allow demolition as long as the historic features were recorded. They held a vote in February 1991 and voted 5-to-2 to change the listing. Hillman Properties abandoned the project in October 1991 due to the impact of the economic recession of 1990-1991. The building was bought and sold a few times in the 1990s and early 2000s, with plans for the theater ranging from a Christian performing arts center to a playhouse with occasional films.

Orchestra Level, California Theatre San Diego, CA

View of the auditorium from the orchestra level.

Sloan Capital Partners LLC purchased the California building in 2006. Sloan partnered with Caydon Property Group, an Australian company, to redevelop the property. Caydon’s plans called for the theater to be demolished and replaced by a 41-story condominium tower. Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), a San Diego based historic preservation nonprofit, filed a legal challenge to the demolition of the building on March 1, 2018. The court granted the legal petition because the environmental impact report did not analyze any adaptive reuse alternatives for the theater, required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

Looby of the California Theatre in San Diego,CA.

The California was the first public venue in San Diego to have earthquake resistant framework built into the structure to protect the building.

SOHO and Caydon eventually agreed the lobby and much of the exterior facade would be reconstructed. They also agreed to work with SOHO to identify historic items in the building that could be repurposed. Caydon recently purchased the property from Sloan for $21.1M. It is currently scheduled to be demolished in 2021, with the construction of the new building beginning shortly afterwards.

Auditorium from the side of the stage - California Theatre San Diego, CA

The Wurlitzer organ was removed from the theater after it closed. It went to Trinity Presbyterian Church in Spring Valley, CA, but was destroyed by arson in March 1996.

Roxie Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

February 8, 2019 / Matt / 2 Comments

The theater was built for Gus A. Metzger and Harry Srere, who also owned the Fairfax Theatre.

The Roxie Theatre in Los Angeles, California opened on November 25, 1931. It was the last theater in Los Angeles’s Broadway Theater District to open, and was built on the site of Quinn’s Superba Theatre, which was demolished to make way for the new theater. The Roxie originally had 1,637 seats, and was designed primarily for motion pictures, but had a small stage house so it could hold live performances.

The exterior of the theater has showed up in many movies over the years including 2011’s “The Muppets.”

It was designed by John M. Cooper — known for the NuWilshire Theatre in Santa Monica — in the Art Deco style, and has the distinction of being the only Art Deco theater in the theater district. Construction began in June 1931 at a cost of around $100,000 (or $1,663,794 when adjusted for inflation.)

View of the auditorium from the stage.

The Roxie’s history is marred by a number of tragic events, beginning with the death of the Harry Metzger, the general manager, on August 3, 1943. A customer discovered Metzger had died of a heart attack in the ticket booth when they went to purchase a ticket. On Christmas Eve 1954, a woman killed herself in her seat during a double feature showing of “Crossed Swords” and “Track of the Cat.” The Roxie was an all-night theater at the time, so her body wasn’t discovered until the lights went on at 3:30AM. The only clues to her identity were a Canadian dollar bill and a telephone number written on a cafe receipt in her pockets. She’s never been identified. Richard Studeny, an usher, tied up the manager and robbed the theater in June of 1958. He turned himself in to the police in Florida the following December.

In 1989, the Roxie closed after a stint showing Spanish-language films operated by Metropolitan Theatres. The ticket booth was removed and the lobby was converted into retail space in 1995. A number of reuse plans for the building have been been proposed over the years, often including the nearby Cameo and Arcade Theaters. One plan proposed turning the Roxie into a restaurant and restoring the Arcade as a live performance venue, but nothing has come to pass. The Roxie’s auditorium has been used as a filming location in a number of movies over the years including “Foxcatcher,” starring Steve Carell and Channing Tatum.

View of the auditorium from the orchestra level.

Warner Huntington Park Theatre

August 21, 2018 / Matt / 1 Comment

View from the side of the balcony.

The Warner Theatre in Huntington Park, California opened on November 19, 1930. Warner Bros hired Seattle based architect B. Marcus Priteca and interior designer Anthony Hiensbergen to collaborate on three theaters in the Los Angeles area. The result of the collaboration were three theaters designed in the Art Deco style; the Warner Beverly Hills, the Warner Grand in San Pedro, and the Warner Huntington Park.

The ceiling of the auditorium.

The 1,468 seat Warner opened with a showing of “The Life of the Party” starring Winnie Lightner and Charles Butterworth. “The Life of the Party” was a musical comedy released on Vitaphone, which was an early form of talking motion pictures, and filmed entirely in Technicolor. Joe E. Brown, an actor and comedian, served as the master of ceremonies for the opening celebration.

The main level of the auditorium.

In 1948 Warner Bros was forced to split into two separate companies, Warner Bros Studios and the Stanley Warner Corporation, due to the results of the Supreme Court antitrust case, United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. Stanley Warner Corp (SWC) was created to operate all of Warner Bros theaters as the case ruled that movie studios could not own the theaters where their movies were shown. The Warner Huntington was renamed the Stanley Warner Huntington Park, but the signage on the building’s exterior never changed. SWC operated the theater until 1968, when it was sold to Pacific Theatres. Pacific twinned the Warner in the 1980s, separating the balcony and orchestra levels, and renamed it to Pacific’s Warner 2. The Warner closed in the early 1990’s after a stint as a spanish language theater.

The snack bar was not original to the theater.

Huntington Park declared the Warner a historic landmark in 2007. However, that status only protects the building’s facade from alteration. The theater sat dormant until Pacific sold it in June 2013 for $1,600,000 to Pacific Blvd. Pacific Blvd applied for a special re-use permit, which would allow them to convert the interior into retail space. Despite opposition from preservationists and residents, Huntington Park’s historic preservation commission unanimously approved the permit. The alteration work began soon after with the removal of the seats, stage, snack bar, and the wall separating the lobby from the auditorium. Blink Fitness, a primarily East Coast based Gym, opened one of their first West Coast locations in the Warner in early 2018.

The main floor was leveled and most of the balcony removed to help entice retail clients

View from the balcony before the division was removed.

The theater’s projection room.

Arcade Theatre

April 27, 2018May 3, 2018 / Matt / 7 Comments

View from the side of the balcony.

The Arcade Theatre in Los Angeles, California originally opened on September 26, 1910 as the Pantages Theatre. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the Morgan & Walls architecture firm and was a part of the Pantages Vaudeville Circuit. Morgan & Walls are also known for designing the Mayan and El Capitan Theaters in Los Angeles. The location of the 1,400 seat theater helped to make downtown Los Angeles an entertainment destination, and 11 more theaters opened in the area between 1910 and 1931.

The Arcade was the first theater on the Pantages Vaudeville circuit in southern California.

Vaudeville singer and comedian Sophie Tucker appeared at the Arcade’s opening day celebration as part of her first West Coast tour. Other opening day acts included a one act pantomime called “A Hot Time in Dogville,” singer Maurice Burkhart, a musical comedy sketch by the Lelliott Brothers, and the Yalto Duo dancers. On Christmas Day 1913, an unusual wedding took place on the theater’s stage — Napoleon, a vaudeville-performing and silent film starring chimpanzee “married” Sally, another chimpanzee from the E&R Jungle Zoo. The theater closed in December of 1921 so that a photoplayer, an automatic mechanical orchestra to accompany silent films, could be installed.

Souvenir programs from the theater’s opening day were printed on silk.

Pantages sold the building in 1925 to the Dalton Brothers, who owned the nearby Folles Theater. It was renamed Dalton’s Theatre (or Dalton’s Broadway) until 1928 when the name was changed to the Arcade Theatre, after the Broadway Spring Arcade Building, which is located directly next to the theater. The Dalton Brothers renovated the Arcade in 1932, and reopened it as a burlesque house on July 30, 1932. Lou Costello (of Abbott and Costello) was one of the comedians who performed at the theater during this time.

All of the seats were removed after the theater closed in 1992.

In 1938, famed theater architect S. Charles Lee remodeled the interior of the theater, which reduced the seating to 800, changed the foyer to the Moderne style, and updated the building’s facade. On August 22, 1941 the Arcade became a Telenews Theatre, which ran newsreels from 8AM to 3AM the next day. The opening newsreel was called “This World Besieged,” and was about World War II. This change lasted only four months, and by mid-November 1941 the Arcade was back to showing feature films.

The mural in the center of the proscenium has long been painted over.

The Arcade was an independent theater in the 1960s and 1970s. In the early 1970s, keno was played at the theater every night at 8PM. Metropolitan Theatres ran the Arcade as a grindhouse (a theater that ran three or four different films on repeat) until it closed in 1992. The following year the lobby was converted into a retail space. It is currently an electronics store, and the stage is used as a storage space for the store’s inventory. There have been a few proposals to restore the theater, including one that would have it and two other theaters turned into a restaurant and multiplex complex, but none have come to pass.

Stan Laurel (of Laurel and Hardy) performed at the Arcade in 1919.

During the first burlesque show someone threw a stink bomb on stage and injured one of the dancers.

For more on the Arcade and many other Los Angeles Theatres be sure to visit: https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/

Los Angeles Theatre Exteriors

February 2, 2018February 4, 2018 / Matt / 2 Comments

Roxie Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

One of the things I hear the most is “Why don’t you take more photographs of the theater facades?” So while I was in Los Angeles last year for the Theatre Historical Society of America’s annual Conclave I made a point to do just that.

Million Dollar Theatre – Los Angeles, CA.

The Million Dollar Theatre opened on February 1, 1918. It’s one of the first movie palaces in the country and the first by Sid Grauman, who also opened two of the most famous, the Chinese and the Egyptian Theatres. CoBird, a fashion company, recently signed a lease to use the theater and the building’s storefronts.

Los Angeles Theatre – Los Angeles, CA.

The Los Angeles Theatre opened on January 30, 1931. It was designed by famed theatre architect S. Charles Lee and Samuel Tilden Norton. Actor Charlie Chaplin helped fund the construction so that the theater would be open in time to premiere his film, “City Lights.” Currently the Los Angeles is most often used as a location for filming in motion pictures and television. However, it is open for special events such as a Night On Broadway, and the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats.

Arcade Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

The Arcade Theatre opened on September 10, 1910 as the Pantages Theatre. It closed in 1992, and the lobby was converted to a retail space.

Cameo Theatre – Los Angeles, CA.

The Cameo Theatre opened in October 1910 as Clune’s Broadway Theatre. It closed in 1991, and the lobby was turned into retail space. The auditorium is currently used for storage.

Roxie Theatre – Los Angeles, CA.

The Roxie Theatre opened on November 25, 1931, and was designed by architect John Montgomery Cooper. It closed in 1989, and the lobby was divided into two retail spaces. The seats were removed from the auditorium and it remains vacant.

For more on these and many other Los Angeles Theatres be sure to visit: https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/

Westlake Theatre – Los Angeles, CA

September 12, 2017September 13, 2017 / Matt / 1 Comment

View from the balcony.

The Westlake Theatre in Los Angeles, CA opened on September 22, 1926. It was designed by architect Richard M. Bates, Jr., who designed the theater’s facade in a Spanish Baroque style known as Churrigueresque, and the interior in a mix of Renaissance and Adamesque. The 1,949 seat theater was built for the West Coast Langley Theatres for $750,000 ($10.2 million when adjusted for inflation). Anthony Heinsbergen, a nationally acclaimed muralist, painted the murals in the auditorium and lobby. A 2 manual, 10 rank Wurlitzer organ was installed prior to the opening, and the internal decorations were done by Robert Power Studios.

In 1935, portions of the theater, including the ticket booth, interior foyer and the marquee were updated by famed theater architect S. Charles Lee during a two week closure.

Billed as a “Hollywood Gala event,” the opening day consisted of “Other Women’s Husbands,” a silent film starring Monte Blue and Marie Prevost, as well as a performance by Charlie Nelson and his band. Soon after the theater opened, movie studios began using the Westlake to preview upcoming films. Some of the films previewed at the the Westlake include; “The Best Girl,” starring Mary Pickford, “The Jazz Singer,” starring Al Jolson, “The Wind,” starring Lillian Gish, and “A Texas Steer,” starring Will Rogers. The showing of “A Texas Steer” broke West Coast Theatre records for attendance at a film preview.

As part of the updates, Heinsbergen painted a new mural on the ceiling of the lobby.

Odd things happened at the Westlake over the years. On April 9, 1928, F.D. McMahan, the assistant manager at the time, walked in on a burglar trying to open the theater’s safe. The burglar ordered McMahan and another employee to open the safe, but both refused and the burglar fled after tying them up. Reverend Jim Jones, founder of the People’s Temple and leader of the Jonestown Massacre, was caught masturbating by an undercover police officer in the theater on December 13, 1973. He was arrested and booked for lewd conduct. Members of the People’s Temple (including a deputy D.A.) began to pressure the LAPD to dismiss the charge. They were eventually dropped after Alex Finkle, Jones’ doctor, claimed he had a prostate issue that caused him to have to shake his penis while urinating. Judge Clarence A. Stromwall ordered the records of the case sealed and destroyed.

View of the auditorium ceiling.

The Westlake Theatre changed hands a few times throughout the years. First, it was purchased by Favorite Films of California, who also operated the Lake Theatre, from Fox West Coast Theatres. Favorite Films later sold the building to Metropolitan Theatres who turned it into a Spanish language house. In 1991, Metropolitan sold the theater to Mayer Separzdeh, who closed the theater on June 26, 1991, removed the seats, flattened the main level, and turned it into a swap meet. The City of Los Angeles responded to the changes by declaring the theater a Cultural Historic Monument in September of 1991.

One of the movie studio film previews caused a divorce. Harry Langdon was caught with another woman by his wife at a preview of one of his films, and his wife used that against him in divorce proceedings.

In 2008, the building was purchased by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) for $5.7 million. The CRA was created by the government of California with the intent of revitalizing derelict buildings, and there were a few proposals for reuse during this time. However, due to a decision by the CRA was disbanded in 2012. The City of Los Angeles assumed ownership of the building and issued a Request for Proposals in 2016. Unfortunately, even after extending the deadline, there was no interest. The building is currently for sale.

The theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

The Wurlitzer organ was removed from the theater and installed in a private home. It was later moved to a church, and was eventually used for parts when the church replaced it.

Throughout the years, the Westlake was used as a temporary home for different church congregations, including All Souls Church, who broadcasted live sermons from the theater.

View of the auditorium from the side of the balcony.

For more on the Westlake and many other Los Angeles Theatres be sure to visit: https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/

Theater Updates v2

July 25, 2017July 25, 2017 / Matt / 2 Comments

There have been changes to some of the theaters I’ve photographed over the years, so it’s time for another update.

Fox Theatre Fullerton, CA.

The auditorium ceiling at the Fox Theatre in Fullerton, CA has been restored since I first visited it in 2014. New LED ceiling lights were installed at the same time.

Lobby, Paramount Theatre – Marshall, Texas

The lobby of the Paramount Theatre in Marshall, Texas has been converted into a performance venue by the owners of Musicians Unlimited. Musicians Unlimited operates out of one of the Paramount’s former retail spaces. They also restored the theater’s marquee, and held a relighting ceremony in 2016.

View from the balcony of the Paramount Theatre in Long Branch, NJ.

The Paramount (Broadway) Theatre in Long Branch, NJ was demolished in late Spring 2017.

Loew’s 46th Street Theatre – Brooklyn, NY

The interior of the Loew’s 46th Street Theatre was gutted in late 2015/early 2016, and the site is slated to become condominiums.

Loew’s Majestic Theatre – Bridgeport, Connecticut

Loew’s Palace Theatre – Bridgeport, Connecticut

The former Loew’s Theatre Complex (Loew’s Poli Theatre, Loew’s Majestic Theatre and the Savoy Hotel) are slated to be redeveloped over the next few years. First, the Majestic will be renovated and reopened as a performing arts center. Then, the Savoy Hotel will reopen as a 100 room hotel. Last, the Loew’s Poli (Palace) Theatre will become a banquet ballroom, gym, and a “family friendly indoor park.” Construction is slated to begin in 2018.

RKO Keith’s Theatre – Queens, NY

Work began at the RKO Keith’s Theatre in Queens, NY in late June 2017, 31 years after it closed. However, a stop work order went into effect the same day delaying the start of construction once again. The auditorium is slated to be demolished in the fall of 2017. Portions of the lobby, as well as the original ticket booth are slated to be incorporated into the condo building that will be constructed where the auditorium once stood.

Before and After, Embassy Theatre – Port Chester, NY

The Embassy Theatre in Port Chester, NY was gutted in the spring of 2017. No plans for the future of the space have been made public. Gutted photo courtesy of Gaby Gusmano.

Warner (Pacific) Theatre – Hollywood, CA

July 18, 2017January 13, 2018 / Matt / 9 Comments

View from the back of the auditorium.

In late 1925, Sam Warner, of Warner Brothers Pictures, convinced his brothers to spend $1.25 million ($17.1 million when adjusted for inflation) to design and build a theater to showcase their new film sound synchronization technology, Vitaphone. Vitaphone, in which the sound track of a film was printed on phonograph records that would play on a turntable attached to and in time with the projector, was the result of a partnership between Warner Brothers and Western Electric’s Bell Laboratories.

The Warner Theatre had a 4 manual, 28 rank Marr & Colton organ. The organ was originally installed in the Warners’ (Piccadilly) Theatre in New York.

Hollywood was chosen as the location for the theater, and Warner hired San Francisco-based architect G. Albert Lansburgh to design and oversee the construction of the theater. The theater was intended to be ready in time for the premiere of “The Jazz Singer,” since the film had several scenes that used the Vitaphone process. However, Warner Bros realized in late 1927 that the theater would not be ready in time for the premiere, and it was moved to the Warners’ (Piccadilly) Theatre in New York City.

Lansburgh also designed the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Hollywood Pacific Theatre opened on April 26, 1928 as the Warner Brothers Theatre. It was designed in the atmospheric style with colonnades in the Italianate Beaux Arts style surrounding the orchestra level walls. However, unlike most atmospheric theaters, the Warner did not have twinkling lights in the ceiling. The 2,700 seat theater was the first theater designed specifically for “talkies” in Hollywood. Promotional articles by Warner Bros proclaimed that the theater has “the most advanced and largest Vitaphone equipment ever installed.”

The night before the premiere of “The Jazz Singer” in New York City, Sam Warner died of a brain hemorrhage.

“Glorious Betsy,” starring Conrad Nagel and Dolores Costello, was the feature presentation at the opening and Al Jolson, the star of “The Jazz Singer,” served as the Master of Ceremonies. A plaque remembering Sam Warner, who died six months before the theater opened, was unveiled in the theater’s lobby. The theater was owned by Warner Brothers Pictures until 1953, when due to the verdict of United States Supreme Court case United States vs. Paramount Pictures, the studio was forced to spin off its theater holdings into a separate company. To accomplish this, Stanley Warner Theatres was formed in 1953, and later merged with the RKO Theatres Corp to become RKO Stanley Warner.

The theater is allegedly haunted by the ghost of Sam Warner.

After many years as a first run theater, the Warner was turned into a Cinerama house, a popular widescreen format, on April 29, 1953. The seating had to be reduced to 1,500, and sections of the proscenium were removed due to the new screen being so wide. It was renamed the Warner Cinerama Theatre, and showed “This is Cinerama,” a film designed to take advantage of the new widescreen, for 133 weeks before ending in 1955. A remodel in 1961 saw the Cinerama screen removed and much of the ornate plasterwork in auditorium covered by drapes. This only lasted a year before a new Cinerama screen was installed. RKO-Stanley Warner sold the theater to Pacific Theatres during the 80-week run of “2001, A Space Odyssey,” and the theater was renamed the Hollywood Pacific Theatre.

Radio transmitter towers for KFWB, a radio station owned by Warner Bros, were installed on the roof of the building. The station’s call sign stands for “Keep Filming Warner Brothers.”

The theater closed on January 31, 1978 so that the auditorium could be divided into a triple screen theater. Two 550-seat screens were added by separating the balcony level from the orchestra level. It reopened in April of 1978 as the Pacific 1-2-3. Due to damage caused by an earthquake in January of 1994 and water damage in the basement from construction of the Red Line subway, the Pacific was forced to close the theater on August 15, 1994. However, in the years after the theater closed an occasional screening took place in the theater on the main level. The balcony screens remained closed due to alleged structural damage. Beginning in 2002, the Entertainment Technology Center used the theater to test new digital projection technology, ending in 2006. The theater was then taken over by the Ecclesia Hollywood Church, who held services in the downstairs auditorium until July 2013. It is currently unused, with no public plans for its revival.

For more on the Warner (Pacific) and many other Los Angeles Theatres be sure to visit: https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com/

Carol Burnett, actress and comedian, worked as an usher at the Warner in the early 1950s, but was fired after she advised to patrons to wait until a film was finished before entering the auditorium. In 1975, when Burnett was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame she was asked where she would like it placed, and she’s quoted as saying “Right in front of where the old Warner Brothers Theater was, at Hollywood and Wilcox.”

The theatre was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument February 9, 1993.

Fox Fullerton Theatre

May 9, 2016May 22, 2016 / Matt / 8 Comments

View of the Auditorium from the balcony.

Originally known as the Alician Court Theatre, the Fox Theatre in Fullerton, California opened on May 28, 1925. Raymond Kennedy of the Meyer & Holler Architectural firm was commissioned by C. Stanley Chapman to design the theater. Meyer & Holler are also known for designing Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The 1,095 seat Fox was designed in the Italian Renaissance architectural style and had six large California-themed murals – painted by Anthony Heinsbergen – on the auditorium walls. It cost $300,000 to build the theater in 1925, which is $4,082,000 when adjusted for inflation. The complex also included retail spaces, one of which was originally occupied by a tea room run by Alice Chapman, the owner’s wife.

The Lobby of the Fox Theatre.

Like most theaters at the time, the Fox was built to be a vaudeville and silent movie theater. The Fox opened with a showing of Luna-cy!, an early 3D film, and Dick Turpin starring Tom Mix as the feature presentation. Julius Johnson accompanied the films on the Marr and Colton Concert Organ, Conductor Bayard Fallas led the orchestra and J. Charles Thamer served as the Master of Ceremonies.

The theater originally opened with 1,095 seats, but seating was reduced to 908 after modern seats were installed in 1955.

Four years later in 1929, “talkies,” or motion pictures with sound, were becoming more and more prevalent. New sound equipment was installed for $35,000 to allow the theater to show Movietone News, Photophone and Vitaphone, which were the three major types of talking films at the time. On February 17, 1929, Give and Take, starring Jean Hersholt and George Sidney, was the first talking motion picture shown at the Fox. The following year even more upgrades were installed including a larger screen, more new sound equipment and a new marquee. Doughboys, starring Buster Keaton, was shown at the grand reopening in 1929.

A close up of the proscenium arch.

The Fox went through a number of name changes through the years. It opened as the Alician Court Theatre, then became the Mission Court Theatre, Universal Mission Court Theatre, Fox Mission Theatre and finally the Fox Fullerton Theatre, which it remains today. A number of celebrities made personal appearances at the Fox to promote their films, including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Janet Gaynor, Dolores Del Rio, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney and Jayne Mansfield. The Fox was modernized again in 1955 with the installation of a Cinemascope screen. The Cinemascope screen ran from wall-to-wall, and some of the decorative plasterwork surrounding the stage had to be removed to accommodate it. In 1962, the National General Corporation took over the theater, and had the murals in the auditorium painted over.

Two of the six murals in the auditorium were painted over several times, and will have to be reproduced instead of restored. The remaining four murals were painted over using a water-based paint, and could be restored.

After a showing of Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke, The Fox closed in 1987 and remained dark for almost twenty years. It was scheduled to be demolished in 2004 to make way for a five-storey apartment building, but was saved by the Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation (FHTF), which was formed in 2001 to acquire and restore the theater. They officially took ownership in 2005, and the following year helped add the theater to the National Register of Historic Places. The city of Fullerton started to show films in the theater’s back parking lot in 2005 in an effort to help raise funds for the restoration. In 2015, Evergreene Architectural Arts, an Award-Winning Decoration & Restoration firm, replicated the original design elements on the auditorium ceiling as part of the restoration efforts.* At the same time, the “FOX FULLERTON” sign, which was removed for restoration in 2013, was reinstalled. The FHTF held a 90th birthday party for the the theater in May 2015 to unveil the restored ceiling and the reinstalled sign. In February 2016, a coffee shop opened in one of the refurbished retail spaces. The monthly rent from the shop will go towards the building’s restoration which is estimated to cost $26 million dollars, and $14 million has been spent as of 2016.

The Fox is one of only three courtyard theaters designed by the Meyer and Holler architectural firm.

It was the largest motion picture theater in Orange County, CA when it opened in 1925.

View of the auditorium from the stage.

The theater was one of the first to show talking motion pictures in Orange County, CA.

Murals painted by artist John Gabriel Beckman adorn the ceiling of this room.

A close up of one of the murals.

*These photographs were taken before the restoration of the auditorium ceiling.

Fox Theatre Inglewood, CA

September 3, 2015August 19, 2020 / Matt / 9 Comments

The Fox is one of the 22 theaters in my new book “After the Final Curtain: The Fall of the American Movie Theater.” Find out more here.

The Fox was the first theater in Inglewood to have air conditioning.

The Fox Theatre in Inglewood, CA opened on March 31, 1949. It was built on the site of the Granada Theatre which had been destroyed by a fire five years earlier. Fox West Coast Theatres (FWCT) purchased the site for $376,375.45 soon after the fire. Charles Skouras, the president of FWCT, requested that the theater be designed in a neo-baroque style instead of the more modern style which was typical of the late 1940s. To achieve they hired architect S. Charles Lee to design the building and Carl G. Moeller to design the interior. Newly low cost aluminium sheeting was used to create ornamentation that would have been much more expensive and harder to mass produce if created with plaster. Moeller went on to redesign a number of Fox’s pre-war theaters this way, which came to be known as “Skouras Style.”

View of the auditorium from the screen.

The 1008 seat Fox was the last theater to be constructed by 20th Century Fox before the Supreme Court Case the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. The case, also known as the Hollywood Antitrust Case of 1948, decreed that movie studios were no longer allowed to own theaters and hold exclusive rights on where the films they produced were shown. Even though they no longer owned the theater, 20th Century Fox often held sneak previews of upcoming films at the Fox so they could observe people’s reactions to the movies. The Fox also had a soundproof room dubbed the “cry room” so that people could bring babies to the movies without disturbing the other patrons.

Much of the projection equipment was left behind when the theater closed.

“Mr. Belvedere Goes to College” starring Clifton Webb and Shirley Temple was the first film shown at the Fox. Webb and Temple both made appearances at the premiere along with an estimated 10,000 people crowding the streets around the building. The Fox changed hands and formats a few times, switching to exploitation, and finally spanish language films before closing in 1988.

The Fox lobby and concession stand.

In 2009, the Inglewood Fox Theatre Alliance was formed to raise awareness and gain support for restoring the theater. Through their efforts the theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 2013. It was the second location in Inglewood to be added to the NRHP after the Centinela Adobe. The building is currently for sale.