Fox Theaters, Now Scarce, Are Relics of Silver Screen

In their heyday before World War II, the Fox movie theaters stood as neon-lighted beacons over hundreds of cities big and small.

It was the era of the silver screen, before television, and movie theaters were a center of city life: places for Friday dates, Saturday matinees for the kids, a chance to escape everyday life into a western or a screwball comedy.

And the movie was only part of the experience. The Fox chain was known for the striking architecture of its theaters. The buildings’ designs often blended with the styles of their communities.

In Westwood Village, the Fox theater features a soaring tower, with ornate columns and plaster reliefs that mirrored the Art Deco style of the rest of the shopping district. In Fullerton, designers favored a Moorish look. The Fox in Riverside reflected the Spanish mission designs of nearby landmarks such as the Mission Inn.

California once was home to nearly 200 Fox theaters, according to the Cinema Treasures website. They ranged from grand movie palaces such as the Belmont in Los Angeles and the Crest in Long Beach to more modest neighborhood cinemas such as the Brentwood theater on the Westside and the Larchmont in Hancock Park.

But by the 1960s, the theaters were in decline. Television had battered the movie industry, leaving fewer first-run films to be shown. The downtown districts that housed many of them were fading in an era of shopping malls, and people were beginning to favor new multiplexes.

Scores of the theaters were demolished. Others were converted for other uses.

The Carthay Circle cinema in Los Angeles was one of Fox’s grandest and was used for gala movie premieres. It included a massive rooftop neon light and a circular tower. It was demolished in the 1970s.

But in recent years, there has been a push to preserve and restore some of the remaining cinemas. Preservationists in Fullerton have raised $3.5 million to save that city’s Fox theater from demolition. But $9 million more is needed to restore it.

Riverside officials want to restore that city’s Fox theater. Other California cities -- including Visalia, Oakland, Salinas, Bakersfield and Glendale -- have already done so.

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Here is a list of some of the Fox movie theaters in Southern California that have been closed or demolished:

Fairyland Theatre, Anaheim

* Fox Compton Theatre, Compton

* California Theatre, Glendale

* Glendale Theatre, Glendale

* Larchmont Theatre, Hollywood

* Loma Theatre, Hollywood

* Park Theatre, Huntington Park

* Granada Theatre, Inglewood

* Egyptian Theatre, Long Beach

* Fox West Coast Theatre, Long Beach

* Boulevard Theatre, Los Angeles,

* Brentwood Theatre, Los Angeles

* Carthay Circle Theatre, Los Angeles

* Embassy Theatre, Los Angeles

* Fox Belmont, Los Angeles

* Fox Figueroa, Los Angeles

* Fox Florence, Los Angeles

* Fox Uptown, Los Angeles

* Starland, Los Angeles

* Western Theatre, Los Angeles

* Maywood Theatre, Maywood

* Guild Theatre, North Hollywood

* Strand Theatre, Pasadena

* Tower Theatre, Pasadena

* Fox Sunkist Theatre, Pomona

* Fox Cabrillo, San Pedro

* Fox Dome Theatre, Santa Monica

* Fox Rosemary Theatre, Santa Monica

* Rivoli Theatre, Van Nuys

* California Theatre, Venice

* Carmel Theatre, West Hollywood

* Avalon Theatre, Wilmington

Source: Cinema Treasures

Los Angeles Times