Fox Fullerton Theatre

Today (5/31/11), they will begin removing the 50’s era marquee and box office as part of the ongoing renovation; thus, restoring the theatre’s original look.

The Fox Fullerton has been very important in my life. I grew up there. I started going there as a boy. There was Saturday Crazy Races and Sunday Matinees. As I grew older, I went on Friday nights. It was a good place to meet girls. Saturday night became date night. There was always a double feature and cartoon. Maybe even a newsreel. I spent some weekends pulling weeds out in the back of the theater or cleaning the basement for a minimum wage. When I was older I became an usher and doorman. During one three week period in the summer my brother and I were hired as custodians there so the regular custodian could go on vacation. We worked from the end of the last showing every day to 8:00AM the next morning. You see, my father was the manager there during this time. My favorite times were as a boy when my brother and I would accompany my father to work during the week when the theater was empty and no movies were being shown. We explored every nook and cranny from the attic to the basement. Here’s one for Fox Fullerton fans. Do you know where the fountain was? I did and I knew how to turn it on. I also knew how to sneak into the projection room through the roof.

Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ck9t9m

According to 1925 L.A. Times advertisements, the theatre’s opening week included the following features:
Tom Mix in “Dick Turpin"
Dorothy Devore in "The Narrow Street"
Rin Tin Tin in "Tracked In The Snow Country”

The grand opening announcement lists 5/28/25 as the opening night and mentions that the Fullerton branch of Mary Louise’s Cafe & Tea Room of Los Angeles was the property’s secondary tenant.

Here is a February 2008 article about renovation:
http://tinyurl.com/5gpott

I was recently treated to an extensive tour of the building, spoke with the volunteers working on the project, and shown plans for the restoration/renovation. I was impressed by the building’s diverse potential as well as the obvious dedication of the volunteers. When I got home and checked Cinema Treasures, I didn’t find this listing, and tried to submit one. Now that I’ve discovered the theatre is already listed, I’ve submitted a news article to try to focus some well deserved attention on this worthy project….

In October 2006 this theatre was added to the National Regustry of Historic Places. It’s existance is protected, but it now needs all the TLC, support and funding it can get. The folks in charge have made real progress and taken obvious care with the building and rehab plans. There is great opportunity here for creative and commercial involvement in the buildings attached to the theatre. New business ventures opening in this complex will not only support the theatre’s revival, they will reap the benefits of being part of an exciting entertainment destination.

All inquiries may be directed to Jon Wagner – Executive Director, Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation. Phone: (714) 870-0069 Fax: (714) 870-5123 Email:

Wow! I just discovered this site tonight and would love to share my memories of the Fox. I saw several films there as a child in the 1960’s, the most memorable being The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. I am thrilled that this building is being restored – downtown Fullerton would NOT be the same without it!

I was at the first “Movies on the Fox” event a couple months ago. It was a great event! They showed a video about the theatre, a couple of classic movie previews, a warner brothers cartoon, and the original “War of the Worlds”. As stated above, there was a very good crowd attending the first event. The next show is “Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein” on OCT 27th. I plan to be there and I encourage anyone in the area to come and support the foundation and their work.

To All in May of 2005 the FullertonFox celebrated its 80th birthday
thankfully many of thFullerton residents turned up for this gala milestone to see the courtyard reveiled from behind boards to much j celebration just this past weekend the Fullerton Histiric theater foundation had its Hollywood in Fullerton event which was a big success we even lit the “FOX” sign atop the theater tower for the first time since the 1940’s what an awesome site that was since it still lights current pictures have been sent to Cinema treasures hopefully they will post soon so all can see this wonderfull building all the hours are worth the praise from Fullerton residents not a day goes by while we are working that cars along Harbor Blvd. yell praises at the volunteers the office for fox is on the corner of Malden and Commonwealth for those who wish to stop in and say hi to the dedicated volunteers working there or stop at the theater if you see us there all are glad to stop and chat about our work or you can sign up to help in the theater at the office we work in the theater every other Saturday starting at 8:00 am for schedule ask at the office recent updates are all the windows along Harbor are replaced, marquee has a fresh coat of paint and I am personally restoring the marquee letters as well as 90% of the theaters outer walls are painted its looking like the building it once was no longer just some “old building ” downtown we are on our way to making her the GEM of Fullerton again

I stopped by the Save the Fox office a couple weeks ago. There were 3 or 4 volunteers there, all very friendly, with several conceptual drawings, vintage photos, and other info about the theatre. If you are in the area, you should drop by the office and say hi, I’m sure they’d appreciate it. I forget the exact address, but it’s on commonweath just west of Harbor on the north side of the street.

I drove down to Fullerton yesterday to see and photograph the Fox Fullerton Theater. This Spanish-style classic is located right in the heart of a classic suburban downtown in a town that has had the forsight to preserve it’s heritage—this is perhaps the handsomest downtown area in Southern California. While the front of the Fox is boarded up, and there is paint peeling off the walls, there is wonderful news on the marquee—one of the great movie palaces of Southern California has indeed been saved by concerned citizens, and is scheduled to be completely refurbished. If only we had more happy endings like this!

Known originally as the Alician Court, the Fox
Fullerton is the most intact of a mere handful of
surviving American “courtyard theaters,” which
featured an open forecourt in lieu of an enclosed
lobby. Its architects of record were Meyer &
Holler, the same firm that designed and built the
Egyptian Theater (1923) and the Grauman’s Chinese
Theater (1927) in Hollywood. Built in 1925, it is a
crucial link in the design history of the courtyard
theater as a building sub-type.

Its actual designer was architect Raymond M.
Kennedy, a 1916 graduate of Cornell University and
winner of the Rome Prize. At the American Academy
in Rome he formed a lifelong friendship with Phillip
T. Schutze, the well known Atlanta classicist with
whose manner Kennedy’s shows much affinity.

The Alician Court (Fox Fullerton) possesses in its
auditorium Kennedy’s largest surviving interior. I
am fortunate to have been able recently to inspect
it first-hand. The design of this interior evokes
the Mannerist architecture of northern Italy, which
was the style most admired by the architect and the
one he had the most skill in imitating. It ranks
among Kennedy’s two or three best interiors at any
scale. It is remarkable for being a work of genuine
architecture and not merely decoration, as most
American theaters of the 1920s were. Its completely
intact proscenium is, architecturally, one of the
finest in California.

The Fox Fullerton is not only one of the most
architecturally significant buildings in Orange
County; it possesses statewide
significance for California. Although little known
and poorly documented, it has some national
significance as the most intact survivor of a rare
building sub-type and as an example of the best work
of one of the most talented early twentieth-century
American architects.