Fox Redondo Theatre

In 1960 I saw “Portrait in Black” with Lana Turner and Anthony Quinn. It was a terrific movie! After the movie, my dad and I went to join my mom and sister and we went fishing on the pier. I remember hearing the sound of the ocean waves under the theater!

To Schrader — The manager you’re talking about shutting the movie down was likely the manager I replaced. I forget his name, now, but I remember he had black hair. He committed the cardinal sin of shutting down a show on a Saturday night (any night), when as a theatre manager he ought to have known the greatest (unwritten) rule of all in show business – THE SHOW MUST GO ON!! That cost him his job. To be fair, the Fox Redondo really had gotten out of hand with crowd control at that time, and its reputation with all the other managers in the district was such that no one wanted to go there…not even assistants who were promised promotions to full
manager. Since I had done all I could with the Academy in Inglewood and was rather bored with my job there, and since the Redondo was less than five minutes from my place in Hermosa beach…and I was able to demand a decent salary increase, I volunteered to take on the Fox Redondo. It turned out to be a greater challenge than I’d imagined, but with a lot of help from some great people among my staff and you the patrons, we turned it into a great and memorable show place it was. I’m glad I came and was part of it all. O.C. Frandsen.

Thank you Ed. I appreciate knowing your name even if our paths crossed only indirectly through Mr. K. Harry was his first name, that’s right. Thank you for dusting off my cobwebbed memory board, there. You are right, how time plays tricks with our memories. It was, indeed, a crime to place a man like Mr. K. with the health problems he had in a situation such as the Academy. I was 25 at the time of my being forced to take over…yes, it was either or for me. On the first Sunday of my stint at the Aacademy, I was greeted by a riot of sorts (the place nearly always sold out on Sundays no matter what played) and where the attending mob simply decided to walk out with the cash register from the concession stand; just took it and disappeared with it. Not a thing anyone of us working there could do about it. It took me a year to bring the place under control, by methods few people will believe, now, I’m sure. Here I was, a young blond, blue-eyed wonder, totally naive in the ways of things racial…with glasses, barely 145 lbs. dripping wet, forced to wear
a tuxedo. At the Academy! The kids used to call me ‘four-eyed penguin’. “Uh-oh! Look out, here come da four-eye penguin”, I’d hear them say. No one knows about the destruction of ego until you’ve gone through an experience like that. My two years at the Academy
was a seminal experience, believe me, but in many ways also a very
positive one, since it gave me a perspective of the other side I’d never be privy to otherwise. While there, I was never harmed in any way, (this was the days of Crips, Black Panthers and US). In fact, once the community understood what I was doing and accepted me, they went out of their way to protect me and help me to make the Academy, like the Redondo, an enjoyable, fun place to attend and soak up great movie experiences. I’m please to know someone like you Ed, who knew a good man like Harry Kotsos. Ole Frandsen.

I will be glad to share photos as soon as I round up the ones that may be of special appeal. Hang in there with me, I have to set up a new printer/photo unit sometime soon so that I can post them on this site. Also, alot of the photos are still in San Diego with my stepmother. Bob Mauck

Bob Mauck,
I’ve been hoping you would discover this sight and offer your comments!

News of your father’s and brother’s passing brought me tears. I have stated throughout my life that it was your father that molded my personality, and he has had the strongest influence on my ways to this day. Like the Fox Redondo, he was one of a kind. I worked with Bill Jr., too, and have only the fondest memories of him and his quiet and humorous ways.

I was there that day in ‘56 that Bill started managing the Fox Redondo, and I became “Brucie Boy” to him when he was in a good mode. And I was there when he moved on. Because for several years, I spent more time at the Fox than at home, his transfer was very depressing for me. In our daily contact, he taught me a lot about working with people as well as teaching me more mundane things. I still think of him every time I must stand up for long periods of time, since he taught me how to avoid discomfort!

Bob, do you have any of the “scrapbooks” he kept of his promotions? He proudly showed me these in the 60’s. There could be several snapshots of the Fox that we’ve all be hoping to uncover.

I’m glad you found the sight, and hope you share more memories with us all. I’d also love to talk to you about some of our mutual friends and long-term employees that you may remember.

You and I did a lot of exploring deep in the bowels of that wondrous old vaudeville house,and we do indeed share some great memories of Old Redondo.

My name is Bruce Berns (), and I’d like to hear from anyone connected with the Fox Redondo…on this site or by email.

My father, Bill Mauck was manager at the Fox Redondo from 1956 to ‘65 or '66. Bill worked theatres from a very young age. As a usher in the Fox network in San Diego before the war and as a manager after the war. I think his first manager job was at the Fox Theatre in Pacicifc Beach (San Diego area) in about '46. He was transferred to Calexico California in '48 and sstayed there until '56. I remember him telling me that he told the big bosses that the wanted a “Beach” town again. So, there we were at the waters edge in (I think about September) l956.

I have many, many fond memories of life around the Fox and the other waterfront entertainment places. The bowling alley, the skating rink, the penny arcade and the pier with all the activities you could possibly want as a youngster. I came across some photos of candid shots of the outside of the theatre (some with me, and some without) not too long ago and was instantly beamed back to that time in history. Man those were the days. Hey bruce, remember when the “Squires” band used to play early rock and surf tunes on the stage during the Saturday matinees and at the car club midnight shows?

I still have many friends in the South Bay area that remember the fun times at the Fox and Strand theatres. Catching the movies or just hanging out at the “downtown” area of Old Redondo.

Bill Mauck passed away in Nov ‘99 and my brother Bill (who also was a theatre manager for about 15 years) passed away in June'03. Through the years I have lived in the South Bay, San Diego and the Long Beach area. My soul will always be attached to the part of me that spent my youth in and around the Fox Redondo theatre. My name is Robert (Bob) Mauck and I now live in Torrance, CA.

There now is a parking lot and a restaurant where the theatre once was.
I can’t state categorically what was behind Mann’s decision to rid themselves of the Fox Redondo, since I never was privy to all their inside communications. Believe it or not, the Fox was the most profitable (or atleast one of the most profitable) theatre in district 4 (in which there were 26). But there was some pressure from the City of Redondo Beach to, at least, paint the place to make it less of an eyesore that it was. Personally, I couldn’t argue with that. The theatre was also in need of serious repairs and I was already talking to contractors and individuals to perform
whatever was necessary to get it done, while keeping the costs
down. Mann pursued his own track, however, and the estimate he got was about a quarter of a million dollars to restore the place. A
pittance, now, but admittedly that was a healthy sum in 1972. I
could have had it done for less than $100,000. But such an investment (even the $250,000) would have given Mann a healthy return on his money, as evidenced by such jewels as the Alex in
Glendale and the Nuart in Santa Monica. In the end, the political
will just wasn’t there and Mann decided to sell the land, take the
money and run…and this was in the face of a considerable grassroots movement by the community (and my assistant manger and myself) to save the theatre. In the end, I was threatened by Mann to lay off or lose my job. (I did anyway, about six months after the closure of the Redondo, while I managed the El Portal in North Hollywood).In my opinion, it was a crime to not only close the place, but to tear it down. Everytime I drive by the place where
it once stood (and I do that yearly in spite of living in the Valley), I grieve for
the theatre and become angry for the crime committed against it and the communities
around it. O.C. Frandsen

As the manager of the Fox Redondo Theatre from late 1970 to its needless and tragic closure on Feb. 5, 1973, an act entirely to blame on Mann Theatres, it gives me great pleasure to read your stories about the place. I, too, look back with true fondness and nostalgia to that magical place and time. And it was, indeed. My staff and myself worked hard to put on great films for the public, while encouraging an atmosphere of fun and community. To this day, I have had no better job than with my involvement with the Fox Redondo and the wonderful public who patronized us at that time. Addressing you ‘Schrader’, I can’t recall the incident (about you and your cousin), but it is entirely possible it was me, or possibly my assistant, Jerry. In any event, your recollections are heart warming and remarkably accurate. The concession stand was on the right as you entered the lobby and the stairway was straight ahead, then about ten steps up splitting left and right. There was a lobby ceiling up to the stairway, and as a result it was possible only to see a small portion of the lobby from the mezzanine. I can recall that when we played Gimme Shelter and Woodstock, Mann Theatres were too cheap to put the stereo system into proper working order. (Imagine, playing rock ‘n’ roll films without stereo!) No problem, I had plenty of ushers working for me of the electronic genius kind who volunteered (more or less) to repair the system. This is what I remember best about the Redondo — the sense of community that prevailed. It was everybody’s theatre, to some a second home and we all cared deeply about it. I’m a writer, now, and I have a novel planned which revolves around the Fox and in which the theatre plays a role as a major ‘character’. Thank you all who came and contributed, as well as all the wonderful staff without whose help it would not have been possible. I gotta go now before I start crying. O.C. Frandsen

There are photos of the inside murals at one of the sites mentioned above. Please…If someone has photos, interior OR exterior, PLEASE POST THEM. Thanks! Terrance

Terrance, yes that is the El Ja Arms, a classic hotel in its time. I think a president may have stayed there once. It was way to spooky for me as a kid. Although my brother and I “ran” that corner and every rooftop of the block in the 50’s, the El Ja Arms, then occupied in its last years mostly by transients, was too dark and scary for us. Our hotel, the Del Mar, was around the corner to the South on Pacific Avenue. I’m familiar with every business that was on that block from 1946 through the 60’s. The site you offered has some great old shots! Thanks

Terrance…Hmmm, you got the chandelier, I got a piece of concrete! If it’s one of the chandeliers in the interior shots you’ve seen, I can tell you that I once walked above it in the crawl, and I may have cleaned and changed its bulbs! For a week or two before Hitchcock’s “The Birds” ran, I kept our Myna Bird “Smoky” in his cage in a corner of the lobby to advertise the upcoming movie, but he wouldn’t shut up during the shows running, and there were a lot of complaints! For “Hatri,” I was dressed in safari garb, and rode an elephant through the downtown streets of Redondo. For “5 Weeks In A Balloon,” I dropped balloons (with passes in them) from a small plane we hired.“ The exterior shots of the Fox look as thought they were taken almost in front of my family’s business across the street, the Del Mar Cleaners. They also owned the Del Mar Hotel above it, and Del Mar Liquor next door. I once had a snapshot of the lobby somewhere, but have yet to located it after all these years. I’m still hoping to find it for all interested. Thanks for the memories!

Bruce…It was great to read about your experiences at the old Fox. Do you remember for the opening of Alfdred Hitchcock’s “THE BIRDS” that they pasted big black bird cut-outs all over the front tiled entryway? It was an incredible place. I wasn’t here when they ripped it down, or I would have raised hell. Redondo is still kicking itself. I find it interesting that, in an old photo on the R.B. Historic Society’s website, it shows that the R.B.Chamber of Commerce was in the same building. I sell antiques and was at a flea mkt. and bought a wonderful large leaded chandelier. As I was putting it into my van, I noticed some plastic printed tape reading “FROM THE BALCONY OF THE OLD FOX REDONDO”. I nearly dropped it! It now hangs in my bedroom. Everytime I dim it for TV or sleep, it conjures many pictures. I saw THE WIZARD OF OZ at the FOX REDONDO for the first time…It seemed like GONE WITH THE WIND played there forever…and quite right, too…That lush bright red carpeted stairway could have BEEN Tara. My sister was in a dance recital on that fully equipped stage. I can only imagine what glorious productions would have been brought to Redondo. I live in San Pedro. Fortunately, the WARNER GRAND here is a shrine with a great group of people (THE GRAND VISION) restoring/protecting it. >>> Do you know of anywhere I could get copies of interior shots? I would especially like some of the lobby. Thanks, Terrance ()

For Moviemanforever – I was the manager of the Fox Redondo in the last two years of its great life. I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed going there, since me and my staff worked hard to put on the best shows (and prints) we could get. How we managed to get the high quality prints we usually did makes quite a story, but can’t be divulged here). The utterly needless closure of this great old house was one of the sadder chapters in my life, but the blame must go entirely to Mann after he bought the National General Theatre chain. You mentioned somewhere going to the 5th Ave in Inglewood and seeing The Graduate there. That must’ve been in 1968 when I was manager, then. The 5th Ave was the best experience for me in my ten years as a theatre manager, since we showed the kind of artsy films I liked. Besides, I also had a small harem of the cutest girls to help me run the place adding to the enjoyment. If anyone has photos or knows where I can get them (I’ll be glad to pay) of the exterior and/or interior of the following theatres, I’d be most grateful — The Inglewood Theatre (Also known as The Little Inglewood) on La Brea, The Loyola in Westchester, The 5th Avenue, Inglewood, The Academy Theatre, Inglewood, The Fox Redondo, Redondo Beach and the El Portal in North Hollywood. My name is O.C. Frandsen