Fox Redondo Theatre

Two photos added courtesy of Deborah Frederick.

to remember the fox redondo. i used to go mostley to saturday afternoon showings. they had two movies and a cartoon plus they had a man(i think his name was roy)who did magic tricks and would collect dr. pepper bottle caps in trade for toys. in the back of the balcony they had a room with windows so mothers with crying babies could go. there were about a dozen seats in there. the cost then to see the movies was 35 cents. they also woul show shorts like sos coast guard or gang busters and flash gordon. sometimes we would leave early and go climb on the rocks in the break waters.i could use the telephones in the lobby and call my mom when the movie was over for 5 cents. our phone prefix then was frontier. i met my wife there at redondo high but i was going to pacific shores. her name was louvisa jo stanley

WOW! I hope this great group of people is still thriving, writing, remembering and sharing all of it’s interest and enthusiasm for what I also remember as “The Diamond” of all the glorious theaters from the exciting days of the birth of the movie biz. Outside of the sphere of all life within closr proximity to the “original Hollywood”… there grew a whole other world, originally known as Hollywood Riviera, which is where the lives & the legends of places like The Fox began. Although I’m just dying to chatter and connect immediately… I know that there is a MAJOR, untapped (as far I know) source of personal info. that I must try to reach before I do anything else. He will be so thrilled, and he comes from three generations of family, that not only lived through the earliest days of the development of the South Bay, but also lived and grew up partaking in the Fox Theaters earliest glory days… of evening gowns, live performances, silents & talkies, and celebs & red carpet openings aplenty! His first name is Steve… but I must try to reach him ASAP so he can relate , personally, all the stories he grew up hearing from his dearest grandmother, Marie (even I heard many of them) as she would recount her wonderful early life and her very special memories. Hope you will still be keeping this site going until I get a chance to return to it. Reading everyone’s memories has given me one of the most special afternoon experiences in quite some time! Until then… Carolyn

I was in Hansel and Gretel at the Hampton Players, Christmas 1962. Anyone remember that?

Thanks, Redondo Theater. I’ve passed the news about Dan on to my Dad; he always thought highly of the Ashcrafts.

Schrader and BrucieB, I happened across your posting regarding Dan Ashcraft and his daughters. I happen to live down the street from them for a few years and dated Lisa while I was there. I thought Dan was an exceptional man and I was honored to know him at the time. Lisa and I traveled back and forth to my home town Lake Havasu City a few times and played around the beach are until i left the area. We have kept in touch on occasion and I believe she may still live in Westminster, CA. i believe Dan still lives in Fallbrook, CA near the golf coarse. While we haven’t spoken in a while I happened upon a mutual acquaintance and asked to pass my best regards on to the family. I can recall most all the theaters along the beach area as i was growing up there in the 60’s before heading to Lake Havasu for a few years. I have fond memories of staring at the Dominator as it sat lifeless on the shore breaking up with every wave.

Do you believe in magic? Well, I believe theirs some kind of magic in this life. The other morning while watching a music video called The Story, which takes place in an old grand style movie theater, I started noticing similarities with the Fox Redondo. I thought wow, deja vu all over again; both had similar balconies, ornate ceilings, and those huge curtains. That thought left me with a curious fascination that felt as if I had been dipped into liquid memories. The memory of the Fox Redondo had been long gone and I found myself wanting to recall more about the Fox in Redondo where I spent much of my youth. So with a flick of the wrist and Google I found this web site. And like all of you who left your memories here I to possess some truly terrific times that took place in that majestic Fox.

I want to find out some details about the stairs going up to the balcony. I’m hoping those details will help me remember some of those precious memories. I remember the basic stories I have but not all the details. I should remember the little things like the stain on the carpet where I sat all the time in the balcony or how sticky the side of the armrest was or how someone scratched the side of that armrest with their fingernails down to the bare wood. I know I’m fishing for titbits like I use to fish for Bonitos in the breakwater but who knows what will surface in that head of mine if I read the correct words. I do however, remember the mark or little tear on the screen.

Does any one out there remember what the highest price for a ticket was before the price fell to 75 cents? Would any one remember how many stair treads there are going up to the balcony? I should know those things because I’ve been up those stairs enough times but I just can’t remember right now. I do remember some odd little things I use to do from that time. Sometimes other than riding my bike I would walk from our house on 2nd street in Hermosa up to PCH, down past the King Harbor arch, the down to the Thrifty Drug store to buy a scoop of cherry vanilla and a balsa wood glider. On my way there I would count things like the cracks in the sidewalk, or my foot steps, out of state plates, or anything else that caught my attention, and yes the stair treads going up to the balcony. Well, with a little help I’m sure some of those details will come to mind to help write a short story or two.

As a kid and from about the early sixties tell the doors closed for the last time in the early seventies would be my memories of the Fox redondo. I think this is so unreal without a doubt, all this desire to write from a music video. How cool is that?

You know, all across our country on any given Friday or saturday night there are movies in the park or movies in the dark. I bet it wouldn’t be too difficult to organize a small event like that. The event could take place right on the same spot the Fox Redondo stood. I went to Redondo High and finished in 72. Cruising was a big part of that time for me. We would all gather at Captain’s Corner (parking lot by the salt-water pool). Now on a Friday in that same parking lot theirs Ruby’s Dinner, they host a weekly car show with cars from the 30s to the early70s. Organizing a movie event with a car show seems like a no brainier to me. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find a story there. Well, just an idea to think about.

If you look at some of the later photos, the ice cream shop later became headquarters for the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Here is a 1938 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2yn7zs

Wow, it’s wonderful to see so much posted about this wonderful theater! My granmother lived ¼ mile above there, on Lucia Ave. My cousin, my brother & I took turns staying with her during the summers, and a trip to the Strand was always included. I saw the original run of “Forbidden Planet” and Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” among many others, usually at the Saturday morning matinee. The pictures people have posted bring back many memories. I guess there are lots of us who loved the old place.

Terrance,

The roller rink was where my dad met my mom, I think.. I don’t remember anything but water being there, myself, but I heard from my dad about how it used to be in the 1940’s and 1950’s. It would be cool to see a picture taken from the same place before the harbor was there.
Bill

Thanks, B. Greene, that picture’s just beautiful.