Oaks Theatre
85 N. Fair Oaks Avenue,
Pasadena,
CA
91103
85 N. Fair Oaks Avenue,
Pasadena,
CA
91103
2 people
favorited this theater
Built in the early-1920’s, in 1925 it was remodeled by Pasadena architect Walter C. Folland and became the Fair Oaks Theatre. In the late 1940’s it was renamed Oaks Theatre.
The Oaks Theatre was demolished in the late 1970’s. This was one of many lost Pasadena movie houses.
Contributed by
William Gabel
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
Here is part of an LA Times article dated 10/10/76:
PASADENA-The Board of City Directors on October 12 will hear an appeal by the owner of an adult theater against denial of his application for zoning exception that would require him to relocate his theater with less than required number of off-street parking spaces.
The Oaks Theater, 85 N. Fair Oaks Avenue, owned by Harold E. Wenzler, is situated in an area earmarked for expansion of the Parsons Engineering Co. world headquarters. The Pasadena Redevelopment Agency (PRA) which is responsible for acquiring and clearing properties for the expansion project, has been working with Wenzler to try and get the theater relocated in a building at 35 S. Raymond Avenue. However the city’s zoning board denied Wenzler’s application for a zoning exception to the parking requirements.
Wenzler’s Oak Theater was the center of controversy during the 1960s, when he first began showing adult films. When law enforcement agencies attempted to block the showing of the films, Wenzler retained attorney Stanley Fleischman to fight a succession of charges all the way from the Pasadena Municipal Court to the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite the court cases, Wenzler’s theater has remained open.
Gene, your grandfather was a gentlemen and a showman. E-mail me at and I will respond.
There was a followup story in the LA Times in March 1977 about the demolition of the Oaks. Harold Wenzler passed away a month before the demolition. I don’t know if the theater ever moved over to Raymond Avenue. Here is a photo that accompanied the story in the Times:
http://tinyurl.com/975gbx
Here is part of an LA Times article dated 3/24/76:
PASADENA-An obscenity case against a theater owner here was declared a mistrial after a jury of four men and eight women reported they were deadlocked after three days of deliberation. The jury foreman said the jury had voted 10 to 2 to acquit Harold Eugene Wenzler, owner of the Oaks Theater, 85 N, Fair Oaks Avenue, charged with showing an obscene film there last August.
The jury viewed the film confiscated by vice officers when Wenzler was arrested. It contained four silent bland and white and color sequences all showing nude or semi-nude women. Much of the testimony in the trial centered on the last black and white sequence, in which a nude woman moved erotically on a bed.
During Wenzler’s latest trial, vice officers arrested Ross H. Raines, 50, projectionist at the Oaks Theater, and charged him with showing an obscene film. Raines is scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday at 9 a.m.
From robbery to obscenity. What a great site.
Here is an April 1966 ad from the Pasadena Independent:
http://tinyurl.com/bf73vf
Here is a September 1957 ad from the same source:
http://tinyurl.com/df6lq9
unbelievable the projectionist Ross was my gandfather and although i now remember him working there i dont remember the arrest
hey i was wondering if any one had any pictures of harold eugen wenzler sr. not his son but the father
In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s my family often drove by the Oaks on the way to church every Sunday. Titles like “Nudie Cuties” bookmarked our Sunday mass transits. There was an attempt to “save” the Oaks from sin in 1961 with the projection of “St. Francis of Assisi” which many of us school kids were brought in to attend. Sad to say, the “Oaks” was not saved – one way or the other.