Fox Redondo Theatre
300 Diamond Street,
Redondo Beach,
CA
90277
300 Diamond Street,
Redondo Beach,
CA
90277
17 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 135 comments
I remember the Fox Redondo from the fifties, when I was a kid. The first movie I ever saw was a double-bill … “Moby Dick” and “Prince Valiant.” I remember sitting against the front door of the Fox in the sixties the day “A Hard Day’s Night” premiered. I was in the balcony with Terrance (his posts are above) when “Ship of Fools” played. Does anybody remember how the railing on the balcony came detached if you leaned on it too hard? Several of us girls just about fell into the orchestra by pushing on that railing during a closed-circuit rock concert. The Fox Redondo holds so many wonderful memories … . Please, anyone with photos, please post them!
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!
It’s very interesting reading everyone’s comments. I was raised in Hollywood Riviera. I can remember my Mom popping us shopping bags of popcorn and my brother, sister & I hiking down the hill to the Saturday free show at the Strand or Fox. My sister won a Davy Crockett hat once…I could have killed her. I remember sitting in the VERY front row to see the 10 COMMANDMENTS at the Strand, as the place was packed. Talk about overwhelmed! Of course I, like you, particularly mourn the Fox’s demise. The wrecking ball picture and the picture of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce in THE SAME BUILDING(!) really tear me up. Where were the people to defend this irreplaceable piece of old Hollywoodland?! I’m actually writing to tell people that there’s something they CAN do to make their prescence known. The beautiful WARNER GRAND in San Pedro has a committee called THE GRAND VISION. It’s there to protect and to restore & maintain this beautiful sister theater to THE PANTAGES. Had there been a few more people in Redondo with VISION, perhaps our Fox would not have been destroyed. Here’s the website, if anyone is interested in being a part of preserving our South Bay history. http://warnergrand.org/
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.
I think I know which photo you mean, George, and it isn’t a pretty sight. I am using an interior shot I got at http://www.hollyb.com/oldsouthbaypictures.html as my Internet Explorer Wallpaper. Every now and then I remember another movie I saw at the Fox and add it to my profile, for posterity. I think this site is great.
I either saw or dreamt I saw a movie at the Fox that ended in a lagoon, at the center of which stood a gigantic skull, out of which Jerry Lewis or Don Knotts or maybe Soupy Sales kept being blasted by huge sprays of water. If anyone can tell me the name of that movie I will send them a dollar.
I also remember one Saturday night when the manager (maybe O.C. Frandsen, except I remember his hair being black) shut off the projector and told the crowd the movie would not continue until they quieted down. It may have been that same night that my dad got hit in the head by a marble. Years later my cousin and I got drunk together and it turned out he had been there that same night. A real marble, not a spitball or some popcorn.
Here’s one of my best Fox memories: At the start of the 007 movies you’re watching James Bond through what I thought then was an eye (what is it? the barrel of a gun? a telescope?) and he turns around and shoots you. Every time he did that my dad and I clutched our chests and sank down in our seats. I guess it was four times: we saw two double-features. I wanted to be either a spy or a projectionist when I grew up.
Good to meet someone else who’s had some of the best times of his life in a movie theater. Going by yourself is always great once the lights go down. I miss the dollar movies at the Marinas where on weeknights you might have an auditorium nearly to yourself. And I like to think I bought the last ticket ever to a midnight showing of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. This was at the Surf/Bijou in Hermosa in the very late seventies, and I was the only one to buy a ticket, so they cancelled the film and did a second showing of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, which was already in progress next door. When I asked for my money back the girl at the ticket-booth told me I would have to come back in the daytime and speak with the manager. I got mad and she gave me my refund. Now I wish I’d kept the ticket.
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.
For Manwithnoname…and everyone else who are contributing so many sweet and priceless memories of what clearly was a very special place to so many people. One can only speculate upon how many more are out there who do not know about this site and may have much to say about the old Fox Redondo. (I’m the former manager, O.C. Frandsen). I want to thank and commend most sincerely Manwithnoname for being the original contributor to all this. We all thank you, I’m sure. Mr. K at the Fox Palos Verdes… You must be talking about Mr. Kotsos (I believe that is how it was spelled). I remember him very well — a most decent and pleasant fellow. I recall how he was transferred from the Palos Verdes to the Academy in Inglewood by god only knows what sort of nefarious trick by National General Theatres. A black theatre (mostly) and at the time a recipient of all of the new genre of ‘blacksploitation’ films (Shaft, Cotten Comes to Harlem, etc.) and a most difficult situation for a genteel fellow such as Mr. Kotsos. He survived there for six months before it fell to me to run the theatre; this was in early ‘69 as I recall. Manwithnoname, it would please me greatly if you could reveal your name to me. It is not likely we know one another personally, but all of us who were connected to the old Redondo in some way share at least one important common bond — that theatre, that place and the pleasure moments we received from being there. I have only one connection from those days with whom I’m still in touch — Sal, who was one of my ushers. He still lives in Redondo Beach, in the same place as then, not far from the empty lot where the Fox stood, and I’m convinced he’s never gotten over the loss of the theatre, not to mention the loss of what he considered a career, nay a calling! Bob Mauck — I don’t think I ever met your father, but I certainly recall hearing stories about him. Like so many of the old theatre managers from the golden age of film, there were some really great characters among them, your father included. Your brother Bill I do recall vaguely. He was a manager while I was still an assistant, but if memory serves me right, he managed at one time the Inglewood (the little Inglewood) in…surprisingly, Inglewood! This became the first theatre I ran as a manager in 1967. I very much look forward to seeing the photos of the Redondo (and any others, incl. your father and brother). One last note, and a nod to Moviemanforever — You were right in noting that NGC (National General Theatres) was the last to own the Redondo at its closing, not as I have claimed, Mann Theatres. It was several months later in late Spring, 1973 before Mann purchased the entire chain from NGC. (Have this confirmed from old audit reports I still have). Thanks to you all for being here. 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, Would you post your photos PLEASE?! There’s a lot of people who’d love to see them. There’s, actually, so little recorded about this wonderful palais that spun dreams for so many. Regards, Terrance
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.
The Fox Redondo Theatre was built on the site of the 600 seat Art Theater (1913-1928). Architect John Paxton Perine designed what has been described as a combination of Art-Deco and California-Spanish style for the building.
The Fox opened on 22nd February 1929 with an early William Fox talking picture “The Ghost Talks” starring Helen Twelvetrees plus five acts of vaudeville and Lynn Cowan’s 10 piece orchestra.
The Fox Redondo Theatre was demolished in 1973.
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.
O.C., I look forward to reading that book. My mom remembers seeing a lot of Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies at the Fox before I was born, and smoking with her girlfriends in the balcony. I remember about 20 shows, mostly double features, that I saw at the Fox between the ages of 6 and 11. I also saw movies at the Marinas & Surf, the Torrance Drive-In, and the South Bay Theater, but none of those places held a candle to the Fox. I remember JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN not because it was a good movie but because I got bored with it amid fantastic surroundings. Something else I remember is that audiences used to applaud when a movie started and finished. The Fox was one place where that probably made sense.
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
What is now located where this theatre was?
Can you say more about why Mann is to blame for its closure?
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
Thanks, Terrance, for helping me find the interior shots at http://www.hollyb.com/oldsouthbaypictures.html I’ve never forgotten those guys in the murals, but I had forgotten how beautiful the ceiling was. Also now that I know that the lady out front was a flamenco dancer (not a mermaid), it seems to me she wore a red gown and had castanets in her hands. Also someone above remembers a red carpeted stairway, but I remember the carpet being more yellow/brown/green and having a leafy pattern. I remember the stairs made a sort of horse-shoe up from the lobby, identical curving stairs on either side, but I can’t remember if from the top you could look down into the lobby, or if there was a lobby ceiling. Also the lobby snack bar—was it off to the left from the entrance, or straight out front? Anything anyone remembers about the FOX REDONDO is of interest to me; the FOX is my favorite place that ever was. Hopefully we’ll be seeing some pictures of the lobby sooner or later.
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
I remember a very small rip in the screen. Also that when they showed BEN there somebody brought in a lot of rats, though I never saw any myself. Also riding my bike there one afternoon and finding the doors open and no one around that I could see, and being seriously tempted to steal a poster for COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE that was standing in the lobby, but not having the nerve. Also having a fist-fight with my cousin on the stairs that led up to the balcony, during THE LAST GRENADE or KELLY’s HEROES, and being called into the manager’s office and him being nice to us. Also that you could stomp your feet on the floor toward the front and it would make a huge sound. Also that sometimes the floor got flooded, in the late 60’s. Also sneaking in with my dad when WOODSTOCK was playing to see if my sister was there when she wasn’t supposed to be, and looking down over the balcony railing at a lot of people not in their seats. Also the 007 double-features, and the first two PLANET OF THE APEs together. Also thinking WHERE ANGELS GO, TROUBLE FOLLOWS was a great film (it’s always on Stella Stevens' face that I remember the little rip). Also HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD on a triple bill—and when NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD started the whole place went quiet, which was rare on Saturday nights, and watching that movie you felt like you were on the Titanic and everybody going down. Also how great it felt to see a matinee there and come out in the late afternoon and be near the sea. Also hearing they were going to tear the place down but not being prepared to truly never see it again until I found this site. If I were a ghost there isn’t any place I’d rather haunt than the FOX REDONDO. Also that the projectionist’s quarters was a sort of booth at the back of the balcony—is that right? Also were the murals the same on either side of the balcony, and what were they of? Also on the outside front of the theater, above the marquee—was that a mermaid, and was she blue? Also they sold popcorn both downstairs and separately upstairs, and the poporn was always great, and so were the hot dogs, and so were the people. Also the rating M. Also the last few minutes of SPIRITS OF THE DEAD, which was rated R but played with THE OBLONG BOX, which was an M, and the little girl bouncing the silent ball. Also very early in life seeing THE SOUND OF MUSIC there with my mom; we rode there on bikes, and we saw it there more than once and always in the daytime. Also wearing my roller skates after WHERE ANGELS GO, TROUBLE FOLLOWS and thinking the sound of the wheels on our pebblestone walkway sounded a lot like the song from the movie. Now you can own all these movies on DVD but it isn’t the same. Bruce, I hope you write your book someday. And O.C., you may have been the guy who had my cousin and me in your office—you were memorably decent to us. Also could you exit from the balcony and walk down some stairs to the street? If so, I remember doing that.
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
Bruce…Check this site out. There’s a picture of the hotel across the street from the FOX (corner of Diamond & Pacific). View link
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!
I can remember standing out in front of the entrance, behind the hot dog stand and getting drenched by a wave. Here’s 2 sites with great exterior/interior shots (but, NO lobby). http://home.earthlink.net/~streets.of.redondo.beach/History.html
http://www.hollyb.com/oldsouthbaypictures.html
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 ()
I “worked” at the Fox Redondo for about 13 years, starting by folding popcorn boxes around 1954 under the watchful eye of Manager, Scottie. When I was old enough to work legally, I spent more time there than at home, which was only a block away. Later, under the Manager, Bill Mauck, I learn what it was to be a showman. In the 60’s, we would ballyhoo openings with stunts and giveaways, and Mauck was a pro at getting attention to his openings. I stayed with the Fox, working both full and part time until I was about 21 years old, even driving to work at night after moving to college in the San Fernando Valley. I knew, and still remember, every square inch of that wonderful, one- time vaudeville palace. I crawled under the sub floor in search of loose change as a kid, and climbed the rafters above the chandeliers as an adult. I filmed the building of King Harbor form its rooftop. I explored the abandoned organ pipes then covered with gilding, and took girlfriends for tours of the spooky, long empty dressing rooms in the deep underground of the backstage area. All the original equipment of a bygone area remained, from painted drop curtains to the antiquated lighting board. What history that building held! I can still see my ring of keys and know each for their function, from the box office to the fuse box panel! I walked the 16' ladder (for an extra $7.50 per week) to change the marquee. “Living” at the fox in the 50’s and 60’s offered me status as a teen, and by the way, I will still accept a challenge to be dethroned as the Fastest Popcorn Box Folder In The World! It was my home away from home where I saw many, many ushers, managers, and assistants come and go through those years. Of course, I saw every movie that played the Fox for two decades. In my more ambitious years I considered writing a book about my adventures, both during and after, operating hours there. Even after I left and lost touch with those that still ran the Fox, I felt it was my roots, my home. It was difficult to return and not recognize any employees. I still have the posters from every movie that played the Fox Redondo in the 60’s. I networked with friends at other theatres to allow me courtesy passes throughout Los Angeles' Fox, then Mann theatres. Paying for my first admission to a movie theatre around 1974 was personally devastating and humiliating!
I now have only a piece of concrete as a souvenir of the Fox Redondo as my home and my youth which are inseparably linked. And I still have a great memory of seeing the huge, white building from my house. If you looked very hard at it’s faded paint, the Fox would allow its past to show through: On the East side, from one end of the building to the other, in 5-foot tall letters were the nearly invisible words, “TALKING PICTURES.” My Name is Bruce Berns. If you
were a part of that era at the Fox with me, I would love to hear from you.