This theater originally opened in 1985 as the Paradise 6 (presumably because of its proximity to Paradise Park) and was a first run cinema. I remember seeing odd movies such as “The Ninth Configuration” and “Dr. Caligari” there as well as awesome events like the 1988 restored “Lawrence of Arabia”. Also, I saw “Aliens”, “RoboCop” and “Prince of Darkness” there among many, many others. Later it became a second run. As recently as 2007 I saw “Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny”. It is, as far as I know, the ONLY movie theater left in Vegas not connected to a casino (excepting the Drive-In) and the last theater left (again with the exception of the drive-in) from before the 90’s.
Yep! I remember this place. It did have a big auditorium. I went there with my girlfriend in 1987 and saw a double bill of some movie I don’t remember that we walked in the middle of and “Hot Pursuit”. The second had an elaborate plot with a private eye trying to chase down a porn movie made by a now superstar status pop singer who’s terrified that if the movie surfaces it’ll ruin her career. I definitely remember it being on 35mm and everything as it was a huge screen. Popcorn was available in the snack bark (Yccch!) and yes… during the movie, my girlfriend and I had to relocate once ‘cos some guy parked in the row behind us started hooking his horse.
The battle between the awesomeness of seeing regular movies in the theater and the convenience of renting them on NetFlix or downloading at home rages on but I think it’s safe to say catching an X-rated movie on the big screen is pretty obsolete. Except that… believe it or not in my new home town of Portland, OR there are not one but TWO adult movie theaters. One of which has been in continuous operation since 1970!
I actually was taking Thai Kung Fu at the Martial Arts studio. There was also a video store that had both Beta and VHS. A pizza store towards the front. The Las Vegas Library was over on the side. The whole mall definitely had an odd “Dawn of the Dead” abandoned vibe and you felt like you had the place to yourself. Wasn’t there also a petting zoo there? It had a Gigantic parking lot in the back that was empty and crumbling, sprouting up weeds, back to back with Crestwood Elementary School.
My next door neighbor was the manager of that Woolco until it closed. And good old Thriftimart was of course owned by Vegas politico Jan Laverty (later married to Fletcher Jones Jr.).
The Fox Theater was one of the most classy theaters around. Red velvet curtains that opened and closed. Beautiful light fixtures on the wall. In the seventies around Halloween they would show classic horror movies at midnight!
So awesome seeing that photo. I remember this theater fondly. Wish I could read through the glare to see what posters are behind the glass… Possibly “Q” would be one of them at that time. I saw “The End” there in 1978 and then later a double feature of the Japanese “Star Wars” rip-off/homage “Message From Space” with “The Groove Tube”… Oh yeah and they played the re-release of “Star Wars” itself there in 1979. I also saw “Battlestar Galactica” and “Buck Rogers” there…one being a show that had just run on television that they were presenting as a movie and the other starting as a movie but then became a T.V. show a few months later. Odd. In the early 80’s it became a Grindhouse. At the time I didn’t know the term ‘grindhouse’ but I was fascinated by the fact that every weekend I could choose between a martial arts double feature, a horror double feature or a sexploitation double bill!
This theater originally opened in 1985 as the Paradise 6 (presumably because of its proximity to Paradise Park) and was a first run cinema. I remember seeing odd movies such as “The Ninth Configuration” and “Dr. Caligari” there as well as awesome events like the 1988 restored “Lawrence of Arabia”. Also, I saw “Aliens”, “RoboCop” and “Prince of Darkness” there among many, many others. Later it became a second run. As recently as 2007 I saw “Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny”. It is, as far as I know, the ONLY movie theater left in Vegas not connected to a casino (excepting the Drive-In) and the last theater left (again with the exception of the drive-in) from before the 90’s.
Yep! I remember this place. It did have a big auditorium. I went there with my girlfriend in 1987 and saw a double bill of some movie I don’t remember that we walked in the middle of and “Hot Pursuit”. The second had an elaborate plot with a private eye trying to chase down a porn movie made by a now superstar status pop singer who’s terrified that if the movie surfaces it’ll ruin her career. I definitely remember it being on 35mm and everything as it was a huge screen. Popcorn was available in the snack bark (Yccch!) and yes… during the movie, my girlfriend and I had to relocate once ‘cos some guy parked in the row behind us started hooking his horse.
The battle between the awesomeness of seeing regular movies in the theater and the convenience of renting them on NetFlix or downloading at home rages on but I think it’s safe to say catching an X-rated movie on the big screen is pretty obsolete. Except that… believe it or not in my new home town of Portland, OR there are not one but TWO adult movie theaters. One of which has been in continuous operation since 1970!
I actually was taking Thai Kung Fu at the Martial Arts studio. There was also a video store that had both Beta and VHS. A pizza store towards the front. The Las Vegas Library was over on the side. The whole mall definitely had an odd “Dawn of the Dead” abandoned vibe and you felt like you had the place to yourself. Wasn’t there also a petting zoo there? It had a Gigantic parking lot in the back that was empty and crumbling, sprouting up weeds, back to back with Crestwood Elementary School.
My next door neighbor was the manager of that Woolco until it closed. And good old Thriftimart was of course owned by Vegas politico Jan Laverty (later married to Fletcher Jones Jr.).
The Fox Theater was one of the most classy theaters around. Red velvet curtains that opened and closed. Beautiful light fixtures on the wall. In the seventies around Halloween they would show classic horror movies at midnight!
So awesome seeing that photo. I remember this theater fondly. Wish I could read through the glare to see what posters are behind the glass… Possibly “Q” would be one of them at that time. I saw “The End” there in 1978 and then later a double feature of the Japanese “Star Wars” rip-off/homage “Message From Space” with “The Groove Tube”… Oh yeah and they played the re-release of “Star Wars” itself there in 1979. I also saw “Battlestar Galactica” and “Buck Rogers” there…one being a show that had just run on television that they were presenting as a movie and the other starting as a movie but then became a T.V. show a few months later. Odd. In the early 80’s it became a Grindhouse. At the time I didn’t know the term ‘grindhouse’ but I was fascinated by the fact that every weekend I could choose between a martial arts double feature, a horror double feature or a sexploitation double bill!