Fox Theatre

The earliest mention of the Fox Theatre I’ve been able to find in the trade journals is in the November 4, 1950 issue of Boxoffice. The house was then owned by Neal Robinson and Tom Barrow. As late as the November 1, 1947 issue of Motion Picture Herald, Neal Robinson and Tom Barrow were noted as owners of the Crestview Theatre in Crestview. So far I’ve been unable to discover if the Fox was a newly built replacement for Robinson and Barrow’s Crestview or if the house was merely renamed, perhaps after a remodeling.

382 North Main Street (construction date was Housed in the only Art Moderne structure within the Crestview Historic Business District, the landmark Fox Theatre was the most popular entertainment spot in town (late 1940’s and 1950’s) and probably the most memorable for so many of today’s older Crestview residents. Many area residents can recall fond memories from their younger days that centered around the good times spent at the Fox. The theatre was also visited frequently by post WWII servicemen from nearby Eglin Air Force Base. In 1949, actor Gregory Peck and other stars were in town for the nationwide premiering of the movie “Twelve O'Clock High” at both the Fox and Eglin Theatres on Main Street in downtown Crestview. The movie was made at nearby Eglin AFB, Duke Field (an auxiliary field located immediately south of Crestview), and some scenes were even shot within the City of Crestview.

The Fox Theatre possibly opened in around 1949/1950. It is listed in the 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook without a seating capacity being given (usually an indication of a newly built theatre which hasn’t had details submitted to the editors)