Fox Stadium Theatre

8906 W. Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035  | map |

 

Opened: March 5, 1931. The Fox Stadium Theatre, now a synagogue, was built for and operated by Fox West Coast Theatres. The location is on the south side of the street one long block west of Robertson Blvd. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for sharing his 2009 photo in a post for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. The rear of the auditorium was with stadium-style seating, a rarity in Los Angeles at the time.

 

A February 24, 1930 announcement of the project. Thanks to Comfortably Cool for locating the article for a post on Cinema Treasures. 

 

A drawing of the proposed theatre. It appeared, rather belatedly, in the October 1939 issue of the trade magazine Electrical Specifications. Thanks to Chris Nichols for locating the image. He is a senior editor at Los Angeles Magazine. His latest book, written with Adriene Biondo, is "Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling," a 2024 Angel City Press release.

 

A 1930 L.A. Times story touting the new theatre as the only one in the world with such a seating arrangement. It's unknown what they meant by "cut straight." And the seats were hardly arrayed in "one gigantic tier."  While a rarity at the time in the L.A. area, architects elsewhere had been doing stadium-style houses for years. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the article.

 

About the only other early L.A. theatre with such an arrangement was downtown's Rialto Theatre. In the 40s, lots of theatres, especially by Fox West Coast (such as the Fox Inglewood and the Culver), utilized the format. This is quite a contrast to the San Francisco area, where most theatres in the 20s and early 30s that were in the 900 to 1,200 seat range were built stadium-style.

 

A March 5, 1931 opening day ad. Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating it. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org

 

 

A 1931 opening night view. Thanks to Cinema Treasures contributor Nemarik for the photo. It's on the site's page about the Fox Stadium. The film was the "Don't Bet On Women" with Edmund Lowe and Jeanette MacDonald. We also got a Laurel and Hardy short.

Architect: Carl Boller, Boller Bros.

Robert O. Boller and his brother Carl Henry worked all over the country on projects including the Kimo in Albuquerque and the Missouri Theatre in St. Joseph. See the Cinema Treasures list on Boller Bros. for 76 theatres by the firm that the site has indexed. They began in 1905 in Kansas City.

Carl Boller moved to Los Angeles in 1921 and, in addition to the Fox Stadium, also designed the Fontana Theatre (now a performing arts venue) and the Corona Theatre, now a church. His most opulent theatre in the area was the Tracy Theatre in Long Beach.

The building has a 24' deep stage and a 50' x 25' proscenium. The theatre was planned for wide film processes underway at the time such as the 70mm Fox Grandeur format. And there was always Magnascope. The sliding sections of the grand drape allowed for the showcasing of three image sizes: slides, the regular screen size, and the enlarged screen. 

The exterior was strikingly lit with both neon and colored flood lights. And, of course, there was a lit beacon atop the tower.

 

This floorplan and section were included in "Adapting the Theatre to a Shallow Lot," a big article by Carl Boller in the May 9, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald profiling the new theatre. It's on Internet Archive.

Seating: 1,179

 

Closing: The theatre closed in 1961. Bruce Kimmel notes that it closed September 5 with the double bill of "Pepe" and "Hand in Hand."

Status: It's been a synagogue, the B'nai David-Judea, since 1964. The exterior was rehabilitated in 2004.

 

Lobby views:

 

This 1931 Mott Studios lobby photo is one of sixteen in the California State Library's set # 001384373.

 

 

A closer view toward the exit doors. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

A lobby sculpture. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931

 

 In the lobby near an entrance to the auditorium. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo.

A look up the ramp to the auditorium that we see in the photo above. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931

Another lobby photo in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

The current look of the lobby. The rear section of the auditorium seating is above this area. It's a photo by Reyna Zack Photography that appeared on the B'nai David-Judea website.

 

The auditorium:

A view from the upper section of seats. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931. The USC Digital Library also has a copy of this one. Also see a shot from the Los Angeles Public Library collection with only half of that dark teaser in place. 

 

 

Closer to the stage. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931. 

 

 

A view under different lighting that's in the Los Angeles Public Library collection. 

 

 

Here we get that house curtain almost open with the inner edges serving as decorative legs near the proscenium. That's their title curtain just upstage of it. It's a photo from the collection of the late Terry Helgesen that appeared in the Q4 1996 issue of Marquee, the publication of the Theatre Historical Society. Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for sharing the image from the issue in his collection. Visit the site that Kurt curates about the Chinese: GraumansChinese.org

The organ grille house left and the organ console in the pit. It's a Los Angeles Public Library photo. Thomas L. DeLay commented about the organ on the private Facebook group Theatre Architecture: 

"Yep, the Wurlitzer in this theatre was a transplant. That console style is circa 1919-1921 and was a far more attractive style than what followed it. It was probably a bit too expensive to continue to build. The theatre dates from 1931, the Wurlitzer from 1921 (at most.) A Boller Bros. theatre. Quite a change from their theatres in Texas and NM."

 

The house right organ grille. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931

A different curtain treatment. Many thanks to Ronald W. Mahan for this photo from his collection. It was taken by W.P. Woodcock and once belonged to Tony Heinsbergen. This curlicue pattern drape we see here also appeared in other Fox-operated houses of the period including the Fox Wilshire and the United Artists Long Beach. Ron calls our attention to the plush loge seats: "Only eleven to a row vs. twelve of the standard ones. How luxurious to have a couple more inches for comfort."

Another proscenium shot with the house curtain visible. The photo is from the May 9, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald titled "Adapting the Theatre to a Shallow Lot." It's on Internet Archive.

 

Looking toward the booth. Note here at the Stadium the booth isn't behind the last row of seats but up a full level higher to get in more seats. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931

Another look toward the rear of the house -- a bit different than the California State Library version.  The photo is from the May 9, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald titled "Adapting the Theatre to a Shallow Lot." The article also has a lobby shot and an organ grille detail.

 A sidewall detail. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931 

 

 

A look at the loge seats. Thanks to Cakeight for locating the photo for a post on Cinema Treasures.  

A ceiling detail. Photo: Los Angeles Public Library. Also see another ceiling shot from their collection. 

A view of the front of the former auditorium from the B'nai David-Judea website.

More exterior views:

A daytime view from the article by Carl Boller in the May 9, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Herald titled "Adapting the Theatre to a Shallow Lot."

An opening night photo from the Motion Picture Herald article.

A view of the theatre in 1931 running "The Doorway to Hell," an October 1930 release. It's a Mott Studios photo in the USC Digital Library collection. The photo is also in the California State Library set. Also in the USC collection: lobby view | auditorium | boxoffice | 

Another facade view. It's a 1931 Mott Studios photo, one of sixteen in the California State Library's set #001384373.

The theatre's entrance.  Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931

The ticket lobby at the Stadium. Photo: Mott Studios - California State Library - 1931 

A 1937 photo from the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Thanks to Bruce Kimmel for this c.1951 street view from his collection. We're looking west on Pico.

A street view. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

A closer look at the tower. Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

A detail of the Fox Stadium facade.  Photo: Bill Counter - 2010

More Information: See the Cinema Treasures page on the Fox Stadium for the more data on the theatre.

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