I’ve looked at the exterior of the Fox Theater before, way back in June of 2010, but I’ve never looked at the interior. We’ll start with the lobby. Designed by Charles Howard Crane and opening on January 31, 1929, the photograph above was probably commissioned right before or after the premiere of the lavish movie palace.
Thanks for sharing these! I’m so glad this fabulous place was saved. I only wish the equally fabulous Uptown Theater in my city, Chicago, could meet such a kind fate.
I wonder how many readers won’t recognize the pair of now-disused telephone booths.
I was actually wondering if I needed to label those!
While I cannot remember the name of the movie that starred Vincent Price (of Price Road in Ladue), he came to promote one of his movies at the Fox. I recall the organist rising as if from the depths of Hell playing the scary music.
The Fox was operated by Arthur Enterprises for many years. I worked for them in the 60’s when I was in high school and early college, mainly at their downtown movie palace, the Ambassador. On some occasions I was tasked with ushering at the Fox during certain busy engagements. The beautiful polished columns in the lobby and auditorium were finished in a process known as ‘scagliola’. It’s actually a very old process of mixing gypsum plaster, marble dust and glue to create a hardened surface to simulate marble. They used feathers to simulate the veins in marble and then polished the columns to a high shine.
At that time, Stan Kann was the resident organist and he would play an organ concert in between the feature, sometimes even playing along with the movie soundtrack during the end titles of a movie as he rose from the orchestra pit. Those were still the days of showmanship that have largely disappeared. The Fox still has the capability of showing movies and I wish they would show some silents with the organ accompaniment once and awhile in between stage shows!