Now that school is back in full swing with papers, reading, and tests beginning to pile up, study breaks are once again imperative to our continued sanity. However, taking a study break doesn’t have to mean spending a small fortune to unwind.
This column is dedicated to providing you with ideas that cost little to no money. For my first entry, I’ve selected something very close to me (literally, as I grew up in Fullerton).
At first glance, the Fox Theater in Fullerton may seem like a forgotten building whose glory days are long gone. It sits abandoned on a corner in Downtown Fullerton, seemingly unnoticed by the passing cars. Looking past the iron gate and boarded up windows of this 1925 Italian-Renaissance structure, I can almost imagine its open courtyard filled with expectant movie-goers in their furs and top-hats waiting for the latest Mary Pickford film.
This place used to be the epitome of old-time Hollywood glamour. It was designed by the same architect as the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Although the white paint is now chipping, the Fox reminds me of an old war-hero whose days of renown are forgotten by everyone but himself. The large marquee that guards the entrance to the courtyard harkens back to bygone days, although its lights have not emblazoned movie titles in many years. Still, the antiquated billboard and rusting metal “Fox Theater,” once lit with incandescent bulbs, gives off a sense of past grandeur. One’s curiosity cannot help but be peaked by this building.
I’ve come to this historic theater to watch a movie. No, not in the plush red velvet chairs or under the grand chandeliers I’ve been told are inside this building, but on the back wall. The Fox is not currently operating, but the Fullerton Historic Theater Foundation, a group dedicated to restoring this old gem to its former shine, is projecting a movie onto the back wall of the theater tonight.
As I walk to the parking lot behind the theater, I fall in step with people both young and old, all eagerly toting fold-up chairs and blankets to be set up in front of the large white wall that will serve as our screen. There is just something special about watching a movie outside, especially on the back of a theater with such a rich history. Tonight they are showing one of Elvis’s films, but as I stake out my own little section of asphalt, I have the feeling that any movie they show would echo the glitz and glitter of Old Hollywood.
The rich buttery smell of the popcorn being sold from a little vending cart mixed with the thick sugary scent of the cotton candy wafts over the audience and makes my mouth water. Moviegoers are allowed to bring their own food as well and as I unwrap my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the projector clicks on and anticipation runs through me.
From the opening score, to Elvis crooning his last line, there is something magical about being curled up under a blanket beneath the night sky. Throughout the film, I kept glancing up at the “Fox Theater” billboard, now just a shadow above the screen, standing in silent salute to the glamour of Hollywood past. As the credits start to roll, I feel as if I have experienced something rare and forgotten.
The Fullerton Historic Theater Foundation hosts movies at the Fox about once a month. These movies are free and the next showing is “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” 7 p.m. this Thursday, Sept. 10.
