Night in, night out, the Fox Tower sign lights up the Westwood sky. As the neighborhood’s defining landmark, it’s so ingrained in the collective consciousness of UCLA students that hardly anyone pauses to wonder why exactly the Mann’s Village Theater would have a sign that says “Fox” at all.
The Village Theater’s 70-plus-year history as a first-run movie palace is one of the most illustrious in the world, going all the way back to Westwood’s origins as a planned community.
From its beginnings the theater has continued to be an integral part of the development of Westwood.
Still, many know it simply as the site of big premieres and opening days and remain unaware of its history.
“It’s an interesting film history question: Why is it the Fox Theater when it’s the Mann circuit?” said Ross Melnick, co-founder of Cinema Treasures, an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of classic movie theaters.
“When it opened in 1931, it was part of the Fox Theater circuit, which was the dominant chain on the West Coast.
“At that time, whenever you built one of these theaters, you were cementing not only a center for living, but a center of entertainment.”
The page dedicated to the Mann’s Village on the Cinema Treasures Web site features comments by a community of cinemagoers, on everything from its digital projection quality to the murder of a police detective there in 1932.
Melnick has also co-authored a book titled “Cinema Treasures,” and is currently a graduate student in UCLA’s Department of Film, Television, and Digital Media. Witnessing firsthand the excitement generated by the Fox helped spark his interest in classic theaters.
“The Fox is one of the theaters that led to the founding of Cinema Treasures,” he explained. “In 1996, I was in the apartments UCLA owns behind the Fox. I came when ‘Independence Day’ first opened – the lines went around three blocks. Seeing that swell of activity and moviegoers night after night, when I grew up on multiplexes, was a formative experience.”
Today, students still appreciate what the Fox’s single screen and roughly 1,400 seats have to offer in an era dominated by multiplexes.
“I really like the theater, in that it’s in this old Hollywood style. It’s so glamorous and big,” said Kathy Kim, a fourth-year psychology student.
“The atmosphere is different. A multiplex is just kind of like a Borders. They have them all over the place. They’re not really special – you just go to watch a movie.”
“It’s just so pretty in there,” added Jennifer Chang, also a fourth-year psychology student. “The large crowd definitely makes the movie theater seem like a place that’s more than just somewhere to watch a movie.”
Melnick explained how the theater’s entertainment value stems from more than just the movies it screens. The Fox is imbued with an old architecture fantasy – the idea that the show starts on the sidewalk, beginning from the exterior box office and the lit-up tower.
“When you think of seeing an event movie you still think of going to see it in the Fox theater,” he said.
Kim still remembers attending the opening night of “Spider-Man 2” there. “People were dressed up and waiting in line forever, and they were tossing around beach balls in the auditorium,” she said. “They turned out all the lights to calm us down. ... It was just a spectacle.”
However, the theater is best known as the site of some of Hollywood’s biggest premieres.
Many have already seen it on TV long before they come to UCLA, and perhaps without knowing it.
Students flock down to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars, admitting they’re not above succumbing to the current celebrity-worship culture.
When Chang realized at the premiere of “The Matrix Revolutions” that neither she nor her friend had brought a camera, she immediately set about fixing the problem.
“One of us saved our spot, and the other ran to Rite Aid to buy a disposable. The shots weren’t that great, but I have a close-up one of Keanu (Reeves),” she said.
Kim went a step further, managing along with a group of friends to garner an invite to the premiere of “The Notebook.” They had gone to see Ryan Gosling and Gena Rowlands, but were treated to an appearance by a more celebrated Hollywood icon, Morgan Freeman.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m standing three feet from Morgan Freeman,’” she recalled, noting that one of her friends even followed him into the bathroom.
Melnick’s previous work in publicity at Dreamworks and other studios provided some insight into why the Village still attracts so many premieres.
“Something about it looks great on television. There’s something about the nighttime, and they’re also catching the Mann Bruin across the street – it’s like this nexus of neon marquees,” Melnick said.
He added that the external similarity between the Village Theater and a Los Angeles theater torn down decades ago, the Fox Carthay Circle, draws an unconscious connection to a tradition of glittering premieres.
“It captures a long history of these beautiful white Fox buildings – it ties old Hollywood to new Hollywood,” he said.
After more than 70 years, the Fox remains at the heart of activity in Westwood.
“The role of the movie theater has changed, but remarkably stayed so much the same. ... It’s one of the most inexpensive and central gathering places we have as a community,” Melnick said.
“The Fox theater has weathered depression, war, the movement to the suburbs, home video, the Internet, and still retains its importance.”