The Fullerton Historic Theatre Foundation is a grassroots organization responsible for saving the Fox Theatre—the famed 1928 movie house—from destruction, in part by screening films on its large, outdoor, east-facing wall. Past screenings of classics such as It's a Wonderful Life have netted as much as $1,200—which is still worlds away from the $8 million to $10 million the organization will need to completely rebuild the Fox into a cutting-edge performance-art center. But the money is actually secondary to the fact that the foundation is putting the once-forgotten theater on the community's collective radar: hundreds of people flock to these outdoor screenings, a clear indication of its essential existence to the city of Fullerton.
February's film is the 1933 version of King Kong, digitally remastered and with bonus deleted scenes. A cartoon and a short film about movie-palace refurbishment will also be screened. Bring lawn chairs, blankets, and loose change and cash for the collection plate. Lastly, families and older types tend to round out the audience at these Fox functions, but I'm not sure which is more terrifying: a monstrous ape that bats planes down from the sky or the monstrous appeal of a theater that one Weekly scribe called “the best reason to see live entertainment in Southern California.”
King Kong at the Fox Fullerton, 131 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 870-0069; www.foxfullerton.org. Thurs., Feb. 16, 7 p.m. Free.
