The Fox Theatre was a 4,651 seat movie palace located at 1350 Market Street in San Francisco, California. It was designed by the noted theater architect, Thomas W. Lamb. Opened in 1929, the theater operated until 1963 when it was closed and demolished.
The Fox was built in 1929 by movie pioneer William Fox as a showcase for the films of the Fox Film Corporation along with elaborate stage shows. It was one of a group of five spectacular Fox Theatres built by Fox in the late 1920s. (The others were the Fox Theatres in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Detroit, and St. Louis.)
The Fox Theatre opened on June 28, 1929 with the premiere of Behind That Curtain, a Charlie Chan movie produced by William Fox, directed by Irving Cummings, and starring Warner Baxter and Lois Moran. The theater was closed from October 20, 1932 to April 1, 1933 due to financial difficulties. On June 28, 1959, a 30th anniversary celebration took place with the screening of the 20th Century-Fox film Say One for Me with Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds. On March 5, 1960, a series of organ concerts on Saturdays at midnight began, in an attempt to increase business and keep the theater open.
On February 16, 1963, the theater closed and was later demolished. Now located at the site is Fox Plaza at 1390 Market Street, a high-rise building with offices and apartments (no relation to the famous Fox Plaza in Los Angeles). The organ from the site was salvaged and displayed at the Pizza Joynt, a now defunct restaurant in San Lorenzo, California. It is now located in the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.