Fox Theater, Art Deco theater in downtown Bakersfield, US

The Fox Theater at 2001 H Street in downtown Bakersfield is a 1930 movie palace designed by S. Charles Lee. Its exterior is Spanish Colonial Revival; the 1,500-seat auditorium, remodeled in 1953, has an Art Moderne motif and a plain ceiling set with small lights that resemble stars. A neon-trimmed marquee and terrazzo-floored entrance foyer mark the street front.

The Fox Theater opened on Christmas Day 1930 with the film Just Imagine. Designed by S. Charles Lee, it withstood the 1952 Kern County earthquake thanks to its poured-concrete over steel construction. In 1953 the interior was remodeled from a Mediterranean garden theme to an Art Moderne style. After closing in 1977, it was saved from demolition in 1994 by the Fox Theater Foundation.

The Fox Theater has hosted FLICS, Bakersfield's foreign film program, since its 25th season opened there on September 22, 2006 with Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. The venue also stages local dance recitals, school graduations and business meetings, and in 2011 the California band Black Veil Brides filmed most of the video for "Rebel Love Song" in front of the building.

The Fox Theater is at 2001 H Street in downtown Bakersfield. The 1,500-seat auditorium has a plain ceiling with recessed lights that twinkle like stars, a feature kept from the original 1930 design. The theater hosts FLICS foreign films from fall through spring, plus ballets, recitals and graduations.

The auditorium's ceiling keeps its 1930 atmospheric effect: a plain surface set with small recessed lights that mimic stars in a night sky. The Mediterranean garden murals on the walls were painted over in the 1953 Art Moderne remodel, but the star lights survived.