THEN & NOW: The Jewish Businessmen Who Twice Saved The Fox

The Fox Theatre, which stands today as a heady reminder of the glamorous role that these old movie palaces once occupied in American life, was originally conceived a hundred years ago as a lavish new headquarters for the Masonic members of Atlanta’s Yaarab Shriners.

But as plans progressed, so did the cost of construction and before they finally broke ground in 1928, the Shriners were forced to taken on one of Hollywood’s most important Jewish movie moguls as a full partner.

William Fox, who was born Wilhelm Fried Fuchs in Hungary, was building a national chain of lavish theaters for his Fox Film Corporation when he added the new Atlanta theater to his portfolio.

With his investment, the Shriners were able to have a building for their offices and a pair of ornate ballrooms for their meetings and Fox had a theater right out of the “Arabian Nights.” It had seats for more than 4,600 ticket buyers who could sit in their lavishly upholstered seats and imagine they were about to watch a motion picture in an exotic desert encampment surrounded by crenellated balconies and ornamented balustrades.

Overhead, the make-believe sky twinkled with pinpoints of light and clouds moved with the passing of time. It was almost too good to last, and from the start it almost didn’t. By the time it opened on Christmas Day in 1929, the stock market had crashed two months before.

Despite the financial setback, the opening day crowd stretched around the block on Ponce de Leon and Peachtree Streets. They showed “Steamboat Willie,” Walt Disney’s recent animated cartoon that introduced a new character, Mickey Mouse, in synchronized sound and Fox’s “Salute” starring George O’Brien and Helen Chandler. On stage was a musical revue entitled “Beach Nights” and rising from the orchestra pit on a 16-foot hydraulic lift was the Mighty Moller organ played by Iris Wilkins.

But it didn’t take long for all of this lovely dream-like setting to face challenges brought on by the Great Depression. In 1932, The Fox was repossessed and the building which had been built only a few years before for $3 million was auctioned on the Fulton County Courthouse steps for $75,000.

The Fox, which had been saved by one visionary Jewish businessman in the 1920s, would have to wait more than 40 years for another Jewish visionary to save it again.

In 1974, after years of declining audiences who either were moving far away to the suburbs or were staying home to watch television, the old, once magical Fox was headed toward the wrecking ball.

The Bell South Company, a telecommunications giant, was planning a new corporate headquarters for the site. The demolition permit had just been issued when a determined group of civic-minded citizens decided that The Fox was well worth saving.

Georgia’s state government had done an economic study that The Fox had a future if it was run by a nonprofit organization. The new group, called Atlanta Landmarks, needed to quickly come up with the $1.8 million to buy the building.

It was slow going until what was described as an anonymous donor stepped in to promise that they would donate $400,000 if the new nonprofit could raise the rest. The effort succeeded and the group began a lengthy program to restore the old theater into its former glory.

It was only well after the campaign that Atlanta found out that the anonymous donor was Ben Massell, Jr., who ran the very successful real estate company that had been started by his father, a Lithuanian immigrant. The elder Massell had become one of Atlanta’s largest real estate investors and was an early developer of the neighborhoods north of Ponce de Leon Avenue.

His son was a supporter of the arts and became a leading benefactor of the High Museum of Art after his father died in 1962. He also was a prominent member of the Anti-Defamation League and served as chair of its Society of Fellows and on the local board and in the Southern region.

After The Fox was purchased, Massell, Jr., became an active member of the theater’s restoration committee. He was a cousin of Sam Massell, who served as Atlanta’s first and only Jewish mayor between 1970 and 1974. A bronze memorial plaque was placed in the theater as a tribute to his timely generosity.

Today, 50 years after Ben Massell, Jr, helped save The Fox, the theatre is thriving. Last year, it hosted more than 200 performances attended by over 600,000 visitors who spent more than $50 million on tickets.

This month, The Fox was selected as Theater of The Year by the International Entertainment Buyers Association, one of the nation’s most important live entertainment organizations.