Lido Theater’s 80th-anniversary celebration raises $150,000 for Lupus International

Friends of Newport Beach’s Lido Theater celebrated the 80th anniversary of the local art deco landmark Thursday under the gaze of Bette Davis’ eyes.

The party included a champagne reception and a screening of the Davis-Henry Fonda film “Jezebel” to benefit Lupus International. “Jezebel,” for which Davis earned one of her two Best Actress Oscars, was the first movie shown at the Lido Theater in 1938.

Davis lived in Corona del Mar as the theater was being built, and the story — perhaps apocryphal but fitting with the old Hollywood glamour of the theater’s architecture and fixtures such as the red velvet waterfall curtain and glittering lobby chandeliers — is that she requested that it open with her picture and that the ladies room have a sitting parlor.

The recently restored theater and Via Lido Plaza were developed by the Griffith Co. The Fritz Duda Co. has owned the property since 1986. It’s one of the few single-screen theaters still operating in California.

The anniversary celebration raised more than $150,000 for Lupus International between Thursday’s festivities and a concert in the theater the night before by Bill Medley, a former Newport Beach resident and half of the Righteous Brothers singing duo.

The celebration was presented in partnership with the Newport Beach Film Festival, which the Lido Theater helps host annually.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD