On January 24, 1925, construction began on a movie theater commissioned by J. C. Scott at 121 5th Street in Huntington Beach, California.

[1] The venue, colloquially named the "Scott theater" after its owner, opened on May 20, 1925, with a ceremony attended by actress and local resident Mary Philbin as well as a delegation from the city's chamber of commerce.

[2] On May 10, 1928, Scott's Theatre hosted a vaudeville show featuring the William Henry players and the Blue and Gold melody boys.

The theater regularly hosted screenings of surf documentaries such as Pacific Vibrations and Five Summer Stories that attracted large crowds of surfers.

The original single-auditorium interior featured a "beam ceiling with panel tiffany finish" and included a stage.