Century Theatre
5115 Hollywood Boulevard,
Hollywood,
Los Angeles,
CA
90027
5115 Hollywood Boulevard,
Hollywood,
Los Angeles,
CA
90027
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 52 comments found
I WAS A STUDENT AT USA IN 1977, AND I WOULD GO ON A FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. NOT ONLY DID I LOVE THE PORNO, IT WAS SO EXCITING TO HAVE A YOUNG GUY YOUR OWN AGE SIT NEXT TO YOU . SOMETIMES THERE WOULD BE A BLOW JOB AND SOMETIMES JUST RUBBING AND SOMETIMES NOTHING IF NEITHER MADE A MOVE. SOMETIMES WE WOULD LEAVE TOGETHER IF THEY HAD A PLACE. I REMEMBER IF AN OLDER MAN SAT NEXT TO ME I WOULD SAY NO RIGHT AWAY AND HE WOULD GET UP. I FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT NOW. JUST WONDERFUL SEXUAL MEMORIES. I WAS ALWAYS SO SCARED TO WALK UP TO THE TICKET BOOTH, I AM SURE THAT ADDED TO THE EXCITEMENT. I THINK THE MEMBERSHIP CARDS WERE YELLOW? I NEVER SAW ANYONE ARRESTED OR HARASSED MY E MAIL IS if anyone wants to contact me.
I went to the Century shortly before it began programming gay adult films. I went to see “The Killing of Sister George” plus “The Gay Deceivers” for $2.00. The theater was nicely kept, clean, and with a good film presentation.
I never went there after the programming conversion, but I did go to the Richard’s Theater on Hollywood Blvd. and the Drake on Melrose (All Seats $1.00 after 11 p.m.). During that time, I had lost about 113 pounds, and people actually looked at me twice in those places. I never responded; I just wanted one person to share my life with. I never did anything with anybody; I felt too lonely and guilty. I remember staring at the screen, wondering if this was “gay life,” and I would hold back the tears while the people around me engaged in various physical activities.
When I turned 21, I started going to Studio One, replacing movies with music. Dancing with a couple of thousand other people was a hell of a lot better than sitting in those depressing theaters.
Now, Studio is gone, AIDS spread throughout the country, and the theaters closed. Never before or since will there ever be a time like that.
It stopped showing regular Hollywood type movies when GCC sold the house. So that was somewhere around 1972-73.
i remember this theater showing gay porn when i first visited
L.A. May of 1980. when exactly did it close as a mainstream movie
house and after that when did it start showing gay porn?
Interesting; Thanks Twistr. Supply and demand. Nickelodeons brought the public out of their homes and home movies brought them back into the homes.
The influx of home movies and early video did it, many legit houses died because of the video craze in early 80’s to now……Also suburban multi houses were the rage from 76- now and downtown houses closed because they could not compete with the free parking, mulit choice movies etc,,,after a couple years of adult entertainment they usually closed and were left abandonded such as the houses in Detroit, The UA, Michigan, Madison, Grand Circus, State Gem,Century and even the very glamourous FOX took runs at adult fare mid 70’s to try to sustain business..downtown areas became dangerous and people opted for the safer burbs.. good bye grand movie palaces of the past. At least some ran a while longer with the porn and had some extra life. Most are demolished or redone and made a legit live venue..
Why did the Century and so many other straight porn and especially gay porn theatres close in or about 1977 was it legal issues?
I worked as a manager and relief manager in So. Cal. then later district mangage in No. Cal. for Shan Sayles, Continental theatres in the late 60s to about 73. Does anyone know what happened to Shan Sayles and Continental theatres as I notice Mr. Beehler also worked for the same company.
From what I can tell the demand for straight porn declined and the demand for gay porn increased till about 1977 then everything came to a stop or near stop and I’m wondering why in that period from 77 to the present gay exibition fell to the extent that great houses such as the Century closed. VHS/DVD did not curb the desire for the Good Ole Days or did it? I notice that the demand did not decrease in Europe, in fact, it appears to have increased during the same time period.
This was in the LAT in August 1935:
http://tinyurl.com/ngp4ub
Here is a January 1977 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/klwthm
Here is a January 1974 ad from the LAT:
http://tinyurl.com/mxgtmw
Great 1980’s photos!
Here is an April 1969 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/pp7ux9
View link
This should take you to a photo of AL Parker in front of the theatre, for his premiere Flashback.
Here is a 1982 photo. For the people that were discussing Jack Wrangler, his obituary was in the paper the other day.
http://tinyurl.com/c984tr
Adult film movie posters were limited printed items for the films. The run could be as high as 1000 or as low as a few hundred posters, depending on the company releasing it. E-bay or if there is a current video version relesed of it. There the video company might have poster artwork for it.
Does anyone out there know where I might find a movie poster for The Grease Monkeys and for The Rivermen, both films made by Jaguar Films? Thank you, Grand Canyon Rob
Anybody know where Ken is now. Tommy from Texaco looking for him. That’s where they shot Grease Monkeys.
A Robert-Morton theater organ was installed in the Hunley Theater in 1921.
A long article in the LA Times dated 9/7/77 mentions this theater:
“Landlord Ben Mohi, who ran the operation from 1948 to 1965 as a straight movie house, claims the rental is his sole income.”
There are pages more, mostly from porn guys boohoing about the government, but I can’t reproduce all that here.
I worked at the Century in the early 80s. Monroe was so wonderful and kind to me. He used to “voice” all the outgoing messages on the answering machine. Great to hear he is doing well.
While taking summer courses at UCLA in 1984 I went over to Hollywood to see a movie at the Century Theatre. It had recently been remodeled and looked nice, lots of burnt orange tile, chrome, and orange draperies…
After purchasing a membership the cashier advised that plain clothes vice squad frequently staked out the auditorium and warned against making any type of physical contact with other patrons.
There were no dark back rooms, no gay activity inside rest rooms, and definitely no cruising inside that auditorium. Everyone seemed afraid to even look at each other, sexual tension was thick! I stuck around fifteen minutes or so, then headed toward West Hollywood
Richard, this theatre has been gone for many years now.
I am currently looking for any Old Theatres in which to lease or possibly buy in Reseda, Van Nuys, Hollywood or North Hollywood. It has been my Long life Dream to renevate and own my own Theatre/ Venue. Please e-mail me at or call me at 310-597-9398 if you live here!! Thanks.Rick
P.S. If you also live in the areas in which I am looking and want to help please contact me as well!!
I agree with mujerado. Facts must be facts. This is about theater history. It’s not horseshoes.
Nothing personal, friend. This is a website celebrating old theaters and where they are or used to be. Don’t you think it should be as accurate as all of us, working together, can make it? If I get something wrong, I’d like it to be corrected. It’s about the information, right?