Tiki Theatre

Come to think of it, the Monica / Tomkat also has a turnstile entrance.

The Tomkat was a Pussycat cinema years ago right? Are all the Pussycat theatres gone? Does anyone know how big the circt was in its prime?

The Tomkat was indeed a Pussycat (it had a long-running engagement of "Deep Throat"). There may still be one Pussycat up in Sacramento, but they're mostly all gone now.

The theatre in Sacramento is now called the Regency(formerly the Coronet), it still shows adult films.

At one point there were 750 Pussycat theaters in the US. Vince Miranda owned the CA theaters throughout most of its run(Dave Friedman and Dan Sonney were the founders), which had 47 theaters at one point.

The Camera One in San Jose was briefly a Pussycat theater in 1970-1971. It operated as an art house until July of this year, when it shut down to move into a multiplex down the street.

The Tomkat, as a Pussycat, was (along with the Buena Park Pussycat, the former Grand theater) their "flagship" house from 1973-1976 and would show adult films "first run" before they moved into the other Pussycats. Often, the films were shown as single features at these two theaters and films would often play for months. Some films that did this included: The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, Naked Came the Stranger, and The Opening of Misty Beethoven. Deep Throat also had a long run as well.

There is a very small (maybe 50 seats) theater in Long Beach showing straight porn called the Front Door. It sits between a church which used to be a large single screen theater and an auto parts store. They run DVDs, not film, as did most of the last surviving adult theaters.

My wife and I would frequent the pussycat in Buenapark when it was open years ago. Is the tiki theater couple friendly and clean?
Lovinglife

Here are some other Pussycat theatres which come to mind:

Long Beach, on Ocean Ave in the heart of the old theatre district. It was a built-from-scratch modern theatre. I remember seeing it as a child when I lived in Seal Beach. It had the oval shaped sign with Ms. Pussycat on it, and the slogan, "It's a Pussycat Theatre." Long since demolished, along with all of Downtown Long Beach's theatre district.

San Jose had:
The abovementioned theatre which later became the arthouse Camera One, recently closed.
Pussycat Theatre #2, which later became THE Pussycat after the above became Camera One. This one was the former Gay Theatre, opened as a firstrun house in 1949, and now Pete Escovedo's Latin Jazz Club.
The Towne Theatre, operated for a time by the Pussycat people while keeping its Towne name, built in 1928 as the Hester, San Jose's first neighborhood theatre. Switched to arthouse faire and triplexed in the early 90s, but recently switched over to Indian films, and seems to be enjoying success as such.

San Francisco's Pussycat was right in the middle of the Downtown Market Street theatre district. It was the theatre which had formerly been the Egyptian, and then the Guild. It closed around the late 1980s and became retail space.

Oakland had two Pussycats: One was Downtown in the Broadway theatre district. It was a circa 1910 large nickelodeon called the Regent, which later was a newsreel theatre. It closed in the mid 80s, the vertical sign was salvaged, and a few years later the building was demolished, and the property is still empty land.
Oakland's second Pussycat was a very old small neghborhood theatre out on Telegraph Avenue which eventually was called the Tower, given a late 30s moderne and Skouras makeover and run by Fox West Coast. Later, the TOWER letters were removed and replaced by PUSSYCAT on all three sides of the trapezoidal marquee. The theatre closed for good around the late 80s. It sat empty for several years, suffered a fire, and was then demolished. The last time I was by the property (a few months ago) it was still vacant. An antique dealer friend of mine acquired one of the metal channel letter PUSSYCAT signs from the marquee, but restored and then sold it.

To add to Gary's post of other known Pussycat theaters:

Concord had one which was called the Showcase. (The Pussycat name was not used). This theater was formerly the Enean, then the Showcase. Went to porn in 1975, Pussycat took over in 1976 until it was bought out by a church in the late 1980's. In downtown.

Stockton had one called the Bijou.

Sacramento had two: The Esquire(downtown, 1974-early 1980's), and the former Coronet on Watt Ave(late 1970's-present). The Esquire was formerly a Blumenfeld theater. The Coronet went to adult films in 1975 prior to Pussycat taking over. Both theaters adapted the Pussycat name. It still shows adult films(video) today as the Regency.

As for the Towne, when it was adult, I don't think Pussycat operated it very long. It mostly booked films at the same time as the Centre and Presidio theaters, both in San Francisco.

Other known Pussycats:

Pasadena had the State theater on Colorado later went rivival, then art films, then revival, then Asian, then revival (something like that anyway) then kaput. It was gutted and converted to retail.

Torrance had the former Stadium Theater on Cravens. It became simply the Pussycat Torrance. After Pussycat pulled out the theater, after showing adult films for over 20 years remained closed until it was demolished in 2002.

The former Lyric in L.A. and there was one in National City near San Diego.

PS: The Tiki is far from couple friendly and is a dump (judging from the outside only of course) :-)

I took my girl there last night and she lived a fantasy of being completely groped by about 10 guys while we watched the video. It was hot...

You’re right, the Tiki is a dump, and I have been inside many times. My last time there was no fun, too much smoke. Years ago when the live dances were working, it was a hot time. The front row would fill up with guys waxing their polls while the dancer performed.

I have been to the Front Door in Long Beach. It is still relatively clean in the main room area. The single rest room can get seedy over time. If you want to escort your lady there, both of you can find the adventure you seek. There is no pressure, just a fun time. You have to make sure you stay in your seats. For some reason the management is very strict about that. There is also a sign posted, stating a list of behaviors that will get you thrown out. You can pretty much ignore that as long as you stay in your seat. The crowd is calm during the week between 9AM and 2PM.

There is another place in Commerce that is couple friendly, especially on Sundays before noon. This is not a theater. It is a video arcade where you can pick from 100’s of tapes and watch the whole thing for $6. The viewing areas have no doors, so if you like to watch others you can. On Sunday’s you can pretty much enjoy yourself as you wish, the management is cool about it.
Want more detail?… res076dy@gte.net

Judging from the neighborhood where this theater is located, your car is more likely to get groped before it goes home with the guy!

My God father(Vince Miranda) owned the Pussycat chain. I miss him very much.. i am looking for a marquee, and any photos that may be out there. i am trying to put together a collection . If you have any information ..please drop me a line.

Tim David
tbdavid@msn.com
970.309.3991

I have some Pussycat info I worked there from 1967 to 1974.
National City, CA
San Diego. CA

No matter what your opinion is of the films shown, the Pussycat chain was responsible for keeping many classic theaters open and running when they otherwise might have met the wrecking ball. For that alone it's place in cinema history should be acknowledged. If a book hasn't been written about this subject it should be.

Hey Bugsmoran.....
I would like to hear from you. Please drop me a line with the information you have.
Thanks!
Tim David

The Tiki is definately a storefront theatre.

When I went to take a look at it, what intrigued me was the theatre that it backs onto...This theatre building has the slightly faded sign Oxford Theatre painted on the stage house (probably dating from the 1940's or early 1950's). It is visible as you travel east along Santa Monica and at first I thought it was perhaps the stage tower of the Tiki Theatre, but no.....

Inspecting the 'Oxford Theatre' further I discovered the main facade and entrance located around the corner at 1089 N. Oxford Avenue. The auditorium is parallel to Santa Monica Blvd behind the stores and the Tiki Theatre. N. Oxford is one block west along Santa Monica Boulevard from where the 101 crosses Santa Monica Blvd. It is now home of the the MET Theatre and their website states there is a 99 seat theatre and another performance space in the building (no history on the building they occupy though)

I have no record of the Oxford Theatre operating as a movie theatre in Film Daily yearbooks that I have from 1941. Did it ever screen movies or was it always a local stage theatre?

The Oxford Theater was started by Jack Donner and Lee Delano in 1966 according to an interview with Donner. They sold the theater in 1976. It began as and always has been a live performance venue.

This place is completly seedy and disgusting in the WORST part of Hollywood. I can only imagine what the girls looked like that stripped there. Both this place and The Cave are health hazards. If you guys want porn. RENT.

Adult Theaters were fun, missed going. We as a couple enjoyed going the the Studio in Buena Park, up the street was a Pussycat that was run down an attracted more of a gay crowd. Also, Long Beach had one on Ocean that was fun. Does anyone know of a nice theater were couple go in OC or LA area? or even San Diego area?

socalfuncouple9, I frequent the front door in long beach. I've had fun with quite a few couples there! Would you like to meet up sometime?

I have recently came accross a flag from the pussycat theater. It's red satin, with the logo in white. Does anyone have any idea what it might be worth ?

Anyone know of any live show booths. I remember going to one in Boston. Just insert cash and the girl will put on a show just for you behind the glass. I can't seem to find anything like that here in Southern California. Shouldn't there be something out here???

Thanks

this theatre was never a pussycat or even owned by walnut properties, the pussyct parent co.

To socalfuncouple9: Try the Front Door theatre in Long Beach, at Atlantic and South. I was there on a Tuesday around noon and saw a couple get friendly with a customer then had a good time together right there in the theater. Check it out. Just make friends with the guard and everything will be cool.
res076dy@verizon.net

The TikI was never a Pussycat.

This is a photo of the Tiki Theater.

The Tikki is a frightening place. I stumbled upon it while very briefly living in Los Angeles in 2004. FIrst of all, it is the BRIGHTEST adult theater I have ever been in. Walking in from the bright California sunshine, your eyes need no time to adjust...it's so damn bright. Perhaps the management does that to keep an eye on things. The crowd is sparse and scary. Seems like many go there to sleep. The volume of the videos is cranked up so loud, I had a headache by the time I left. The admission was very cheap, less than ten dollars if I remember correctly. I don't think a couple would feel very comfortable here at all.

The Front Door adult theater in Long Beach closed down permanently in early January 2007. That whole block looks like it will be demolished and replaced with something else. Does anyone know of any other adult theaters in the Long Beach/Orange County area that still exist?

I have visited the Tiki 3 or 4 times since January 2007. It appears to be under new ownership. The broken down old seats have been replaced with wide and comfortable new ones, and there is considerably more legroom between the rows. Management is making an effort to move the sleepers out by limiting a person's stay to 4 hours. There seems to be very little paranoia and the patrons display and play freely. From what I saw, the crowd was pretty much older and blue collar with mixed ethnicity... not surprising given the neighborhood. The first few times I visited since the new ownership the movies were very bland and ordinary... not kinky or rough enough for my taste. But the last time I was there all three films had a gang-bang theme, the actors were not as pretty, and overall the whole scene was hotter. I doubt that many couples will find their way to the Tiki, but since the closing of the Front Door in Long Beach it is left at the only place a person can go in Los Angeles to enjoy straight porn in a public setting. Admission has been raised to $12. My visits are generally around noon on weekdays, and there were 8 to 20 men in the audience. I suspect that evenings, especially weekend evenings, the crowd is larger (and the possible police risk greater).

There was also a PussyCat on Hollywood Blvd. right across the street from Musso and Frank restaurant. The showed Deep Throat there until the early 80's.

Re: the posting by ACT on 3/8/2007

I, too, visited the Tiki Adult Theatre four times since the Front Door Adult Theatre closed in Long Beach in early January 2007. I have been there at different times of the day and night and found the atmosphere mixed. Twice, there were crazy people in there looking for a fight. That is NOT what I am looking for. I have to admit that this was in the late evening on the weekends when this happened. Maybe I will hit it in the middle of the day and see if it is any different. If not, the drive is not worth it to me and I will continue to look for still active adult theatres in the Los Angeles/Orange County area. If anyone knows of any others in that area, could you please let me know. I think this era of going and enjoying ourselves in comfort is coming to a close in Southern California.

What the hell is a "xymposium" anyway?

I guess that has to do with "X" rated movies?

Anyone have any idea how long this place has been going? It probably opened during the heyday of "tiki" culture in the late 1950's. What a throwback. Tons of places like this used to be in downtown LA on Main Street. They're all gone now.

The Front Door and the Atlantic in Long Beach are still standing, albeit closed and shabby looking.

There is a long, long article in the LA Times dated 9/7/77 about the porno business in LA. The Tiki is mentioned in passing. It looks like the reporter tracked down every adult theater and bookstore in the city and listed their address, talked to the owners, etc. As the archives database doesn't let you copy and paste, I can't put the whole thing here. Interesting reading if you can access the Times archive on the LA Library site.

Is the Tiki worth the drive from Orange County. I'd go up late mornings or early afternoon to avoid traffic. Looking for a good place to view or preview porn. Heard of a place in Commerace, (Video previews) but no location!

To done840: I haven't been to the Tiki in the past few weeks. I live in the Long Beach area and at times it is worth the drive to see a decent triple feature of porn and get in on the action, if you want to. The price is $12.00 for admission, but the seats are comfortable and, if you go at mid-day, you shouldn't be hassled by the oddballs who show up in the middle of the night. One other thing, parking at that time of the day is tricky. The parking meters only accept one hour parking and the Tiki theater attendant won't let you run out and put more money in the meter. So, unless you find a parking lot nearby, you are screwed. Good luck. Oh, and as far as the theatre in Commerce, when the Front Door theatre was about to close late last year, they let customers know that they were moving to Commerce soon afterwards. I checked over the next couple of months and couldn't find it.

Here is a July 2007 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2eqjx9

I just went back to the Tiki theater (7/21/2007) and found out that on weekends, the parking meters are NOT enforced. That means that you can enjoy yourself through out the day and night at the Tiki Theater. There is hope after all....

There is an adult bookstore in Whittier that is off Whittier blvd about a block east of the 605 freeway on whittier blvd, right across the street from a park. The bookstore is called Le Sex Shoppe. The place is a very clean bookstore with by far the best video booths I have ever seen. The booths are huge, I was able to fit 6 guys once when they took advantage of my wife. There are lots of cruiser in there so if your into sharing a booth with a person to watch a movie thats the place to be

I'm not sure if you're being facetious about your wife, but regardless this isn't really the place for those kind of comments. Plenty of other websites for that.

Live and learn!

If you look at this 1924 photo, the building that says "public market" was probably torn down and replaced by the Tiki's current structure:
http://tinyurl.com/ynv2dx

This is a recent photo of the Tiki Theater.

How would you like to be the guy buying a ticket in the photo? Forever immortalized on the internet.

Went to the Tiki theater yesterday,1/11/08. There was about 10 guys there, most were asleep, the movie was not bad and the place is just run down a little attention would not hurt. I had to leave when a guy sat next to me, I moved and he followed. Decided to check out the Pssycat down the road and was verry surprised at the size of the theater, unfortunently they do not cater to couples, all gay movies and all gay customers. Sure miss the Texas adult theaters. Does someone have info of an open adult theater in Long Beach or nearby.The pussycat/Studs theater was cleen and comfortable, I had no problem finding a parking spot. I also went to a place In Commerce, was a tipical adult book store, nothing special.

socalfuncouple9, lovinglife where are you? Did you ever find the theaters that you were looking for?

I was at this theater two weeks ago on a Monday. The movies are not bad. The worst part about this theater is that smoking of all substances is allowed which makes the air hard to breath. For those wishing to go to an adult theater as a couple, or alone, this is not a good place.

Instead, go to the pussycat/studs theater much further down the street which is smoke free. True, it is a gay movie theater; although, they do have a small room that runs straight porn. I was there on Friday and I found the theater to be very clean and worthy of being a cinema treasure. The building has a beautiful exterior, with a walk of porn outside, and a wonderfully restored lobby which includes free snacks. There are four screening rooms of porn which includes the large central room with a strip club walkway, a middle room with nice couches and fine rugs, and two smaller rooms with one showing straight porn. They charge $15.

There once was a Pussycat Theatre in Ventura, CA (between LA and Santa Barbara). I don't know its provenance, the architecture looked to be from the 1940s. I enjoyed it a lot. Went there often in high school - at 16 I could grow a beard and was never carded. (I once borrowed the $5 admission from my grandma). Lots of white collar types and some latinos. The manager once got friendly with me in the restroom. Damn I miss places like that! In the late 1980s or early 90s it became "The Mayfair" - they tried showing classic films (I think they atrted with 'Casablanca'), but it just didn't draw any patrons. I no longer olive thre, but last I knew the building was still thre, boarded up.

This is the theater you are thinking of:
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2328/

Where can a single girl go in L.A. for a little harmless groping if not a good old fashion porn theater?!

Finding a good old fashion porn theater is the problem. A little inside is appreciated.

I worked at the now-Tiki Theater in the mid-70s as a cashier/projectionist. It was known then as either the Maxi- or Mini Theater, with its partner with the other name down the street at the corner of Oxford and Santa Monica. It was seedy even then and featured several strippers and three one hour flicks. A bit of trivia: next door was a book store called the Galaxy (I worked there, too) and next door to that was a mail service where the iconic porn star John Holmes picked up hos mail. He stopped in the store several times. Nice trip down memory lane. There was a coffee shop directly across the street that is probably gone

This is a 1975 photo of the "Cinne Arts" theater in Hollywood, somewhere. If anyone can place this one, let me know.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics31/00050068.jpg

There is a Yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TIKItheater) where you can post comments regarding adventures you might want to experience that are not appropriate at his site. You can review the theater, the films or the people who go there.

There are a couple of Tiki photos on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/nnlrxd