Stadium Theater
1653 Cravens Avenue,
Torrance,
CA
90501
1653 Cravens Avenue,
Torrance,
CA
90501
4 people
favorited this theater
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The first films to play this theater were “Life of Riley” and a Bowery Boys comedy. In person on opening night were Rosemary DeCamp, Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell. When it was opened by the same owners as the Torrance Theater it was trumpeted for it’s modern air conditioning. stadium seating and crying rooms. Later, a new screen was installed for the presentation of 3-D films the first of which being “Man in the Dark”.
Heers another one!!!!
That’s funny. Talk about useless comments. LOL
I can’t believe it….ken mc actually made a post that wasn’t followed by a useless comment from Lost Memory. Bookmark this page.
Here is a 1983 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cnbe8l
Actually, this listing should be updated to show the Pussycat as an alternate name (it was that longer than it was the Stadium) and that the operators were Pacific & Walnut.
It WAS a great article but I would have appreciated being credited with the use of the picture above since I took it.
Great article, JayAllen… Thanks!
New book-length Pussycat Theatre history from the San Diego Reader:
View link
Damn! missed this one too. By 1972 this was a Pussycat.
Here is a February 1972 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/286ymq
Disney films played there in the 60’s. Ironic that it was turned into a porno house.
Yep, as a kid we could get in (it was a quarter) and have popcorn, soda and candy with a little change from $1 left over.
My brother and I enjoyed some truly unusual Saturday afternoons at the Stadium during the mid-late ‘60s. Atomic Fireballs, pre-movie music including a strange instrumental that was punctuated with a guy muttering “Meet me at the clubhouse” every few bars… And, of course, “Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster,” “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” and plenty of other really BAD “B” movies. Great times for just $.25 admission on days that we couldn’t get over to the Rolling Hills Theater.
What a shame. The movie/music/coffee house thing would’ve been great. I always thought something like that would go over big in this neighborhood. I miss seeing this historical landmark…another one bites the dust. Nice to still see it in the “Ed Wood” movie however. I remember when that movie was being filmed there, and marquee had a “Bela Lugosi” credit on it, with 50’s cars parked in front.
After the Pussycat closed the theater was re-painted from that hideous purple and the name on the blade changed to Torrance. The name on the blade changed one last time to Aurora for a film shoot but never operated under these or any names after Pussycat pulled out. In fact, walking through one last time during demolition, I found an old Pussycat showtime schedule. There was no “Pussycat marquee” just a change of letters on the original. It was demolished with the building.
Does anyone know what happened to the Old Pussycat marquee, or have any old photos of the theatre during the Pussycat days? My God father owned the chain and I am putting a collection of Pussycat memorabilia together. Please drop me a line if you have any info.
Tim B.David
970.309.3991
In 1995 I was a part of a small group of investors interested in renovating this theater. The cost was 700k, plus an additional 700k to retrofit for earthquakes. The city of Torrance bureaucrats didn’t want to deal with the renovation of a “porn theater” after having dealt with years of protests to close this locale. Our plan was to convert into a movie/music/coffee house type venue. No chance. The city of T. is way too uptight for that. They blocked every avenue we had to buy and reno. They wanted it gone for good./FYI: This theater was my Mom’s first job back in the late 50’s./Hmm? Culture or Condos? In Torrance, it’s condos. JoeC.
It was a good theater. I saw the first run of “Goldfinger” there in 1964.
The Stadium Theatre was located at 1653 Cravens Ave., it seated 900 people at one time.
The Stadium was demolished Feb. 2002.
True, the balcony was more like Stadium style seating. I guess that explains the name.
Actually the theatre had stadium style seating, not really a balcony. A wall was put up where the lower level met the start of the slope going up in the back area where the seats were taken out. One rainy day in 1974 as I was working as a projectionist there (no choice I was sent there by my union) the assistant manager asked me if she should turn on the marquee lights as it was company policy to run the lights on dark days. I said it’s not a good idea because the rain (very heavy that day) might cause a short and start a fire. She turned on the lights anyway fearing she might be fired. Less than an hour later a burning smell filled the air and I looked out through the opening and saw smoke coming from the marquee. I stopped the show and turned up the house lights and called the manager to evacuate the theatre because the marquee is on fire.
Demolition has begun. R.I.P.
The Stadium is still there but according to a local merchant, who was involved in the attempt to save the building, it will be gone within 2 weeks. The walls are being stripped of asbestos in preparation. He told me that the theater can be seen, inside and out, in Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood”. I confirmed this with a viewing last night. It is the theater where the entire cast can be seen attending the premiere of “Bride of the Monster”. Also, the production which re-christened the theater The Aurora was “If These Walls Could Talk 2” with Sharon Stone, Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche. I took some pics this time and will post soon.