Cinema

1155 E. Clark Avenue,
Orcutt, CA 93455

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danwhitehead1
danwhitehead1 on August 12, 2008 at 10:13 am

This is one of the few houses owned by Walnut/Pussycat to which I was never sent and never even saw. There was another in, I think, Eagle Rock.

JayAllenSanford
JayAllenSanford on August 8, 2008 at 9:20 am

New book-length Pussycat Theatre history from the San Diego Reader:
View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 10, 2007 at 8:03 pm

I missed out on this one the other day. We drove from San Luis Obispo to LA on Highway 1. I caught the Royal in Guadalupe, but I saw the left turn sign for Orcutt, too late, just before we did a stretch on the 135. I had a hunch that there was an old theater in Orcutt. Maybe next time.

bonnach
bonnach on January 27, 2007 at 6:37 pm

I remember standing in a long line as a kid to see Airport there. It was also pretty large, about as large as the Fremont in San Luis Obispo. In the early 70s it was pretty inexpensive for kids to get in. I know I was able to have a lot of allowance left over after my Saturday morning jaunt to the Cinema.

They had a pretty eclectic selection of films there over the years. They would have film series on different themes during the summers and, of course, kiddie flicks. So many great memories of the Cinema…

scottfavareille
scottfavareille on October 22, 2005 at 11:06 am

The Peppertree Plaza theater in the north end of Santa Maria would occasionally show X-rated product in the 1970’s as well.

X-rated fare in this part of California has had significant opposition from law enforcement &/or religious groups in the past. In the early 1980’s, Pussycat bought a building (whose previous use was as a meeting hall) right outside the city limits of San Luis Obispo. After a month of showing foreign language films, they turned it to a porn house. Within a week, it got raided by the sheriff. It reopened again shortly thereafter trying to show porn only to be raided again & shut for good by the sheriff. The second time it was open about 3 days.

Around 1982, the Central Coast Theater in Pismo Beach tried showing XXX films at midnight shows. A local pastor organized a group and picketed the theater for about 2 months, and the theater decided not to show those films anymore. That same pastor then targeted stores that sold “pornographic” magazines and got many stores in the area to not sell Playboy, Penthouse, etc.

Today, there is one strip club in Santa Maria called Spearmint Rhinos.