Cinne-R Theatre

In 1955, suburban neighborhood strip centers were trending. The Indiana Gardens Shopping Center was built southwest of downtown with a Piggly Wiggly, a T.G.&Y., and a Cobb’s Department Store as the main attractions. Thin on parking, the strip lost retailers to newer centers that had massive parking lots and many more retail options. By the late-1960’s, the line-up had changed significantly and installed in the Indiana Gardens was an underground adult movie house. Run by Cinne Arts of Dallas, the venue screened not the porno chic X-rated films of the era but unrated adult films whose titles weren’t divulged. It was called the Cinne-R Theatre. It had a brief and rocky ride.

Cinne Arts Theatres Inc. was Cinne-R’s parent company which consisted of a circuit of Southwest adult theaters in cities including Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls, Austin, Albuquerque, NM, New Orleans, and one in Tampa, Florida. Some of the first venues’ names were changed from “Cinne” Arts to “Finne” Arts when they transitioned from per-ticket sales to underground club operations. An underground adult theater didn’t dispense tickets in a traditional fashion. Patrons had to purchase club cards – usually for as little as $1 a year – so that they could be background vetted. Clergy, district attorneys, police, detectives and – especially – underage folks were going to be the first line of folks denied club memberships.

But as background checks in pre-Internet times were iffy, at best, the Lubbock venue was raided often. The Cinne-R’s first time appears to have occurred on November 30, 1969 when Alton A. West, who claimed to be the Cinne-R’s owner, was arrested. The judge ruled that the entire statue was unconstitutional and West was free for the moment. But that case would be appealed and finally handled in 1973.

On June 11, 1970 when 18-year old operator (!) Billy Gordon McClurg was charged with showing on obscene 16mm film portraying women engaging in “unnatural sex acts.” Business was only going to increase from this point forward. On September 26, 1970, three police detectives watched Cinne-R films and charged three folks: the projectionist, the ticket taker and Rusty Freeman, now claiming to be the Cinne-R’s operator. The publicity seemed to be creating more interest in underground cinemas. The Flick opened and on April 2, 1971, officers now had to round up folks at two theaters in the Cinne-R and The Flick. In the hearing before Justice Bevers, bail was granted.

The original case ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court in Alton A. West v. The State of Texas. Unfortunately for West, the Supreme Court remanded the case of Cinne-R to unfriendly Lubbock following the historic Miller v. California case in 1973. On remand, Alton A. West v. The State of Texas, West was sentenced to 30 days in jail, probated for one year, and fined $200. West appealed that decision on its second round at the Texas Supreme Court in 1974 where he lost. A final motion for a rehearing on October 30, 1974 was denied likely ending the case after a scant five years. By that time, the Lubbock Cinne-R had long said her final sayo-nara.

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