This is topic Has Porn Saved A Lot of Old Theatres? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=001777
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 02-16-2003, 08:31 AM:
 
A man I recently gave a theatre tour to commented that porn has saved more old movie theatres than all the preservationists put together, just by keeping heat and AC on and the building occupied. It worked here by keeping the Lee Art open for 30 years until a university bought it and renovated it into its dance dept. public performance space, they kept most of the theatres nice features, much had to be changed to accomodate their needs though, generally a very nice place. Any similar cases in your area?
 
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-16-2003, 10:01 AM:
 
This is definitely true for the Columbus Theatre in Providence, RI (see the pics on the "preview" page). They played porn from the 1960s until last August. The theatre continues to be a family-run business and has been kept up beautifully over the years (and even upgraded in some ways). It would almost certainly have closed years ago had it not been for "adult entertainment" programming. They are trying hard to get over the stigma of having been a porn house for many years, though.
 
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 02-16-2003, 10:22 AM:
 
Porn saved the State Theatre in New Brunswick NJ, though the powers-that-be are too sheepish to admit it.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-16-2003, 11:39 AM:
 
With videotape, DVD --and especially the Internet-- now being the main marketing focal points for porn, wouldn't most agree that porn movie theaters are very much obsolete?

A porn theater doesn't have the same dynamic as a normal commercial movie theater. In a regular movie theater the audience, or "community experience" if you will, plays a factor in the enjoyment of a show. On the other hand, porn typically entertains individual persons or couples and not large groups of people.

With that being stated, its almost hard to believe that some porn movie theaters could even survive over the last 20 years where videotape has allowed the "raincoat crowd" to see what they want to see in the privacy of their homes. I don't know how a porn movie theater could turn a profit these days (unless perhaps it is in a very large city and one of very few such theaters).
 
Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 02-16-2003, 01:26 PM:
 
Porn saved the Bluebird theatre in Denver and Art saved the Ogden Theatre in Denver. Then a young man who took over music promotions in Denver and now everywhere who's company is named Nobody in Particular Presents books shows in both of these venues. God love him. They aren't movie theatres anymore but they still exist. I think the booth is intact at the Bluebird., I know the booth is gone and a bar is in it's place at the Ogden.
 
Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 02-16-2003, 03:00 PM:
 
For many drive-ins, porn either put off the inevitable closing for a while (frequently to the financial benefit of the owner & the polarization of the local community), or kept the lights on until the late '80s, when porn-on-film all but dried up. We have one example here in our state where such a drive-in went back to mainstream product, and basically turned the place around (again) within a couple of years. As far as I know (KEN?) it hasn't suffered any long-term effects of having had porn in its past, and continues to be an attractive and very successful business.

On the other hand, we had a single-screener that had run porn for quite a while. It had changed back to mainstream product for a couple of years before it closed & we reopened it. We did very well in the 4 years we had the place, but frequently had customers ask about its sordid past.

The place was called the "Big Bear" (the mascot of the local high school)... one local editorial cartoon had an artist's drawing of the neon sign, renaming it the "Big Bare"! [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-16-2003, 08:43 PM:
 
Give me a break...Porn saved nothing. It made the sleeze distributor's of the 60' and 70's a lot of your hard earned money. It did absolutely nothing to enhance the community that it was in.

If you were young and not getting any - it was exciting.

If you were middle aged - it was annoying.(unless you were horny)

If you were old...you paid no attention.(Unless you were a
"Politician".

The best thing about VHS is - It allowed the Porn Lover's - Take Out - to the home!

Probably saved a few marriages. [Smile]

[ 02-17-2003, 07:31 AM: Message edited by: Bob Maar ]
 
Posted by Glenda Cockrum (Member # 542) on 02-16-2003, 08:44 PM:
 
Well, right now on Pittsburgh's north side is a beautiful old theatre "The Garden" that is still a porn house. The Redevelopment Authority and various other government and non-profit agencies trying desperatly to get the owner to sell, so it can become the classic venue it once was, or if it can't be restored, torn down.
 
Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-17-2003, 09:54 AM:
 
Bob espoused:

Give me a break...Porn saved nothing. It made the sleeze distributor's of the 60' and 70's a lot of your hard earned money. It did absolutely nothing to enhance the community that it was in.

Come again? Does a McDonalds enhance the community? A Wal-Mart? How about a liquor store? No? Then what's your point? And if yes then you will no doubt point out that they're enhancements by providing products and services that people want. Presumably the porn house did the same at the time. Why single it out?

And your initial "no" is probably flat out wrong in a good number of cases where a classic theatre that might have succumbed to the wrecking ball in the 60's or 70's hung around long enough to still be extant when someone with a higher purpose was able to acquire it.
 
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 02-17-2003, 02:24 PM:
 
Maybe they did save some of the "old barns" - but not from what I have seen. I guess it might have something to do with the area they were located in. Most I know of were closed, boarded up, and eventually torn down or converted into a retail facility on street acronym "Sleeze Drive."
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 02-17-2003, 02:30 PM:
 
The Mayan in Downtown Los Angeles is a perfect example. A TRUE palace that ran porn from the late 60's through early 80's. It kept the building operating well past its prime. It later became a nightclub. It could very well have turned into a parking lot if not in use during the bleak years of the "old" downtown.
 
Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-17-2003, 03:09 PM:
 
Steve..your average porn theatre had a cashier with a turnstyle, a manager,projectionist on duty when opened.Dirty floors,sleezy people,mostly degenerates as customers,sometimes younger courious people.Lights were hardly ever turned up.They rarely mopped the auditoriums and you had to hold your breath to walk through them.

The McDonalds and Wall-Marts employ Teenagers and the elderly,
The average McDonalds employs probably 30 to 40 people to cover the shifts and Wall-Mart most likely has 75 to 100 people.

Now, Liquor stores are another story.You might have a point here soI will sit a have a drink with you at showest and you can try to convience me.

I can tell you in Manhattan the dumps became the porno palaces not the atmospheric theatres or the palaces of a bye gone age.
 
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-17-2003, 03:20 PM:
 
Are there any examples of theatres that were showing a steady diet of XXX rated features being restored to their former glory? In my experience, most either just became adult bookstores, or met the wrecking ball when cities closed them down as public nuisances or for payment of back taxes. Two of the "roadshow" houses in Rochester went that route: the Monroe is still an adult bookstore and peep show, the Riviera was torn down for back taxes and is now the site of a CVS drugstore. Kodak bought the Riviera's DP70 projectors, now installed in our 2000-seat "Theater on the Ridge":

http://www.dp70.com/countries/north_america/usa.htm#New%20York%20NY

Sad to think those projectors went from "Ben Hur" and
My Fair Lady" to "Debbie Does Dallas" and "Deep Throat". [Frown]
Now they are used for family shows for Kodak employees. [Smile]
 
Posted by Chad Calpito (Member # 1562) on 02-17-2003, 04:03 PM:
 
There were a few or more Porn theaters here in San Diego, but, all but one porn theater is closed down now due to the advent of Internet, DVD and VCR's as well as adult bookstores. And, most of those old porn theaters are now converted into a more reputable business instead of dealing with the negative stigma.

Chad
 
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-17-2003, 04:23 PM:
 
The Waipahu Theatre in my home town opened in the early thirties and it was a beautiful complex with little over seven hundred seats, a large stage with a beautiful gold curtain in front ot the large screen they had. In late I954, the theatre was set up for scope and in order to put in the new wide screen, the stage had to go. The new wide screen was nice and wide. Because CinemaScope films in 1954 were wider than the standard scope pictures of today, the Waipahu's screen ratio was just about a 2.35.1 ratio and when that became the standard, every bit of picture information on the film was shown on this theatre's screen. The Waipahu was set up for mag stereo and the sound was awesome because of the wonderful acoustics the theatre had. By the way, the Waipahu was designed by the same person who designed the very beautiful Waikiki Theatre (#3). Consolidated operated the theatre until about 1970 and leased it to a good friend of mine who showed 2nd run films in addtion to Japanese, Filipino and some adult films. The venture was not too succesful and my friend Yugo had to give up the lease to another person who held leases to other large theaters that were no longer profitable including the Queen theatre which was a 70mm venue that premiered "SLEEPING BEAUTY" in that fomat, and the rare "FANTASIA" release with true four track mag stereo sound. The chain of theatres was known as "Yuclan Theatres named after the owner of the chain whos last name was 'Yu'. After the Yu enterprise took over the Waipahu, the theatre was never the same. They did manage to show all of their hard porn films in 35mm in addtion to 16mm in a little room they built to the left rear of the auditorium. After a few years, the city of Honolulu started to crack down on adult theatres and in the early eighties, the theatre building and the land was sold by Consolidated to a religious group and the building which still stands is now the City of Refuge Christian Church. Today, the exterior of the building looks exactly the same as it did during it's good years and the magnificent stage has been restored and used as the church's alter. The projection room is now a storage room.

Up until my friend had to give up the lease, I used to frequent the Waipahu Theatre more than the others and it is in this theatre where I fell in love with the movies at a very young age.

-Claude
 
Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 02-17-2003, 05:24 PM:
 
John remarked:
Sad to think those projectors went from "Ben Hur" and
"My Fair Lady" to "Debbie Does Dallas" and "Deep Throat".

I suppose one could say those were all classics in their respective fields. [Wink]

The big Norelco's were truly All Purpose projectors.
 
Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 02-17-2003, 07:44 PM:
 
I think, porn prolonged the life of threatened theatres - at these parts at least two suburb theatres ran almost constant after new law, giving free all picture pornography from 1969.
But the same theatres never succeeded in cleaning the facade (or back of seats, for that matter...)after the porn wave was over. Video took over, and people, not watching sexfilms did not go to those places, whatever they showed after that time - They gave up and closed...
During my time as independent distributor en miniature, i had the reissue of My Fair Lady, and was asked to deliver it to the Copenhagen Cinema, which had been running - Yeah exactly: Deep Throat for more than a year. 4 days with all empty seats - and that was it ! Porn was pissing in the boots to keep warm... [sex]

Per
 
Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-17-2003, 10:18 PM:
 
Wow Bob! I'm sorta dismayed at your post. In the 80's, I did a lot of work in the "adult" ***film*** industry...until the cheap video sleaze took over. I worked in production, not in distribution or exhibition. I was a cameraman, director, film-editor, director, did bit parts (ummm… clothed "extras"), and wrote some of the cheesy lyrics to some of the music. (I said director twice cuz I really liked that!) While there were many sleaze operations, I was involved with a group of sincere people that took their work seriously. My life and the group of people I was with at that time was like the film "Boogie Nights" but without the drugs…we didn't believe it that and we were ALL clean!...even the actors/actresses we hired! I worked with a producer exactly like the part Burt Reynolds plays. We NEVER did any bestiality or S&M or B&D or anything of that nature, but we did do some of the most well-known and CES awarded "adult" films. We were trying to make an adult statement of freedom of speech to adults and break through the puritanical and religious biases.

I cannot defend or condone what the industry has turned in to. It's now very much different from when I was there. I'm glad not to be there anymore, but I'm grateful for the experience it gave me in my life's travels.

>>> Phil
 
Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 02-18-2003, 12:18 PM:
 
The theater currently known as the Madstone Centrum was for years the Heights Art Theater, part of Louis K. Sher's Art Theater Guild. Another Sher company, Sherpix, distributed motion pictures.

"Originally built in 1916, the theater has been under the control of several theater circuits over the years. It was restored and expanded to three screens in the early 90's by owner Charles Zuchowski and former partner Morris (Morrie) Zryl. The Madstone Centrum is located at 2781 Euclid Heights Boulevard (at Coventry Road). The web address of the theater is www.madstonecentrum.com and the phone number is 216-321-1000."

Author Harlan Ellison, in the introduction to his collected essays on film, Harlan Ellison's Watching, ©1989, ISBN 0-88733-067-3, describes visiting this theater on pages v-xvi, "Crying "Water!" In A Crowded Theater: Part One: In Which The Critic Blames It All On A Warped Childhood." An excerpt: "The Heights Theater.

"It was one of those small neighborhood cinemas built during the moviegoing explosion of the late Twenties/early Thirties. In retrospect, I know it was a modest house of movies, but it was glorious and gigantic to me at age seven. Out front the display windows held not only one-sheets and lobby cards in full color, but at least four scene cards in black and white from each and every film showing or coming. The ticket booth resembled a private stateroom on Cleopatra's barge, tenanted (as I recall) by a young woman so gorgeous and platinum blonde that merely laying down a dime for a ducat became an act of sexual congress intense enough to send the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart to the eighth and innermost circle of Dante's inferno. The candy counter traded in ambrosia and nectar, Chuckles and Forever Yours, popcorn freshly erupted every half hour and slathered with real butter. The scent of it could have distracted warring armies.

"And the seats...and the usherettes...and the screen...and the ceiling mural...oh, how I loved that movie house, as I loved the Lyric and the Utopia and the RKO Palace..."

Grindhouse : the forbidden world of "adults only" cinema, ©1996, ISBN 0-312-14609-4, states: "Louis K. Sher was a malt distributor from Columbus, Ohio who loved movies so much that in 1952 he opened an Adults Only theater in his hometown. Not to show sex films, but to prohibit squealing babies and kids rampaging in the aisles. It was so successful he expanded into Cleveland, then Akron. From there he created the Art Theater Guild, a whole chain of movie houses showing only imported fare. His success was duly noted by theater owners such as Dewey Michaels, who transformed his Buffalo, New York burlesque house into an "arthouse," exhibiting films from France, Italy, and Sweden. Soon, grindhouse owners all over the country were going continental."

"In 1957, Lady Chatterly's Lover, a Gallic version of the infamous D. H. Lawrence novel (outlawed in the U.S. until 1960), was banned by New York state censors, a crushing blow since as much as 30 percent of a foreign film's gross rentals were expected to come from that state. The following year, Nico Jacobellis, the manager of Lou Sher's Ohio Art Theater, was arrested for projecting The Lovers, the Louis Malle film that made a star of actress Jeanne Moreau. Both films were considered dangerous because they presented stories of adultery in which the cheating lovers went unpunished.

"Both cases ended up going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Potter Stewart struck down the ban on Lady Chatterly's Lover, writing a majority opinion that declared the film not obscene, and that any subject matter, no matter how controversial, was protected by the Constitution's First Amendment. In The Lovers case, Lou Sher, at his own cost, battled the case through a series of appellate court decisions which upheld the Jacobelli conviction, until the Supreme Court, in a decision of historical significance, overturned the earlier rulings.

"Wrote Judge William Brennan: "...material that deals with sex in a manner that advocates ideas, or that has literary or scientific or artistic value or any other form of social importance, may not be branded obscenity." Asked what would constitute obscenity, Judge Stewart uttered his now-famous retort: "I know it when I see it.""

The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry, ©1998, ISBN 0-8108-3426-X: Sherpix was founded by Louis K. Sher, president of the Art Theatre Guild Circuit (established in 1954) in the summer of 1965 to distribute theatrical films of an adult or pornographic nature. The New York-based company quickly became known as America's leading distributor of better class pornographic subjects, such as A History of the Blue Movie (1970), Adultery for Fun and Profit (1971), Meat Rack (1971), The Stewardesses (1969), Mona (1970), and The Nurses (1972). The company also distributed Alex De Renzy's marijuana documentary, Weed (1972); a British lowbrow comedy, On the Buses (1972); Arch Oboler's 3-D feature, The Bubble (1966); and Andy Warhol's Lonesome Cowboys (1968) and Flesh (1969). Following Sher's conviction on obscenity charges, in Washington, D.C., in the winter of 1973--charges that were eventually dismissed on appeal in August 1975--Sherpix ceased operations on March 1, 1974.

LOU SHER AND THE START OF SHERPIX here
similar distribs and films
 
Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 02-19-2003, 08:13 AM:
 
If not for porn, the FINE ARTS Theatre (1947) would be long gone. It ran alot of Monogram, and Allied Artists product, until it went "art" in 1962. In 1981, the owners gave it to the city of Asheville, who planned to use it as a performing arts center. All I could find that they did was burn holes in the shutters, and leave the house sound system on for weeks...
In 1988, the present owner got it. He replaced the roof first thing.
From 1992-1996, work progressed slowly. It re-opened in 1997. It plays alot of independent films that nobody else here will touch. The building looks great, and the interior looks great.

They even played "Pink Flamingos" and there was not one word of complaint from the people that got the original theatre closed in the '80's.

Now, it is the only downtown theatre left.

I have fond memories of the Plaza, Imperial, and the Majestic. They were REAL palaces. They are all gone.
 




Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2