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Author Topic: Has Porn Saved A Lot of Old Theatres? Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 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?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged Charles Everett Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: New Jersey Registered: May 2001 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 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).  |  IP: Logged Ian Price Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1714 From: Denver, CO Registered: Jun 99 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 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"!  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 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. [ 02-17-2003, 07:31 AM: Message edited by: Bob Maar ]  |  IP: Logged Glenda Cockrum Film Handler Posts: 58 From: Monaca, PA, USA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 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."  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 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.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 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". Now they are used for family shows for Kodak employees.  |  IP: Logged Chad Calpito Film Handler Posts: 23 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 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  |  IP: Logged Claude S. Ayakawa Film God Posts: 2738 From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 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  |  IP: Logged

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