Yale Theatre

DonSolosan on February 12, 2014 at 11:17 pm

Now a vitamin shop.

kencmcintyre on October 24, 2009 at 2:43 pm

Here is part of a January 1971 article in the LA Times:

SANTA MONICA-Five theaters featuring adult movies-most of which portray sexual acts-have opened here in the last sixteen months and several city officials would like them to leave.

The offerings range in quality from crude and poorly filmed to full-length, slickly professional features. The pioneer adult moviehouse in Santa Monica is the Vixen at 3007 Main Street, open since September 1969. Another is the Ventura, at 1454 5th St, which manager claims attendance of 80-100 per day. Largest of the adult theaters in Santa Monica is the Pussycat, 1442 2nd Street, part of a large chain.

“We feature drama and comedy that is spiced with sex”, said general manager Jay Fineberg, “rather than the so-called wall-to-wall sex. Rather than getting ‘dirtier”, we’re trying to get more erotic.” The 450-seat Pussycat, which claims 1,500 customers a week, is the only theater in the city which advertises its features through photographs outside.

In sharp contrast to the carpeted luxury of the Pussycat is the newest theater in the city, Sinema-X, a storefront operation at 2814 Main St. “I guess I’m doing the worst of them all”, said part-owner Charlie Creel, a 25-year-old New Jersey native. “I tried to get a job as a bartender, but there were no openings. I figured the way they were throwing these things up, it would be a good idea to start my own, but I’m not getting rich.”

What is perhaps the most ambitious adult movie theater in Santa Monica is the Yale, 2838 Wilshire Boulevard, owned by Tom Parker. A grandfather, who wears his gray hair in mod style, Parker is a film-maker whose Topar Films supply his theater.

“Our customers are not the Skid Row type at all”, Parker says of his $80,000 investment in Santa Monica, which is newly remodeled and attractive, if simple. “People who go to these movies don’t want to be put down”, he said, “They want a little more story…something they can identify with. The sex parts of the movies now have to be contemporary with the sex lives of the patrons.”

The average Topar movie costs $35,000 to $50,000 to make, and actors earn $150 to $500 per filming day, Parker said. He admits that he once made a family film for teenagers, but he could never get it released. It remains packed in his garage.

kencmcintyre on February 25, 2008 at 10:59 am

Here is a February 1975 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/2fwwou

William on October 3, 2006 at 3:15 pm

This was retail building that the operators converted into a small XXX theatre. There was a Ralphs supermarket and a restaurant at one time next door. This was not a true theatre be design, just conversion of space.

scottfavareille on July 28, 2005 at 3:50 pm

The LA Times stopped taking ads for “X-rated” movies in August 1977. The NY Times started that policy a few months beforehand. Shortly after the LA did this, a number of other newspapers in the US either refused to advertise X-rated films or would just advertise the film titles only(for example: The San Jose Mercury and the Sacramento Bee).

Pussycat Theaters spent over $1 million a year advertising its theaters and what was playing there just in the LA Times alone. (They also took up roughly 50% of the space for “adult theaters”) Without the LA Times, their business dropped by 10%. (The other LA paper at the time, The Herald-Examiner, still advertised adult theaters, but their circulation was about 1/5 of what the Times circulation was.)

Also, the same operator of this theater operated the Cove Theater(also XXX)

GaryParks on June 14, 2005 at 2:20 pm

Might one presume that this was located near the intersection of Wilshire and Yale Streets? Santa Monica has a number of streets named after venerable universities. For instance, my great aunt lived on Harvard Street.