Vogue Theater
246 6th Street,
Oxnard,
CA
93030
246 6th Street,
Oxnard,
CA
93030
3 people
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Irene: Here is the page that explains how to make links on Cinema Treasures.
No, this wasn’t the Strand. That was a separate theatre. I have ads for the Strand Theatre. I also have ads for the Lyric Theatre. Info for the Vogue is as follows: The Vogue Theatre was built by Edmund Lehman in 1949-1950 and designed by architect William Balch. The Vogue was built in response to a surge in the population following WW2. The Vogue is the only theatre that remains that was designed by Mr. Balch.
I found an ad in the Press Courier that shows there was porn showing here at the Vogue. It is dated June 5, 1970. The ad reads “Adults only”. How do I post a link to a photo?
I was surprised to find some nice 1940’s style details in what was probably the candy counter in the former lobby. See photos.
Was this the Strand? its listings disappeared shortly the Vogue opened
you can see the grand opening page from February 15th, 1950 at View link
I was in Oxnard over the past summer. I happened to be walking near by the Vogue Theater when I noticed the building was obviously a former theater. I had to make a detour to explore. The signage on the tower in front that still reads “Vogue” is what especially caught my attention. The sign is about all that is left of any interest. The auditorium and lobby have been gutted and now house a swap meet.
Here is an October 1958 ad from the Oxnard Press-Courier:
http://tinyurl.com/l46k2d
Here are two more photos from 1984:
http://tinyurl.com/qn3azx
http://tinyurl.com/qxt76c
Nice shot of the neon here. (IMDB calls that second feature a comedy, so that doesn’t resolve the Spanish porn controversy.)
A chain out of Los Angeles, Oxnard Theaters Co., operated the Vogue in the early sixties. Other Oxnard theaters under this chain’s command at the time were the Strand, Boulevard and Oxnard.
The Vogue opened on 2/15/50 with a showing of “The Red Shoes”. There’s a nice picture on that day in the Oxnard-Press Courier, but unfortunately I can’t reproduce it here.
Here is a photo, apparently of the back of the theater, from the Oxnard Public Library:
View link
They absolutely did show Spanish porn, as of the early 1980s. So there.
Actually, there were rated movies in the late 1960’s. I think the MPAA was already in existence by then. Midnight Cowboy was of course rated X (1969). In 1967, a Swedish film called I am Curious Yellow was adults only, although I don’t recall if it had an X rating (as I was six at the time). That film wouldn’t even make it to the Spice Channel today
It was the late 60’s early 70’s that our parents would take us kids along with them to the Vogue. We spent time at the concession stand due to the movie content. Yes, back then there was no such thing as rated movies. There were many westerns and alot of other type movies with naked people. Now days we call it porn. We all stopped going when the Vogue started showing more porn than Cantinflas.
I lived in Oxnard! They never showed “SPANISH” porn here. They played American Movies dubbed in SPanish or Subtitled in Spanish! The movies they did play were horror movies most of the time! They never played “porn”.
Maggie Valentine’s book on architect S.Charles Lee “The Show Start on the Sidewalk” gives an opening year of the Vogue as 1941. Strangely, it gets no mention in the listings of Film Daily Yearbooks I have for 1941, 1950 or 1952.
I went to take a look at the Vogue in 2002 and found the exterior mainly intact, including neon tubing on the marquee and tower feature. The paybox and terrazo floor is still there too. Sadly, inside the swap meet market which now uses the auditorium space there is hardly any trace of decorative plasterwork which was there in it’s theatre days. Seating would have been on one level, with no balcony.
During the early- to mid-1980s, this house screened Spanish-language pornography. The realtor alleged that, in its heyday, the neon marquee could be seen from higher elevations in Ventura, the next city to the north of the theatre. The facade is still intact and, theoretically, the marquee could be lit again.
The architect was S. Charles Lee.
During its last years Spanish-language films were shown, into the 1980s. The building was later turned into a thrift store/“swap-meet” affair, though the exterior was mostly left intact.