MAYFAIR THEATER ( AKA PUSSYCAT THEATER )

SOURCE: CINEMA TOUR WEBSITE


This post is dedicated to the MAYFAIR THEATER ( AKA PUSSYCAT THEATER ), that used to reside in the city of San Buenaventura ( California - U.S.A. ). I REFUSE to call the city by it's truncated name of Ventura!

I have fond memories of this building, and many other Southern California movie theaters.



SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES WEBSITE


The great S. Charles Lee was the architect.

Anyway, I recently found out it was demolished in 2004.

It's replacement is a fucking eyesore. If you think squirrel shit on a rotting bagel - that has been pissed on by an old drag queen - qualifies as beautiful, then you should find the new building aesthetically pleasing.

In other words, the new building is the equivalent of ARCHITECTURAL DIARRHEA!

The folks that allowed the MAYFAIR to be destroyed, should be fucking ashamed of themselves! I'm sure they probably feel about as much shame as a school of piranha does after they devour their prey....


QUOTES FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ( DENISE HAMILTON - AUGUST 3, 1989 )

"Movie House Says Adios to Sex Fare"

"Gone is the infamous Pussycat Theater, with its salacious titles and often furtive customers. Last month, the owners of the downtown Ventura theater took the movie-audience pulse and decided that Spanish-language films would draw better than X-rated ones"

"Enter Marilyn Chambers"

"In the mid-l970s, the Mayfair became the Pussycat"

"From his vantage point across the street, Eskin recalls that porn star Marilyn Chambers, who starred in such adult classics as "Behind the Green Door" and "Insatiable" once made a personal appearance at the Pussycat when one of her films opened in Ventura"


MY REACTION: apparently, local religious fanatics tried to take credit for the demise of the PUSSYCAT. Nothing could be further from the truth! An invention called the VCR killed the PUSSYCAT version of the MAYFAIR. It also killed the ART HOUSE and Hispanic versions of this theater.

Plus, those BIG MULTI-SCREEN theaters put the final nails in the MAYFAIR'S coffin. The same way most independent books stores were put out of business by the big chains like BARNES & NOBLE.

Don't know what else to say....


LINKS FOR S. CHARLES LEE AND HIS WORK.....

A short S. Charles Lee bio at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES website.


A ton of pictures and info at the ONLINE ARCHIVE OF CALIFORNIA website.


A tribute page called THE SHOW MUST GO ON.


S. Charles Lee page at the WIKIPEDIA website.