Pussycat Theatre

1653 Cravens Avenue,
Torrance, CA 90501

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DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 21, 2020 at 5:45 am

Opened in April 1949 with “Life Of Riley” starring William Bendix & Rosemary DeCamp, and “Fighting Fools” starring the Bowery Boys. Image added indicates Rosemary DeCamp was in person at the grand opening.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on March 20, 2019 at 9:10 pm

The Pussycat Theatre opened with “Starlet”.

rivest266
rivest266 on August 5, 2016 at 8:21 am

July 11th, 1969 grand opening as Pussycat in photo section

jazzfi
jazzfi on February 7, 2013 at 1:02 pm

It’d have been better if they’d have kept the AURORA lettering and just named it Pussycat on the marquee, rather than destoying the original history.. what a great design!

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on April 5, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Heers another one!!!!

KimF
KimF on August 8, 2008 at 9:12 am

Great article, JayAllen… Thanks!

JayAllenSanford
JayAllenSanford on August 8, 2008 at 8:54 am

New book-length Pussycat Theatre history from the San Diego Reader:
View link

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on October 2, 2007 at 7:46 am

Here is a February 1972 ad from the LA Times:
http://tinyurl.com/286ymq

dennis906
dennis906 on April 5, 2006 at 9:40 am

Disney films played there in the 60’s. Ironic that it was turned into a porno house.

KimF
KimF on February 3, 2005 at 7:27 pm

My brother and I enjoyed some truly unusual Saturday afternoons at the Stadium during the mid-late ‘60s. Atomic Fireballs, pre-movie music including a strange instrumental that was punctuated with a guy muttering “Meet me at the clubhouse” every few bars… And, of course, “Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster,” “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” and plenty of other really BAD “B” movies. Great times for just $.25 admission on days that we couldn’t get over to the Rolling Hills Theater.

kkeegan32
kkeegan32 on December 19, 2004 at 10:53 pm

What a shame. The movie/music/coffee house thing would’ve been great. I always thought something like that would go over big in this neighborhood. I miss seeing this historical landmark…another one bites the dust. Nice to still see it in the “Ed Wood” movie however. I remember when that movie was being filmed there, and marquee had a “Bela Lugosi” credit on it, with 50’s cars parked in front.

tbdavid
tbdavid on December 10, 2004 at 4:56 pm

Does anyone know what happened to the Old Pussycat marquee, or have any old photos of the theatre during the Pussycat days? My God father owned the chain and I am putting a collection of Pussycat memorabilia together. Please drop me a line if you have any info.

Tim B.David

970.309.3991

JoeC
JoeC on June 24, 2004 at 7:26 pm

In 1995 I was a part of a small group of investors interested in renovating this theater. The cost was 700k, plus an additional 700k to retrofit for earthquakes. The city of Torrance bureaucrats didn’t want to deal with the renovation of a “porn theater” after having dealt with years of protests to close this locale. Our plan was to convert into a movie/music/coffee house type venue. No chance. The city of T. is way too uptight for that. They blocked every avenue we had to buy and reno. They wanted it gone for good./FYI: This theater was my Mom’s first job back in the late 50’s./Hmm? Culture or Condos? In Torrance, it’s condos. JoeC.

ArmandV101
ArmandV101 on April 18, 2004 at 8:22 am

It was a good theater. I saw the first run of “Goldfinger” there in 1964.

William
William on November 13, 2003 at 4:29 pm

The Stadium Theatre was located at 1653 Cravens Ave., it seated 900 people at one time.

Denny
Denny on November 30, 2002 at 7:29 pm

Actually the theatre had stadium style seating, not really a balcony. A wall was put up where the lower level met the start of the slope going up in the back area where the seats were taken out. One rainy day in 1974 as I was working as a projectionist there (no choice I was sent there by my union) the assistant manager asked me if she should turn on the marquee lights as it was company policy to run the lights on dark days. I said it’s not a good idea because the rain (very heavy that day) might cause a short and start a fire. She turned on the lights anyway fearing she might be fired. Less than an hour later a burning smell filled the air and I looked out through the opening and saw smoke coming from the marquee. I stopped the show and turned up the house lights and called the manager to evacuate the theatre because the marquee is on fire.