The Pussycat Theaters were a chain of

adult movie theater An adult movie theater is a euphemistic term for a movie theater dedicated to the exhibition of pornographic films. Adult movie theaters show pornographic films primarily for either a respectively heterosexual or homosexual audience. For the pat ...

s, operating between the 1960s and the 1980s. Pussycat Theaters had 30 locations in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and were known for their cat-girl logo. The last one closed in 2022.

History

David F. Friedman David Frank Friedman (December 24, 1923 – February 14, 2011) was an American filmmaker and film producer best known for his B movies, exploitation films, nudie cuties, and sexploitation films. Life and career Friedman first became interest ...

and

Dan Sonney Dan Sonney (23 January 1915 – 3 March 2002) was a producer and distributor of exploitation films. He was the son of Louis Sonney, who founded Sonney Amusements, the husband of Margaret Sonney, and a long-term business partner of David F. ...

founded Pussycat Theaters. Dan Sonney invented the name, based on

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

film ''

What's New Pussycat ''What's New Pussycat?'' is a 1965 screwball comedy film directed by Clive Donner, written by Woody Allen in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along with Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Cap ...

''. Friedman has also cited the Pink Pussycat burlesque club on

Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes t ...

as having previously established the word "pussycat" in relation to "pink" porn, since the early 1960s. The first Pussycat Theater opened in March 1966 on 444 South Hill Street,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Within two years, there were almost a dozen locations, from

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In 1968, Vince Miranda bought a 50% share of the company. Miranda was unable to prevent those outside

from using the Pussycat name. Miranda spent $1 million to improve the decor of the theaters. They were known for being cleaner and fancier than other such places. The interiors featured red and gold

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...

ing,

velveteen Velveteen (or velveret) is a type of woven textile, fabric with a dense, even, short Pile (textile), pile. It has less sheen than velvet because the pile in velveteen is cut from weft threads, while that of velvet is cut from warp threads. Velvet ...

fixtures, beveled glass, mirror walls,

chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s, and merchandise bearing the Pussycat logo. Some Pussycat theaters sold

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns, or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of p ...

from the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

to pedestrians on the sidewalk, with no obligation to buy a ticket. Vince Miranda and George Tate (who were lovers) shared ownership of Walnut Properties, the company that owned the Pussycat Theaters. Miranda may have had exclusive California license to show '' Deep Throat'', a hugely lucrative film. His main competitors were the

Mitchell brothers Brothers James Lloyd "Jim" Mitchell (November 30, 1943 in Stockton, California – July 12, 2007 in Petaluma, California) and Artie Jay Mitchell (December 17, 1945 in Lodi, California – February 27, 1991 in Marin County, California) were Ameri ...

in San Francisco. Residents who lived near the theaters complained to the city governments that children could see the images of women on posters, ads, and cardboard stand-ups. Community members wanted the theaters to close. The citizens groups and government sued Walnut Properties under a variety of laws, including

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

public nuisance In English criminal law, public nuisance is an act, condition or thing that is illegal because it interferes with the rights of the general public. In Australia In ''Kent v Johnson'', the Supreme Court of the ACT held that public nuisance is ...

rezoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a ...

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

, The Red Light Abatement Act, and the US Supreme Court's "preponderance" redefinition of porn theaters. Walnut Properties was served with over 100 civil lawsuits filed between 1973 and 2005. Between 1977 and 1994, at the Pussycat Theater in Santa Monica, "the Los Angeles Police Department made 2000 arrests for

lewd conduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

on the premises." In 1981, an ordinance was passed banning adult movie theaters in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. In 1983, pornographic

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

sales began to compete with adult theaters, reducing theater attendance. At the age of 52, Vince Miranda died of complications related to cancer in 1985. George Tate and his new paramour Jonathan Cota inherited Walnut and the Pussycat Theaters. The IRS imposed a federal tax lien of $6,047,760 on Miranda's estate. The theaters were losing money fast. Many theaters are given to debtors in lieu of money, and/or converted to general admission theaters. By 1990, fewer than 20 California Pussycats remained, and by 1992, only a dozen were still open. In 1994, Walnut Properties filed for bankruptcy, claiming liabilities of $17.7 million. George Tate spent all the money and died the same year. Jonathan Cota inherited Walnut and its debts. By 2003, all the theaters were gone except one at 7734 Santa Monica Boulevard in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

. Filmmaker

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

saved the last Pussycat Theater by brokering a deal with an unnamed buyer. In 2004, Cota threatened to file a lawsuit against the

Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainst ...

, for trademark infringement on the Pussycat name. The

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

ruled that the Pussycat had abandoned the trademark, and the case was dismissed. The last remaining Pussycat Theater showed homosexual pornography. The name was changed to the Tomkat, then to Studs. It went out of business on October 29, 2022.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Pussycat Theater History 2008
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San Diego Reader The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in San Diego County, California. Published weekly since October 1972, the ''Reader'' is distributed free on Wednesday and Thursday via street boxes and cooperating retail outlets. Hi ...

Pussycat Theater History 2010
by Jay Allen Sanford -

Pussycat Theaters - the Inside Story Part One
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Parts Two-Fifteen
2014
Pussycat, Pussycat, Where Have You Been?Pussycat Theatre
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Cinema Treasures Cinema Treasures is a website launched in 2000 in the United States documenting theaters both extant and no longer in existence. It was created by Ross Melnick and Patrick Crowley. Melnick co-authored a book by the same name. The book explores th ...

Pussycat Theater
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Google Newspapers Google News Archive is an extension of Google News providing free access to scanned archives of newspapers and links to other newspaper archives on the web, both free and paid. Some of the news archives date back to 18th century. There is a timel ...

Pussycat Theater
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Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

West End Pussycat Cinema, 75 Causeway Street, Boston
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Cinemas and movie theaters in California Adult movie theaters in the United States