WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT?

This theater marquee that has seen better days represents the last gasps of what started in 1940 as the Monica Theater at 7734 Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood (before it became West Hollywood, of course). A neighborhood theater showing 2nd run major motion pictures, it was briefly an arthouse, showing foreign films before, in 1968, it changed its name to the Left Bank Theater and went into the nudies game.

In 1970 it became the flagship theater of the adult film Pussycat Theater chain and remained so until the '90s when it became a gay adult theater and changed its name (appropriately enough) to the Tom Kat. 2006 saw Mr. Tom Kat make way for STUDS, and after that, it just seemed a slow but inexorable slide to obsolescence. The above photo, post-COVID, reflects the theater's 2022 fate.

Whatever lies in store for the empty space now, I hope someone holds on to the "celebrity" footprints of the deceased legends of the "porno chic" '70s that grace the front courtyard. 

John Holmes / nee John Curtis Estes (1944 -1988)

Linda Lovelace / nee Linda Susan Boreman (1949 - 2002)

Harry Reems / nee Herbert John Streicher ( 1947 - 2013)

Marilyn Chambers / nee Marilyn Ann Taylor (1952 - 2009)

THE AGE OF AQUARIUS

When the Broadway hit "Hair" came to Los Angles for an extended run in 1968 (for two years, in fact), it opened at The Earl Carroll Theater on Sunset Blvd. The Theater, in operation since 1938 under various names, changed its name to The Aquarius Theater in 1968 and underwent a psychedelic facelift. In 2018, director Quentin Tarantino, for his forthcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," restored the exterior of the now-abandoned theater to its late-'60s glory.

The Aquarius Theater as it looked in 1968 --Photo by Richard Wojcik

The Tarantino production has been delighting locals and tourists alike with surprising recreations of Los Angeles, circa the summer of 1969, throughout the city. Here, the Pantages Theater on Hollywood Blvd. is outfitted with a marquee for "3 in the Attic" and other period-perfect posters.

YESTERDAY ONCE MORE

 Throughout the summer of 2018, various locations around Hollywood were transformed into the summer of 1969 for director Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."  Here the Paramount studios on Melrose display posters for 1969 movie releases.

SOME LIKE IT HOT - SOME LIKE IT COLD

Both on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood

HOT

COLD

 

I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU

A giant, Converse-clad foot kicks through the roof of a Fairfax Avenue retail clothing store 

SUMMER IN THE CITY

West Hollywood interactive art installation titled "Kalidoscope" by Daveed Kapoor & Rob Barry is composed of color mirrored acrylic squares. It's one of a series of  micro-parks throughout the city

An enormous "Rosemary's Baby"-inspired banner poster for the film "Mother!" overlooks Wilshire Blvd

Halloween came early to Hollywood when late August 2017 saw the materialization of the dreaded Neilbolt Street house from Stephen King's "IT" on the corner of Hollywood & Vine. A haunted house tour called "The IT Experience," it's a promotional attraction for the September release of the theatrical motion picture remake of  "IT."  King's book was initially made into a TV movie in 1990.

GIMME SHELTER

 In the summer of 2017, select West Hollywood citizens were treated to the company of animatronic vultures and bobcats perched atop bus shelters throughout the city. They were eye-catching promotion displays for the Netflix series "Ozark."

CHRISTMAS PRESENTED

Spotted in Chowchilla, CA

Nothing says Merry Christmas and Joy to the World like a safety vested snowman well-trained in firearms. The only way you'll get your hands on this smiling bundle of Christmas cheer's inflatable gun is to pry it from his cold, melted mittens. Watch out, Santa, he might be gunning for reindeer! And look out, Frosty, better not say Happy Holidays, otherwise this cool-head camouflage gun-lover here might claim snow-blindness and take you out! Snuggle up with that gun tonight, Mr. Snowman
...while visions of willfully misinterpreted 2nd Amendment rights dance through your head!

L.A. Eyeworks on Beverly Blvd. in Hollywood rings out the Christmas puns in this moo-ving Holiday window display.

FACE-LIFTED FACADES

These Hollywood buildings are still standing, just no longer as the business pictured here.

The Ivar Theater on Ivar St. between Hollywood and Sunset Blvd - photo 1980
Opened in 1951 as a legitimate theater. Turned to a burlesque house in the mid-'70s.
Adjacent to it on the right is the old Hollywood Branch Library, which was torn down in 1985. In 2002 the facade of the Ivar was renovated and space operated by the California Youth Theater.

Hollywood Blvd Chicken Delight 

Morgan Camera Shop on Sunset Blvd near Vine

UP ON THE ROOF

On the occasion of the 88th Annual Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theater on Hollywood & Highland on February 28, 2016, the iconic dinosaur perched atop the roof of Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium  donned a top hat and tie. Since 2014 the popular curiosity museum has been dressing the rooftop dinosaur in seasonal attire (surfboard and sunglasses for summer, Santa Suit, horns and pitchfork for Halloween).

The enormous marquee at the Highland/Hollywood complex housing the Dolby Theater. Chris Rock was the Oscar host that year

 This is what comes of taking photos and leaving them in your camera for six months.  A Hollywood restaurant whose name escapes me features a swordfish (shark?) crashed through its roof .

THE LAST MOVIE HOUSE

The Sierra Theater, Chowchilla, Ca.
The Sierra Theater was the larger (474 seats) of two motion picture houses in the small town of Chowchilla. Built in 1941, the Sierra Theater closed in the mid to late '70s, but stood, abandoned until it was demolished in 2006. As you can see in the last B&W photo, there used to be an outdoor ticket booth.
The first three photos were taken by me in 1997. My partner was born and raised in Chowchilla, as was his father, who, as a teen, worked at the Sierra Theater.
The last to photos were found on the site Cinema Treasures

Rear view of the Sierra Theater

 

Cinema Treasures

THE MAGIC KINGDOM

I haven't visited in ages, but no blog devoted to California Koo Koo would be complete without a trip to Anaheim's primary attraction, Disneyland.

MORE SIGNS

The late and lamented Dan-Dee Shoe Repair on Vine St near Hollywood Blvd. A (suspicious) nearby fire in 2008 gutted neighboring businesses on this historic block eyed by land developers. After occupying this place for many decades (at least since the 50s) Dan-Dee was demolished. 

The Gardenia Restaurant and Lounge on Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood

The Hollywood Downtowner Motel on Hollywood Blvd.