Yesterday I had some time to kill so I stopped by an adult bookstore near my college campus and was surprised to see they actually had an old school theater. Having read that many of the "golden age" classics were shown theatrically in the seventies and eighties, I've always been curious about what it would be like to see porn on the big screen. So, I got into a conversation with the shop owner and I asked about the theater. He basically said it wasn't worth it for me to go in. He explained (rather cautiously I might add) that it was not the experience I had in mind, as he had some "degenerate" customers who literally sat around all day in the theater and beat off to the film and would try to hook up with anyone who came through the door. Basically, he described it as a "meat market", and said that "a young good looking guy like you" wouldn't want to get involved in that. For what it's worth I am 25 and would say I am attractive. I have a girlfriend whom I've been with for five years and I never had problems getting girls in the past. The porno thing is mostly a hobby for me, as I enjoy collecting the rare and hard-to-find films from years past. There are also a few new performers, like Kylie Wilde and Veronica Jett, whose work I enjoy and seek out because I enjoy watching them. I'm just telling you all this for background. I'm not trying to make myself sound big or better than anyone. I just wanted to give you an idea of how porn fits into my life. Anyway, I decided to take the shop owner's advice and not go for the theater experience, but a part of me is still curious, just because I want to see porn on the big screen, nothing more or less. This probably sounds naive as hell, but I am really curious. Has anyone checked out one of these theaters and is the experience as bad as the shop owner claimed? BTW, that day they were screening one of Hustler's "Barely Legal" films as well as a gay film whose title escapes me.
The true porn-in-theatre experience had more to it than watching porn in a group setting ("theatre").
To begin with, in the vintage days, you were watching porn that was shot on film with the intention of being presented for viewing in real theatres (like any other film). This is not to be confused with peep-booths and the like which were showing "loops," etc.
The theatres were, for the most part, large, older theatres from the days of the "movie palaces" that turned to showing porn as a means to survival, as the neighborhoods that once supported them decayed and died. These theatres were, often, 800 to 3,000 seat single-screen theatres (the way most theatres used to be). Typically, you would see single men sitting 15-20 seats apart scattered around the theatre (so we could masturbate with some privacy). Rarely, as when Deep Throat was a phenomenom, you would see male/female couples sitting together actually watching the film as a movie (i.e. not whacking-off).
There was always homosexual activity going on, but this was primarily confined to the restrooms. I hated to have to go use the restroom! You would not have been preyed upon in the main auditorium.
The experience you encountered had nothing to do with the classic days of porn on film being shown in real theatres. In fact, unless your interests include anonymous gay sex and/or being exposed to same, you were wise to pass on it.
these theaters were one of the only places you could go to see these films...
after VCRs.......the "curious" crowd left the theaters and left the dudes there to jack off and maybe meet other dudes....
I had a curious moment about 8 years ago..and went into a place like that.......
middle o fthe day.....broad daylight....
they were showing blurry loops and the place was empty...
as I sat down in the row closest t the exit..... a dude stat down about 5 spaces from me...... remember the entire place is about empty...so he made conscious decision to sit that close to me....
I put 2 and 2 together......and hauled ass out of there...
it was a wack experience....but I always wanted to do it...
can't recall ever feeling that uncomfortable....
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tritone Deactivated User
1009 Posts 4/03
Posted - Oct 24 2006 : 12:50PM
Not trying to make it sound like you are better than us? Well it didn't work. Why even mention this? It added nothing to your question, you just needed to add it so you could distance yourself from the rest of the "losers" (in your mind) here.
Oh geeze, relax. I SWEAR I didn't mean it like that. I'm not calling anyone a loser or passing judgment on anyone for watching porn. I do it too, I think I said that. I wouldn't be a poster on this forum or visiting adult bookshops if I found fault in porn, or those who choose to watch it. I wrote those sentences to put my story into a perspective: straight young guy, going to a theater for the first time, NOT wanting to be fucked with, and curious about what to expect.
If my post really offended you that badly, perhaps you have some issues of your own to think about.
I would have liked to have seen 800 Fantasy Lane, Bad Girls, Little Girls Blue, Femmes de Sade, Talk Dirty to Me, and other classics on the big screen. John Holmes must have been ENORMOUS, lol.
The theater I saw yesterday didn't appear like anything from the golden age. As I said in the first post, it was a part of the adult bookstore. Tickets were ten dollars, and the same two films were played back to back 24/7. You didn’t have to wait for the start of the film; one could just walk in at any time. A handful of men did walk in while I was there. The theater itself was behind a heavy door and the cashier had to push a button behind the cash register to activate it, which also set off a rather loud buzzer/bell by the entrance to the theater. Perhaps this was a warning to the patrons to put their dicks away? Seemed kinda sleazy. Glad I didn't go in. Too bad the experience I am looking for is long dead.
I went to a Pussycat Theatre back in the day, and it wasn't the sleazy setting that I had heard it was. There wasn't cum all over the seats like I had heard (I was told to bring a towel with me for that reason, but I didn't and had no need to). I remember it being a very clean theatre. I don't remember noticing people jacking off. From what I remember there was hardly anyone there, but it was during the late 80s when I went, and by then porn had already entered the video age so going to a porn theatre was becoming passe. I'm glad I went, so at least I can say I went to a porn theatre. I saw a couple of porno films at midnight at a local arthouse, but the audience for those films were cult film fans, and they were there to make fun of the movies.
There used to be Pussycat Theatres all over the place. The last one that I can think of was open as recently as 1996, which was a surprise given that the theatre chain was dead by then. Porn theatres are from a bygone era that will never return.
Nothing says I love you so much as a tongue in the ass. 2884 Posts 1/03
Posted - Oct 24 2006 : 9:38PM
The kind of "theater" you encountered sounds like what Show World and its ilk had for live shows. Small, cozy and delightfully sleazy. The theaters I went to ran the gamut from opulent to flop houses with moving pictures. First time I ever saw John Holmes, the screen was a giant bedsheet hung from the wall. A couple of the bigger venues in Times Square had live shows interspersed with the features. The audience, which was all spread out around this huge place, would flock to the first couple of rows to get up close and personal. Depravity rules.
I went into a small theater in Amsterdam once. It was basically a holding cell until the live sex show started. Even that was not very comfortable. You could stay in there as long as you wanted and I think that plenty of guys did.
Public or semipublic places to watch porn now are almost exclusively for gay or bi men. I mean, if a woman goes in, she will get a lot of attention, and probably draw customers into the theater that don't ordinarily go back there, but otherwise it is just about all guys looking to hook up.
This is true of video booths as well. In Europe you can go into these things for a safe place to jerk it. Even there though you are likely to get cruised. In the US, I would not even consider it. There are guys who stand there just waiting for the new meat to come in.
In my 16 year porn theater days I was never hit on by a man but was prosition by a hooker who came into the Lido one time with her girl friend. My favorite seat was 3/4 of the way down and on the seat next to the right wall. I was right handed of course. Don't miss those days at all. Dallas police came to the theater every morning at 11am to arrest the ticket tacker but not the projectionest. He belonged to the Teamsters and ticket tacker didn't. After a new ticket taker was positioned and the lights went dark again we were all off to the races. Thanks reason for the VCR. I do miss the free candy, popcorn and soda. Those were not the days. Wayne In Dallas
About 20 years ago, I was in Germany for a couple years. There was a local "sex shop" as they called them, which had a theatre and book store combined. Throughout the day one of their girls would come out and do a strip show on the stage in front of the movie screen, which was pretty graphic. After that, they would linger in the store and in the theatre. One day, I was watching a movie, and one of them came thru and caught me jerking off (with pants still on). She told me that I had to do that in the "foto studio".
I did try that out several times. For the most part, the girls were pretty hot. The foto studio was basically rooms in the sex shop where you could go and "take pictures" of the girls, but it was really for negotiating sex. A couple times I tried full sex with them, but for whatever reason they weren't very good experiences. Too impersonal I guess. Most of the time, I would just jerk off to them while they danced, maybe some touching.
absynth makes the heart grow fonder 434 Posts 8/06
Posted - Oct 26 2006 : 9:01AM
Back in 94, I went to an adult theater in Chicago...I was fresh out of boot camp. I went with about a half dozen of the guys I was stationed with and we were in full dress uniform. Anyway, it was pretty fuckin' nasty, but a memorable experience all the same. Especially when one of the guys dropped his hat in a puddle of jizz and had to stick it back on his head when we got back out on street, because an officer crossed our path. (it's a big no-no to not have your head covered when in full uniform.)
Well personally the porn theather experience dosen't interest me much, im glad to be able to see movie in my privacy, so i can jerk off as much as i want to whitout anybody seeing it.
I mean how can you watch porn with other guys? And worse masturbate in a theather?
I have a friend that know i have a big porno collection and sometimes he ask me to show some to him, and just the feeling to watch porn with a dude sitting next to you is kinda creepy. After a few minutes i said "just take the dvds and give them back to me when your tired of them"
One thing tought i would have like to experience is these private show behing the glass like you see in that movie with Eugene Levy and the big dude that died a while back(forgot his name but he was funny) I think it was call armed and dangerous. Anyway they go in a porn store and have to hide in one of these, then the big dude ask for a coin to his friend and the panel open up showing a hot girl that then start to dance for like 20 seconde. Then he ask for another coin everytime it close...lol anyway i would have like to know that. Of course dance with striper are better in terme of what it give you. 10$ but it last 3:30M aproximatively and you can touch, its direct contact. But still i would have like to know these day when porn was so open.
Maybe it was only in the USA or Germany and such tought, i dunno. Here where i live the porn stores are like a small shop and you kinda have to check if nobody see you enter, you kinda feel cheap putting a porn movie on the desk , especially since its always a hot girl working there, at least a man would know what it is, you would not be so shy to buy that. But in that movie i was talking about it was like everybody was cool with porno and it was on the street very open etc Maybe its because its just a movie, i don't know or maybe it was really like that back in the late 80's and maybe it was just in the us, but still i kinda regret that its not like that still. Today you are are kinda shy to just open the door to the stripper club, you wait that there not too much people around and such...
There was a place in my town that had one of those Dance behind the glass rooms with the mechanical coin operated windows. They also had "fantasy booths" that I think involved you going in a jerking while the girl posed.
I went a few times and enjoyed the window room. I was going to go back and try the fantasy booth, but they got closed down before I got a chance. This was just a year ago, and they did not get closed down because of the fantasy booths. They had some problem with taxes I think. I think they used one of those "The IRS is unconstitutional" tax guy idiots. It may have been some other problem though like drug smuggling.
In any case though the Feds got ownership of the place. For some reason they did not continue to operate it as an adult oriented business.
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duffy Deactivated User
208 Posts 4/06
Posted - Oct 26 2006 : 4:22PM
The real attraction of the old porn theatres is that many would have live strippers and porn stars between movies. I can remember seeing Desiree Cousteau, Seka, and and Samantha Fox at these joints, all for $6!
I went to a few places in the 80's and they ranged from the giddily sleazy (Market St. Cinema in SF) to just fucking terrifying. There was a place in Times Square, when crack was at its height, that just about radiated theft and disease. I walked in once, expecting the basic sleazy, seedy experience and the "clientele" and activity was so menacing, I just about ran out of there.
you can have a theater going today for instance but it can't reproduce the era of the originals. They were in operation and closer to that time known as the sexual revolution. Ambiance is lost today and the Political climate of the present is not the same as in the 'free-wheeling' 70s or even the first term of the Reagan era. Yes, I would pay 6 bucks to enter(price varied from place to place) and watch the same flicks as long as they were open. But we also got a host of previews showcasing upcoming features and even porn cartoons. Remember that little man with the big nose in Caballero previews always getting into scrapes. Perhaps the only time in movie watching I truly enjoyed previews/trailers before the show. The customers werent labeled 'raincoat crowd' for nothing. From what I saw they(or should I say we) came in with winter coats of all colors. Amazing how a brown coat can conceal in the dark. As for the homo stuff never encountered it and thus I shouldnt have for the movies were straight hetero boy/girl entertainment. I remember those theaters not so much as going into the belly of porn hell but as an adventure going into the twilight zone of fuckdom.
It was a great experience, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to have enjoyed it.
Sure, the privacy and convenience of today's DVDs at home is great. But, there was something so exciting about whacking our weenies in a public setting. Our own little pervert's temple :)
Man, you're crazy if you ever enter one of those things because you got guys jacking off in their seats and you're probably resting your arm on someone's DNA. I went to some theatres back in the 80's to see Vanessa del Rio, Tracey Adams, Seka, etc. It was scary to look at these basketcases in the audience.
rc writes " It was scary to look at these basketcases in the audience." It is easy to judge as you are whacking off in the privacy of your own home with your remote in your other hand but in the 70's we didn't really have a choice. It wasn't either or. One of the reasons the credit card is used so widely on the internet is because of the horny guys taking the early chance and purchasing porn online. All My Hopes Johnny
It's basically the same thing with hotels though. I've seen reports that show more than just a trace of semen and other bodily fluids all over the blankets and sheets in your average hotel room. They don't clean those blankets after every guest.
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Archibald Deactivated User
Searching For A Gentleman From Arizona 57 Posts 8/06
Posted - Oct 31 2006 : 10:27PM
Busting a nut in a video booth is the worst. First of all in most shops you can't get 100% privacy due to local laws and ordinances, so you're always a wee bit exposed. Second, the place is full of cruisers looking to hook-up. It's damn near scary hearing some guy walk down the pitch dark hall one cum stuck footstep at a time. I'm just a few years to shy to have taken part of the 'theatre' experience, but I doubt I missed much. There are still a few 'theatres' in the adult shops here in town, but they're all the same: projection screen TV showing one straight and one gay/bi double feature. And like the other posters have said, all you see are some real shady guys sitting right outside of the theatre looking for a cheap thrill. I'll pass. What these adult stores need to do is incorporate new ideas into the theatre experience. When you go to a cineplex nowadays you're treated to food courts, sometimes bowling and all kinds of other activities. Why not do the same with adult stores? Since space is a limitation, you need to think practical and come up with ideas that won't take a lot of room. Here are some of me ideas for modern porn theatres/peep booths:
-Adding a sushi bar (everybody loves sushi and it's the perfect 'pick-me-up' after having dumped a load. They could even come up with a signature item like a 'jack-off roll' or something)
-Salad Bar (same as above, but less food cost and a significant drop in labor costs. The only drawback is that you want to make sure everybody' s washed their hands before making a move for the creamy ranch)
-Ping Pong/Pool Tables (Get pumped up before you go watch a movie and keep yourself really fit too)
-Laundromat (polish your rocket while your undies are in the spin cycle)
Archbald writes "-Adding a sushi bar" This sounds like George's idea from a "Seinfeld" episode. He would eat a sandwitch while having sex. Not a good idea. Believe me, as a veteran of the old theater days, you are much better off with an HDTV and the best DVD player you can afford. After 5 minutes in a theater, you will be reaching for the remote and the fast forward and it will not be there. Wayne In Dallas
I was in West Hollywood and I will be darned if I didn't see a Pussycat theatre on Santa Monica Blvd. (near Fairfax, not in the very very gay area, but still a bit of an irony.) It was open, though I didn't go in. I am somewhat curious what they are showing, though.
I've been by that theatre countless times. That's the one that was open as recently as 1996. The Pussycat Theatre I went to was in Santa Monica, which I believe closed in 1994. It's now an Itailan restaurant.
NYC!..TIMES SQUARE!...Hustler's delight..Is there anyone on here who would admit their age and remember all the "once beautiful theaters" that lined 42nd St., 8th Ave. and all between in the 70's and 80's? yes they were all "VERY DARK" and dirty!..Both GAY & STRAIGHT movie houses where young, hung men offered their best for $20.00 dollars!..Hustled "QUEENS" for bucks?, and made money and had REPEAT customers?..Went back for more?..Easier and better times!
Little West 12th Street was the place in the 70s. Decent bars with dancers who would circulate for stink finger and hand jobs. And the beer was always cold! I worked near the area and always had trouble getting home. Thought it would never end.
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pinc_noiz Deactivated User
758 Posts 6/05
Posted - Nov 5 2006 : 5:29AM
Buy yourself a big screen. The quality of video/audio/guest is all in your own hands. It's your show totally.
