7059 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90028 | map |
Opening: The theatre debuted as a porno house called the Athena Theatre on September 9, 1969. This storefront venue was on the north side of the street a couple blocks west of the Chinese.
Thanks to Mike Rivest for locating this September 9, 1969 L.A. Times ad. Visit his site: Movie-Theatre.org
It became the Avon Theatre in February 1970 and switched to gay porno: "First Time in the Heart of Hollywood."
A February 6, 1970 ad located by Mike Rivest.
A shot of the Avon from the 1970 film "A Boy Named David." Thanks to Spicy Goldman for getting the shot and posting it on Cinema Treasures.
Evidently porno, either straight or gay, wasn't what the neighborhood needed at that time. The Avon closed in May 1971.
In August 1971 it reopened as a 16mm revival house called the Bijou Theatre. Free parking! Bargain
Matinees!
Thanks to Kurt Wahlner for sharing this c.1971 photo from his collection looking east toward Sycamore St. That's the theatre on the far left
using a stock sign with an arrow plus the circle saying "Bijou."
A detail from Kurt's photo revealing that the program was "Psycho" and "The Birds." Kurt comments: "The Bijou was the first place I was able to see old films." Don't miss his wonderful site detailing the history of Grauman's Chinese.
A December 19, 1971 L.A. Times listing. Thanks to Spicy Goldman for locating it.
"Diabolique" and Hitchcock's "Stage Fright." It's a 1972 L.A. Times listing for the Bijou located by Ken McIntyre.
A c.1973 schedule for the Bijou that surfaced on eBay.
Another schedule. Thanks to Christopher Crouch for locating this image for a post on the Cinema Treasures page about the Bijou.
From September 1973 until April 1974 it was back to porno, some gay, some straight.
An April 2, 1974 L.A. Times ad. Thanks to Spicy Goldman for locating it for a post on the Cinema Treasures page about the Punch Line Café. See that page for more ads.
In September 1975 it was reopened as the Odeon and was back to running revival programs.
Closing: It closed as a film house in January 1977.
David DeCouteau notes that in January 1977 it reopened as a comedy club called the Punch Line Café using the advertising line "Corkers, or What Do I Take For A Running Gag?" He notes that the club closed in April 1977.
Status: The building is still there on Hollywood Blvd. -- or at least its facade remains. It was combined with the taller building on the corner, a 1928 design by Parkinson & Parkinson, and several stories were added to both in the 1980s.
The corner
building in previous incarnations had been a savings bank and the
Hollywood Museum. The complex is now home to Author Services, a firm managing the works of the late Scientology guru L. Ron Hubbard. Christopher Crouch
notes that there is currently a live theatre space in the remodeled building.
The former home of the Bijou. We're looking east on Hollywood Blvd. The next block was the location of the ill-fated Hollywood Galaxy. The Chinese is beyond. Photo: Google Maps - 2011
More Information: See our page about various other 16mm Revival Houses that had opened between 1940 and 1975.
See the Cinema Treasures page on the Bijou for Christopher Crouch's research. The site also has another page for this same venue but titled Punch Line Cafe.
There was another porno emporium called the Bijou on Cahuenga, initially a cinema, later just an adult book and video store. There's a bit about that one on our Storefront Porno page. CT also has a page on that Bijou at 1651 Cahuenga.
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