Stadium Theatre

1653 Cravens Ave. Torrance, CA 90501 | map |

Opened: June 2, 1949 on the southwest corner of Cravens Ave. and Gramercy Ave. The Stadium was operated by M & M Enterprises (Albert Mellinkoff and Harry Milstein) who also had the Torrance Theatre and the Grand Theatre.

This photo of the theatre ready for its grand opening in 1949 that was taken by Bob Wilton appeared with Sam Gnerre's now-vanished 2013 article "Stadium Theatre in Torrance" for the South Bay Daily Breeze. The original caption was: 

"SHOWPLACE - Torrancites will have their first opportunity to view the interior of the new Stadium Theater, located at the corner of Gramercy and Craven avenues, at the grand opening this evening." 

Architect: Unknown.

Seating: 900 with the upper section being "stadium style," hence the name.

A tidbit in this January 1949 news item about other building projects noted that the theatre was "under construction":

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this as well as many other items on this page for a thread about the theatre for the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.

Sam Gnerre talks about the grand opening festivities: 

"The opening night was pretty glitzy stuff for Torrance, and attracted 1200 guests. The city’s hometown movie star, Rosemary DeCamp, appeared live on stage, promoting the night’s screening of the film 'The Life of Riley,' in which she co-starred with William Bendix. (DeCamp lived in the Hollywood Riviera area of Torrance with her husband, noted South Bay Judge John Shidler.) 

"In addition, two stars of the Bowery Boys film series, Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell, appeared to promote their latest film, 'Fighting Fools' (also on that night’s program), along with actor Frankie Darro, who also was in the film. Also appearing were Duncan Renaldo, aka 'The Cisco Kid,' and ventriloquist Max Terhune and his dummy Elmer."

 

 

 

A September 1949 ad for the Stadium as well as the Torrance and Grand, all operated by the same company, M & M Enterprises. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this.  

 

The Stadium was later operated by Pacific Theatres. 

 

 

Exciting stuff! It was an October 1957 contest at the theatre to select Miss Air Force. Want to know who won? Well, it was 17-year-old Jackie Lako. See the article about her that Ken McIntyre located. 

 

The theatre lost some quarters in March 1959. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating the article.  

 

 

Running "Gone With the Wind" just before the theatre's porno era began. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for digging these listings out of a June 1969 issue of the L.A. Times. That Park Theatre in the listings is now going by the name Gardena Cinema. 

The Stadium become the Pussycat Theatre in July 1969. 

 

 

 

A sneak preview of the latest porno epic in January 1970. Thanks to Ken for locating the ad. 

 

 

 

A September 1970 ad spotted by Ken McIntyre. "The Smart People Go To A Pussycat Show."

 

 

 

A December 1974 ad located by Ken McIntyre. 

 

 

 

Longtime manager Francis O. DuVal died in 1975. Presumably he had retired as the Pussycat era was beginning in 1969. Ken McIntyre located the item. 

 

 

 

Looking for a doorman in 1978. 

 

Churches on parade in 1991. It's a March 10 story from the Daily Breeze:

Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this article.

Closing: The theatre closed in November 1991. Sam Gnerre comments:

 

"The theater’s then-manager Frank Martinez claimed the theater was a regular target of vandalism and excessive enforcement of parking violations and frequent inspections by fire officials. Protesters claimed Martinez sprayed water on them; Martinez claimed he always washed the theater’s marquee on Friday nights. 

 

"Finally, the standoff came to an end when it was announced on Nov. 22, 1991, that developers Gascon Mar Ltd. would pay the owners of the theater $50,000 to renovate the aging facility in return for shutting the Pussycat operation down....

 

"Gascon Mar made elaborate plans to renovate the theater, rename it the Torrance Metro and start showing second-run films. Unfortunately, the costs of renovating the now-rundown interior of the theater proved to be a barrier, and Gascon Mar’s proposal never came to fruition."

 

The theatre's most famous employee is Quentin Tarantino, who worked taking tickets and manning the snack bar during the 70s Pussycat era. 

 

After closing it was used for several film shoots with the name on the vertical changed to the Terra and the Aurora. The owner at the time was Starplex Group, based in Los Angeles. Torrance Community Theatre tried buy the theatre in the mid-1990s but negotiations fell apart. 

 

In 1996 the Downtown Torrance Association wondered what it would take to revive their moribund business district. Thanks to Ken McIntyre for including this in his thread about the theatre for the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.

Status: It was demolished beginning in May 2002. There are now condos on the site.

More exterior views: 

1950 - A "Kiddie Show" shot taken in August. It appeared on a 2024 Instagram post from the City of Torrance celebrating (ha!) "Preservation Month."  Thanks to Ken McIntyre for spotting the post for his thread about the theatre on the Ken's Movie Page Facebook group.

1983 - A look at the Stadium in its Pussycat days. You've got to admit that's a pretty nice vertical sign. Thanks to Jay Allen Sanford for the photo. It appeared with Jay's "Pussycat Theaters - a comprehensive history of a California dynasty," his epic 2010 article for San Diego Reader. Sadly, in the version currently on the SDR site, all the photos are missing. A better bet is the version on Blogspot he's titled "Pussycat Theaters: The Inside Story." Chapter 1 | Chapters 2 - 15. 

 

1991 - Religious groups protesting the films shown at the Pussycat. It's the Daily Breeze photo by Wally Skalij that appeared with a March 10 article reproduced higher on the page. 

 

c.2000 - Thanks to Paul Wisman for this view he posted in 2012 for the private Facebook group Photos of Los Angeles. The vertical had been redone for the HBO movie "If These Walls Could Talk 2."

c.2000 - A look up the "Aurora" vertical taken by Den S. Serles. It was a post for the private Facebook group Mid Century Modern.

c.2000 - Another sign detail by Den S. Serles. Thanks!

 

2002 - We get a nice look at the terrazzo in this Daily Breeze photo by Bruce Hazleton. The photo appeared with Sam Gnerre's now-vanished 2009 Daily Breeze article "South Bay Movie Theaters of the Past."

 

 

2013 - The condo project now on the site. It's a Daily Breeze photo that was once included with Sam Gnerre's article "Stadium Theatre in Torrance." 

 

The Stadium Theatre in the Movies:

The Stadium was used in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" (Touchstone, 1994) for the premiere of "Bride of the Monster."

A look at the interior from "Ed Wood." The film also visits the Warner Hollywood, the Pantages and the Orpheum. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for shots of those theatres from the film.

The theatre is seen in the background as the Terra in George Hickenlooper's "Dogtown" (Stone Canyon Entertainment, 1997). The film, about a Hollywood actor who comes back to his small hometown, stars Trevor St. John, Rory Cochrane, Davis Shackelford, Karen Black and Mary Stuart Masterson. See the Historic L.A. Theatres in Movies post for one more shot from the film.

The exterior, with the tower redone to call it the Aurora, is seen in the TV movie "If These Walls Could Talk 2" (HBO, 2000).

More information: For some interesting stories see the Cinema Treasures page about the theatre, which they list as the Pussycat. Cinema Tour also has a page.

| back to top | South, South Central and Southeast theatres | Theatres Along the Coast | Along the Coast - list by address | Downtown theatres | Westside theatres | Hollywood | Westwood and Brentwood | [more] Los Angeles movie palaces | Los Angeles theatres - the main alphabetical list | Los Angeles theatres - list by address | theatre history resources | film and theatre tech resources | contact info | welcome and site navigation guide |