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Pussycat Theaters

"On the opening day of a new film you could almost call roll," Friedman remembers. "The same guys were there, week after week. They'd stand out front reading the one-sheets so long you'd think they were studying the Gutenberg Bible."

The Adults Only market exploded in the 1960s. "In 1960 there were maybe 20 theaters around the country that showed adult pictures exclusively. By 1970 there were 750. The Pussycat chain built 25 theaters, from the ground up, to show X-rated movies. There were 47 Pussycat theaters in California alone."

David still remembers the day his partner Dan Sonney yelled at him: "Hey, Dave, I gotta a name for that joint on Hill Street."

"What's that?"

"Let's call it The Pussycat."

"Pussycat? Where did you come up with that?"

"Last night, Margaret and me went to see this picture with that funny guy, Woody Allen. It was called What's New Pussycat. I think that's a good name for an adult house. Everybody calls young gals 'pussycats' don't they?"

Friedman agreed that it was a good name, but he worried that the "Beautification Board" of the City of Los Angeles might veto the name.

David pondered how to turn possible rejection into publicity. He jotted down on his note pad a possible headline: "Politicos No-No Nomenclature. Find Fault With Female Felines."

In the end, David need not have worried. LA approved the name. "Within weeks, a musty, 40-year old, abandoned 400-seat movie house on Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles became the first theater in the world emblazoned with a name that became generic, world-wide, denoting a pleasure palace where, on screen, patrons could peruse, in privacy, a parade of winsome wantons, in various stages of dress and undress, committing rude, crude, lewd lascivious contortions and consummations."

The first "Pussycat Theater" opened its doors in March, 1967. "I've often thought how good it was those hard-working L.A. Beautification Board beadles didn't have dirty minds."

As independent producer-distributor-exhibitors, Friendman and company were not obliged to the 1949 U.S. v. Paramount et al Consent Decree which broke up the studios.

"I've exploited the basest human emotions," says Friedman. "But the one I exploited most was loneliness. That's who was paying my way, a lot of very lonely men."

In 1968, olive-skinned Vince Miranda, a native Californian of Portuge descent who always wanted to be in show business, bought a 50% share of The Pussycat. He eventually built the chain into 45 theaters, zealously protecting the Pussycat name through California but was not able to stop those outside the state from using the name.

Meanwhile, David Friedman concentrated on producing movies, which provided a quicker return that owning and operating theaters.

Miranda constantly improved his properties, keeping them clean and decorated. "The best people attended screenings," remembers Friedman. "There was no shame being seen entering a Pussycat."

In 1974, Miranda spent almost one million dollars placing ads in the Los Angeles Times which stopped the next year accepting advertising from adult movie theaters.

Vince vigorously defended his chain in court, and donated widely to charity. He was frequently seen with entertainer Rose Marie.

Video finally cut into the Pussycat's revenues in 1983, as the chain suffered its first decrease in gross revenues.

On June 3, 1985, he died of lung cancer.

In 1986, the Pussycat chain celebrated its 25th anniversary with a restrospective Erotic Film Festival held at its theaters in Hollywood and Buena Park, California, featuring its twelve leading X-rated moneymakers: Deep Throat, Take Off, The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann, Inside Jennifer Welles, The Opening of Misty Beethoven, The Life and Times of Xaviera Hollander, Sex World, Sensations, Debbie Does Dallas, Naked Came the Stranger, Talk Dirty to Me and The Erotic Adventures of Candy.

Beset by heavy taxes, Miranda's heirs sold off many of the Pussycats. They installed giant TV screens to play adult videos, but to little avail. By 1992, only a dozen Pussycats were still open.