War on Sex, 1966: Read It in the Fish Wrap

Newspapers are so versatile. You hear all this talk about how in the not distant future the daily news will be zapped by radio waves into little laptop computers. But then what would we use for fish wrap and bird-cage liner?

Consider the yellowed, brittle copy of the Jan. 6, 1966, edition of the old Tarzana Herald Tribune that now rests on my desk. For decades, apparently, this newspaper served as padding behind a framed mirror, until a friend discovered it and found it worthy of sharing.

Now this newspaper has a new function--as a time capsule of a locale and era for which many are nostalgic.

Zodys, “the quality discount department store,” advertised “new stretch capris,” an $8.99 value, for only $5.37, and a “full gallon” of Vino Blanco for 99 cents. Another ad invites readers to start their own “chinchilla ranch.” And the DWP proudly touts “Ample Water and Power at Low Cost” as the “Key to the Spectacular Growth of Los Angeles!”

But nothing is as eye-catching as the bold, banner headline on page one:

War Increases on Valley Sex Movies

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War and sex have always sold fish wrap. And though the V-chip awaits, the tension between the First Amendment and “family values” promises to be around for a long time too. Still, the story beneath Irv Burleigh’s byline gives some sense of, for better or worse, the debate over notions of morality versus notions of freedom.

Back then, the big question in town was what to do about the notorious Park Theater, located at 21622 Sherman Way in the heart of Canoga Park. The “adult” movie house showed such films as “Woman of Pleasure” and displayed ads with suggestive photos and such legends as “Tortured Females, Girls in Bondage Because of Passion Beyond Control.”

The legal problem, it seems, was that the city attorney’s office had concluded that the Park couldn’t be successfully prosecuted under pornography laws at the time. But community outrage was such that 250 people gathered at Los Angeles police headquarters downtown to seek revocation of the theater’s police permit at a public hearing.

Burleigh’s account suggests that this hearing was vivid theater in its own right. Arrayed against the Park were parents, clergy, teachers and even three LAPD vice officers. The theater’s attorney may have literally been perceived as the devil’s advocate.

Perhaps Burleigh was grinning when he wrote the following passage:

West Valley Police Division vice squad officers testified that they have been among the repeat customers at the theater.

Sgt. Walter Bragulla claimed “Woman of Pleasure” was obscene. Atty. Stanley Fleishman, representing the theater owners, was ruled out of order when he tried to force the sergeant to look at a nude in Playboy magazine.

Later, a local resident testified as to his belief that the Park would create problems among young adults.

“Several friends and I attended the movie there Tuesday night. We requested permission from the pastor of our church first.”

“Do you have to get permission to see movies?” needled Fleishman. “Don’t you think as an adult you should make that decision yourself?”

And when Pierce College professor Thomas Devine testified, he slammed recent Supreme Court rulings as well as the Kinsey sexuality studies, published in 1948 and 1953.

“The Ten Commandments were not given us to spoil our fun. They were given to us to keep us from destroying ourselves. . . . Laws should be set up so it would be unpleasant to do wrong. We might go back to the horsewhip. It might help some people.”

“You think the Kinsey report is false and harmful?” asked Fleishman. “. . .Don’t you think that adults have a right to decide for themselves whether it’s true or false?”

“It shouldn’t be out there on newsstands any more than Communist or Nazi propaganda,” replied Devine.

“In other words you would burn the books,” said Fleishman.

“I think it’s a waste of paper to burn them,” laughed Devine. “If it teaches that poison is good food, it has no right to be printed. It’s not only permissible to censor these things; it’s the right and duty of the people.”

Devine drew a heavy round of applause . . .

*

That was only 30 years ago, so many of the principals may well remember that day. Whether or not time has stiffened or mellowed the attitudes, one can only guess.

The war between freedom and morality rages still. Freedom seems to be winning, perhaps because it’s an easier value to understand, not such a relative matter.

The Park itself would in time become part of the Pussycat chain and still later go out of business, doomed not by a moral crusade, but by the VCR and a billion-dollar X-rated video industry that happens to be based in the Valley. Like it or not, now any house can be a porno house.

And now the building that housed the Park nee Pussycat is history. Just the other day, Mayor Richard Riordan and Councilwoman Laura Chick visited the site to hail construction of a new theater funded by a $2.75-million federal grant.

The Madrid Theatre, expected to be open by January 1998, will provide a stage for the performing arts. And it will specialize, officials say, in family entertainment.