Adonis/Flick Theaters

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900-904 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis (1975-1983?)

Advertisements for businesses on Hennepin Avenue. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

In the fall of 1975, the Minneapolis Tribune ran a short article announcing the purchase of 900-904 Hennepin Avenue for two new movie theaters, despite the building's obvious incapacity to serve as a showplace. It probably played films only once before, when 900 Hennepin served a brief stint as the “Hospitality House for Service Men” and likely played celebratory newsreels when WWII ended.(1)

The Tribune surmised that 900 Hennepin’s new owners were none other than the Alexander brothers, who remain in local memory the “Porn Warriors” of Minneapolis.(2) Ferris Alexander—a scapegoat of City officials, neighborhood groups, and the police—already owned several old theaters in Minneapolis. Many of these began as neighborhood movie houses, but they fell out of use after drive-ins and suburban multiplexes appeared. A social vacuum appeared once again, and it filled with less reputable uses—pornography, in this case.

The Minneapolis Vice Squad raided the new Adonis and Flick theaters (and arrested its ticket-taker) five times within 8 months of the purchase.(3) Police went so far as to confiscate projector lenses during the fifth raid, along with films declaring such titles as “Hot Summer Night,” “Little Sister,” “Men in Leather,” and “Assault.” One can gather from these titles that the Adonis and Flick showed straight and gay pornography. Like bathhouses and bars, X-rated theaters were places of exciting (and public) sexual adventure. In Minneapolis’ case, the Adonis and Flick were social gathering places that queer men attended in groups.(4)

The Hospitality House for Service Men later became a Christian Center before becoming an x-rated gay cinema. Image Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society.

After 25 years battling the government and slowly losing his theaters, Ferris Alexander was sentenced to six years in prison in 1990. Charged with racketeering, obscenity, and tax evasion, Alexander lost his remaining theaters and bookstores.(5) The Adonis and Flick’s former address is now Solera Café and Wine Bar; it is still a popular place for queer Minnesotans, if for an entirely different reason.

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Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-2010)

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(1)Norton & Peel, photographers. "Exterior, The Hospitality House for Service Men, 902 Hennepin Avenue South, Minneapolis." 3/7/1945. Part of the Minnesota Historical Society Visual Resource Database: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=165688&Page=1&Keywords=hospitality%20house&SearchType=Basic

(2)Mosedale, Mike. "The Porn Warrior at Rest: Ferris Alexander's Legacy." City Pages, 3/12/2003.

(3)“Police Close Adonis, Flick Again, Take Films, Lenses,” The Minneapolis Tribune: June 8, 1976.

(4)Tretter, Jean-Nickolaus. Interview with the author and Jacob Gentz, 1/19/2009

(5)Mosedale, Ibid.