Imagine putting your best threads on, arriving early, standing on line for hours and making it all the way to the front door, just to be turned away by some doorman with a complex. That was a regular night for many at the famed 1970s New York nightclub Studio 54.

Andy Warhol called Studio 54, "a dictatorship at the door and democracy on the inside." Director Matt Tyrnauer, whose documentary "Studio 54," opens in New York on October 5, joined "Salon Talks" to give a behind the scenes look at the exclusive club that was virtually impossible to get into.

The upside of the exclusivity was the unique atmosphere it created inside. "People who were in there came up to sit next to you because they knew you were hand selected. It had a coolness to it and it wasn't threatening to anybody," Tyrnauer told SalonTV's D. Watkins.

"I think they vetted the crowd so thoroughly that everyone felt comfortable," he continued. Stars like Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli and Reggie Jackson all partied at Studio 54.

The club was open for only 33 months, from 1977 to 1980, and was a haven of hedonism, tolerance, glitz and glamor. The film "Studio 54" shows the club's quick rise and ultimate implosion of financial scandal and features unprecedented access to the club's insiders.

Watch the video above to hear more about Studio 54's impact on modern nightlife and to see why Tyrnauer thinks we will never see a nightclub like it ever again.