This was originally a Hilton and later became the Playboy Plaza. Jackie Gleason purportedly helped in the design of the theater when it opened in ‘67 and subsequently Maurice Revitz and Loews plunked down close to a million for its renovation.
A color shot of the interior I believe just a few years prior to being gutted for Club Z/Club 1235. Some of the balcony Art Deco/elements were retained for the then new club.
The Cinema Casino sign was supported by a tower behind it. The tower had small spires and Art Deco elements to it. The Casino sign was demolished decades ago but the tower remained well into the 1980s. I think the tower structure was demolished in the 90s or thereafter.
This photo also appears in several Florida Facebook groups claiming that it is the AMC Omni 10 in Miami. While the layout is probably the same or similar, they are two distinct locations.
This is one of the better multiplexes in the region. A number of reviews here and elsewhere have noted issues with the facilities and concessions but generally speaking I have had a pleasant experience at this theater. The real factor that detracts from this theater experience overall is parking. Parking is abysmal and during the holidays it is almost impossible to find anything. The close proximity of D&B to this venue is idiotic as well. Given this venues size and popularity, the planners here need to rethink their whole approach. If you haven’t yet been here, come early on the weekends and prepare to look for parking or pay for valet. Otherwise, buy your tickets online and go to a weekday matinee.
I believe this shot is from Boxoffice and the marquee is displaying “The Group” as the feature so this places it somewhere in the first month or so of operation.
There were numerous statues that were in the lobby as well. Ex Miami Beach mayor Leonard Haber was involved with the development of the Carib Mall that replaced the theater (Most of the theater interior was gutted by 1979) Haber salvaged some of the statues from the lobby and had a professional sculptor restore them and had them installed in his home.
Saw many flicks during the UA era of this theater. I remember seeing “Network” and “Invasion of the body snatchers” and during the screening of “Snatchers” I vividly recall the film snapping at a pivotal moment. The collective groan of the crowd was quite memorable. It was still quite pleasant even after its quadplexing in the early 70s
aeterna
commented about
Omni 10on
Jan 4, 2016 at 9:32 am
The Omni 6 reached its heyday in the early 80s. Due to changing demographics and the opening of newer and nicer malls the theater declined in the mid 1980s. It also had issues with truancy and fights as the Time Machine arcade was located right next to it. The additional four screens staved off the inevitable but it eventually closed in the late 90s as the Omni was practically a ghost mall by that point. A photo of the concession counter in the 80s is included below:
R.D. was possibly R.D. Goldberg Theater Corp. Which had some interests in movie houses dating back to the 40s and 50s. Perhaps the company name was contracted/modified sometime in the 60s or 70s.
A very good shot of the theater from the Florida Memory archive. From 1924, the movie on the marquee is the “The Flaming Forest” which puts this at Fall/November of ‘24. Probably one of the first showings.
When Richard Shelter moved his shows from the Ocean 71 hotel on Collins Avenue and 71st (nee Flynn’s), he switched to the Cameo as his primary venue in the mid 1980s. While Shelter would move on to LA, his brief one year stint promoting the venue as a punk and alternative music scene would ultimately take hold and end its run as a movie house by the latter part of the 1980s. But prior to this, the Cameo in the 70s and early 80s was known for surf movies, B-movie fare and 99 cent triple bill Kung Fu extravaganzas.
The Roxy during the ‘72 DNC era. A blue movie parody of the “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” entitled “Miss Bodie” can be seen on the marquee. The Roxy would flip back to regular fare by the late 70s.
This theater did eventually get its print of “Flash Gordon” I saw it there repeatedly and this location was not a bad venue for a bargain house albeit a very short lived one.
dmtyler, Al is absolutely correct. The Roosevelt did not start venturing into blue movie fare – at least on a full time basis – until the late 1970s. (Further visual evidence below) The Sheridan remained shuttered after “Throat” for a good 7 or 8 years and was the victim of some fires as well. Around the early 80s, the structure was gutted and Centrust made this a large branch office.
Miami Beach, Fla. — Herman Weingarten, of New York, has announced a program which will include the building of a circuit of 12 theaters in this area, at an investment of $1,250,000. Weingarten began con- struction several weeks ago of the first theater, the Cameo, in the pro- posed string, a $100,000 structure at Washington Ave. and Espanola Way. The second will be on Collins Ave. and is to be known as the Surf Theater.
During the past 25 years Weingarten has constructed some 40 theaters and continues to operate some of them in Brooklyn and Long Island.
Associated with Weingarten in his building activities is his daughter Miss Henrietta Weingarten.
This was originally a Hilton and later became the Playboy Plaza. Jackie Gleason purportedly helped in the design of the theater when it opened in ‘67 and subsequently Maurice Revitz and Loews plunked down close to a million for its renovation.
A color shot of the interior I believe just a few years prior to being gutted for Club Z/Club 1235. Some of the balcony Art Deco/elements were retained for the then new club.
http://decoarchitecture.tumblr.com/image/28326888667
The Cinema Casino sign was supported by a tower behind it. The tower had small spires and Art Deco elements to it. The Casino sign was demolished decades ago but the tower remained well into the 1980s. I think the tower structure was demolished in the 90s or thereafter.
This blog contains a very high quality shot of the theater probably sometime after closure (circa 2001)
http://ccmallcity.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-carolina-circle-mall-has-done-for.html
This photo also appears in several Florida Facebook groups claiming that it is the AMC Omni 10 in Miami. While the layout is probably the same or similar, they are two distinct locations.
This is one of the better multiplexes in the region. A number of reviews here and elsewhere have noted issues with the facilities and concessions but generally speaking I have had a pleasant experience at this theater. The real factor that detracts from this theater experience overall is parking. Parking is abysmal and during the holidays it is almost impossible to find anything. The close proximity of D&B to this venue is idiotic as well. Given this venues size and popularity, the planners here need to rethink their whole approach. If you haven’t yet been here, come early on the weekends and prepare to look for parking or pay for valet. Otherwise, buy your tickets online and go to a weekday matinee.
The Mini Art was a 90 seat venue. Added a photo for the run of “Reefer Madness” to the gallery.
I believe this shot is from Boxoffice and the marquee is displaying “The Group” as the feature so this places it somewhere in the first month or so of operation.
http://web.archive.org/web/20140502092323im_/http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/531414_418965311487278_1815738420_n.jpg
There were numerous statues that were in the lobby as well. Ex Miami Beach mayor Leonard Haber was involved with the development of the Carib Mall that replaced the theater (Most of the theater interior was gutted by 1979) Haber salvaged some of the statues from the lobby and had a professional sculptor restore them and had them installed in his home.
Saw many flicks during the UA era of this theater. I remember seeing “Network” and “Invasion of the body snatchers” and during the screening of “Snatchers” I vividly recall the film snapping at a pivotal moment. The collective groan of the crowd was quite memorable. It was still quite pleasant even after its quadplexing in the early 70s
The Omni 6 reached its heyday in the early 80s. Due to changing demographics and the opening of newer and nicer malls the theater declined in the mid 1980s. It also had issues with truancy and fights as the Time Machine arcade was located right next to it. The additional four screens staved off the inevitable but it eventually closed in the late 90s as the Omni was practically a ghost mall by that point. A photo of the concession counter in the 80s is included below:
http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/145601048
Orson Welles “Compulsion” in 1959
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/urban-night-life-on-lincoln-road-miami-beach-florida-usa-circa-picture-id177231126
A very good shot of the Biscayne from the “Images of America” series (p.41) By the marquee, this was taken September/Fall of ‘27.
https://books.google.com/books?id=rn8eemVio40C
R.D. was possibly R.D. Goldberg Theater Corp. Which had some interests in movie houses dating back to the 40s and 50s. Perhaps the company name was contracted/modified sometime in the 60s or 70s.
A very good shot of the theater from the Florida Memory archive. From 1924, the movie on the marquee is the “The Flaming Forest” which puts this at Fall/November of ‘24. Probably one of the first showings.
https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/144646
As Al alluded to in the very first comment, I added a photo of the Flamingo during its run of “I am curious yellow”
Road marquee circa late 1974/early 1975 (click image for larger version)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23949765@N04/6511037579
A shot of the Cinema just months prior to its closure in ‘77:
http://flashbackmiami.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/6-08312012-10000892AA.jpg
When Richard Shelter moved his shows from the Ocean 71 hotel on Collins Avenue and 71st (nee Flynn’s), he switched to the Cameo as his primary venue in the mid 1980s. While Shelter would move on to LA, his brief one year stint promoting the venue as a punk and alternative music scene would ultimately take hold and end its run as a movie house by the latter part of the 1980s. But prior to this, the Cameo in the 70s and early 80s was known for surf movies, B-movie fare and 99 cent triple bill Kung Fu extravaganzas.
The Roxy during the ‘72 DNC era. A blue movie parody of the “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” entitled “Miss Bodie” can be seen on the marquee. The Roxy would flip back to regular fare by the late 70s.
https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/130709
This venue was known for showing midnight movie fare. I recall seeing “American Pop” at this location at a very late night screening.
This theater did eventually get its print of “Flash Gordon” I saw it there repeatedly and this location was not a bad venue for a bargain house albeit a very short lived one.
dmtyler, Al is absolutely correct. The Roosevelt did not start venturing into blue movie fare – at least on a full time basis – until the late 1970s. (Further visual evidence below) The Sheridan remained shuttered after “Throat” for a good 7 or 8 years and was the victim of some fires as well. Around the early 80s, the structure was gutted and Centrust made this a large branch office.
http://s18.photobucket.com/user/GuanoReturns/media/Out%20of%20State%20Theaters/Miami%20FL%20Sheridan%20Theatre/Sheridan_Miami_vidcap.jpg.html
web site is gone, here is the wayback link to the original article:
http://web.archive.org/web/20081107041943/http://www.southbeach-usa.com/news/pop-culture-history/2007/09/23/miami-beachs-long-gone-lincoln-road-movie-theatre/
A shot of the Normandy toward the end in 1987.
http://flashbackmiami.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/1-09242012-10000239A.jpg
From the 1938 Film Daily:
WEINGARTEN TO BUILD
12 FLORIDA THEATERS
Miami Beach, Fla. — Herman Weingarten, of New York, has announced a program which will include the building of a circuit of 12 theaters in this area, at an investment of $1,250,000. Weingarten began con- struction several weeks ago of the first theater, the Cameo, in the pro- posed string, a $100,000 structure at Washington Ave. and Espanola Way. The second will be on Collins Ave. and is to be known as the Surf Theater.
During the past 25 years Weingarten has constructed some 40 theaters and continues to operate some of them in Brooklyn and Long Island.
Associated with Weingarten in his
building activities is his daughter
Miss Henrietta Weingarten.