Century Village once had a closer, smallish neighborhood theater, the Century (later the Century Twin) near Okeechobee Blvd. and the Turnpike. Think that one was gone by the mid 80s. Nowadays, local movie fans have to rack up extra miles to either State Road 7 (Regal Royal Palm Beach) or U.S. 1 (Muvico Parisian) to get their fix. Century Twin, Cross County, Plaza, Mall Cinema, Movies at Village Green, Okee Square — all wiped out.
IIRC, Loew’s Lauderhill opened in 1967 with a long run of “The Dirty Dozen.” The theatre stood at the south end of Lauderhill Mall, bordered by a supermarket and a department store. The Loew’s 2 (later 16th Street Cinema), based in a smaller shopping center directly north of Lauderhill Mall, made its debut in 1971 with “The Last Picture Show.” Think GCC took over the Loew’s sites in 1973. By the time I finally visited for local exclusives of “Tommy” and “The Sunshine Boys,” it was an interchangeable GCC 1970s twin job. GCC ran it as a subrun dollar house after their newer Broward Mall fourplex opened, then turned it loose to local independent operators. Office space took over after closing.
IIRC, “The Last Picture Show” was reportedly saved for the end of the farewell evening, as the other eight screens went dark. (In the 90s, Wometco’s Miracle in Coral Gables would end its movie theatre life with the same feature.)
Heartbreaking. Laura, thank you for giving the Curzon an afterlife through your finely detailed summary. Could the local economy have supported a restored theatre?
Closing date was January 1984, ending with “Terms of Endearment.” The Plaza opened in 1967 with a single-screen auditorium containing 1100 rocking-chair seats and a 55-foot screen. The cavernous lobby may have been as large as the auditorium. AMC’s Cross County 8’s close proximity may have hastened the Plaza’s demise. Postmortem details can presently be found at:
Forgot to mention the Manor’s pre-art cinema life in the 1970s as a primarily neighborhood theater, sometimes first-run but mostly second-run bargain fare. I visited once at the time, with a school group watching “Fiddler on the Roof” in anticipation of our own class production… little knowing I would be back quite often a decade later.
Presaging the art cinema phase, a few crossover international hits enjoyed long runs at the Manor, especially “The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe.”
For all its success with “La Traviata,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” the Manor’s most successful booking was a revival of the X-rated “Caligula.” Brought back at least twice.
This defaulted to the classified ad that mentioned Star Twin, and its fellow shopping center anchors Woolco, Food Fair, Eckerd Drugs, and Ranch House… all long gone. Click back to page 7 for the display ad, and scroll down to find out what “Deep Thrust” really was.
(Also at the Coral and Coral Ridge: “Last Tango in Paris” — all seats reserved?!?)
Screening “Taxi Driver” to cab drivers is reminiscent of the time the Miami Film Festival premiered “My Beautiful Laundrette”… sponsored by Maytag. The Lonely Repairman might have been in for a surprise…
Carlos Cyrulnik: If you were in art film-starved Broward County during the early 1980s, you had him to thank for proving the local market would support imports ‘n’ indies.
Beginning with a revival of “Seven Beauties,” Cyrulnik gradually built up enough audience to warrant newer releases that would’ve once required a trip 40 miles south to Coral Gables or Coconut Grove. But even long-unavailable classics played to sold-out houses: Broward was so hungry for the likes of “La Dolce Vita” that some hardy souls (with sturdy soles) stood in the back all three hours.
In retrospect, the Manor Art Cinema witnessed the crossroads between the late work of arthouse mainstays (Kurosawa, Truffaut, Fassbinder) and the first rumblings of the American independent scene (“Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “The Road to Bountiful” both had extended engagements). The Manor Art was also kept busy at various times with a Thursday night discussion series, often tied in with the next booking, along with midnight adult movies on weekends and late Monday Chinese films (patronized in great numbers by restaurant workers on their regular evening off).
Although small in seat count, the Manor had a rectangular orientation that facilitated a decent (and curtained) wide screen. “Dersu Uzala” and “King of Hearts,” among others, were well served.
To accommodate additional films, Cyrulnik eventually assumed management of another former bargain cinema further west, the Towne in Plantation /theaters/12462/ Both theatres thrived for a few more years, until a shortage of must-see new releases led to the Art Towne’s demise in 1987. The Manor turned to revivals again in its final months, and closed the way it began, with “Seven Beauties.”
Longtime South Florida theatrical producer Brian C. Smith oversaw the Manor’s changeover to live performance, reopened as Off-Broadway at 26th Street. Coral Springs' Stage Door Theatre assumed management for a time, but what is now the Wilton Theatre has been shuttered in recent months — except for Tuesday-night auctions:
Broward Mall 4’s 1980 opening coincided with the debut of “Caddyshack” on two screens — of tremendous neighborhood interest due to filming at nearby Rolling Hills Country Club, among other South Florida shooting locations. Throughout the 80s, occasional specialty bookings (often coinciding with or following runs at GCC’s Riviera in Coral Gables) drew audiences from Broward County’s furthest corners, including exclusive engagements of “Blood Simple,” “Das Boot,” and “Sid and Nancy.”
When GCC opened the Fountains Cinema 8 around the corner in the late 80s, the Broward Mall 4 looked somewhat antiquated already (especially with the traditional GCC corrugated metal wall treatments). Possibly noting the success of independent and international films a few miles away at the then-new Fox Sunrise (later Sunrise Cinema 11), GCC renamed the old fourplex Art Cinema at Broward Mall. GCC did retain ownership (and tagged features with its jazz-riff logos) but downplayed its association in much of the marketing.
ACaBM nabbed exclusive runs of “One False Move,” “Delicatessen,” “My Own Private Idaho,” “Naked Lunch,” and other popular/acclaimed indies of the day. For every packed-housed booking, though, there were sometimes I was the only paying customer (“Golden Braid” on opening night, for instance, and a huge ad had appeared in the local press).
Shortly after I saw “Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut” there, the cinema closed. Never reused, it was eventually demolished. A short 12-year life, but home to some remarkable films.
Cameo’s apparently more a DJ-driven nightclub now, one of the four Crobars (others being in Buenos Aires, Chicago, and Lebanon). A glance at their Website seems to play up both the Crobar and Cameo identities. Although I enjoyed seeing David Byrne and Peter Murphy there back in the day, it was far from “vintage” at the time (but with great lighting effects, casting Murphy’s Nosferatu-like shadows on the walls).
On an address lookup, Cinema Casino’s still the Mansion.
By the late 1960s, General Cinema managed the Carefree, and GCC’s distinctive “Refreshments” signage could still be seen at the snack bar decades later. Much of the 1970s and early 1980s saw the Carefree become a second-run bargain house. Local longtime concert promoter Fantasma Productions was approached to bring stage shows to the venue by the late 80s; they purchased it outright, and enlivened the Carefree for nearly 20 years with art cinema and touring musicians. One of the former game rooms outside the theater space became a popular comedy club, featuring regular appearances by the likes of the late, great Bill Hicks.
In the months before the roof collapse alone, I trekked to the Carefree for rare local appearances by Richard Thompson and Emmylou Harris, along with frequent Carefree favorite Henry Rollins on spoken word duty. A few weeks prior to the roof collapse, my last visit was for The Blind Boys of Alabama.
The Carefree’s short-lived follow-up, a former church converted for movies and live performances, was The Theatre:
Sadly, The Theatre and Fantasma Productions both fell silent after founder Jon Stoll lost his life to a brain tumor in 2008. He was among the last of the independent concert promoters, and South Florida’s music scene still feels the loss.
If the New World Symphony gives its final Lincoln concert as planned in January 2011, that will coincide with the theatre’s 75th anniversary.
Since classical music itself is based on continuation of heritage, I wish NWS would’ve been more sympathetic to architectural legacy as well. Yet times being what they are, especially for nonprofits, I can unfortunately see why they sold it.
Based on small newspaper ads and its separation from other theaters in time clock listings, the Grand was once a segregated cinema.
Word of the Surf’s imminent demise, June 1962, to allow a bank’s expansion:
View link
The closer: “Through a Glass Darkly.”
Forgot to mention the alternate name indicated at the page above: Fifth Avenue Cinema. While I’m here, this page has a current exterior photo:
http://www.kingofpeacemcc.com/pages/rentals.html
King of Peace MCC’s history page fills in some blanks:
http://www.kingofpeacemcc.com/pages/history.html
Based on the font of the sign, looks like General Cinema took over at some point.
Century Village once had a closer, smallish neighborhood theater, the Century (later the Century Twin) near Okeechobee Blvd. and the Turnpike. Think that one was gone by the mid 80s. Nowadays, local movie fans have to rack up extra miles to either State Road 7 (Regal Royal Palm Beach) or U.S. 1 (Muvico Parisian) to get their fix. Century Twin, Cross County, Plaza, Mall Cinema, Movies at Village Green, Okee Square — all wiped out.
The Plaza was among the last new builds by ABC Florida State, closing as a Plitt Theatre.
IIRC, Loew’s Lauderhill opened in 1967 with a long run of “The Dirty Dozen.” The theatre stood at the south end of Lauderhill Mall, bordered by a supermarket and a department store. The Loew’s 2 (later 16th Street Cinema), based in a smaller shopping center directly north of Lauderhill Mall, made its debut in 1971 with “The Last Picture Show.” Think GCC took over the Loew’s sites in 1973. By the time I finally visited for local exclusives of “Tommy” and “The Sunshine Boys,” it was an interchangeable GCC 1970s twin job. GCC ran it as a subrun dollar house after their newer Broward Mall fourplex opened, then turned it loose to local independent operators. Office space took over after closing.
Headquarters for the Broward Sheriff’s Office now occupies the former drive-in site.
IIRC, “The Last Picture Show” was reportedly saved for the end of the farewell evening, as the other eight screens went dark. (In the 90s, Wometco’s Miracle in Coral Gables would end its movie theatre life with the same feature.)
Heartbreaking. Laura, thank you for giving the Curzon an afterlife through your finely detailed summary. Could the local economy have supported a restored theatre?
From 1971: Pre-opening day coverage from the Palm Beach Post, with a concise explanation of the Ultravision projection process:
View link
(forward to Google’s page 34 for a grand opening ad)
The Dolphin’s eventual closing marked the end of ABC Florida State/Plitt Theatres' decades-long presence in the Palm Beaches.
Closing date was January 1984, ending with “Terms of Endearment.” The Plaza opened in 1967 with a single-screen auditorium containing 1100 rocking-chair seats and a 55-foot screen. The cavernous lobby may have been as large as the auditorium. AMC’s Cross County 8’s close proximity may have hastened the Plaza’s demise. Postmortem details can presently be found at:
View link
From 1986, an editor with the Palm Beach Post recalls local theatres by then past:
View link
A forgotten interlude in the Lake Theatre’s career: mid-70s incarnation as the Pasta Palace, where diners could watch classic movies as they ate:
View link
Some good news about some past Palm Beach Post Carefree articles:
View link
Currently available for free, as long as it’s under their “Historic Archives.”
I’ve now left a reminiscence of the Art Towne’s east Broward accompanist, the Manor Art Cinema, at:
/theaters/25068/
Correction: “The TRIP to Bountiful.”
Forgot to mention the Manor’s pre-art cinema life in the 1970s as a primarily neighborhood theater, sometimes first-run but mostly second-run bargain fare. I visited once at the time, with a school group watching “Fiddler on the Roof” in anticipation of our own class production… little knowing I would be back quite often a decade later.
Presaging the art cinema phase, a few crossover international hits enjoyed long runs at the Manor, especially “The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe.”
For all its success with “La Traviata,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” the Manor’s most successful booking was a revival of the X-rated “Caligula.” Brought back at least twice.
This defaulted to the classified ad that mentioned Star Twin, and its fellow shopping center anchors Woolco, Food Fair, Eckerd Drugs, and Ranch House… all long gone. Click back to page 7 for the display ad, and scroll down to find out what “Deep Thrust” really was.
(Also at the Coral and Coral Ridge: “Last Tango in Paris” — all seats reserved?!?)
(Midnight movies at the Skylake?!?)
Screening “Taxi Driver” to cab drivers is reminiscent of the time the Miami Film Festival premiered “My Beautiful Laundrette”… sponsored by Maytag. The Lonely Repairman might have been in for a surprise…
Carlos Cyrulnik: If you were in art film-starved Broward County during the early 1980s, you had him to thank for proving the local market would support imports ‘n’ indies.
Beginning with a revival of “Seven Beauties,” Cyrulnik gradually built up enough audience to warrant newer releases that would’ve once required a trip 40 miles south to Coral Gables or Coconut Grove. But even long-unavailable classics played to sold-out houses: Broward was so hungry for the likes of “La Dolce Vita” that some hardy souls (with sturdy soles) stood in the back all three hours.
In retrospect, the Manor Art Cinema witnessed the crossroads between the late work of arthouse mainstays (Kurosawa, Truffaut, Fassbinder) and the first rumblings of the American independent scene (“Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “The Road to Bountiful” both had extended engagements). The Manor Art was also kept busy at various times with a Thursday night discussion series, often tied in with the next booking, along with midnight adult movies on weekends and late Monday Chinese films (patronized in great numbers by restaurant workers on their regular evening off).
Although small in seat count, the Manor had a rectangular orientation that facilitated a decent (and curtained) wide screen. “Dersu Uzala” and “King of Hearts,” among others, were well served.
To accommodate additional films, Cyrulnik eventually assumed management of another former bargain cinema further west, the Towne in Plantation /theaters/12462/ Both theatres thrived for a few more years, until a shortage of must-see new releases led to the Art Towne’s demise in 1987. The Manor turned to revivals again in its final months, and closed the way it began, with “Seven Beauties.”
Longtime South Florida theatrical producer Brian C. Smith oversaw the Manor’s changeover to live performance, reopened as Off-Broadway at 26th Street. Coral Springs' Stage Door Theatre assumed management for a time, but what is now the Wilton Theatre has been shuttered in recent months — except for Tuesday-night auctions:
View link
(nice interior photo at present)
Broward Mall 4’s 1980 opening coincided with the debut of “Caddyshack” on two screens — of tremendous neighborhood interest due to filming at nearby Rolling Hills Country Club, among other South Florida shooting locations. Throughout the 80s, occasional specialty bookings (often coinciding with or following runs at GCC’s Riviera in Coral Gables) drew audiences from Broward County’s furthest corners, including exclusive engagements of “Blood Simple,” “Das Boot,” and “Sid and Nancy.”
When GCC opened the Fountains Cinema 8 around the corner in the late 80s, the Broward Mall 4 looked somewhat antiquated already (especially with the traditional GCC corrugated metal wall treatments). Possibly noting the success of independent and international films a few miles away at the then-new Fox Sunrise (later Sunrise Cinema 11), GCC renamed the old fourplex Art Cinema at Broward Mall. GCC did retain ownership (and tagged features with its jazz-riff logos) but downplayed its association in much of the marketing.
ACaBM nabbed exclusive runs of “One False Move,” “Delicatessen,” “My Own Private Idaho,” “Naked Lunch,” and other popular/acclaimed indies of the day. For every packed-housed booking, though, there were sometimes I was the only paying customer (“Golden Braid” on opening night, for instance, and a huge ad had appeared in the local press).
Shortly after I saw “Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut” there, the cinema closed. Never reused, it was eventually demolished. A short 12-year life, but home to some remarkable films.
Cameo’s apparently more a DJ-driven nightclub now, one of the four Crobars (others being in Buenos Aires, Chicago, and Lebanon). A glance at their Website seems to play up both the Crobar and Cameo identities. Although I enjoyed seeing David Byrne and Peter Murphy there back in the day, it was far from “vintage” at the time (but with great lighting effects, casting Murphy’s Nosferatu-like shadows on the walls).
On an address lookup, Cinema Casino’s still the Mansion.
Momentarily forgot about the Byron Carlyle, but that twin theatre opened in the late 1960s:
/theaters/8243/
By the late 1960s, General Cinema managed the Carefree, and GCC’s distinctive “Refreshments” signage could still be seen at the snack bar decades later. Much of the 1970s and early 1980s saw the Carefree become a second-run bargain house. Local longtime concert promoter Fantasma Productions was approached to bring stage shows to the venue by the late 80s; they purchased it outright, and enlivened the Carefree for nearly 20 years with art cinema and touring musicians. One of the former game rooms outside the theater space became a popular comedy club, featuring regular appearances by the likes of the late, great Bill Hicks.
In the months before the roof collapse alone, I trekked to the Carefree for rare local appearances by Richard Thompson and Emmylou Harris, along with frequent Carefree favorite Henry Rollins on spoken word duty. A few weeks prior to the roof collapse, my last visit was for The Blind Boys of Alabama.
The Carefree’s short-lived follow-up, a former church converted for movies and live performances, was The Theatre:
/theaters/20103/
Sadly, The Theatre and Fantasma Productions both fell silent after founder Jon Stoll lost his life to a brain tumor in 2008. He was among the last of the independent concert promoters, and South Florida’s music scene still feels the loss.
If the New World Symphony gives its final Lincoln concert as planned in January 2011, that will coincide with the theatre’s 75th anniversary.
Since classical music itself is based on continuation of heritage, I wish NWS would’ve been more sympathetic to architectural legacy as well. Yet times being what they are, especially for nonprofits, I can unfortunately see why they sold it.