Correction: Regal closed both the Loews Bay Harbor 4 and the Byron in 2000. Not 1999. Yes, the city of Miami Beach used the Byron for various live events from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, a Broward theater company signed a 5 year lease but the director passed in the 4th year of that lease. O Cinema came in in 2014 and signed a 5 year lease which was not renewed. The theater has been dormant since late 2019.
As I mentioned earlier, this became a Med Fit location by 1996. No movies or plays by that point. As to the Regal, that was the Loews Bay Harbor 4 which closed in 1999. There was no theater nearby other than the Byron Carlyle 7 which by that point (c. 1993 or 1994) was run By Cobb and closed by Regal in 1999. The Normandy closed in early 1989.
Updated: This became the RK (Ranaan Katz) Surf Cinema in the early 90’s when Katz purchased the property from Wometco. The last listings for any films that I have confirmed were from early 1993.The theater hosted some plays too throughout 1993 and part of 1994 but it seems by 1995 it was no longer being used for either films or live shows. By 1996, it became a Med Fit location and in subsequent years it functioned as the Condesa Gym for quite a long period as mentioned in the summary.
Once Regal closes its doors, that will leave O Cinema as the sole film venue on the beach from an era when there were 12 to 14 movie houses at the peak on Miami Beach proper.
Based on rivest266’s clipping below, this theater was originally opened as the Holiday Theater in 1971 and then later likely had new owners with its 2nd grand opening in 1975 as the Town as alluded to in the first comment. Incidentally, there seems to be no E at the end of any of these advertisements so it is Town not TownE. And yes, it became a supermarket. I forget it’s year of closure. Saw “Red Violin” among a few other films here. The concessions area was a quaint throwback to the older era with the hardened red and white striped boxes for the popcorn.
@sjteich: There is not much to post. The only thing they indicated was his birthday was September 21st and that the theater held an informal birthday party for him. The entry was a very small blurb about 2 or 3 sentences.
@sjteich: The 10/72 issue of Boxoffice indicated that Jack Blum was celebrating his 47th anniversary with Loews. He retired in 1975 so that places him with Loews for 50 years. I would presume by the math, he was about 70 when he retired.
aeterna
commented about
Omni 10on
Feb 1, 2022 at 7:50 am
Added a link in the photo comments in ridethectrain’s photo upload of the box office. It is the same photo from the Herald article but of a much larger and better quality.
aeterna
commented about
Omni 10on
Feb 1, 2022 at 7:45 am
Same shot of the box office above but much better quality:
The theater was demolished sometime in the early 1980’s after remaining dormant for about 7 years. The structure that replaced it became the Centrust building and later the Sheridan Center and what it remains today. The site has never been retail oriented since - or before - the theaters demolition. Only financial and medical services
Al, it was until the early 1990’s when Cobb took over. See the clipping below with the Cobb Byron Carlyle clearly listed in 1994. At some later point in the 90’s Regal took over. (See the Loew’s Bay Harbor page for more) Wometco pretty much jettisoned a lot of their beach theaters in the late 1980’s (The Surf and Normandy were closed by then)
This appears to be the NYC location of the French Casino and not the Miami site. The marquee is much larger and has semi-circular design elements on each pane of the marquee which don’t appear in the Miami location. Also, note the mention of the Brass Rail.
A clipping from rivest266 announcing its changing to an independent run operation in 1976. There is some evidence this may have been a single screen venue upon its initial debut in 1973 but I have yet to corroborate that:
The original marquee had the phrase “Dinner theater and comedy club” underneath the theater name in smaller print. However, it really was not “dinner theater” in the traditional sense of the term so at some point the owners amended the name to the Silver Screen Cinema Cafe. I attended several films there and it was a pleasant experience.
Closed Sunday September 17th, 1972. Reopened briefly in 1973 to screen the infamous “Deep Throat” and then was subsequently shuttered again after running afoul of local ordinances in February 1973.
The Sheridan would briefly reopen several months later to screen the infamous “Deeo Throat” only to run afoul of local ordinances and be shuttered for good once again in 1973.
After Florida State Theaters dissolved with the end of the 70’s, McGlohon went on to Wometco and managed theaters throughout the 1980s including the Byron Carlyle.
PS Just a minor footnote, from 2001 to 2011, the theater was sometimes used for live productions though infrequently. From 2011 to 2014, it was used by the Broward theater company as a playhouse and O Cinema completed its full 5 year term lease from 2014 until its closure in late 2019.
@RickB: The theater was not demolished in the 60s. The owners held on to it until 1973, At some point not long after, the Steven’s Rexall drugstore took up residence but the projection equipment remained upstairs even during its use as a drugstore. There are several local accounts of this on various Boynton Beach groups. The entire plaza where the theater resided was razed in the mid 2000s but I don’t have an exact date of the theaters demolition itself. Possibly in the 1990s or earlier. The theater was also used as a makeshift community church by many local denominations over the decades.
Thank you for your memories and recollections. That theater later became the Steven’s Rexall drugstore. The photo is quite small due to CT resizing but the marquee reads “Gun that won the war” which was a mistake as the film was “The gun the that won the west” which places this photo in 1955.
Correction: Regal closed both the Loews Bay Harbor 4 and the Byron in 2000. Not 1999. Yes, the city of Miami Beach used the Byron for various live events from 2001 to 2011. In 2011, a Broward theater company signed a 5 year lease but the director passed in the 4th year of that lease. O Cinema came in in 2014 and signed a 5 year lease which was not renewed. The theater has been dormant since late 2019.
As I mentioned earlier, this became a Med Fit location by 1996. No movies or plays by that point. As to the Regal, that was the Loews Bay Harbor 4 which closed in 1999. There was no theater nearby other than the Byron Carlyle 7 which by that point (c. 1993 or 1994) was run By Cobb and closed by Regal in 1999. The Normandy closed in early 1989.
Updated: This became the RK (Ranaan Katz) Surf Cinema in the early 90’s when Katz purchased the property from Wometco. The last listings for any films that I have confirmed were from early 1993.The theater hosted some plays too throughout 1993 and part of 1994 but it seems by 1995 it was no longer being used for either films or live shows. By 1996, it became a Med Fit location and in subsequent years it functioned as the Condesa Gym for quite a long period as mentioned in the summary.
Some photos of the facade and the 2007 demolition at CinemaTour
https://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/11767.html
Once Regal closes its doors, that will leave O Cinema as the sole film venue on the beach from an era when there were 12 to 14 movie houses at the peak on Miami Beach proper.
Based on rivest266’s clipping below, this theater was originally opened as the Holiday Theater in 1971 and then later likely had new owners with its 2nd grand opening in 1975 as the Town as alluded to in the first comment. Incidentally, there seems to be no E at the end of any of these advertisements so it is Town not TownE. And yes, it became a supermarket. I forget it’s year of closure. Saw “Red Violin” among a few other films here. The concessions area was a quaint throwback to the older era with the hardened red and white striped boxes for the popcorn.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5189723/holiday-theatre-opening/
@sjteich: There is not much to post. The only thing they indicated was his birthday was September 21st and that the theater held an informal birthday party for him. The entry was a very small blurb about 2 or 3 sentences.
Added a color promo photo from the 1969 opening.
@sjteich: The 10/72 issue of Boxoffice indicated that Jack Blum was celebrating his 47th anniversary with Loews. He retired in 1975 so that places him with Loews for 50 years. I would presume by the math, he was about 70 when he retired.
Added a link in the photo comments in ridethectrain’s photo upload of the box office. It is the same photo from the Herald article but of a much larger and better quality.
Same shot of the box office above but much better quality:
https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/elhtm6/picture257882993/alternates/FREE_1140/9-11282012-60000106AA.JPG
The theater was demolished sometime in the early 1980’s after remaining dormant for about 7 years. The structure that replaced it became the Centrust building and later the Sheridan Center and what it remains today. The site has never been retail oriented since - or before - the theaters demolition. Only financial and medical services
Al, it was until the early 1990’s when Cobb took over. See the clipping below with the Cobb Byron Carlyle clearly listed in 1994. At some later point in the 90’s Regal took over. (See the Loew’s Bay Harbor page for more) Wometco pretty much jettisoned a lot of their beach theaters in the late 1980’s (The Surf and Normandy were closed by then)
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49433024/the-miami-herald/
This appears to be the NYC location of the French Casino and not the Miami site. The marquee is much larger and has semi-circular design elements on each pane of the marquee which don’t appear in the Miami location. Also, note the mention of the Brass Rail.
A clipping from rivest266 announcing its changing to an independent run operation in 1976. There is some evidence this may have been a single screen venue upon its initial debut in 1973 but I have yet to corroborate that:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5195939/boynton-twin-opening/
Part 2 of the article on Silver Screen, RLR and some other bargain theaters in the region:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49299478/braving-the-bargain-cinemas-2-of-2/
The original marquee had the phrase “Dinner theater and comedy club” underneath the theater name in smaller print. However, it really was not “dinner theater” in the traditional sense of the term so at some point the owners amended the name to the Silver Screen Cinema Cafe. I attended several films there and it was a pleasant experience.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49299443/braving-the-bargain-cinemas-1-of-2/
Closed Sunday September 17th, 1972. Reopened briefly in 1973 to screen the infamous “Deep Throat” and then was subsequently shuttered again after running afoul of local ordinances in February 1973.
The Sheridan would briefly reopen several months later to screen the infamous “Deeo Throat” only to run afoul of local ordinances and be shuttered for good once again in 1973.
After Florida State Theaters dissolved with the end of the 70’s, McGlohon went on to Wometco and managed theaters throughout the 1980s including the Byron Carlyle.
Added newspaper clipping with opening date as June 13th, 1921. Menzel originally named it the Herald Theater.
PS Just a minor footnote, from 2001 to 2011, the theater was sometimes used for live productions though infrequently. From 2011 to 2014, it was used by the Broward theater company as a playhouse and O Cinema completed its full 5 year term lease from 2014 until its closure in late 2019.
@RickB: The theater was not demolished in the 60s. The owners held on to it until 1973, At some point not long after, the Steven’s Rexall drugstore took up residence but the projection equipment remained upstairs even during its use as a drugstore. There are several local accounts of this on various Boynton Beach groups. The entire plaza where the theater resided was razed in the mid 2000s but I don’t have an exact date of the theaters demolition itself. Possibly in the 1990s or earlier. The theater was also used as a makeshift community church by many local denominations over the decades.
Thank you for your memories and recollections. That theater later became the Steven’s Rexall drugstore. The photo is quite small due to CT resizing but the marquee reads “Gun that won the war” which was a mistake as the film was “The gun the that won the west” which places this photo in 1955.
New photo uploaded of the facade of the Boynton.