Palms Theatre

Elvis must have played here during the theater's final days in 1956:
http://www.elvisconcerts.com/liv1956.htm

Some caution with this data: How can a man (even if he is Elvis) play 4 shows in 1 day??

Maybe someone with access to microfilm of the local newspaper can find an advertisement. It could be he was playing short sets, like they might at a county fairgrounds.

You can find a picture of a Palms theater at:
http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_greenbriarpictureshows_archive.html

Don't know if its this one or the one in Fillmore. It doesn't seem to match up to any other of the Palms theater listings. Perhaps there's another Palms that hasn't been listed yet. Anybody know for sure?

The City Directory for Palm Beach County list the Palm Theatre’s address as 126 Clematis Street.

The City Directory for Palm Beach County lists two Kettler Theatres, one at 102 Narcissus Avenue South (1925-1930) and the other at 126 Myrtle St (1930-1935?). There is no listing for a Kettler on Celmatis Street.

The Kettler theatre was renamed Florida on October 5th, 1935 and renamed Palms in 1949. An new Florida theatre opened in December, 1949.

The theatre acros the street from the Palms was the Surf. I spent many a pleasant evening at one or the other in the early 1960s; saw "Ben Hur" at the Palms and "Spartacus" at the Surf. The interior of the Palms was seriously ornate, though it had grown shabby by the time of its closing and demolition.

From 1986, an editor with the Palm Beach Post recalls local theatres by then past:

http://www2.palmbeachpost.com/archives/google_archive/search.php?searchTerms=Downtown+movie+houses+flicker+away&searchType=

It is hard to believe that this was "the largest theater south of Atlanta" in 1922 with only 500 seats. The Strand in Tampa opened in 1917 with at least 850 seats; I am sure that there were other larger theaters in Miami and other cities prior to 1922.