Tower Theater
1508 SW Eighth Street,
Miami,
FL
33135
1508 SW Eighth Street,
Miami,
FL
33135
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The Tower Theater was a Wometco first run house that found itself in the heart of the Cuban exile community by the late-1950’s. Switching to Spanish subtitled double features with the occasional Spanish language film, the Tower Theater, or Teatro Tower as it is known in the neighborhood, often showed Disney films outside the seven year cycle as it followed the Mexican Disney release pattern. I saw “Pinocchio” here as a child during one of its many re-releases.
Despite being physically unimpresive inside or out, the Tower Theater is now notorious for its controversial city funded remodel, it’s political location next to the anti-Castro conclave known as Domino Park and its even more notorious history as a fund raising venue for Castro himself.
Contributed by
Al Alvarez
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Recent comments (view all 31 comments)
Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/y9psap9
Joe, that thirties remodel was strictly cosmetic. Wometco took it over and made it look more contemporary with Art Deco touches.
I was going to say that the marquee on the 3/22 photo says “Chickens dont’t cry”, but I suspect that I am translating gallos incorrectly.
“Gallos” are roosters, Spanish slang for the term “Boys Don’t Cry”.
OK, thanks. I was close.
1985 Miami News article on the Tower’s original closing.
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My grandmother and I went to the Tower Theatre once, as I recall,
to see “Half Angel” starring Loretta Young. I suppose it was around 1950 and I was about nine years old. I remember huge round airconditioning vents in the ceiling…larger than other theatres I knew at the time. As far as interior decor, I don’t remember anything at all. I do remember the “tower” was neon it and maybe
flashed. A decade or so later the “tower” came down as shown in the 1961 or thereabouts photo earier in this thread. My grandmother lived at S.W. 11th Terrace just west of 22nd Ave and we probably walked to the Tower since she didn’t drive…or we could have taken the #5 Miami bus down S.W. 8th Street. I would have gone to the show there more if my grandmother hadn’t moved just a short while after that.
Another recent photo of The Tower Theater.
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The link needs to be updated:
http://www.mdc.edu/tower/
This opened on December 20th, 1926. Ad posted in this theatre’s photo section.