Ritz Theater
1503 E. Seventh Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33605
1503 E. Seventh Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33605
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 48 comments found
Thanks Joe for the drawing and additional info. Evidently the Ritz was also known as the Rivoli at some point during the early days. I remember seeing a photo with the Rivoli sign on the building. The drawing is very intriging. It may have opened as the Haya and was later changed to Rivoli and finally Ritz. Or possibly Haya was never used. Probably the only way to determine for certain is checking the city directory to see what’s listed at that address around or about 1917. I’ll put this on my to do list.
Long-lost drawings of the Ritz Theatre by architect M. Leo Elliot were discovered a couple of years ago. Here is one of them.
Elliott labeled the drawing Haya Theater. According to this web page, the theater was built on the site of Ybor City’s first cigar factory, founded by Serafin Sanchez and Ignacio Haya in 1886. It’s possible that members of the Haya family were involved in the development of the Ritz Theatre.
Nick. it was 100 times better than what I did on National Hills.heck, I stole your Idea.LOl.
Mike, Thanx for the plug & the thumbs up, I can use the extra publicity…LOL! Remember you also did a great job on the National Hills book! Andy, if you’re reading this and are interested in a copy I can send you one if you’d like. It’s just a booklet listing all the films I saw here along with some history of the theatre and several anecdotes that I recall from years ago. Just email me your address at and I’ll mail you a copy.
Oh man, I’d love to get my hands on that book!
thanks Andy,Nick put a book together on this Theatre and ,well, you would probably go crazy like I did when he ran me off a copy, did he did some hard work reserching as only Nick could do.
Here are my pictures from December 2010.
Great Shot.You ain’t nuttier than a fruit cake.Sending a letter down.Thanks again for all the great pictures,ihave one FRAMED.
This photo is from the collection of Henry Fontanills. Here’s a great shot of several young boys standing onstage in front of the screen during an Optimists Club event in December 1937. Click
on photo and “view all sizes” to enlarge to super size: View link
Ah yes! The changeover warning bell…something you’ll never hear in today’s multiplexes. The Ritz had a bell on each projector that was loud and clear. Whenever I heard the “ding!” I’d get set to look for the cue marks and anxiously watch the changeover. I also loved hearing the flap flap flap of the film as the reels ended their rewind. Now everyone on CT will know I’m nuttier than a fruitcake.
Yeah, Nick THE IMPERIAL is using DVD’s projected on the big screen.I saw a bit of a movie and it didn’t look so bad,just no bell ringing in the booth to warn the projectionist{Bill} a change over is coming.“what’s A change over!” Lol. Hey, some folks on CT probably don’t know.
For the first time in nearly 28 years The Ritz will be showing a movie! A costume party and screening of “THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW” along with a live cast will take place on October 22, 2010 at 11:00 PM. As far as I’m aware no movies have been shown since the theatre closed as an adult house in 1982. I contacted the Director of Marketing and was told that theatre seating will be placed in The Grand Ballroom although it will be limited seating on a first-come-first-serve basis. I asked if the movie will be on film or DVD projection and the answer was, “I believe it’s on DVD.” Just as I suspected since all film projection equipment was stripped out years ago. Nevertheless it’s nice to know a movie (even though it isn’t film) will be shown on a screen in the former theatre auditorium.
Great bird’s eye view of The Ritz marquee in 1958 showing an interesting double feature program:
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Nick, you also sent be a copy of those glasses on your story{book} you wrote on the RITZ. You get TISLOEWS address and we will mail him my NATIONAL HILLS BOOK and your RITZ book for the one low price of $10.95.LOL. Yep, it is Clint’s Birthday he is on TCM all day. Special of his career at 10 pm I think.
Ahh..but what a nice sickness. I wasn’t aware it was Clint’s birthday today. Hard to believe he’s 80 already. I understand one of his earlier roles was an uncredited brief spot in 1955’s TARANTULA (which I saw at the RITZ.) He played the leader of the jet squardron that bombs the giant spider with napalm. He was wearing an air mask that covered much of his face but if you look closely there’s no mistaking his eyes.
Thats cool nice,your sicker than Mike and I,LOL,by the way did you know today is Clint Eastwoods 80th birthday.Just kidding about the sickness that is.
May 27, 1961…my first day at the RITZ and the first of many visits. After “13 Ghosts” had ended several kids either tore or discarded their ghost viewers (idiots!) But I kept mine and here it is 50 years later. Treasured memories!
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Yes tlsloews…we’re puttin on the Ritz! We had a GREAT time when Mike was in town! I only wish we could have seen the inside but I doubt we would’ve been able to get in during that time. It’s much easier now as the Ritz is being used for all types of events several times a week. By the way, I just left a comment on the Tampa Theatre page. Rosa Rio, the lady who played the organ for silent film showings passed away today. She would have been 108 in two weeks.
Really, Nick and Charlie {his retired Projectionist friend} they took me and my sons on a day long tour of old theatres.My two daughters swam with Charlie’s family while we went on the adventure of TAMPA,It was great.
I saw Theatre with NICK.
Nice vintage photos Nick,putting on the Ritz as they used to say.
Smaller images of these two photos are included in the link above titled Historic Theatres in Tampa…these are slightly larger.
Here’s a 1932 photo of the auditorium packed with kids. Sorry about the “property of” emblem!
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A 1958 exterior shot:
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Photos of the Ritz on this site.
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Hey Mike, The reunion sounds great! I wonder how many former employees the girls were able to locate and how many will show up. Hopefully the turnout is good. I know you must really be looking forward to this after so many years. And especially since National Hills was your favorite theatre.
It can’t be very easy in trying to locate former employees so I hope the girls are successful in bringing a good group together. I know you’ll be exchanging stories for hours! I’ll be anxious to hear about it!
Nick, we have a NATIONAL HILLS THEATRE REUNION party saturday. Some of the girls are putting it together.