Sunset Theatre
5970 S. Dixie Highway,
South Miami,
FL
33143
5970 S. Dixie Highway,
South Miami,
FL
33143
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This Wometco house from 1946 was, I believe, once a horse stable. It survived well into the 1970’s thanks to the population shift and the University crowd that sustained it as an arthouse venue.
The Sunset Theatre was smallish and non-descript with hardly a lobby but was often the only Florida run for Ingmar Bergman, Truffaut or Fellini movies and any soft-core vehicle that could be sold as “art”.
Sometimes dated with the Mayfair, Parkway or Normandy.
Contributed by
Al Alvarez
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
1985 Photo
seen here around 2004 minus the vertical signage but with the marquee still intact
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/125665800/
Judging from the ACI photos, the vertical sign came down between 1981 and 1985, while the theater was still open.
This did not show up in the Miami News listings until 1952.
Mike, thanks for all the Miami News links — been equally fascinating to revisit the full theater listings from those times. As it happened, a reunion of Miami News staff took place this weekend:
View link
This link will probably be gone or transfer to pay-per-view in a couple weeks.
I found a Miami Herald article that confirms the Sunset opened in 1946 as the South Miami. In 1950 it became the Hiway and in 1952 it became the Sunset and was taken over by Wometco.
Well, this may be a bit late, but yep, remembering Gallipoli as quite the tear jerker. I don’t think I was working at the Sunset at the time, but do recall many a slow night (especially during the week) where one of my functions as manager would be to convince the one or two who straggled in to LEAVE with a refund and a free pass to come back another night to avoid the costs of showing a film (yes they were films!) to just the couple of customers! I still have to look as I pass everytime I drive by when I am in town!
Gailsey, glad you joined the conversation (some of these threads go on for years, it’s never too late). In light of your recollections, I’m glad my few trips to the Sunset were on busier weekends (it was a 90-mile round-trip for me, when Broward engagements weren’t imminent). When were you at the Sunset?
W.F. Caudell and F.G. Murphy were the first owners of the South Miami Theatre according to an item in Boxoffice of June 24, 1946. Boxoffice of March 10, 1951, said that W.F. Caudell had reopened the Hi-Way Theatre in South Miami after remodeling the front, adding a new marquee, and painting and reseating the auditorium.
The July 1, 1953, issue of Boxoffice said that the Sunset Theatre at South Miami was being operated by Milton Frackman. The earliest mention of Wometco in connection with the house that I’ve found is in the April 9, 1955, issue of Boxoffice which referred to the Sunset as “…the Wometco circuit’s newest addition….”
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Boxoffice always calls the house the Sunset Art Theatre. By the late 1960s it’s back to calling it simply the Sunset Theatre.
In response to Porridge…. I worked as manager briefly, I don’t know, 3-6 months probably in the summer and fall of 1981. I worked at several of Wometco’s theaters in Miami learning all the trades… but relocated to Michigan and missed it all!! Its too bad Broward did not offer any similar showings, but then again where I live now I would have to travel a similar distance to see any “art house” offerings! I loved the Sunset though, its tiny concession stand, its tiny projection booth and its even tinier office!