Warnor Theatre
122 E. Las Olas Boulevard,
Fort Lauderdale,
FL
33301
122 E. Las Olas Boulevard,
Fort Lauderdale,
FL
33301
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The Warnor Theatre opened in 1941 and closed in summer 1963.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
The Warnor, not Warner in Ft. Lauderdale:
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One of three theaters opened on Los Olas (The others are Florida and Colony), this Florida State Theater owned venue was opened in 1945. It closed in 1961.
Warner Bros. built and (very briefly) operated the Warnor (“e” replaced presumably out of antitrust concerns cropping up at the time) pre WWII. Reportedly closed for several years, before reopening under the Paramount/Sparks/Florida State banner. Think the former space may have become a print shop for the Ft. Lauderdale News (since demolished and replaced by the Sun-Sentinel office tower).
The Warnor hadn’t yet closed in 1961, as suggested above. We lived near downtown Fort Lauderdale for a couple of years, and one indelible memory is walking to the Warnor to be thrilled by the
Roger Corman “Premature Burial” — which, according to IMDB, was released in March 1962. I’m almost as certain that I saw “West Side Story” at the Warnor immediately following its roadshow engagement (for us, in Miami Beach). I don’t have a date for that general release, but I believe this followed the Poe flick. (A third film I’m pretty sure I saw there was “King of Kings”, in 1961.)
Since we can’t upload pictures at this time, here are two showing the Warnor (and its almost-next door neighbor the Florida, which I will post about in the appropriate place):
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-or-
http://tinyurl.com/aqz7t8
ChasSmith: Perhaps that may have been the case, but according to several sources, including some highly respectable architectural resources all state that the Warnor was closed in 1961, The Florida and the Colony ran until 1964. All buildings have since been demolished. One thing to note, most of the “blockbuster” films went to the much larger Florida theatre. The two latter films that you mention would certainly fit the blockbuster bill.
I show it still advertised in the Miami Herald in 1962, but not beyond that.
An April 26, 1941 issue of Boxoffice magazine announces the imminent opening of the Warnor to be followed shortly after by the Colony. Unless the war changed these plans, both theatres opened in 1941 and the Warnor never operated as the ‘Warner’.
Hadn’t revisited this in a while, but I’ve done some digging through the Miami News ads available through Google Newspapers, and have found that my memories were correct re the above two blockbusters playing at the Warnor as opposed to the Florida. “King of Kings” was there in March 1962, and “West Side Story” in March 1963.
I’d always known the latter had a long roadshow engagement beforehand, but was surprised at how long it took “King of Kings” to make the rounds; likewise, some other films from my early days in Fort Lauderdale. It sure wasn’t like it is now, with films opening everywhere at once. I may not have been aware of that then, but it appears we were waiting quite a long while for many films to get to local theaters.
Haven’t found the above-mentioned “Premature Burial” yet, but I’m making a load of other happy discoveries browsing those ads.
As for the Warnor’s closing date, I’ve found listings as late as June 1, 1963, with nothing by July 1, 1963.
This question is a real long shot, I know… but in view of my confirming that “West Side Story” opened here following its roadshow engagement, and with all the current controversy over the about-to-be-released Blu-ray, does anyone know if the Warnor had 70mm capability…or know how to research that?