Roosevelt Theatre
770 Arthur Godfrey Road,
Miami Beach,
FL
33140
770 Arthur Godfrey Road,
Miami Beach,
FL
33140
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Brandt Theaters, B.S. Moss Enterprises, Stanley-Warner Theatres
Architects: Albert Anis
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Roosevelt Playhouse
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Oct 24, 2010 — "The Alamo"...Happy 50th!
- Apr 16, 2009 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 27: Miami)
The Roosevelt Theatre was opened on December 27, 1949 with Van Johnson in “Battleground”. A rather small theatre, it usually played what first run films it could get. All I can recall from the 1950’s is that it has a lot of mirrors in the lobby. At times this theatre converted to live stage plays, but then switched back to movies. I saw the Russian “War and Peace” there.
Contributed by
Bob
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Recent comments (view all 47 comments)
@davidL A Performing arts company i work for is interested in this old Roosevelt theater in turning it into a performing arts venue. if your interested on helping us restore this ancient email me @
In its early days it was mostly an art house and Cinemascope was not an issue but by 1956 this was South Florida’s first Cinerama house that proscenium obsolete.
I found this from a 2012 piece in the SunPost. A few photos of the interior as it sits today.
http://www.sunpostweekly.com/2012/02/02/history-time-capsule-the-roosevelt-theater/
Remember seeing Never on Sunday Fitzwilly and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner on late runs … a decent neighbourhood house
The Sun Post Weekly site appears to be defunct but incinerama archived some of the 2012 indoor/interior photos at their site. (see below) Additionally, a large mural has now been painted on the side of the Roosevelt by muralist Lebo.
http://incinerama.com/roosevelt.htm
The Roosevelt theatre opened on December 27th, 1949 by Brandt theatres of New York City starting the trend of northern theatre chains setting shop in Florida (Brandt, K-B, Century, Budco, etc.).
ad:
Roosevelt theatre opening Sun, Dec 25, 1949 – 13 · The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) · Newspapers.com
Does anyone know who the original architect was for the Roosevelt?
The architect was Albert Anis.
The interior had some limited cosmetic restoration in the very late 1990’s possibly in preparation for leasing but as can be seen from the 2012 photos, it looks a bit shabby. I don’t think it has ever had any tenants in the 35 years since closing its doors.