Florida Theatre
205 E. Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33131
205 E. Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33131
3 people
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One of the many theatres located on Flagler Street, across from from the Olympia Theatre (now the Gusman Center). This originally opened as the Hippodrome Theatre from around 1915, and was the second theatre with that name built in downtown Miami. It was closed in 1930, and became the Rex Theatre in 1931. It was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary E.J. Sparkes. It was closed and remodeled into the Florida Theatre in 1948 by the Jacksonville based architectural firm Kemp, Bunch & Jackson..
I remember seeing “Rosemary’s Baby” at this theatre. Unfortunately I can’t remember what the inside of the theatre looked like. I believe this theatre played some Cinerama travelogues, but by that time I had left the city.
Contributed by
Bob Berg
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Florida Theatre, downtown Miami.
http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/77098085
This Miami map from 1938 shows the “Rex Theater” on East Flagler Street, and the map’s index lists the address for the Rex as “207 E. Flagler St.”
So, I’m wondering if the Florida wasn’t an expansion or a re-build of the original Rex Theater?
Here’s a heavily cropped photo of the Rex Theater from 1932. I included the Ponce de Leon Hotel (at right) in the crop as a point of reference to compare with other photos that may surface.
The Hippodrome that Al mentioned over on the Town Theater’s page is off to the left of the woman in white.
miamiguy, since the Rex closed only a year before the Florida opened, you are most likely correct that this was most likely a modern conversion of the Rex.
The Rex operated from 1931 to 1947 and the Florida from 1948 to 1974.
Here is a 1948 photo, the year it became the Florida.
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Cinerama in Miami.
http://cinematreasures.org/news/20931_0_1_0_C/
At the Florida in 1966.
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A few views of the Hippodrome Theatre here:
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Another vintage view of the Hippodrome Theatre on the corner of Avenue B:
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According to Boxoffice magazine (November 20, 1961)the Rex building was torn down for the Florida. It states that the Rex and Hippodrome were the same location but the Florida was a new building.
This Miami News article contradicts Boxoffice and says the Florida is a remodel of the Rex.
View link
I have vague memories of the Rex Theatre in Miami. I may have
been in it once with my parents, but don’t remember for sure. In
1947 or so, when I was around six, I think it burned down, or
burned partially. I do remember my parents telling me it had
wood floors. The Florida, as I recall, was mostly a new building.