Carib Theatre
230 Lincoln Road,
Miami Beach,
FL
33139
230 Lincoln Road,
Miami Beach,
FL
33139
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 32 comments
It was a major Roadshow town but Brandt and ABC had most of the runs. The main Roadshow venues were Sheridan, Beach, Colony, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and later Sunny Isles and Dadeland twin. By the way AIRPORT also had a Carib exclusive.
I thought because Miami had so many tourists and older snowbirds it would be a major roadshow town. My parents had their honeymoon there in the 50s. From the photos people dressed so well. I would have loved to have seen it.
vindanpar, it did not run many Roadshows because Wometco was not a big fan of those after the failure of “SPARTACUS” at their 163rd Street theatre. It did host many World Premieres if the stars were in town for winter performances at local hotels. It did run exclusive area runs of PLANET OF THE APES, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE and CABARET among others in a town where non-roadshow exclusives were rare.
The late 50s postcard DavidZornig posted is even more spectacular than the early 50s. What colors! Like a dream Miami out of a 20th Century Fox musical. I imagine the street is pretty depressing today.
Just saw this housed the Miami roadshow engagement of Funny Girl. Was anyone in it to see roadshow films? Were there other roadshows here? Was there a widescreen with a curtain placed in front of the proscenium to allow for a much larger image?
This really looks like a spectacular place to have seen a movie. Especially a roadshow film.
Late `50s postcard added.
The Ross grand opening was July 18th. As a small concession to the history of the location, the developers incorporated a map of the Caribbean on a giant glass pane which is part of the new facade. This same map existed above the Carib marquee. See link below:
http://mbcurrent.com/post/162578901040
Wish I could watch an archival video of what a patron saw and experienced while entering and walking through the lobby then into the auditorium.
Gary Dubler: Yes, I love hearing such stories and details especially of theaters I did not get to experience, and I hope you share more. Each of the Dade County theaters you mention also have their own pages and comments sections here on Cinema Treasures.
I was born and raised in Miami Beach and lived there most of my life. The Carib Theater was unique and gorgeous. The front wall of the theater had a huge map of the Caribbean above the marquee. The entrance promenade [yes! about 80 feet long & maybe 20 feet wide] had gold-veined mirrors on both the left & right sides, waterfalls [that misted visitors with cool water], a roof that opened to let sunlight in, and 3-4 multi-colored live parrots.
Once you passed the promenade there was an escalator [unheard of in a moviehouse in 1950] leading to the balcony. There were more ushers & lobby personnel to help you than in any other theater in all of Dade County. This was a place to dress up to go to the movies. Going to this theater was an event, yet it cost no more than any other theater.
There were other gorgeous theaters in Dade County. a few blocks down from the Carib were the Beach Theater & the Lincoln Theater. Down Washington Ave. was the Cinema Theater, which had been a Vaudeville Theater in the 20’s, with a completely Art Deco theme [if there’s interest, I’ll write about them.] Across the bay in Miami, the Olympia Theater was a showplace with a panorama of a cityscape surrounding the screen.
Gary Dubler
I remember reading years ago in the Miami Herald that a time capsule with items associated with a premier at one of the now defunct Lincoln Road cinemas had been found during road work.
I Googled and found this article from the Sun Sentinel:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1997-01-04/news/9701040022_1_time-capsule-glenn-miller-jimmy-stewart
For some reason I remember reading or assuming that the capsule had been found on the pedestrian part of Lincoln Road, (maybe I saw some road work being done on the pedestrian part around that time so I thought that’s where they found it?), but the article says the items were associated with a premier at the Carib.
There were numerous statues that were in the lobby as well. Ex Miami Beach mayor Leonard Haber was involved with the development of the Carib Mall that replaced the theater (Most of the theater interior was gutted by 1979) Haber salvaged some of the statues from the lobby and had a professional sculptor restore them and had them installed in his home.
I was fortunate enough to have visited several times as a kid. This place was extraordinary. Although I don’t remember a parrot, the lobby was a Caribbean tropical dream with real plants, pools and a skylight roof. A parrot would not have been out of place.
I was startled to see it had been demolished when I walked by on December 30th, 2015. Several times over the years I used to gaze at the tall rectangular shape that was all that was left of the façade and imagine what the Carib may have been like in its day.
Based on photos I’ve seen and stories I’ve heard, this is one of the theaters I have felt I missed out on by not getting to visit. I believe an older person told me they even kept a pet parrot in the interesting lobby, if I understood correctly.
I noticed the demolition revealed some sort of old fashioned ad for a business painted on the wall on the right of the now open space.
Wow, check out this short b&w Youtube video of the Carib called World Premiere At Miami Beach Of “Sweet Bird Of Youth” (1962):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brqp1PwQHXA
Orson Welles “Compulsion” in 1959
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/urban-night-life-on-lincoln-road-miami-beach-florida-usa-circa-picture-id177231126
This needs to be moved to the demolished category. In the last few weeks, the building has been completely razed. Although Wometco closed the doors in ‘75. Leroy Griffith took over operations for at least another year or two until at least 1977. The plans are tentatively in place for a Ross store to open in May 2016.
The somewhat sad new plans for the Carib. http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2013/09/11/developers-propose-vegas-style-schlock-for-lincoln-road.php
I just passed by this place yesterday—always wondered what it was… I thought that it was a former theatre—Miami Beach and the beach cities are littered with former theatres—all mostly converted into shopping of some sort—so I googled it. And found some information, including the “shopping mall” floor plan. It matches the current facade; very 70’s. I’ve lived in Miami Beach for 22y. And it was always covered and noted as “American Trade Center”. Now even that is boarded-over! (The current owner is still noted as “American Trade Center” and not for sale! But they’re paying the $90k in annual taxes. And it closed nearly 30y ago!)
Sad that the wonderful ‘underwater’ architecture was totally demolished. (supposing by the latest floorplan). Maybe someday I can sneak into that very-well boarded-up building!
December 22nd Grand opening ad has been placed in the photo section.
I doubt it, Luis. It was a mini-mall for years.
Just passed by the theater remnant last week. There is no mention at all on the posts above about the condition of the interior of thei theater. Yes, the marquee and beautiful Facade are gone but the huge theater structure remains. With the loss of the Lincoln Theatre down the road to become an H & M is this a “Hidden Gem” in Miami Beach?
Grand opening ad (for this theatre and the West Hollywood Drive-In) is at View link
Here are new links to old Carib photos;
View link
View link
A picture of this theater may be found with an accompanying article from 1951 here:
View link
Does anybody have a clue as to the condition of the hulk?This is clearly the largest theater space sitting in Miami Beach.