The Florida Theatre opened its doors on October 4, 1941 with Betty Grable in “A Yank In The R.A.F” and Claude Pepper in “International Affairs” along with an unnamed Pete Smith Specialty and an unnamed cartoon. It originally housed 700 seats as a single-screener, with 500 seats in the auditorium and 200 seats in the balcony, and its original projection featured Simplex projection with Cyclex lamps and Simplex sound.
Unlike most small town movie theaters in Florida, the Florida Theatre has its own water supply with a wall measuring 80ft and when the air conditioning was used at capacity, the system will consume 40 gallons of water a minute, which was “enough to supply half of the town’s population”. The system had a capacity of 35 tons of ice and temperature in the theater was controllable. The original auditorium featured deeply-cushioned seats with a wine color, harmonizing with both tan and green schemes for the interior.
The Florida Theatre was remodeled in 1972 and again on June 14, 1984 when it reopened as a twin theater. The twinning downsized the capacity to 310 seats, with 104 seats in Screen 1 and 206 seats in Screen 2, as well as an updated projection room and concession stand. The work of its 1984 remodeling which took two months between April 26 and June 13 of that year was done only on days the theater is closed or in the daytime when there’s no shows, but the work was halted whenever a show starts in the evenings, meaning that the theater was still operating during construction of its second screen at the time.
There was an article stating that another theater, the Comet Theatre, from a 1922 article from the Albia Union saying that the Comet was located on North Main Street as well. The Comet operated from December 1909 until early 1923 and the Rex operated from early 1923 until 1927, and both theaters are in separate locations due to showtimes stating that both the Comet and the Rex were operating at the same time before the Comet’s closure.
The Swan Theatre opened on April 20, 1936 as a replacement of the Ritz Theatre (formerly the Royal Theatre), and was taken over by Robert Cannon in February 1956, who also operated theaters in Lake City and Live Oak at the time. Unfortunately the Swan Theatre either closed later in 1956 or stopped advertising on newspapers.
Correction: The Madison Drive-In opened with John Wayne in “Hell And High Water” and “Red Skies Of Montana” afterward as a double-feature, not just the second film.
The Regent Theatre opened its doors on September 27, 1934 with Laurel And Hardy in “Sons Of The Desert” along with a few unnamed short subjects.
What’s so weird about its grand opening advertisement and its upcoming showings afterward is that articles of the Citrus County Chronicle listed as the Crystal River Theatre, but headlines confirmed that it was named the Regent Theatre. That was fixed by the following year.
The Cinema 90 opened its doors by MCM Theatres as a twin on June 3, 1977 with Evel Knievel in “Viva Knievel” in Screen 1 and Barbra Streisand in “A Star Is Born” in Screen 2. It had an original capacity of 518 seats (with 350 seats in Screen 1 and 168 seats in Screen 2), and was first managed by Sheldon Masce.
The theater expanded to four screens in Spring 1983 (alongside a 19x12ft game room) followed by another two more screens in Spring 1985 bringing a total to six screens. Litchfield Theatres operated the Cinema 90 until United Artists took over in June 1987.
I cannot find a lot of information for most of the theaters in Panama City, but I can confirm that the Lux operated during World War II alongside the Central, Cecilia, Tropical, President, and Capitol Theatres. All five theaters were still operating before Pearl Harbor, and all of them ran American titles.
The Teatro Lux (or the Lux Theatre in English) was one of the few first-run theaters in Panama City, and was still operating before its 3-strip Cinerama was installed on September 11, 1963.
There are 16 movie theaters in Panama City during the CinemaScope era, with 15 indoors and one drive-in.
The Cloverleaf Drive-In was originally supposed to open on September 2, 1950 with James Stewart in “Winchester ‘73” but was canceled for unknown reasons. Instead, it opened the following week on September 9, 1950 with Randolph Scott in “The Cariboo Trail” (unknown if extras added).
Opened on August 31, 1965 with Peter O'Toole in “What’s New P*ssycat?”, and closed on April 22, 1993 with “A Few Good Men” in Screen 1 and “Groundhog Day” in Screen 2. The National Theatre Corporation was its last operator who had been operating the theater since 1976.
Opened with Dick Haymes in “Carnival Of Costa Rica” along with an unnamed March Of Time (likely “Your Doctors - 1947” but the title was unlisted unfortunately), an unnamed cartoon, and a newsreel.
When the theater officially reopened as the Century Theatre on September 29, 1929 (with Al Jolson in “Say It With Songs” along with the Hilarity Within The Law short “The Constabule” and the Mickey Mouse cartoon “The Opry House”), it was first operated by Publix.
Expanded to four screens in 1977, but retained its twin name for some strange reason. Two more screens were added in 1990, bringing a total to six screens, and the theater dropped the “twin” name and was renamed the “Belden Village Cinemas”. This lasted until closure on July 26, 1997.
Closed on December 12, 1976 with “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. It originally closed for the holidays but appears that it never reopened afterward.
It was once known as the Star Cinema, but most likely closed in late-1985 when the Broadcountry Cinema 3 opened in nearby Magee. Newspaper articles say that it was still open in 1985.
The shooting actually happened during “Walking Tall Part 2”, not the first one, because the first Walking Tall did ran there for a week during the last week of October 1973.
The Melroy Theatre was once destroyed by a fire on March 26, 1956, caused by a short circuit estimating a loss of $75,000. At the time, Leroy McIntosh was still its operator.
This opened six days after the Stadium Auto Movie. The Oakland Drive-In opened its gates on February 18, 1948 with Esther Williams in “Easy To Wed” along with an unnamed cartoon and a few shorts. United Artists was its last operator, and was still open in 1976 but may’ve closed around that same year. The neighboring Stadium Automovie continued operating until October 25, 1977.
Closed as a first-run house on September 6, 1990 with “Young Guns II” and “Taking Care Of Business”, but continued to operate as a special events theater for a little bit longer. It was demolished on May 10, 1997.
This link may help you. Besides, I used it for other theaters across Iowa.
The Florida Theatre opened its doors on October 4, 1941 with Betty Grable in “A Yank In The R.A.F” and Claude Pepper in “International Affairs” along with an unnamed Pete Smith Specialty and an unnamed cartoon. It originally housed 700 seats as a single-screener, with 500 seats in the auditorium and 200 seats in the balcony, and its original projection featured Simplex projection with Cyclex lamps and Simplex sound.
Unlike most small town movie theaters in Florida, the Florida Theatre has its own water supply with a wall measuring 80ft and when the air conditioning was used at capacity, the system will consume 40 gallons of water a minute, which was “enough to supply half of the town’s population”. The system had a capacity of 35 tons of ice and temperature in the theater was controllable. The original auditorium featured deeply-cushioned seats with a wine color, harmonizing with both tan and green schemes for the interior.
The Florida Theatre was remodeled in 1972 and again on June 14, 1984 when it reopened as a twin theater. The twinning downsized the capacity to 310 seats, with 104 seats in Screen 1 and 206 seats in Screen 2, as well as an updated projection room and concession stand. The work of its 1984 remodeling which took two months between April 26 and June 13 of that year was done only on days the theater is closed or in the daytime when there’s no shows, but the work was halted whenever a show starts in the evenings, meaning that the theater was still operating during construction of its second screen at the time.
There was an article stating that another theater, the Comet Theatre, from a 1922 article from the Albia Union saying that the Comet was located on North Main Street as well. The Comet operated from December 1909 until early 1923 and the Rex operated from early 1923 until 1927, and both theaters are in separate locations due to showtimes stating that both the Comet and the Rex were operating at the same time before the Comet’s closure.
The Swan Theatre opened on April 20, 1936 as a replacement of the Ritz Theatre (formerly the Royal Theatre), and was taken over by Robert Cannon in February 1956, who also operated theaters in Lake City and Live Oak at the time. Unfortunately the Swan Theatre either closed later in 1956 or stopped advertising on newspapers.
Correction: The Madison Drive-In opened with John Wayne in “Hell And High Water” and “Red Skies Of Montana” afterward as a double-feature, not just the second film.
The Regent Theatre opened its doors on September 27, 1934 with Laurel And Hardy in “Sons Of The Desert” along with a few unnamed short subjects.
The Auto-Cine (or the Drive-In Theatre in English) opened its gates on September 12, 1952 with Gary Cooper in “High Noon” (unknown if extras added).
The Cinema 90 opened its doors by MCM Theatres as a twin on June 3, 1977 with Evel Knievel in “Viva Knievel” in Screen 1 and Barbra Streisand in “A Star Is Born” in Screen 2. It had an original capacity of 518 seats (with 350 seats in Screen 1 and 168 seats in Screen 2), and was first managed by Sheldon Masce.
The theater expanded to four screens in Spring 1983 (alongside a 19x12ft game room) followed by another two more screens in Spring 1985 bringing a total to six screens. Litchfield Theatres operated the Cinema 90 until United Artists took over in June 1987.
I cannot find a lot of information for most of the theaters in Panama City, but I can confirm that the Lux operated during World War II alongside the Central, Cecilia, Tropical, President, and Capitol Theatres. All five theaters were still operating before Pearl Harbor, and all of them ran American titles.
The Teatro Lux (or the Lux Theatre in English) was one of the few first-run theaters in Panama City, and was still operating before its 3-strip Cinerama was installed on September 11, 1963.
There are 16 movie theaters in Panama City during the CinemaScope era, with 15 indoors and one drive-in.
Opened on June 30, 1999.
The Cloverleaf Drive-In was originally supposed to open on September 2, 1950 with James Stewart in “Winchester ‘73” but was canceled for unknown reasons. Instead, it opened the following week on September 9, 1950 with Randolph Scott in “The Cariboo Trail” (unknown if extras added).
Opened on August 31, 1965 with Peter O'Toole in “What’s New P*ssycat?”, and closed on April 22, 1993 with “A Few Good Men” in Screen 1 and “Groundhog Day” in Screen 2. The National Theatre Corporation was its last operator who had been operating the theater since 1976.
Opened with Dick Haymes in “Carnival Of Costa Rica” along with an unnamed March Of Time (likely “Your Doctors - 1947” but the title was unlisted unfortunately), an unnamed cartoon, and a newsreel.
Opened with Susan Hayward in “Tap Roots” along with an unnamed cartoon and a newsreel.
When the theater officially reopened as the Century Theatre on September 29, 1929 (with Al Jolson in “Say It With Songs” along with the Hilarity Within The Law short “The Constabule” and the Mickey Mouse cartoon “The Opry House”), it was first operated by Publix.
Expanded to four screens in 1977, but retained its twin name for some strange reason. Two more screens were added in 1990, bringing a total to six screens, and the theater dropped the “twin” name and was renamed the “Belden Village Cinemas”. This lasted until closure on July 26, 1997.
Closed on December 12, 1976 with “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. It originally closed for the holidays but appears that it never reopened afterward.
Still open in 1986.
It was once known as the Star Cinema, but most likely closed in late-1985 when the Broadcountry Cinema 3 opened in nearby Magee. Newspaper articles say that it was still open in 1985.
Edited from my May 15, 2024 (4:19 PM) comment:
The actual opening date is December 20, 1985, with “Rocky IV” in Screen 1, “Back To The Future” in Screen 2, and “Santa Claus The Movie” in Screen 3.
The shooting actually happened during “Walking Tall Part 2”, not the first one, because the first Walking Tall did ran there for a week during the last week of October 1973.
The Melroy Theatre was once destroyed by a fire on March 26, 1956, caused by a short circuit estimating a loss of $75,000. At the time, Leroy McIntosh was still its operator.
Last operated by Mann Theatres, MN, closed in 1999.
Closed on October 25, 1977 with “A Bridge Too Far”, “Breakheart Pass”, and “Adios Amigo”.
This opened six days after the Stadium Auto Movie. The Oakland Drive-In opened its gates on February 18, 1948 with Esther Williams in “Easy To Wed” along with an unnamed cartoon and a few shorts. United Artists was its last operator, and was still open in 1976 but may’ve closed around that same year. The neighboring Stadium Automovie continued operating until October 25, 1977.
Closed as a first-run house on September 6, 1990 with “Young Guns II” and “Taking Care Of Business”, but continued to operate as a special events theater for a little bit longer. It was demolished on May 10, 1997.