I can see how that corner changed. It’s obvious that it must have been torn down, rebuilt with a theatre to the east of it, that theatre being the Florida. Unless that Hippodrome was so big that they cut it in half, made the west side of it retail and the east the Florida Theatre.
Actually it wasn’t return, it was Escape from the Planet of the Apes. I keep calling it return, but return was much later, and as you say, most likely a made for TV ape movie. AMC just finished playing a few of the Ape movies.
Yes, it was Beneath the Planet of the Apes, I saw the first one at the Carib, as a matter of fact, that was the first movie I ever saw at the Carib. I think that when Conquest came to be, most of these theatres were already closed. What year was Conquest? I may be confusing it with Return to the Planet of the Apes.
Did you note the address for the Dade Theatre? When I was a kid there was a Royal Castle, a Food Fair, Western Auto, and I believe a Grant’s, Kress, or McCrory’s. I don’t remember a theatre being there or the Regent just south on NW 17th avenue. The Regent had to be right next door to the Live and Let Live Rexall Drugstore that is still there! I grew up in Allapatah, when I was a kid those theatres were non-existant. I never knew them.
Al George Stegmeir had posted on this before and he stated that the Dixie later became the Rio. Given the address, this must have been the case. George lived in the area circa late 40’s and into the 50s.
I have yet to visit the library to see old newspapers, I wish I had time to do this. I am curious and feel compelled to ask this: do these collections include the classified ads? If memory serves me right, most of the movies and movie times were either in, or part of the classifieds. Unlike today where you have sections like Showtime, which is the entertainment weekly that is published by the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, back in those days we did not have that luxury. It would be fun to see what was playing in the theatres. I would kill to see the Planet of the Apes ad that was run by the Paramount Theatre and also the ad for the first Batman Movie with Burt Ward and Adam West. I remember seeing those ads in the Miami Herald as a kid!
This drive in was one of the longer lasting of the drive ins. I believe it closed in the latter 70s. The last movie I remember playing there was Smokey and The Bandit, part 1. The Coral Way Drive In was not one of the bigger drive in theatres.
WOW! This is a great post!!!! This certainly clears up a lot of questions with regards to where these theatres were. I double checked some of the addresses of theatres I was and am familiar with and the addresses are right on the money. I guess the State Theatre was on a corner verifiying some of the references of the hand written map MiamiGuy posted in his earlier thread. It’s amazing how we see things when young and after we get older.
MiamiGuy I have no idea where you got this info, but congratulations on the research! I look forward to your posts.
So I guess the Florida was the Rex Theatre at one time. Back in those days Miami wasn’t South Beach, so I gather things took a while to get there, but 11 years? That’s a stretch. The map in the link above was hand drawn, who knows who drew it, maybe a native, maybe not. Based on this, I would have to say the map on the link is probably wrong as far as the theatres go, although, Harleys, Kress, Grant, McCrory’s, and Walgreen’s are right on the money. They even show the stores going completely across the block with an entrance on each street.
The Hippodrome you mentioned, if it was a theatre, the corner where it is on, would have made it a very small and unusually shaped theatre, given that the Rex was already there.
I agree. As a kid I used to go to the Downtown YMCA, they had an indoor pool, first one I ever went to. The Y was around the block from the Town. The Town was not on the corner where that Miami Theatre was, at the time, there were a cluster of stores there. You may remember these, they had these little tiny film black and white cameras in the store windows, as a kid, I was always fascinated by them. I believe one of the stores was called “Gay Mart”, and it was a small electronics shop, I think the owners were from Chile? While walking to the Public Library I always crossed 3rd, at the time the 1 Biscayne Tower was under construction, so that gives you an idea of the time frames.
I think that silent theatre you mention, may very well indeed have been on that corner, then closed and the stores were built in it’s place. This is probably a very stupid question on this venue, but what year did silent films go out? 1938 seems to be a tad late for a silent movie theatre to be in operation and that map is from 38 according to the post.
This is a good one. I find these posts and information posted fascinating. MiamiGuy, thanks for the challenge!!!
Well finally got around to going by the old Strand Theatre. The marquee has been painted over, the theatre is now officially a church, I took some pics but I need to get them on my server so I can post links to them, and share them with all of you.
There are some new church doors, however the entrance still sports a double door system. The glass showcases where the old movie posters were placed are still there. The Strand name is gone, you can’t even tell it was there. The sign at one time was metal with the letters in neon, the only thing left is the wall where that sign was, the marquee is still there as well, but again the lights and the metal is gone, and the wall underneath has been painted. Even though it looks nothing like what it did 30 years ago, you can still tell it was a theatre at some point in time.
I will get the pictures up and running in the next few days, and post the links to them.
Was the State theatre on a corner property? In the pictures it appears that the theatre had stores on both sides of it. The reason why I ask, is because there was a post with a link to a map of 1938 downtown, it shows the theatre as being on a corner. I am trying to validate the map, also it labels the Florida Theatre as the Rex Theatre and the Town Theatre as the Miami Theatre. I wasn’t around until 1957 when I was born, but it would be nice to know if those names were indeed correct and those theatres were renamed at some poing in time between 1938 & 1950.
That is an interesting map of the area. I never knew the Florida to be the Rex or the Town to be the Miami theatre. The Miami Theatre was further west. Not sure what year the actual Miami theatre was built. I never knew the State Theatre, but from the picture that is on this website, the last thing I would have thought is that it was on a corner. The picture of the State that is on this website, depicts the theatre as having stores on both sides, which would not place this theatre in the corner where that map shows it.
Al,
You are 1000% correct, I just realized that. Walgreens front entrance is right accross the street! That is the Florida Theatre. I saw a couple of the Planet of the Apes movies there and in the Paramount. That is a rare pic of the Florida Theatre. I think the Florida was the first of the theatres to get converted to a mall.
Lost Memory, you are flipping me out with all these organ references! I have to assume that these organs were taken out way before I grew up in Miami during the 60s. I never saw not even one in any of the theatres. I did a search on the Wurlitzer models you mentioned to see if I could see a picture, in the hopes of jogging my memory, however I did not see anything.
Do you have any idea when these organs were taken out of the theatres? I wonder what they used them for? Intermission?
The Sheridan unlike it’s neighbor, The Roosevelt, kept busy, never turned into a porn house. I saw 2001 there. The Sheridan was the only theatre that had the big screen for quite sometime, so all the top billings were screened there. I am not sure who owned the Sheridan, I do not think it was Wometco, but I may be wrong.
Great pic! I remembered the Sheridan as a stand alone building. If I may ask, where did you get this pic? I would love to see what else they got. Al recommended this website:
I have been going over it for the last couple of months. There is a huge database of pictures, mostly of Miami and Hialeah, famous people of the area, but not a whole lot on old theatres. I guess there are not too many of us who like the old movie houses, so those contributions have been sparse as far as that website is concerned, but nonetheless, I find it fascinating. I love old pictues.
The Golden Glades drive in was HUGE! I remember it spanning quite a bit of property. If memory serves me right, I believe the entrance was on Red Road 57th Avenue and it went west almost to the big curve where the Palmetto Expressway becomes a north south highway. The last movie I ever saw there was MASH and Marriage of a Young Stockbroker with Richard Benjamin. Not sure of that title, because that was quite a while ago. I remember that theatre had a playground where the kids could play while the adults watched the movies. That was the last time I was there, but it certainly was a very big theatre. I think it boasted 2 screens, but I can’t swear to that, I am sure Al will remember!!!
That is funny! Man can I relate to that. I also grew up going to the Tower Theatre. I remember they had a lot of double features, not always in spanish. I remember watching The Good The Bad & The Ugly, then the 2nd feature was a mexican “vaquero” movie, usually dirty old Mexican vaqueros chasing the daughters of a poor Mexican farmer that was leading a good Christian life. Yes I too got bored of watching the vaqueros, so I also learned how to take the bus to go downtown.
Given the frequency of my visits to the Tower, I am sure I must have seen you there sometime. You have access to some great info and pics, if there is anything you want to share, this is my email: I wish this forum had IMs or a way to post an email on a profile, but it doesn’t. I enjoy your posts very much, you have a lot of knowledge of all the things that I loved when I was a kid growing up in Miami, so it’s always a pleasure and I look forward to you postings.
Great article. I am surprised you miss this theatre the most. I remember it, but it never caught my attention as much as The Carib, and some of the others.
It’s really funny that all that was demolished to pave the way for the Omni. The Omni with all it’s glamour and glitter when it was built, is now nothing of what it used to be. I recently stayed at the Radisson and the place is starting to look run down.
Al,
I can see how that corner changed. It’s obvious that it must have been torn down, rebuilt with a theatre to the east of it, that theatre being the Florida. Unless that Hippodrome was so big that they cut it in half, made the west side of it retail and the east the Florida Theatre.
Actually it wasn’t return, it was Escape from the Planet of the Apes. I keep calling it return, but return was much later, and as you say, most likely a made for TV ape movie. AMC just finished playing a few of the Ape movies.
Al,
Yes, it was Beneath the Planet of the Apes, I saw the first one at the Carib, as a matter of fact, that was the first movie I ever saw at the Carib. I think that when Conquest came to be, most of these theatres were already closed. What year was Conquest? I may be confusing it with Return to the Planet of the Apes.
Was this theatre ever called the Carver Theatre?
Was this theatre ever called the Carver Theatre?
Al,
Did you note the address for the Dade Theatre? When I was a kid there was a Royal Castle, a Food Fair, Western Auto, and I believe a Grant’s, Kress, or McCrory’s. I don’t remember a theatre being there or the Regent just south on NW 17th avenue. The Regent had to be right next door to the Live and Let Live Rexall Drugstore that is still there! I grew up in Allapatah, when I was a kid those theatres were non-existant. I never knew them.
Al George Stegmeir had posted on this before and he stated that the Dixie later became the Rio. Given the address, this must have been the case. George lived in the area circa late 40’s and into the 50s.
I have yet to visit the library to see old newspapers, I wish I had time to do this. I am curious and feel compelled to ask this: do these collections include the classified ads? If memory serves me right, most of the movies and movie times were either in, or part of the classifieds. Unlike today where you have sections like Showtime, which is the entertainment weekly that is published by the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, back in those days we did not have that luxury. It would be fun to see what was playing in the theatres. I would kill to see the Planet of the Apes ad that was run by the Paramount Theatre and also the ad for the first Batman Movie with Burt Ward and Adam West. I remember seeing those ads in the Miami Herald as a kid!
This drive in was one of the longer lasting of the drive ins. I believe it closed in the latter 70s. The last movie I remember playing there was Smokey and The Bandit, part 1. The Coral Way Drive In was not one of the bigger drive in theatres.
WOW! This is a great post!!!! This certainly clears up a lot of questions with regards to where these theatres were. I double checked some of the addresses of theatres I was and am familiar with and the addresses are right on the money. I guess the State Theatre was on a corner verifiying some of the references of the hand written map MiamiGuy posted in his earlier thread. It’s amazing how we see things when young and after we get older.
MiamiGuy I have no idea where you got this info, but congratulations on the research! I look forward to your posts.
So I guess the Florida was the Rex Theatre at one time. Back in those days Miami wasn’t South Beach, so I gather things took a while to get there, but 11 years? That’s a stretch. The map in the link above was hand drawn, who knows who drew it, maybe a native, maybe not. Based on this, I would have to say the map on the link is probably wrong as far as the theatres go, although, Harleys, Kress, Grant, McCrory’s, and Walgreen’s are right on the money. They even show the stores going completely across the block with an entrance on each street.
The Hippodrome you mentioned, if it was a theatre, the corner where it is on, would have made it a very small and unusually shaped theatre, given that the Rex was already there.
Al,
I agree. As a kid I used to go to the Downtown YMCA, they had an indoor pool, first one I ever went to. The Y was around the block from the Town. The Town was not on the corner where that Miami Theatre was, at the time, there were a cluster of stores there. You may remember these, they had these little tiny film black and white cameras in the store windows, as a kid, I was always fascinated by them. I believe one of the stores was called “Gay Mart”, and it was a small electronics shop, I think the owners were from Chile? While walking to the Public Library I always crossed 3rd, at the time the 1 Biscayne Tower was under construction, so that gives you an idea of the time frames.
I think that silent theatre you mention, may very well indeed have been on that corner, then closed and the stores were built in it’s place. This is probably a very stupid question on this venue, but what year did silent films go out? 1938 seems to be a tad late for a silent movie theatre to be in operation and that map is from 38 according to the post.
This is a good one. I find these posts and information posted fascinating. MiamiGuy, thanks for the challenge!!!
Well finally got around to going by the old Strand Theatre. The marquee has been painted over, the theatre is now officially a church, I took some pics but I need to get them on my server so I can post links to them, and share them with all of you.
There are some new church doors, however the entrance still sports a double door system. The glass showcases where the old movie posters were placed are still there. The Strand name is gone, you can’t even tell it was there. The sign at one time was metal with the letters in neon, the only thing left is the wall where that sign was, the marquee is still there as well, but again the lights and the metal is gone, and the wall underneath has been painted. Even though it looks nothing like what it did 30 years ago, you can still tell it was a theatre at some point in time.
I will get the pictures up and running in the next few days, and post the links to them.
Ron,
Was the State theatre on a corner property? In the pictures it appears that the theatre had stores on both sides of it. The reason why I ask, is because there was a post with a link to a map of 1938 downtown, it shows the theatre as being on a corner. I am trying to validate the map, also it labels the Florida Theatre as the Rex Theatre and the Town Theatre as the Miami Theatre. I wasn’t around until 1957 when I was born, but it would be nice to know if those names were indeed correct and those theatres were renamed at some poing in time between 1938 & 1950.
That is an interesting map of the area. I never knew the Florida to be the Rex or the Town to be the Miami theatre. The Miami Theatre was further west. Not sure what year the actual Miami theatre was built. I never knew the State Theatre, but from the picture that is on this website, the last thing I would have thought is that it was on a corner. The picture of the State that is on this website, depicts the theatre as having stores on both sides, which would not place this theatre in the corner where that map shows it.
Al? Any input on this?
LM, never heard or saw a Dramatic Theatre in Miami. Is there an address for that theatre? Al, have you heard of the Dramatic Theatre?
Al,
You are 1000% correct, I just realized that. Walgreens front entrance is right accross the street! That is the Florida Theatre. I saw a couple of the Planet of the Apes movies there and in the Paramount. That is a rare pic of the Florida Theatre. I think the Florida was the first of the theatres to get converted to a mall.
Here is another picture of downtown Miami, the Town Theatre on the right. This picture dates as 1952:
http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/77098085
Lost Memory, you are flipping me out with all these organ references! I have to assume that these organs were taken out way before I grew up in Miami during the 60s. I never saw not even one in any of the theatres. I did a search on the Wurlitzer models you mentioned to see if I could see a picture, in the hopes of jogging my memory, however I did not see anything.
Do you have any idea when these organs were taken out of the theatres? I wonder what they used them for? Intermission?
The Sheridan unlike it’s neighbor, The Roosevelt, kept busy, never turned into a porn house. I saw 2001 there. The Sheridan was the only theatre that had the big screen for quite sometime, so all the top billings were screened there. I am not sure who owned the Sheridan, I do not think it was Wometco, but I may be wrong.
MiamiGuy,
Great pic! I remembered the Sheridan as a stand alone building. If I may ask, where did you get this pic? I would love to see what else they got. Al recommended this website:
http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/memories
I have been going over it for the last couple of months. There is a huge database of pictures, mostly of Miami and Hialeah, famous people of the area, but not a whole lot on old theatres. I guess there are not too many of us who like the old movie houses, so those contributions have been sparse as far as that website is concerned, but nonetheless, I find it fascinating. I love old pictues.
The Golden Glades drive in was HUGE! I remember it spanning quite a bit of property. If memory serves me right, I believe the entrance was on Red Road 57th Avenue and it went west almost to the big curve where the Palmetto Expressway becomes a north south highway. The last movie I ever saw there was MASH and Marriage of a Young Stockbroker with Richard Benjamin. Not sure of that title, because that was quite a while ago. I remember that theatre had a playground where the kids could play while the adults watched the movies. That was the last time I was there, but it certainly was a very big theatre. I think it boasted 2 screens, but I can’t swear to that, I am sure Al will remember!!!
Wow, great pics. I love the one with the Snows of Kilimanjaro movie posters, very very nice!
Wow, no I hadn’t. It’s in my favorites now. I guess Novicia means Monja in real spanish. You learn something new every day! Thanks
That is funny! Man can I relate to that. I also grew up going to the Tower Theatre. I remember they had a lot of double features, not always in spanish. I remember watching The Good The Bad & The Ugly, then the 2nd feature was a mexican “vaquero” movie, usually dirty old Mexican vaqueros chasing the daughters of a poor Mexican farmer that was leading a good Christian life. Yes I too got bored of watching the vaqueros, so I also learned how to take the bus to go downtown.
Given the frequency of my visits to the Tower, I am sure I must have seen you there sometime. You have access to some great info and pics, if there is anything you want to share, this is my email: I wish this forum had IMs or a way to post an email on a profile, but it doesn’t. I enjoy your posts very much, you have a lot of knowledge of all the things that I loved when I was a kid growing up in Miami, so it’s always a pleasure and I look forward to you postings.
Al,
Great article. I am surprised you miss this theatre the most. I remember it, but it never caught my attention as much as The Carib, and some of the others.
It’s really funny that all that was demolished to pave the way for the Omni. The Omni with all it’s glamour and glitter when it was built, is now nothing of what it used to be. I recently stayed at the Radisson and the place is starting to look run down.