According to Street View on googlemaps.com, the Center Theatre
building is still there. It appears to have been an African-American church at one time, now vacant.
My grandmother and I went to the Tower Theatre once, as I recall,
to see “Half Angel” starring Loretta Young. I suppose it was around 1950 and I was about nine years old. I remember huge round airconditioning vents in the ceiling…larger than other theatres I knew at the time. As far as interior decor, I don’t remember anything at all. I do remember the “tower” was neon it and maybe
flashed. A decade or so later the “tower” came down as shown in the 1961 or thereabouts photo earier in this thread. My grandmother lived at S.W. 11th Terrace just west of 22nd Ave and we probably walked to the Tower since she didn’t drive…or we could have taken the #5 Miami bus down S.W. 8th Street. I would have gone to the show there more if my grandmother hadn’t moved just a short while after that.
The Gables was a large house with balcony and a very large screen,
especially after the introduction of CinemaScope in the early ‘50s.
Unfortunately, the 1936 “renovation” took out almost all of the original decor from the lobby and auditorium. What I remember was a
creme colored wall with a medium blue design on each wall in a sort of stepped effect starting at the rear…nothing great. Proscenium was plain, ceiling plain. Entry doors into the auditorium were sort of greyish blue as I remember with an octogan shaped frosted window in the center upper part. The exterior underwent some significant changes after the 1936 renovation. I remember the Gables from about 1947 to 1972. The large vertical sign was plaster at the end of the theatre’s life, but earlier in my time it had mirror chips on the plaster on both sides of it, making the neon letters “GABLES” really glow at night. It seemed to get plainer as time went on.
I saw many classic films here during my years in the Gables. I took my much younger brother to see “Woodstock” here when there was a
tizzy about it showing in Coral Gables. An earlier post said that “Woodstock” played at the Coral? No, it was at the Gables.
I miss all the old theatres in the Gables; so glad that the Miracle Theatre survived…where I was an usher in my teens.
I knew the Coral well, having grown up in Coral Gables in the late 1940s to the early 1970s. The exterior went through some changes during its latter years, but the interior remained the same. Inside were wall murals on each wall near the screen, mainly fish and coral pieces. Nearer the screen on each side were three? vertical louvered pieces with cove lighting. The theatre had a screen curtain that glimmered and always was used to open the show. After CinemaScope was introduced in the early ‘50s, a new screen was brought forward and the curtains were taken out. The theatre also had rows where the end seats were “love seat” style, i.e., room for two. The Coral had no balcony but was fairly spacious.
I saw many movies here, including “The Night Heaven Fell” the second Bardot film where I had to lie about my age to get in.
I remember seeing “Stars in My Crown” starring Joel McRae in 1950
at the Embassy Theatre. I went with my mother or grandfather.
It was a nice theatre, but the decor was a bit on the
“Country Living”/1890s style as I seem to remember.
The Dadeland Twin was a great showplace. I remember seeing
“Midnight Cowboy” there in the late ‘60s. I don’t remember
any particular decor or whether it had a screen curtain…probably
not, just good film presentation on the giant screens. I also
saw “Carnal Knowledge” there starring Candace Bergen, I believe.
The film attracted all the usual reactionaries, particularly in the South, who tried to ban it.
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.
According to Street View on googlemaps.com, the Center Theatre
building is still there. It appears to have been an African-American church at one time, now vacant.
My grandmother and I went to the Tower Theatre once, as I recall,
to see “Half Angel” starring Loretta Young. I suppose it was around 1950 and I was about nine years old. I remember huge round airconditioning vents in the ceiling…larger than other theatres I knew at the time. As far as interior decor, I don’t remember anything at all. I do remember the “tower” was neon it and maybe
flashed. A decade or so later the “tower” came down as shown in the 1961 or thereabouts photo earier in this thread. My grandmother lived at S.W. 11th Terrace just west of 22nd Ave and we probably walked to the Tower since she didn’t drive…or we could have taken the #5 Miami bus down S.W. 8th Street. I would have gone to the show there more if my grandmother hadn’t moved just a short while after that.
The Gables was a large house with balcony and a very large screen,
especially after the introduction of CinemaScope in the early ‘50s.
Unfortunately, the 1936 “renovation” took out almost all of the original decor from the lobby and auditorium. What I remember was a
creme colored wall with a medium blue design on each wall in a sort of stepped effect starting at the rear…nothing great. Proscenium was plain, ceiling plain. Entry doors into the auditorium were sort of greyish blue as I remember with an octogan shaped frosted window in the center upper part. The exterior underwent some significant changes after the 1936 renovation. I remember the Gables from about 1947 to 1972. The large vertical sign was plaster at the end of the theatre’s life, but earlier in my time it had mirror chips on the plaster on both sides of it, making the neon letters “GABLES” really glow at night. It seemed to get plainer as time went on.
I saw many classic films here during my years in the Gables. I took my much younger brother to see “Woodstock” here when there was a
tizzy about it showing in Coral Gables. An earlier post said that “Woodstock” played at the Coral? No, it was at the Gables.
I miss all the old theatres in the Gables; so glad that the Miracle Theatre survived…where I was an usher in my teens.
I knew the Coral well, having grown up in Coral Gables in the late 1940s to the early 1970s. The exterior went through some changes during its latter years, but the interior remained the same. Inside were wall murals on each wall near the screen, mainly fish and coral pieces. Nearer the screen on each side were three? vertical louvered pieces with cove lighting. The theatre had a screen curtain that glimmered and always was used to open the show. After CinemaScope was introduced in the early ‘50s, a new screen was brought forward and the curtains were taken out. The theatre also had rows where the end seats were “love seat” style, i.e., room for two. The Coral had no balcony but was fairly spacious.
I saw many movies here, including “The Night Heaven Fell” the second Bardot film where I had to lie about my age to get in.
I remember seeing “Stars in My Crown” starring Joel McRae in 1950
at the Embassy Theatre. I went with my mother or grandfather.
It was a nice theatre, but the decor was a bit on the
“Country Living”/1890s style as I seem to remember.
The Dadeland Twin was a great showplace. I remember seeing
“Midnight Cowboy” there in the late ‘60s. I don’t remember
any particular decor or whether it had a screen curtain…probably
not, just good film presentation on the giant screens. I also
saw “Carnal Knowledge” there starring Candace Bergen, I believe.
The film attracted all the usual reactionaries, particularly in the South, who tried to ban it.
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.