Roxy Theatre
220 W. Church Street,
Orlando,
FL
32801
220 W. Church Street,
Orlando,
FL
32801
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Florida State Theaters Inc., Paramount Pictures Inc.
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
Orlando’s Roxy Theatre was a neglected masterpiece of Art Deco design which opened on December 25, 1937. It had a large loft above the stage, with lots of windows for dressing rooms. The marquee was spread over the entire city block, making it predominate over the many merchants who were located there. It was remodeled by Florida State Theatres in the 1950’s, but kept its Art Deco heritage.
Regulated to a double feature grind house, the Roxy Theatre struggled for another decade, but the audiences were sparse. In 1953, For some reason, it premiered Arch Oblier’s 3D film starring Robert Stack “Bwana Devil”, and large crowds flocked to the theatre. It was demolished in the early-1960’s because it was dead in the path of the under construction Interstate 4.
Contributed by
Irv Lipscomb
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Per the 1944 FILM DAILY YEARBOOK, the Roxy had 1100 seats, making it the largest movie house in Orlando at that time.
One of the last movies I saw at the Roxy was “The Mouse that Roared,” with Peter Sellers, probably shown Spring 1960, when I was 13. I vaguely remember a jungle movie at the Roxy with a white lady in a revealing leopard-skin get-up, maybe 1958-59. The Roxy was close to the great racial divide, Division Street, and in the late 50s, this area was the most integrated street I knew of; near the Roxy or perhaps the Rialto, there was an African-American clothing store for men where my father sometimes shopped for unique styled suits—one was chartreuse—and for spectator shoes that the owner called Stacy Adams. The Roxy was elegant and tattered during its final days.
Eugenie, you wouldn’t happen to have a photo of the exterior of The Roxy, would you? Or a vivid memory of it, vivid enough to describe it in detail for a re-creation of it? It would be vastly appreciated!
1941 ad for Florida State Theatres, showing its theatres in Orlando/Winter Park posted to photo section.
Recent research as shown the Roxy’s address as 220 West Church Street in Orlando. Please reflect this change above.
The Roxy, Rialto, Astor and Beacham theaters in downtown Orlando were for whites only. Blacks saw second run movies at the Lincoln and Carver theaters on Church Street.
1954 Orlando Florida State Theatres ad posted to photo section.
Irvl - I’ve been following on Historic Orlando the Original regarding the ad you posted above. Started digging in newspapers dot com - have you seen the picture of the interior I posted here? I adjusted it the best I could. Also I found the same exterior shot and managed to tweak it a little bit too and posted it.
The theater opened on December 25, 1937.
Also posted an article about the grand opening.
Pearliemae: Fascinating finds you posted! I have hoped to see an interior picture of the Roxy but had given up that one existed. My brothers and I saw many a movie there. There was never much patronage which was probably due to the racial prejudice so prevalent at the time. Pls. contact me at .com, and we can chat further.