Remembering Cinerama (Part 27: Miami)

posted by Coate on April 16, 2009 at 8:00 am

REMEMBERING CINERAMA
Part 27: Miami

The following is Part Twenty-seven in a series of retrospectives on Cinerama, the legendary motion picture process that kicked off the widescreen revolution. The series focuses on providing a market-by-market, film-by-film, historical record of when and where Cinerama and its multi-panel clones were exhibited. The easy-to-reference articles also serve to provide nostalgia to those who experienced the Cinerama presentations when they were new and to highlight the movie palaces in which the memorable events took place.

Part 1: New York
Part 2: Chicago
Part 3: San Francisco
Part 4: Houston
Part 5: Washington, DC
Part 6: Los Angeles
Part 7: Atlanta
Part 8: San Diego
Part 9: Dallas
Part 10: Oklahoma City
Part 11: Syracuse
Part 12: Toronto
Part 13: Columbus
Part 14: Montreal
Part 15: Northern New Jersey
Part 16: Charlotte
Part 17: Vancouver
Part 18: Salt Lake City
Part 19: Boston
Part 20: Philadelphia
Part 21: Fresno
Part 22: Detroit
Part 23: Minneapolis
Part 24: Albuquerque
Part 25: El Paso
Part 26: Des Moines

And now… Part 27: Cinerama Presentations in Miami!

THIS IS CINERAMA
Theater: Roosevelt
Premiere: December 5, 1956 (Florida Premiere)
Engagement Duration: 11 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Promotional Hype: “The Biggest Entertainment Event of the Year!” “CINERAMA Puts You in the Picture!” “Cannot and will not be seen in any local or neighborhood theatre”

SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
Theater: Roosevelt
Premiere: February 20, 1957 (Southern Premiere)
Duration: 19 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “Florida…the world’s greatest playground demands CINERAMA’s newest & greatest production”

CINERAMA HOLIDAY
Theater: Roosevelt
Premiere: July 4, 1957 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 13 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “It’s every holiday you ever dreamed of come true”

SEARCH FOR PARADISE
Theater: Roosevelt
Premiere: December 8, 1957 (Southern Premiere)
Duration: 15 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “An Electrifying Event In Entertainment History. CINERAMA Will Put You In The Picture As Only CINERAMA Can.”

THIS IS CINERAMA (Return Engagement)
Theater: Florida
Premiere: December 13, 1961
Duration: 9 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “At Last! First Time In Miami*.” “The only really all-new wonder of the entertainment world.” “Cannot and will not be seen in any other local or neighborhood theatre within 300 miles”

WINDJAMMER
Theater: Florida
Premiere: February 14, 1962 (Southern Premiere)
Duration: 7 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “Never before shown in Miami.” “A New CINERAMA Presentation”

SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD (Return Engagement)
Theater: Florida
Premiere: April 2, 1962
Duration: 17 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “It takes you to the four corners of the earth and will astound you with the marvels of the universe.”

CINERAMA HOLIDAY (Return Engagement)
Theater: Florida
Premiere: August 1, 1962
Duration: 11 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “No holiday can match it!” “It’s winter in Switzerland. It’s autumn in New Hampshire.”

HOLIDAY IN SPAIN
Theater: Florida
Premiere: October 17, 1962 (Southern Premiere)
Duration: 9 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “Newest Never Before Shown Adventure!”

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Theater: Florida
Premiere: December 22, 1962
Duration: 13 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “The First Dramatic Film In Fabulous CINERAMA”

SEARCH FOR PARADISE (Return Engagement)
Theater: Florida
Premiere: March 21, 1963
Duration: 7 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “The most exciting CINERAMA adventure of them all!” “See jet planes taking off in formation from their base in Florida, in one of the most beautiful and poetic scenes ever put on film.”

HOW THE WEST WAS WON
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: April 10, 1963 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 35 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “The Great Dramatic Motion Picture That Puts You In Every Scene!”

SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE
Theater: Florida
Premiere: May 9, 1963
Duration: 8 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “New! And never to be forgotten! You live every moment as CINERAMA transports you to the last romantic refuge left on earth for the first adventure of its kind.”

THE BEST OF CINERAMA
Theater: Florida
Premiere: July 3, 1963 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 9 weeks
Format: Cinerama (3-strip)
Hype: “A Decade of CINERAMA” “Now You Are Catapulted Across Five Continents and 100 Countries!” “A Decade of CINERAMA’s all-time thrills presented for the first time in one exciting CINERAMA production!”

IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: December 19, 1963 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 23 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “The World’s Critics Go Stark Raving Mad! Mad! Mad! Mad!”

CIRCUS WORLD
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: July 22, 1964 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 7 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “CINERAMA Puts You In The Middle Of The Most Action-Filled Story You’ve Ever Seen!”

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: February 19, 1965 (Southern Premiere)
Duration: 19 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: None

THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: July 1, 1965 (Southern Premiere)
Duration: 7 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “CINERAMA Sends You Roaring With Laughter And Adventure Down That Wide, Wonderful, Fun-Trail!”

BATTLE OF THE BULGE
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: March 3, 1966 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 17 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “Those Incredible Words Rocked The World! SURRENDER Is The Command… NUTS Is The Answer.”

KHARTOUM
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: June 29, 1966 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 10 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “The Great CINERAMA Adventure!”

GRAND PRIX
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: February 2, 1967 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 10 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “CINERAMA Sweeps YOU Into A Drama Of Speed And Spectacle!”

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: May 29, 1968 (Florida Premiere)
Duration: 23 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “An astounding entertainment experience, a dazzling trip to the planets and the stars!”

ICE STATION ZEBRA
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: February 14, 1969
Duration: 15 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “Exclusive Southeastern Showing. Ice Station Zebra…remember the name, your life may depend on it!”

KRAKATOA, EAST OF JAVA
Theater: Sheridan
Premiere: August 8, 1969
Duration: 8 weeks
Format: Cinerama (70mm)
Hype: “Exclusive Southeastern Showing. All seats unreserved. The New Super CINERAMA Hurls You Into The Incredible Day That Shook The Earth To Its Core!”

NOT SHOWN IN CINERAMA IN THE MIAMI MARKET:
MEDITERRANEAN HOLIDAY
RUSSIAN ADVENTURE
CUSTER OF THE WEST
THIS IS CINERAMA 1973 re-issue

TRIVIA:
Miami was the 20th U.S. market to equip for Cinerama presentations.

Miami was the first market to play Cinerama films out of their production sequence.

Miami was the only U.S. market to have two 3-strip theaters simultaneously running 3-strip presentations (Florida and Sheridan during 1963).

• Miami and Miami Beach are separate cities. The 1961 return engagement of THIS IS CINERAMA at the Florida was promoted as the “first time in Miami” to distinguish it from the original run of the film that took place five years earlier in Miami Beach at the Roosevelt. (The Sheridan was also located in Miami Beach.)

Compiled by Al Alvarez & Michael Coate

References: Boxoffice, The Miami Herald, Variety

Theaters in this post

• Florida Theatre
• Roosevelt Theatre
• Sheridan Theatre