CITY GIVES THEATER MISSION X RATING
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 8, 1984
Author: PAUL SHANNON Herald Staff Writer
He is a South Beach preacher who calls himself John 3:16 Cook, and he believes his lot in life is to be persecuted.
When his days as a rhinestone-studded street preacher in St. Petersburg ended in scandal and the city shuttered his Skid Row missions, he blamed persecution.
He blamed it again when his son committed suicide in a city jail cell in the late 1970s, and when a judge ordered him to stop preaching for five years.
Today, John 3:16 Cook knows exactly why Miami Beach fire inspectors want to shut down the old X-rated movie theater where the marquee proclaims: “Soup, soap and hope — Rated G.” It’s persecution, he says.
“I get into something and they climb on me. I knew they were going to try and stop me somehow. They always do,” he said. “But I only take orders from God.”
“It is a hazardous place,” William Miller, Beach fire prevention chief, said of the mission that opened eight days ago. Miller’s inspectors cited the theater, the Paris at 550 Washington Ave., for broken exit signs, lack of emergency lighting and exits blocked by rows of old seats and posters advertising pornographic movies.
If there was a fire, people asleep on cots or seated in the small chapel would be trapped, Miller said. He has asked the city’s Code Enforcement Department to turn off power and water to the theater.
“We’re going to close it,” confirmed Daniel Skubish, the city’s code enforcement director.
Cook is defiant. “They can’t stop me. I’ll bring 500 people in here for my Sunday service and they’ll all have candles,” he says.
As a preacher, Cook has never been one to shy away from a scrap with authorities. A onetime B-movie actor, Cook says, he found the Lord in the late 1960s, legally changed his name to add the biblical verse John 3:16 and stitched the numbers onto his rhinestone and satin outfits.
The passage, Cook’s favorite, ends: “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Like his friend Lash LaRue — who turned preacher after what the Film Encyclopedia called a “brief and unmemorable” career portraying a whip-wielding cowboy — Cook toured on the South’s tent revival circuit.
After a few years, he settled in St. Petersburg. He opened thrift shops and rescue missions for alcoholics, and drove around in a Cadillac. “I lived high at night to escape Skid Row,” he says.
He immediately ran into trouble with the city, which he says cited him for code violations in his missions. He fought back, but says that his ardor was dampened when he was convicted of drunken driving.
Then, five years ago, Cook was accused of stealing money
from his son’s trust fund. The son, who Cook says was a drug addict, committed suicide in a jail cell while the trial was pending, and Cook’s wife ran off to Oklahoma with his three daughters.
For most of the five years that Cook was on probation, he sold a product that killed fleas and ticks on pets. Cook says he even toyed with the idea of changing his name to John Canine.
That ended abruptly two weeks ago, when Cook says God visited his small Georgia farm and told him to start a mission in South Miami Beach. He forsook his rhinestones for a dark suit with a priest’s collar and picked out the Paris Theater , its cavernous interior littered with posters and empty film reels.
“This is a combat zone,” he says.
As far as the city inspectors are concerned, Cook will have to do his preaching on the street until the code violations are fixed. Increasing the danger of a fire are bare wires and corroded connections on lights throughout the theater, they said. The candle on the pulpit Cook erected next to the screen shouldn’t be lit, inspectors said.
“They can’t stop me,” Cook warns. “These people need someone to help them.”
To make his point, he rushes out and grabs an elderly, bearded man passed out with a quart of malt liquor in the doorway of Irish Mike’s Bar.
“The cops will get you here, come on,” he urges, and drags the man to his tiny apartment behind the theater.
The man sits, looking bewildered, as Cook brushes his hair, towels him off and slips a clean shirt on him. Edward Lawrence’s only comment comes when he is handed a baloney sandwich on whole wheat.
“Hey, that’s pretty good, Pops,” he says.
“This man is a baby, he’s a little pup. He is beyond caring for himself,” Cook shouts, prompting a call for quiet from another apartment. Raising his voice, he adds, “I am willing to do it for him.”
Caption: photo: John 3:16 Cook with Edward Lawrence in doorway of deserted business
XXX TURNS TO ZZZZZZ: BEACH ADULT CINEMA SHUT
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 26, 1989
Author: DAVID ZEMAN Herald Staff Writer
For more than a decade, the Roosevelt Theater has leered lasciviously at passing motorists as they slide across the Julia Tuttle Causeway into Miami Beach’s business district.
But the adult movie theater closed with scarcely a whimper this month, canceling — perhaps forever — the South Florida showing of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Merchants along 41st Street wonder what took so long.
“In two years here, I don’t think I saw a half-dozen people go into that theater,” said Paul Steinberg, a lawyer who works across the street.
His figures do not include the lawyers in his office who used to jokingly don raincoats when they crossed the road for popcorn. Only for popcorn.
It’s hard to conceive that the same theater that bowed out with sex romps was originally called the Lemonade Theater when it opened in 1949 because free lemonade was served during intermission. The Roosevelt showed first-run movies then and even put on plays before converting to “adult” flicks about 15 years ago.
Yet even its detractors concede that the sex palace has become a part of the local fabric.
Thomas Coltrane, who runs a realty office next door, said the theater has guided many customers to his otherwise nondescript office.
“A 75-year-old lady once called me and said, ‘I just can’t imagine how to get to your place,’ ” said Coltrane. “I told her we were right next to the dirty movie theater. She said, ‘Oh, I know exactly where you are.’ ”
The marquee has been empty since building owner Ted Konover bought out the lease from the theater’s operator, Irwin Knohl, the first week in June. Konover, who purchased the building in 1985, and Knohl both refused to be interviewed.
However, Steinberg said Konover has shown him plans to build a restaurant, stores and offices where the Roosevelt stands abandoned at 770 41st St.
Peeking inside the fingerprint-smudged glass doors, visitors can still ogle the posters promoting coming attractions.
There’s the sentimental Legend of Lady Blue, a movie “for those who still remember the first time”; Satin Suite, a “film” that won the praise of Hustler’s discerning art critic; and a medical docudrama, The Naughty Nurse.
Rabbi Gary Glickstein of nearby Temple Beth Sholom recalled when the Roosevelt began promoting Debbie Does Dallas two days before the temple was to host an Israeli Independence Day festival in 1975.
Panicky elders from the temple prevailed on the Roosevelt to delay the ad campaign for a week.
“It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to Arthur Godfrey Road in the last 10 years,” said Steinberg of the closing. “This is the gateway to Miami Beach and the business district. To have a large marquee advertising triple X-rated movies is not the first impression you want people to have.”
The Roosevelt might have fallen victim to a take-out mentality, said Joe Bueno, manager of Video Variety in Miami Beach. Bueno said adult movies make up 50 percent of his store’s weekend rentals.
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 26, 1989
Author: DAVID ZEMAN Herald Staff Writer
For more than a decade, the Roosevelt Theater has leered lasciviously at passing motorists as they slide across the Julia Tuttle Causeway into Miami Beach’s business district.
But the adult movie theater closed with scarcely a whimper this month, canceling — perhaps forever — the South Florida showing of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Merchants along 41st Street wonder what took so long.
“In two years here, I don’t think I saw a half-dozen people go into that theater,” said Paul Steinberg, a lawyer who works across the street.
His figures do not include the lawyers in his office who used to jokingly don raincoats when they crossed the road for popcorn. Only for popcorn.
It’s hard to conceive that the same theater that bowed out with sex romps was originally called the Lemonade Theater when it opened in 1949 because free lemonade was served during intermission. The Roosevelt showed first-run movies then and even put on plays before converting to “adult” flicks about 15 years ago.
Yet even its detractors concede that the sex palace has become a part of the local fabric.
Thomas Coltrane, who runs a realty office next door, said the theater has guided many customers to his otherwise nondescript office.
“A 75-year-old lady once called me and said, ‘I just can’t imagine how to get to your place,’ ” said Coltrane. “I told her we were right next to the dirty movie theater. She said, ‘Oh, I know exactly where you are.’ ”
The marquee has been empty since building owner Ted Konover bought out the lease from the theater’s operator, Irwin Knohl, the first week in June. Konover, who purchased the building in 1985, and Knohl both refused to be interviewed.
However, Steinberg said Konover has shown him plans to build a restaurant, stores and offices where the Roosevelt stands abandoned at 770 41st St.
Peeking inside the fingerprint-smudged glass doors, visitors can still ogle the posters promoting coming attractions.
There’s the sentimental Legend of Lady Blue, a movie “for those who still remember the first time”; Satin Suite, a “film” that won the praise of Hustler’s discerning art critic; and a medical docudrama, The Naughty Nurse.
Rabbi Gary Glickstein of nearby Temple Beth Sholom recalled when the Roosevelt began promoting Debbie Does Dallas two days before the temple was to host an Israeli Independence Day festival in 1975.
Panicky elders from the temple prevailed on the Roosevelt to delay the ad campaign for a week.
“It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to Arthur Godfrey Road in the last 10 years,” said Steinberg of the closing. “This is the gateway to Miami Beach and the business district. To have a large marquee advertising triple X-rated movies is not the first impression you want people to have.”
The Roosevelt might have fallen victim to a take-out mentality, said Joe Bueno, manager of Video Variety in Miami Beach. Bueno said adult movies make up 50 percent of his store’s weekend rentals.
AGING THEATER COULD GET NEW LIFE IN LITTLE HAITI
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 2, 1983
Author: CHRIS VAUGHAN Herald Staff Writer
The Rex theater , a battered survivor of porn and neglect, is nearing yet another comeback.
The 54-year-old movie house in the 7900 block of NE Second Avenue has been closed since a failed salvation attempt four years ago. It will reopen as a Haitian-oriented theater this summer if HAYTO Services, a Haitian partnership with offices at 7220 N. Miami Ave., can obtain the city license it needs.
City parking regulations currently stand in the way, said Fritz Henriquez, manager of the firm, but an exemption to current parking regulations — one parking space for every four seats—may be “grandfathered in,” Henriquez said.
The Rex has 700 seats, which means 175 spaces would be required if no exemption is granted. There are 25 spaces behind the building and about 50 parking meters on the street near the theater .
“We really do not need all those spots,” Henriquez said. “Most of the people who will come to the movies are from the Haitian community. They will walk.”
The Rex is at the edge of Little Haiti, which has no theater catering to the tastes of its more than 25,000 Haitian residents. Henriquez says the fare at the Rex will be mostly French movies. The theater may show English- and Spanish- language movies once a week.
“We will have to see what people want,” Henriquez says. “To show only French movies would be killing ourselves, I think.”
Admission will be $2, with some reserved seats for $2.50, Henriquez says. At those rates, he figures, “I need 1,000 people a week” to break even.
Henriquez and two partners in Haiti began efforts to buy the theater in March. They have sunk about $25,000 into renovations.
“We’re trying to open this month, but the way things are going, we will try to open the first week of July,” Henriquez said.
“It will be a clean place again,” he vowed. As he spoke, a workman swept steadily in the newly painted lobby. The candy counter was cracked and dusty, but the floors were clean. Outside, the red marquee shows its age. Inside, the red velvet seats appear in good repair.
“It will be nice for the neighborhood,” said Alma Camacho, a waitress at the El Paso Coffee Shop next door to the Rex. Camacho attended movies at the Rex “when it was good, not when they had those X movies.” But she probably will not attend shows there in the future, she said.
“When work is over, I’m on my way home. I don’t stay around here at night,” she said.
Chris Crickmore, 18, of 82nd Street by way of Dayton, Ohio, said he won’t go to the Rex, either.
“I don’t know French. I like American movies, the modern ones,” Crickmore said.
Amy Johnston, an employe at Barnett Bank across the street, was more concerned about the kind of movies the Rex will show.
“What kind of French movies?” she asked suspiciously.
Assured they would be family fare, she breathed easier. “As long as they don’t put those X-rated ones in again, I guess it’s a good thing. The neighborhood sure needs something.”
Lochard Noel, a clerk at Les Cousins Book & Record Shop, 7858 NE Second Ave., was enthusiastic about the plan. “They have a Rex in Port-au-Prince, too,” he said. “All the Haitians will go.”
But the ticket seller at United Adult Movies, 7829 NE Second Ave., offered no encouragement to the backers of the Rex.
“They’ll never make it,” he said. “They tried running straight movies before and it didn’t work. Take it from me.”
THEATER VOWS TO REOPEN WITH 99-CENT FILMS
Miami Herald, The (FL) – January 7, 1988
Author: KATHY McCARTHY Herald Staff Writer
The Holiday Theater , facing a $45,750 fine for showing films like Nasty Habits and French Taboo, has closed the curtain on adult pictures and promises to return to 99-cent movies next month.
North Miami Beach code enforcement inspectors, who had been checking the movies weekly since a $250-per-day fine was imposed June 10, found the theater closed on Dec. 11.
A telephone recording and the marquee in front of the theater at 2110 NE 160th St. promise the return of 99-cent admission movies, which were shown until the operator switched to $6-per-ticket adult films last April.
Mitchell Knohl, president of R.D. Theatre Corp., which operates the Holiday and the Shores, Skylake and Atlas theaters, said he hopes to bring back the popular 99-cent movies in 30 to 60 days.
In June, the city’s Code Enforcement Board found the theater in violation of a 16-year-old zoning restriction that stipulated the theater never show X-rated movies.
The board ordered the theater’s operators to stop showing the films or pay a $250-per-day fine.
R.D. Theatre Corp., which has a lease to operate the Holiday, appealed the ruling in court, contending the theater was not in violation because the movies being shown were not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America’s voluntary code.
The court refused to stay the fine at a hearing last July. On Dec. 3, R.D Theatre dropped the appeal, Deputy City Attorney Cindy Lederman said.
The total fine amounts to $45,750, according to Community Development Director Harold Zombek. The fine is levied against R.D. Theatre and the property owner, Jack Knap, who also owns the West Dixie Bowling Lanes next door.
Knap had opposed the adult films but said at the time there was little he could do to stop his tenant from showing them. Knap refused to comment Monday, except to say he is taking legal action to force R.D. Theatre out of the Holiday.
Knohl said Tuesday the adult films were shown by an entity, whom he would not name, which subleased the theater from R.D. Theatre Corp.
“I took the theater back and I will clean it up and plan on doing some work inside,” Knohl said. “It will probably open in 30 to 60 days.”
Knohl said he is waiting for the village of Miami Shores to take over the Shores Theater, which now shows 99-cent films. Miami Shores has an option to buy the theater’s lease and hopes to renovate it into a cultural center and a home for the Ruth Foreman theater company.
“As soon as the Shores Theater closes, it will only help the Holiday situation,” Knohl said. “Before, the Shores, Skylake and Holiday all competed with each other.”
HUGE DISCO PLANNED FOR NORTHSIDE
Miami Herald, The (FL) – November 4, 1984
Author: CASEY FRANK Herald Staff Writer
Move over Club Z.
Some North Dade investors hope to turn a defunct twin movie theater at Liberty City’s Northside Shopping Center into a collosal, celebrity-studded entertainment complex.
Called Heart of the City, the club would feature disco dancing, pulsating light shows, giant video screens and have a license to sell liquor until 6 a.m., according to backers.
“It will be a sight to see,” said project consultant Peter Izaak. “One large room, about 25,000 square feet, with a 52- foot-high ceiling. The whole building is being repainted. The asphalt parking lot is going to be turned into a garden.”
But first the proposal must be approved by the Metro Zoning Appeals Board. The panel is scheduled to hear the application at 9 a.m. Nov. 14 at the Dade County Courthouse, 73 W. Flagler St.
27-year lease
A few months ago, Heart of the City Inc. signed a 27-year lease to occupy the free-standing theater at the north end of the shopping center. The movie operation was closed and the theater gutted, leaving one large, high-ceiling room.
Transforming the empty shell into Heart of the City will cost an estimated $2 million.
Dr. Thomas Ferguson, listed as chief executive officer of the corporation, could not be reached, despite messages left at his home and office.
Lawyer Gerald Greenspoon, an investor in the project, said financing will not be a problem because “the funds are already in place.”
Greenspoon would not identify the other investors.
TV shows planned
Joe Zamore, a consultant in charge of lighting and technical matters, said the Liberty City entertainment center will be “bigger than Club Z,” the trendy Miami Beach disco whose lighting he also helped design.
“We’ll proably be filming a syndicated television show out of here as well as MTV shoots and other production work,” Zamore said.
The club will attract plenty of celebrities, Zamore said. If all goes according to plan, it should be ready to open before the New Year, he added.
Although Zamore said community sentiment is “100 percent” behind the project, not everyone is acquainted with Heart of the City.
“I haven’t heard of it,” said Dorothy Baker, executive vice president of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, a black business group.
“I’ve heard that term. But this is the first time I’ve heard what it means,” said Al Guilford, president of G and G Wholesale distributors and civic activist.
“I think it would be a plus for the community,” he added.
Northside manager Don Stevenson, whose 79th Street shopping center lost Sears as an anchor client last year, agreed. “It’s a very ambitious undertaking,” said Stevenson. “But I’ve spoken to them and they don’t seem to have any difficulty handling it.”
167THSTREET THEATRE CLOSES
Miami Herald, The (FL) – September 13, 1990
Author: OLYMPIA ROSS Herald Staff Writer
The name of the movie was Pump Up The Volume, but the staff at the 167thStreet Theatre in North Miami Beach turned down the sound, dimmed the lights and closed the door on the movie house for good Sunday night.
It was the last night the 22-year-old theater would show films. The other feature was Air America.
“ Twin theaters are almost like dinosaurs now,” said Michael Brown, president of Wometco Enterprises Inc., which owned the theater. “It’s very hard for them to compete with multiplex theaters.”
Brown said heavy competition and low profits contributed to the decision to close the theater.
On Monday, employees stacked the big red letters that once hung from the marquee on 167thStreet and Northeast Second Avenue. Today, the marquee is bare and a “For Sale” sign stands next to it.
“The value of the property along that strip is increasing,” said Brown. “Unfortunately, the property became more valuable for real estate than for a theater.”
A buyer has not been found for the property, which the county valued at $1.1 million in the 1990 property tax assessment. Brown is asking about $2 million.
The theater was among the few remaining twin -screen movie houses in Northeast Dade. Newer theaters have six, eight and even 10 screens.
One auditorium of the 167thStreet Theatre seated 800 people, and the other seated 400 people. Brown said the theater’s size wasn’t always an asset.
Multiplex theaters have more variety in selecting movies and, consequently, a greater chance of turning a profit, said Brown. For the last year, the theater has been operating “marginally,” he said.
Converting the theater into a multiplex theater was not an option because of inadequate parking.
Brown said Wometco decided to close the theater now because of low attendance expected in coming months. Traditionally, September, October and November are poor months for any theater, he said.
“There just wasn’t a lot we could do with a twin theater there,” said Brown. “The movie business is pretty tricky.”
Now, Al, I know the marquee here at 163rd Street was huge! Hell, there were marquees all over: by the road, over the entrance and back over by the Patio. I’m assuming these large marquees were a trademark of Wometco ? The Plaza, The Palm Springs, 163rd, etc ?
I saw so many movies at this theater growing up it pains me to know it’s gone.
From SouthEastern edition of Boxoffice Magazine dated June 7, 1965, Jacksonville notes:
Samuel B. Jones has taken over management of the former Lake Shore Theatre in suburban Lake Shore from Maurice Magnan, who operated it on weekend dates as a conventional double-feature house. Now called the Lakeshore Art, the theatre has a completely new policy of catering to adults only. For its grand opening, the Lakeshore Art had a triple feature program of “World Without Shame”, “The Bellboy and the Playgirls”, and “The Topless Bikini”. The new admission price is $1.50, the same as for the local Roxy Follies, the only other nudie house in the area.
Looking at that VIXEN case doc and seeing Dale Carson’s name. His son just ran for sheriff in Jax and lost on Tuesday. Sheldon fought the good fight, though.
Looking at that VIXEN case doc and seeing Dale Carson’s name. His son just ran for sheriff in Jax and lost on Tuesday. Sheldon fought the good fight, though.
That’s creepy. Troy, do you have any pictures of the Roxy or any of the other theaters and drive ins you worked at? And more stories? Maybe Vaughn can get in on this too. What happened on the last day?
Lady Jester, where did you read the story? I’d like to find a copy of it.
Anybody have a picture of the marquee? I remember it being incerdibly huge, like the 27th Ave. Drive-In’s. Then again, I was a kid and after driving past the Southland in 2005 and struck dumb by how small the theatre really was, I may be in for a let down.
My father used to shine shoes in the early 50’s at the penny arcade next door. The name of the arcade owner was Buster Paul. He owned the billiard hall over the arcade as well. Possibly may have owned the Casino (which my father could only remember as “The Fishhouse' as well).
Was the Cedar Hills once known as The Lake Shore Theatre then The Lake Shore Art (showing “nudie” films)? Both would be right around the same area (Blanding, Wilson and Cassat) but I can’t find anyone who can tell me where the Lake Shore was so I’m assuming it’s possible that it became Cedar Hills?
I should say they were edited hardcore films. They did have some issues with law enforcement watching the films and busting them when hardcore scenes slipped through. That info is per an article in The Florida-Times Union right around the time they went to mainstream offerings.
Okay, right theater.
CITY GIVES THEATER MISSION X RATING
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 8, 1984
Author: PAUL SHANNON Herald Staff Writer
He is a South Beach preacher who calls himself John 3:16 Cook, and he believes his lot in life is to be persecuted.
When his days as a rhinestone-studded street preacher in St. Petersburg ended in scandal and the city shuttered his Skid Row missions, he blamed persecution.
He blamed it again when his son committed suicide in a city jail cell in the late 1970s, and when a judge ordered him to stop preaching for five years.
Today, John 3:16 Cook knows exactly why Miami Beach fire inspectors want to shut down the old X-rated movie theater where the marquee proclaims: “Soup, soap and hope — Rated G.” It’s persecution, he says.
“I get into something and they climb on me. I knew they were going to try and stop me somehow. They always do,” he said. “But I only take orders from God.”
“It is a hazardous place,” William Miller, Beach fire prevention chief, said of the mission that opened eight days ago. Miller’s inspectors cited the theater, the Paris at 550 Washington Ave., for broken exit signs, lack of emergency lighting and exits blocked by rows of old seats and posters advertising pornographic movies.
If there was a fire, people asleep on cots or seated in the small chapel would be trapped, Miller said. He has asked the city’s Code Enforcement Department to turn off power and water to the theater.
“We’re going to close it,” confirmed Daniel Skubish, the city’s code enforcement director.
Cook is defiant. “They can’t stop me. I’ll bring 500 people in here for my Sunday service and they’ll all have candles,” he says.
As a preacher, Cook has never been one to shy away from a scrap with authorities. A onetime B-movie actor, Cook says, he found the Lord in the late 1960s, legally changed his name to add the biblical verse John 3:16 and stitched the numbers onto his rhinestone and satin outfits.
The passage, Cook’s favorite, ends: “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Like his friend Lash LaRue — who turned preacher after what the Film Encyclopedia called a “brief and unmemorable” career portraying a whip-wielding cowboy — Cook toured on the South’s tent revival circuit.
After a few years, he settled in St. Petersburg. He opened thrift shops and rescue missions for alcoholics, and drove around in a Cadillac. “I lived high at night to escape Skid Row,” he says.
He immediately ran into trouble with the city, which he says cited him for code violations in his missions. He fought back, but says that his ardor was dampened when he was convicted of drunken driving.
Then, five years ago, Cook was accused of stealing money
from his son’s trust fund. The son, who Cook says was a drug addict, committed suicide in a jail cell while the trial was pending, and Cook’s wife ran off to Oklahoma with his three daughters.
For most of the five years that Cook was on probation, he sold a product that killed fleas and ticks on pets. Cook says he even toyed with the idea of changing his name to John Canine.
That ended abruptly two weeks ago, when Cook says God visited his small Georgia farm and told him to start a mission in South Miami Beach. He forsook his rhinestones for a dark suit with a priest’s collar and picked out the Paris Theater , its cavernous interior littered with posters and empty film reels.
“This is a combat zone,” he says.
As far as the city inspectors are concerned, Cook will have to do his preaching on the street until the code violations are fixed. Increasing the danger of a fire are bare wires and corroded connections on lights throughout the theater, they said. The candle on the pulpit Cook erected next to the screen shouldn’t be lit, inspectors said.
“They can’t stop me,” Cook warns. “These people need someone to help them.”
To make his point, he rushes out and grabs an elderly, bearded man passed out with a quart of malt liquor in the doorway of Irish Mike’s Bar.
“The cops will get you here, come on,” he urges, and drags the man to his tiny apartment behind the theater.
The man sits, looking bewildered, as Cook brushes his hair, towels him off and slips a clean shirt on him. Edward Lawrence’s only comment comes when he is handed a baloney sandwich on whole wheat.
“Hey, that’s pretty good, Pops,” he says.
“This man is a baby, he’s a little pup. He is beyond caring for himself,” Cook shouts, prompting a call for quiet from another apartment. Raising his voice, he adds, “I am willing to do it for him.”
Caption: photo: John 3:16 Cook with Edward Lawrence in doorway of deserted business
Okay, right theatre.
XXX TURNS TO ZZZZZZ: BEACH ADULT CINEMA SHUT
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 26, 1989
Author: DAVID ZEMAN Herald Staff Writer
For more than a decade, the Roosevelt Theater has leered lasciviously at passing motorists as they slide across the Julia Tuttle Causeway into Miami Beach’s business district.
But the adult movie theater closed with scarcely a whimper this month, canceling — perhaps forever — the South Florida showing of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Merchants along 41st Street wonder what took so long.
“In two years here, I don’t think I saw a half-dozen people go into that theater,” said Paul Steinberg, a lawyer who works across the street.
His figures do not include the lawyers in his office who used to jokingly don raincoats when they crossed the road for popcorn. Only for popcorn.
It’s hard to conceive that the same theater that bowed out with sex romps was originally called the Lemonade Theater when it opened in 1949 because free lemonade was served during intermission. The Roosevelt showed first-run movies then and even put on plays before converting to “adult” flicks about 15 years ago.
Yet even its detractors concede that the sex palace has become a part of the local fabric.
Thomas Coltrane, who runs a realty office next door, said the theater has guided many customers to his otherwise nondescript office.
“A 75-year-old lady once called me and said, ‘I just can’t imagine how to get to your place,’ ” said Coltrane. “I told her we were right next to the dirty movie theater. She said, ‘Oh, I know exactly where you are.’ ”
The marquee has been empty since building owner Ted Konover bought out the lease from the theater’s operator, Irwin Knohl, the first week in June. Konover, who purchased the building in 1985, and Knohl both refused to be interviewed.
However, Steinberg said Konover has shown him plans to build a restaurant, stores and offices where the Roosevelt stands abandoned at 770 41st St.
Peeking inside the fingerprint-smudged glass doors, visitors can still ogle the posters promoting coming attractions.
There’s the sentimental Legend of Lady Blue, a movie “for those who still remember the first time”; Satin Suite, a “film” that won the praise of Hustler’s discerning art critic; and a medical docudrama, The Naughty Nurse.
Rabbi Gary Glickstein of nearby Temple Beth Sholom recalled when the Roosevelt began promoting Debbie Does Dallas two days before the temple was to host an Israeli Independence Day festival in 1975.
Panicky elders from the temple prevailed on the Roosevelt to delay the ad campaign for a week.
“It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to Arthur Godfrey Road in the last 10 years,” said Steinberg of the closing. “This is the gateway to Miami Beach and the business district. To have a large marquee advertising triple X-rated movies is not the first impression you want people to have.”
The Roosevelt might have fallen victim to a take-out mentality, said Joe Bueno, manager of Video Variety in Miami Beach. Bueno said adult movies make up 50 percent of his store’s weekend rentals.
Oh hell, wrong theater.
XXX TURNS TO ZZZZZZ: BEACH ADULT CINEMA SHUT
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 26, 1989
Author: DAVID ZEMAN Herald Staff Writer
For more than a decade, the Roosevelt Theater has leered lasciviously at passing motorists as they slide across the Julia Tuttle Causeway into Miami Beach’s business district.
But the adult movie theater closed with scarcely a whimper this month, canceling — perhaps forever — the South Florida showing of Seven Minutes in Heaven.
Merchants along 41st Street wonder what took so long.
“In two years here, I don’t think I saw a half-dozen people go into that theater,” said Paul Steinberg, a lawyer who works across the street.
His figures do not include the lawyers in his office who used to jokingly don raincoats when they crossed the road for popcorn. Only for popcorn.
It’s hard to conceive that the same theater that bowed out with sex romps was originally called the Lemonade Theater when it opened in 1949 because free lemonade was served during intermission. The Roosevelt showed first-run movies then and even put on plays before converting to “adult” flicks about 15 years ago.
Yet even its detractors concede that the sex palace has become a part of the local fabric.
Thomas Coltrane, who runs a realty office next door, said the theater has guided many customers to his otherwise nondescript office.
“A 75-year-old lady once called me and said, ‘I just can’t imagine how to get to your place,’ ” said Coltrane. “I told her we were right next to the dirty movie theater. She said, ‘Oh, I know exactly where you are.’ ”
The marquee has been empty since building owner Ted Konover bought out the lease from the theater’s operator, Irwin Knohl, the first week in June. Konover, who purchased the building in 1985, and Knohl both refused to be interviewed.
However, Steinberg said Konover has shown him plans to build a restaurant, stores and offices where the Roosevelt stands abandoned at 770 41st St.
Peeking inside the fingerprint-smudged glass doors, visitors can still ogle the posters promoting coming attractions.
There’s the sentimental Legend of Lady Blue, a movie “for those who still remember the first time”; Satin Suite, a “film” that won the praise of Hustler’s discerning art critic; and a medical docudrama, The Naughty Nurse.
Rabbi Gary Glickstein of nearby Temple Beth Sholom recalled when the Roosevelt began promoting Debbie Does Dallas two days before the temple was to host an Israeli Independence Day festival in 1975.
Panicky elders from the temple prevailed on the Roosevelt to delay the ad campaign for a week.
“It’s probably the best thing that’s happened to Arthur Godfrey Road in the last 10 years,” said Steinberg of the closing. “This is the gateway to Miami Beach and the business district. To have a large marquee advertising triple X-rated movies is not the first impression you want people to have.”
The Roosevelt might have fallen victim to a take-out mentality, said Joe Bueno, manager of Video Variety in Miami Beach. Bueno said adult movies make up 50 percent of his store’s weekend rentals.
AGING THEATER COULD GET NEW LIFE IN LITTLE HAITI
Miami Herald, The (FL) – June 2, 1983
Author: CHRIS VAUGHAN Herald Staff Writer
The Rex theater , a battered survivor of porn and neglect, is nearing yet another comeback.
The 54-year-old movie house in the 7900 block of NE Second Avenue has been closed since a failed salvation attempt four years ago. It will reopen as a Haitian-oriented theater this summer if HAYTO Services, a Haitian partnership with offices at 7220 N. Miami Ave., can obtain the city license it needs.
City parking regulations currently stand in the way, said Fritz Henriquez, manager of the firm, but an exemption to current parking regulations — one parking space for every four seats—may be “grandfathered in,” Henriquez said.
The Rex has 700 seats, which means 175 spaces would be required if no exemption is granted. There are 25 spaces behind the building and about 50 parking meters on the street near the theater .
“We really do not need all those spots,” Henriquez said. “Most of the people who will come to the movies are from the Haitian community. They will walk.”
The Rex is at the edge of Little Haiti, which has no theater catering to the tastes of its more than 25,000 Haitian residents. Henriquez says the fare at the Rex will be mostly French movies. The theater may show English- and Spanish- language movies once a week.
“We will have to see what people want,” Henriquez says. “To show only French movies would be killing ourselves, I think.”
Admission will be $2, with some reserved seats for $2.50, Henriquez says. At those rates, he figures, “I need 1,000 people a week” to break even.
Henriquez and two partners in Haiti began efforts to buy the theater in March. They have sunk about $25,000 into renovations.
“We’re trying to open this month, but the way things are going, we will try to open the first week of July,” Henriquez said.
“It will be a clean place again,” he vowed. As he spoke, a workman swept steadily in the newly painted lobby. The candy counter was cracked and dusty, but the floors were clean. Outside, the red marquee shows its age. Inside, the red velvet seats appear in good repair.
“It will be nice for the neighborhood,” said Alma Camacho, a waitress at the El Paso Coffee Shop next door to the Rex. Camacho attended movies at the Rex “when it was good, not when they had those X movies.” But she probably will not attend shows there in the future, she said.
“When work is over, I’m on my way home. I don’t stay around here at night,” she said.
Chris Crickmore, 18, of 82nd Street by way of Dayton, Ohio, said he won’t go to the Rex, either.
“I don’t know French. I like American movies, the modern ones,” Crickmore said.
Amy Johnston, an employe at Barnett Bank across the street, was more concerned about the kind of movies the Rex will show.
“What kind of French movies?” she asked suspiciously.
Assured they would be family fare, she breathed easier. “As long as they don’t put those X-rated ones in again, I guess it’s a good thing. The neighborhood sure needs something.”
Lochard Noel, a clerk at Les Cousins Book & Record Shop, 7858 NE Second Ave., was enthusiastic about the plan. “They have a Rex in Port-au-Prince, too,” he said. “All the Haitians will go.”
But the ticket seller at United Adult Movies, 7829 NE Second Ave., offered no encouragement to the backers of the Rex.
“They’ll never make it,” he said. “They tried running straight movies before and it didn’t work. Take it from me.”
THEATER VOWS TO REOPEN WITH 99-CENT FILMS
Miami Herald, The (FL) – January 7, 1988
Author: KATHY McCARTHY Herald Staff Writer
The Holiday Theater , facing a $45,750 fine for showing films like Nasty Habits and French Taboo, has closed the curtain on adult pictures and promises to return to 99-cent movies next month.
North Miami Beach code enforcement inspectors, who had been checking the movies weekly since a $250-per-day fine was imposed June 10, found the theater closed on Dec. 11.
A telephone recording and the marquee in front of the theater at 2110 NE 160th St. promise the return of 99-cent admission movies, which were shown until the operator switched to $6-per-ticket adult films last April.
Mitchell Knohl, president of R.D. Theatre Corp., which operates the Holiday and the Shores, Skylake and Atlas theaters, said he hopes to bring back the popular 99-cent movies in 30 to 60 days.
In June, the city’s Code Enforcement Board found the theater in violation of a 16-year-old zoning restriction that stipulated the theater never show X-rated movies.
The board ordered the theater’s operators to stop showing the films or pay a $250-per-day fine.
R.D. Theatre Corp., which has a lease to operate the Holiday, appealed the ruling in court, contending the theater was not in violation because the movies being shown were not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America’s voluntary code.
The court refused to stay the fine at a hearing last July. On Dec. 3, R.D Theatre dropped the appeal, Deputy City Attorney Cindy Lederman said.
The total fine amounts to $45,750, according to Community Development Director Harold Zombek. The fine is levied against R.D. Theatre and the property owner, Jack Knap, who also owns the West Dixie Bowling Lanes next door.
Knap had opposed the adult films but said at the time there was little he could do to stop his tenant from showing them. Knap refused to comment Monday, except to say he is taking legal action to force R.D. Theatre out of the Holiday.
Knohl said Tuesday the adult films were shown by an entity, whom he would not name, which subleased the theater from R.D. Theatre Corp.
“I took the theater back and I will clean it up and plan on doing some work inside,” Knohl said. “It will probably open in 30 to 60 days.”
Knohl said he is waiting for the village of Miami Shores to take over the Shores Theater, which now shows 99-cent films. Miami Shores has an option to buy the theater’s lease and hopes to renovate it into a cultural center and a home for the Ruth Foreman theater company.
“As soon as the Shores Theater closes, it will only help the Holiday situation,” Knohl said. “Before, the Shores, Skylake and Holiday all competed with each other.”
Al, can you possibly re-link that picture of the NorthSide?
Also anyone with Miami theatre interests, check out my blog at http://www.myspace.com/seriousexploitation
HUGE DISCO PLANNED FOR NORTHSIDE
Miami Herald, The (FL) – November 4, 1984
Author: CASEY FRANK Herald Staff Writer
Move over Club Z.
Some North Dade investors hope to turn a defunct twin movie theater at Liberty City’s Northside Shopping Center into a collosal, celebrity-studded entertainment complex.
Called Heart of the City, the club would feature disco dancing, pulsating light shows, giant video screens and have a license to sell liquor until 6 a.m., according to backers.
“It will be a sight to see,” said project consultant Peter Izaak. “One large room, about 25,000 square feet, with a 52- foot-high ceiling. The whole building is being repainted. The asphalt parking lot is going to be turned into a garden.”
But first the proposal must be approved by the Metro Zoning Appeals Board. The panel is scheduled to hear the application at 9 a.m. Nov. 14 at the Dade County Courthouse, 73 W. Flagler St.
27-year lease
A few months ago, Heart of the City Inc. signed a 27-year lease to occupy the free-standing theater at the north end of the shopping center. The movie operation was closed and the theater gutted, leaving one large, high-ceiling room.
Transforming the empty shell into Heart of the City will cost an estimated $2 million.
Dr. Thomas Ferguson, listed as chief executive officer of the corporation, could not be reached, despite messages left at his home and office.
Lawyer Gerald Greenspoon, an investor in the project, said financing will not be a problem because “the funds are already in place.”
Greenspoon would not identify the other investors.
TV shows planned
Joe Zamore, a consultant in charge of lighting and technical matters, said the Liberty City entertainment center will be “bigger than Club Z,” the trendy Miami Beach disco whose lighting he also helped design.
“We’ll proably be filming a syndicated television show out of here as well as MTV shoots and other production work,” Zamore said.
The club will attract plenty of celebrities, Zamore said. If all goes according to plan, it should be ready to open before the New Year, he added.
Although Zamore said community sentiment is “100 percent” behind the project, not everyone is acquainted with Heart of the City.
“I haven’t heard of it,” said Dorothy Baker, executive vice president of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, a black business group.
“I’ve heard that term. But this is the first time I’ve heard what it means,” said Al Guilford, president of G and G Wholesale distributors and civic activist.
“I think it would be a plus for the community,” he added.
Northside manager Don Stevenson, whose 79th Street shopping center lost Sears as an anchor client last year, agreed. “It’s a very ambitious undertaking,” said Stevenson. “But I’ve spoken to them and they don’t seem to have any difficulty handling it.”
167THSTREET THEATRE CLOSES
Miami Herald, The (FL) – September 13, 1990
Author: OLYMPIA ROSS Herald Staff Writer
The name of the movie was Pump Up The Volume, but the staff at the 167thStreet Theatre in North Miami Beach turned down the sound, dimmed the lights and closed the door on the movie house for good Sunday night.
It was the last night the 22-year-old theater would show films. The other feature was Air America.
“ Twin theaters are almost like dinosaurs now,” said Michael Brown, president of Wometco Enterprises Inc., which owned the theater. “It’s very hard for them to compete with multiplex theaters.”
Brown said heavy competition and low profits contributed to the decision to close the theater.
On Monday, employees stacked the big red letters that once hung from the marquee on 167thStreet and Northeast Second Avenue. Today, the marquee is bare and a “For Sale” sign stands next to it.
“The value of the property along that strip is increasing,” said Brown. “Unfortunately, the property became more valuable for real estate than for a theater.”
A buyer has not been found for the property, which the county valued at $1.1 million in the 1990 property tax assessment. Brown is asking about $2 million.
The theater was among the few remaining twin -screen movie houses in Northeast Dade. Newer theaters have six, eight and even 10 screens.
One auditorium of the 167thStreet Theatre seated 800 people, and the other seated 400 people. Brown said the theater’s size wasn’t always an asset.
Multiplex theaters have more variety in selecting movies and, consequently, a greater chance of turning a profit, said Brown. For the last year, the theater has been operating “marginally,” he said.
Converting the theater into a multiplex theater was not an option because of inadequate parking.
Brown said Wometco decided to close the theater now because of low attendance expected in coming months. Traditionally, September, October and November are poor months for any theater, he said.
“There just wasn’t a lot we could do with a twin theater there,” said Brown. “The movie business is pretty tricky.”
That would probably be the North Dade Drive-In, located at NW 27th Ave @ 171st Street.
Now, Al, I know the marquee here at 163rd Street was huge! Hell, there were marquees all over: by the road, over the entrance and back over by the Patio. I’m assuming these large marquees were a trademark of Wometco ? The Plaza, The Palm Springs, 163rd, etc ?
I saw so many movies at this theater growing up it pains me to know it’s gone.
That Golden Glades marquee was a keeper.
I’m assuming you guys where there when they shot NIGHTMARE AT SHADOW WOODS aka BLOOD RAGE?
From SouthEastern edition of Boxoffice Magazine dated June 7, 1965, Jacksonville notes:
Samuel B. Jones has taken over management of the former Lake Shore Theatre in suburban Lake Shore from Maurice Magnan, who operated it on weekend dates as a conventional double-feature house. Now called the Lakeshore Art, the theatre has a completely new policy of catering to adults only. For its grand opening, the Lakeshore Art had a triple feature program of “World Without Shame”, “The Bellboy and the Playgirls”, and “The Topless Bikini”. The new admission price is $1.50, the same as for the local Roxy Follies, the only other nudie house in the area.
I wonder where this was? Or what it was.
Looking at that VIXEN case doc and seeing Dale Carson’s name. His son just ran for sheriff in Jax and lost on Tuesday. Sheldon fought the good fight, though.
Looking at that VIXEN case doc and seeing Dale Carson’s name. His son just ran for sheriff in Jax and lost on Tuesday. Sheldon fought the good fight, though.
That’s creepy. Troy, do you have any pictures of the Roxy or any of the other theaters and drive ins you worked at? And more stories? Maybe Vaughn can get in on this too. What happened on the last day?
Lady Jester, where did you read the story? I’d like to find a copy of it.
Anybody have a picture of the marquee? I remember it being incerdibly huge, like the 27th Ave. Drive-In’s. Then again, I was a kid and after driving past the Southland in 2005 and struck dumb by how small the theatre really was, I may be in for a let down.
Address given as 7777 Normandy Blvd. Now a Publix Shopping Plaza.
My father used to shine shoes in the early 50’s at the penny arcade next door. The name of the arcade owner was Buster Paul. He owned the billiard hall over the arcade as well. Possibly may have owned the Casino (which my father could only remember as “The Fishhouse' as well).
Troy (or anyone),
Was the Cedar Hills once known as The Lake Shore Theatre then The Lake Shore Art (showing “nudie” films)? Both would be right around the same area (Blanding, Wilson and Cassat) but I can’t find anyone who can tell me where the Lake Shore was so I’m assuming it’s possible that it became Cedar Hills?
So do I have to beg you guys to tell more stories about the haunted Roxy?
This place sounds fascinating. I looked for it once in the mid-90’s but it seems to have been razed.
Quick shot of the Tower in video news footage during the doc “COCAINE COWBOYS”.
Fox Drive In Marquee circa 1979
http://www.myspace.com/porkysatthedrivein
Picture taken from Drive-ins.com-a cool resource for the drive-in lover.
I should say they were edited hardcore films. They did have some issues with law enforcement watching the films and busting them when hardcore scenes slipped through. That info is per an article in The Florida-Times Union right around the time they went to mainstream offerings.
Well, you may have to sign up.