Muvico took ownership for a few years between Loew’s and Regal (to whom Muvico sold its older sites to start concentrating on megaplexes).
Four pocket-style auditoriums accompanied two marvelous 500-seat screens, equipped with Dolby Surround and later DTS; even if the same movie was playing a mile away, I’d gladly make the 20-mile round trip for the better experience at Coral Springs 6.
The surrounding Coral Springs Mall faltered after the larger Coral Square Mall opened. The theater managed to hang on another decade (your footsteps would echo all the way back to the theater corner), until Regal opened its Magnolia Place 16 megaplex a couple miles north. The mall was then converted to the Coral Springs Charter School.
Yes indeed, Lost Memory, that’s the AMC Lakes 6 (in what looks like a shared ad with General Cinema; for ads printed in the Ft. Lauderdale newspapers, GCC would just give a tiny inset box to the Hollywood Cinema at Young Circle).
Fox Pompano had an identical counterpart 10 miles southwest in Sunrise: the former Fox Sunrise, now the Sunrise Eleven. Same lobby and auditorium blueprints.
A case of “great idea, wrong location.” Surrounded by an industrial area and a mostly vacant mall (with the notable exception of Sid’s Records and its loyal customers from all over), the Fox Pompano could draw huge crowds for blockbusters, but anything less usually played to audiences of one (me, often).
What may have contributed to the Fox Pompano’s demise: word that AMC had committed to building a megaplex a few miles west, where Sample Road meets U.S. 441. Probably fell through due to mixed emergency responder jurisdictions (three cities meet/overlap). The Fox Pompano had just received an extensive lobby/snack bar makeover, too.
Thanks for the address revision, Al. Just checked the street view on Google maps (probably photographed within the past few years), and it appears the Coca-Cola ad is gone, possibly its host building with it. Looks like the property is/was a parking lot now. Had I been around 10 years earlier, the Parkway might have been a regular stop on my art film/bookstore/record store crawls (but I still had plenty of those in Gables and the Grove back in the day).
Was the Parkway site toward the east end of Coral Way? Sometime in the late 80s, a Miami Herald columnist mentioned that during the Parkway’s demolition, the remnants of a painted 1930s Coca-Cola ad became visible on an adjoining building, and later restored. I recall seeing such a display en route to (probably) the Miracle Center 10 or Miracle 4 one day around that time. Been a good 20 years, I’d be surprised if any of the old structures remain (and the Google map link above shows photos of a residential area).
Thanks ken mc — Saw “Superman” at the Pompano Cinema (forgot there were no bargain matinees for that engagement). Three decades on, only the Riviera remains a (stage) theater.
Everyone, especially REndres, many thanks for the Ultravision background — these details have been scarce! The Deerfield Ultravision appears to have just adopted the name, round auditorium, and widescreen concept; they were never equipped for 70MM, and stereo wasn’t installed until 1980 (in one auditorium, certainly made the viewing experience more remarkable).
Identical floor plans were used for the Fox Pompano (aka Fox Festival) in Pompano Beach: industrial gray decor, but that was a reasonable tradeoff for wide screens and incredible audio (now lost to twinning times three at the Sunrise).
Fox Theaters (Pennsylvania) intended to build two similar multiplexes in Palm Beach County, at Boynton Beach (eventually opened by Cobb) and Lake Worth. Word had it the latter was dropped when it was discovered the intended theater property stretched a few feet into an adjoining city — a potential nightmare if police/fire responders would claim the other city had jurisdiction. (Similar circumstances killed a proposed AMC megaplex where Margate, Coral Springs, and Coconut Creek intersect.)
Went to the Reef a few times when ABC Florida State gave a try at art film programming: “Days of Heaven” had its Broward exclusive there, looked great on its wide screen. The Reef probably used floor plans identical to the Southport (and the Reef also had a go as a Cinema & Drafthouse, then a Chinese cinema named Screen Play, a church, and vacant the last time I looked).
P.S.: Having seen revivals of “House of Wax” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” at the Southport Cinema & Drafthouse in the early 1990s, I can confirm it was still a single-screen house up to that time. Only made one visit after it was twinned: “claustrophobic” doesn’t begin to describe the experience.
After Cinema & Drafthouse closed, live theater moved in for several scattered engagements.
Al, this particular Village Theatre was located on Commercial Boulevard, a block or two east of U.S. 1. Its closest competition would’ve been the Coral Ridge to the south and the Federal Drive-In nearby north (until the early 70s). As you noted, it had an incredibly short life. I only went there once, for the Broward exclusive premiere run of The Marx Brothers' “Animal Crackers” (reissued in 1974 after years in legal tangles). Once the theater vacated, the building became and remains office space.
Think Chris McGuire made a prompt exit from Ft. Lauderdale, as I mainly remember the Southport and Village being in the Southland Cinemas fold (along with the Manor in Wilton Manors and Reef in Lauderdale Lakes, but Southland would expand, contract, disappear, reappear). Do you know anything further about McGuire?
Lost Memory, Cinema 4 (aka Cinemas 4 Pompano) is at CT under Pompano Cinema.
Al, my previous message was before I saw your list from 6:46 p.m. Except for Northridge Cinema/Old Time Movie House (one and the same, the closest Broward had to a revival theater in the mid 70s, in a converted card & gift shop), the rest were before my time or beyond travel distance before I could drive. Will tend to the others, though.
To my knowledge, yes, same Budco (in 1970s South Florida, they also had three or four-screen locations at the Palm Beach Mall and Lake Park). Seen elsewhere on this site that Budco was later sold to AMC.
Al, I did time, er, spent time at all but four of the Broward County theaters you listed. I’ll submit to CT as schedule allows (and thanks for providing the addresses, that’s half the groundwork).
Budco opened the Palm Aire Cinema (three plain 70s-style tube auditoriums with monophonic sound) but didn’t stay for long, and ownership changed hands frequently (usually short-lived local startup chains). Also wavered between first run, second run, and subrun double features, mainly catering to the neighborhood retiree audience in the massive Palm Aire development.
A couple regimes attempted to make Pompano Beach safe for art films and revivals: The Palm Aire gave me my first non-TV viewing of “Harold and Maude,” the expanded “New York, New York,” and (I still can’t believe it) “Salo” (went in not fully aware of what was in store…)
Another startup outfit destined for failure (one of their other theaters went up in flames reopening weekend) brought the Palm Aire back for first-run engagements in 1994, but soon folded for good. The complex was later demolished during a makeover of the surrounding shopping center (originally a Loehmann’s Plaza — that retailer fled too — now named Palm Aire Plaza).
Worth noting the Cutler Ridge Cinema was General Cinema’s lone venue in Dade County until the mid 1970s (when they acquired several Loews locations and began new construction), by which time dominant players Wometco and Florida State began to decline.
The rendering in the grand opening ad (Al, thanks for including that in your excellent photostream) looks about 90 percent identical to the Pompano Cinema (and probably most other GCC properties of the time.
Damage from Hurricane David (seen on TV) a year after closing sealed the theater’s fate.
Whoh! Thanks for the link, Al, especially since my first look at the Sunset was after dark. Seven weeks for an art film in Miami: Doesn’t happen much anymore.
I remember the blink-and-you’d-miss-it entrance, but that’s even narrower than memory allows (especially if you look at their photo from 1985, “Prizzi’s Honor” on the marquee).
Been trying to remember the Sunset’s post-movie life, and the only business I recall was a boat showroom.
Wometco’s Sunset endured until the mid 80s, closing with the German comedy “Men.” Stuck with art films most of its final years, although I’ve heard “Star Wars” took up a lengthy residence. Only visited a couple occasions, by which time the auditorium wore 70s-style wall treatments, while the tiny lobby and entry retained an attractive vintage flavor. Patrons lingered afterward to discuss what was just seen, and the staff seemed as interested (including one young usher weeping at the final shot of “Gallipoli”).
This is a surprise: ABC (under the Florida State banner) operated another Ultravision Twin in Deerfield Beach FL (between Ft. Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches) from 1970 to 1985. It’s also listed here at Cinema Treasures. Raymond, was the Charleston location a round auditorium, or more square (since later twinning was mentioned)?
At least one other ABC venue, the Dolphin in Palm Springs FL, initially promoted “Ultravision” screen technology. Could this have been ABC’s response to UA’s Cine 150 style of the late 60s?
There seems to be something about AMC venues and duplicate listings — I left word under the entry for AMC Boca Mall 6.
Boca Mall was demolished around 1988, and the replacement AMC/Sunrise Cinemas Mizner Park 8 opened for the holidays in 1990. It is still in operation to date:
Another outpost in the Movie City chain (see listing under Ft. Lauderdale) originally housed Grant City, W.T. Grant’s (very short-lived) attempt to compete with larger department stores in the early 1970s. Wonder if MC’s location scouts favored other ex-Grant facilities along the east coast?
In its original Muvico days, a plaque in the California Club’s lobby explained the theater was a spaceship from the future that fell into a time warp (or the like, don’t remember the exact phrasing), and conveniently crash landed without destroying the K-Mart or Winn-Dixie in the same shopping center at the time. A burst of imagination when most new multiplexes were bland boxes, and CC’s location near the Dade/Broward line lured frequent visitors from points north and south (especially when a new Star Trek sequel opened).
Its original seating had the look of chairs installed during one of the Starship Enterprise’s refurbs; speakers were set up right at the screen surfaces (or lit for such effect), adding to the extraterrestrial ambience. Appropriate for the first film I saw there, Cronenberg’s “The Fly.”
Heard there was a nicely appointed screening room apart from the six main auditoriums, never saw it for myself. One auditorium was set up with stadium seating years before the megaplex phenom hit the U.S.
Muvico took ownership for a few years between Loew’s and Regal (to whom Muvico sold its older sites to start concentrating on megaplexes).
Four pocket-style auditoriums accompanied two marvelous 500-seat screens, equipped with Dolby Surround and later DTS; even if the same movie was playing a mile away, I’d gladly make the 20-mile round trip for the better experience at Coral Springs 6.
The surrounding Coral Springs Mall faltered after the larger Coral Square Mall opened. The theater managed to hang on another decade (your footsteps would echo all the way back to the theater corner), until Regal opened its Magnolia Place 16 megaplex a couple miles north. The mall was then converted to the Coral Springs Charter School.
Yes indeed, Lost Memory, that’s the AMC Lakes 6 (in what looks like a shared ad with General Cinema; for ads printed in the Ft. Lauderdale newspapers, GCC would just give a tiny inset box to the Hollywood Cinema at Young Circle).
Fox Pompano had an identical counterpart 10 miles southwest in Sunrise: the former Fox Sunrise, now the Sunrise Eleven. Same lobby and auditorium blueprints.
A case of “great idea, wrong location.” Surrounded by an industrial area and a mostly vacant mall (with the notable exception of Sid’s Records and its loyal customers from all over), the Fox Pompano could draw huge crowds for blockbusters, but anything less usually played to audiences of one (me, often).
What may have contributed to the Fox Pompano’s demise: word that AMC had committed to building a megaplex a few miles west, where Sample Road meets U.S. 441. Probably fell through due to mixed emergency responder jurisdictions (three cities meet/overlap). The Fox Pompano had just received an extensive lobby/snack bar makeover, too.
Thanks for the address revision, Al. Just checked the street view on Google maps (probably photographed within the past few years), and it appears the Coca-Cola ad is gone, possibly its host building with it. Looks like the property is/was a parking lot now. Had I been around 10 years earlier, the Parkway might have been a regular stop on my art film/bookstore/record store crawls (but I still had plenty of those in Gables and the Grove back in the day).
Was the Parkway site toward the east end of Coral Way? Sometime in the late 80s, a Miami Herald columnist mentioned that during the Parkway’s demolition, the remnants of a painted 1930s Coca-Cola ad became visible on an adjoining building, and later restored. I recall seeing such a display en route to (probably) the Miracle Center 10 or Miracle 4 one day around that time. Been a good 20 years, I’d be surprised if any of the old structures remain (and the Google map link above shows photos of a residential area).
Thanks ken mc — Saw “Superman” at the Pompano Cinema (forgot there were no bargain matinees for that engagement). Three decades on, only the Riviera remains a (stage) theater.
Everyone, especially REndres, many thanks for the Ultravision background — these details have been scarce! The Deerfield Ultravision appears to have just adopted the name, round auditorium, and widescreen concept; they were never equipped for 70MM, and stereo wasn’t installed until 1980 (in one auditorium, certainly made the viewing experience more remarkable).
Identical floor plans were used for the Fox Pompano (aka Fox Festival) in Pompano Beach: industrial gray decor, but that was a reasonable tradeoff for wide screens and incredible audio (now lost to twinning times three at the Sunrise).
Fox Theaters (Pennsylvania) intended to build two similar multiplexes in Palm Beach County, at Boynton Beach (eventually opened by Cobb) and Lake Worth. Word had it the latter was dropped when it was discovered the intended theater property stretched a few feet into an adjoining city — a potential nightmare if police/fire responders would claim the other city had jurisdiction. (Similar circumstances killed a proposed AMC megaplex where Margate, Coral Springs, and Coconut Creek intersect.)
“Cinema Cafe 1 & 2” was yet another alias for the Southport.
Went to the Reef a few times when ABC Florida State gave a try at art film programming: “Days of Heaven” had its Broward exclusive there, looked great on its wide screen. The Reef probably used floor plans identical to the Southport (and the Reef also had a go as a Cinema & Drafthouse, then a Chinese cinema named Screen Play, a church, and vacant the last time I looked).
P.S.: Having seen revivals of “House of Wax” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” at the Southport Cinema & Drafthouse in the early 1990s, I can confirm it was still a single-screen house up to that time. Only made one visit after it was twinned: “claustrophobic” doesn’t begin to describe the experience.
After Cinema & Drafthouse closed, live theater moved in for several scattered engagements.
Al, this particular Village Theatre was located on Commercial Boulevard, a block or two east of U.S. 1. Its closest competition would’ve been the Coral Ridge to the south and the Federal Drive-In nearby north (until the early 70s). As you noted, it had an incredibly short life. I only went there once, for the Broward exclusive premiere run of The Marx Brothers' “Animal Crackers” (reissued in 1974 after years in legal tangles). Once the theater vacated, the building became and remains office space.
Think Chris McGuire made a prompt exit from Ft. Lauderdale, as I mainly remember the Southport and Village being in the Southland Cinemas fold (along with the Manor in Wilton Manors and Reef in Lauderdale Lakes, but Southland would expand, contract, disappear, reappear). Do you know anything further about McGuire?
Lost Memory, Cinema 4 (aka Cinemas 4 Pompano) is at CT under Pompano Cinema.
Al, my previous message was before I saw your list from 6:46 p.m. Except for Northridge Cinema/Old Time Movie House (one and the same, the closest Broward had to a revival theater in the mid 70s, in a converted card & gift shop), the rest were before my time or beyond travel distance before I could drive. Will tend to the others, though.
To my knowledge, yes, same Budco (in 1970s South Florida, they also had three or four-screen locations at the Palm Beach Mall and Lake Park). Seen elsewhere on this site that Budco was later sold to AMC.
Al, I did time, er, spent time at all but four of the Broward County theaters you listed. I’ll submit to CT as schedule allows (and thanks for providing the addresses, that’s half the groundwork).
Budco opened the Palm Aire Cinema (three plain 70s-style tube auditoriums with monophonic sound) but didn’t stay for long, and ownership changed hands frequently (usually short-lived local startup chains). Also wavered between first run, second run, and subrun double features, mainly catering to the neighborhood retiree audience in the massive Palm Aire development.
A couple regimes attempted to make Pompano Beach safe for art films and revivals: The Palm Aire gave me my first non-TV viewing of “Harold and Maude,” the expanded “New York, New York,” and (I still can’t believe it) “Salo” (went in not fully aware of what was in store…)
Another startup outfit destined for failure (one of their other theaters went up in flames reopening weekend) brought the Palm Aire back for first-run engagements in 1994, but soon folded for good. The complex was later demolished during a makeover of the surrounding shopping center (originally a Loehmann’s Plaza — that retailer fled too — now named Palm Aire Plaza).
Worth noting the Cutler Ridge Cinema was General Cinema’s lone venue in Dade County until the mid 1970s (when they acquired several Loews locations and began new construction), by which time dominant players Wometco and Florida State began to decline.
The rendering in the grand opening ad (Al, thanks for including that in your excellent photostream) looks about 90 percent identical to the Pompano Cinema (and probably most other GCC properties of the time.
Damage from Hurricane David (seen on TV) a year after closing sealed the theater’s fate.
Whoh! Thanks for the link, Al, especially since my first look at the Sunset was after dark. Seven weeks for an art film in Miami: Doesn’t happen much anymore.
I remember the blink-and-you’d-miss-it entrance, but that’s even narrower than memory allows (especially if you look at their photo from 1985, “Prizzi’s Honor” on the marquee).
Been trying to remember the Sunset’s post-movie life, and the only business I recall was a boat showroom.
Wometco’s Sunset endured until the mid 80s, closing with the German comedy “Men.” Stuck with art films most of its final years, although I’ve heard “Star Wars” took up a lengthy residence. Only visited a couple occasions, by which time the auditorium wore 70s-style wall treatments, while the tiny lobby and entry retained an attractive vintage flavor. Patrons lingered afterward to discuss what was just seen, and the staff seemed as interested (including one young usher weeping at the final shot of “Gallipoli”).
This is a surprise: ABC (under the Florida State banner) operated another Ultravision Twin in Deerfield Beach FL (between Ft. Lauderdale and the Palm Beaches) from 1970 to 1985. It’s also listed here at Cinema Treasures. Raymond, was the Charleston location a round auditorium, or more square (since later twinning was mentioned)?
At least one other ABC venue, the Dolphin in Palm Springs FL, initially promoted “Ultravision” screen technology. Could this have been ABC’s response to UA’s Cine 150 style of the late 60s?
Thanks to all at Cinema Treasures for another great year of discussions and discoveries! All the best for 2009 —
There seems to be something about AMC venues and duplicate listings — I left word under the entry for AMC Boca Mall 6.
Boca Mall was demolished around 1988, and the replacement AMC/Sunrise Cinemas Mizner Park 8 opened for the holidays in 1990. It is still in operation to date:
View link
Link to a 1927 program from the Colony:
View link
Visited the Broadway in 2003 to see Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme” — thanks to all for filling in the history and various aliases.
Gold Coast, Movie City 10, and Southport now have their own pages here at CT. We now return you to recollections of the Lakes Mall 6.
Another outpost in the Movie City chain (see listing under Ft. Lauderdale) originally housed Grant City, W.T. Grant’s (very short-lived) attempt to compete with larger department stores in the early 1970s. Wonder if MC’s location scouts favored other ex-Grant facilities along the east coast?
In its original Muvico days, a plaque in the California Club’s lobby explained the theater was a spaceship from the future that fell into a time warp (or the like, don’t remember the exact phrasing), and conveniently crash landed without destroying the K-Mart or Winn-Dixie in the same shopping center at the time. A burst of imagination when most new multiplexes were bland boxes, and CC’s location near the Dade/Broward line lured frequent visitors from points north and south (especially when a new Star Trek sequel opened).
Its original seating had the look of chairs installed during one of the Starship Enterprise’s refurbs; speakers were set up right at the screen surfaces (or lit for such effect), adding to the extraterrestrial ambience. Appropriate for the first film I saw there, Cronenberg’s “The Fly.”
Heard there was a nicely appointed screening room apart from the six main auditoriums, never saw it for myself. One auditorium was set up with stadium seating years before the megaplex phenom hit the U.S.