Tivoli Theatre
744 W. Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33130
744 W. Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33130
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Robert E. Collins 1945 redesign sketch - in a $75,000 update to a streamline modern venue - is posted in photos.
This opened on January 18th, 1927 (not the 31st as I posted back in 2011). Grand opening ad posted.
Quite a few theaters starting with T in Miami, Town, Tivoli, Tower, Trail, Trianón, Twin, Triple.
I imagine the Tivoli turned to spanish films in the early 1960’s, after the Cuban revolution. Before that the neighborhood was mostly Jewish retirees watching subrun double features.
AlAlvarez, I don’t remember exactly when it started, but by l963 the Tivoli was already showing Sarita Montiel’s movies “La Violetera”, “Pecado de Amor”, “Frente al Pecado de Ayer”, “La Reina del Chantecler”, Spanish movies with Joselito and Libertad Lamarque, Argentinean movies with “Sandro”. I saw “El Bulín”, a very good Argentinean comedy. It later became a supermarket.
This opened as a playhouse on January 31st, 1927. Ad being posted here.
According to an April 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice magazine, the Tivoli was involved in the Paramount Consent Decrees whereby the management claimed that Paramount refused to allow the Tivoli a sub-run on their product until five months after first-run and after lower priced Paramount Theatres had already played out the films in the area. The Tivoli was forced to give Paramount a half interest in its profits in exchange for reduction in the clearance time.
I did! I followed a few links posted at the Paris and 79th Street Art by ken mc, so credit needs to be given where credit is due. Thanks ken mc!
Wow! You’ve hit a gold mine of rare Miami theatres images, Harvey!
1987 photo of the Tivoli here.
The Tivoli opened in 1927 and closed in 1988.
I have not heard of the Dramatic either but it could have been a legit house.
There were also a number of silent downtown Miami theatres that closed after the big mid-twenties hurricane when the city was almost wiped off the map.
LM, never heard or saw a Dramatic Theatre in Miami. Is there an address for that theatre? Al, have you heard of the Dramatic Theatre?
The organ pit was shut by 1965 when I was there and kids threw gum from the front row for child star Marisol performing live. The Tivoli had an elaborate neon canopy that would date it to the thirties so I suspect sound was not a factor in the organ being removed or covered.
Switching to Spanish films may have eliminated a need for the organ, though.
LM, the Tivoli was very much on a Mexican distribution cycle, although audiences were predominantly Cuban. What happened to organs in the west when Mexican films started flowing into US cinemas?
Lost Memory, you are flipping me out with all these organ references! I have to assume that these organs were taken out way before I grew up in Miami during the 60s. I never saw not even one in any of the theatres. I did a search on the Wurlitzer models you mentioned to see if I could see a picture, in the hopes of jogging my memory, however I did not see anything.
Do you have any idea when these organs were taken out of the theatres? I wonder what they used them for? Intermission?
Thanks for the tip AlAlvarez…I will check out the Miami location first.
Child St., if you have a multi-regional DVD you can order these from Spain. If not, Maraka Video from Miami carries several titles and some non-regional versions can be found on ebay from questionable Latin American sources.
Some VHS versions are also available.
I need to rent movies with child stars Joselito and or Marisol. These are early 1960’s movies that were shown at the Tivoli theatre in Miami Florida.
Where can I get information about child stars Joselito And Marisol?
There was another Spanish house with live shows along Flagler Street and towards downtown that closed in the late fifties/early sixties. It was displaced by 1-95 construction and was called Radio Centro or Radio City. Any ideas?
The Tivoli is listed in the 1934 Year Book of Motion Pictures as having 947 seats.