Palm Springs Twin One & Two
419 W. 49th Street,
Hialeah,
FL
33012
419 W. 49th Street,
Hialeah,
FL
33012
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Appears to have closed as a discount sub-run for Wometco on June 17, 1990 after showing of “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The First Power.”
Thanks, Al. Wometco did not spend any money on a grand opening ad.
rivest, the closest thing to an opening ad for the twin is in the November 21, 1973 Miami Herald, with SALTY the seal and his trainer appearing in person.
No grand opening ad found for the Palm Springs Twin.
Linkrot repair: The October 21, 1963, Boxoffice article about Wometco’s new Palm Springs Theatre can now be found online at this link (embiggen with + icon in toolbar at bottom, scroll down for second page with two additional photos.)
The Palm Springs Theatre (And that’s how Wometco spelled it) was twinned either on Nov. 30 or Dec. 1, 1973.
the theater eventually closed due to the united artists movie theater opening up a few blocks west of it back in 1996. the theater is now a private clinic.
The Palm Springs Theatre was featured in an article in Boxoffice of October 21, 1963. There are a few photos.
The full professional name of the architect of the Palm Springs Theatre was A. Herbert Mathes. He designed many theaters for Wometco during this period, and was also a well-known Miami hotel architect.
Does anyone have pictures of the theatre
The address was 419 West 49th Street.
Hopefully this ad will convince CT to correct the name of this location to PALM SPRINGS.
View link
I remember going to this theater in the early 1970’s when I was growing up in Hialeah. It was THE place to go see a neighborhood movie.
The theater was next door to a G.C. Murphy Co. Drug Store and my mother used to buy my sister and I popcorn and candy there before the movie. (Murphy’s popcorn was in long, thin bags that seemed two feet long, although as a kid, it may have looked bigger. The candy was, back then, only 25 cents.)
What I remember most is that during the summer, the theater would have amazing programming for kids before noon that included a cartoon, a short film (like the Three Stooges) and a movie—either an old Disney film or a newer G-rated movie. (One that stands out was a western called Against a Crooked Sky.) Between the shorts and the movie there were always prize giveaways. The theater was always packed during these screenings and the kids were excited and rowdy. What a blast.
I remember the theater as one auditorium, so it may have been twinned soon afterwards.
One other memory was when I was seven. My mother picked me up after school and took me there to see a movie during the week, which had never happened before. The theater was showing Peter Bogdanovich’s Nickelodeon and as a promotion, they were offering a matinee admission price of a nickel, so my mom wanted to take advantage of the bargain! (I think I fell asleep, but I do remember a great chase scene involving a hot air balloon and a locomotive.)
I went to visit there about a decade ago and it was no longer a theater. I took a pic and will post it when I dig it out.
One more correction: the stats at the top say it had 800 seats, but the newspaper article about the grand opening says it had 1200 seats.
As posted by Al Alvarez above, the correct name was the Palm Springs Theater. There was no Cinema and no Mile in the name.
The grand opening was on December 20, 1962 and it was added to the east end of a shopping center that had been open for about three years. I attended many movies there starting in 1962 through 1966.
Yesterday I scanned a newsclipping describing the grand opening and it is located online at http://www.pbase.com/donboyd/image/92675326
Al,
The Village Theatre was about a mile west of the Palm Springs on the south side of the road. The Village was in the rear of a strip mall that was somewhat long. It was close to the old KMart.
The Village Theatre was a neighborhood movie house. There was nothing really special about it. What I found fascinating about this theatre was not the movies, but rather all the cute girls that hung out there. The Village was one of those places where many parents dropped off their teens on Saturday nights to enjoy a movie! So, yes I do remember this theatre very fondly. I had so muc fun there, I can’t remember any of the movies that I went to see there.
Sorry folks… the above statement was submitted by his friend Simon Overton using the Joseph Musil membership.
What a huge auditorium! I was a projectionist there before they twinned the house, then I left for San Francisco’s CASTRO THEATRE. (Now that is a REAL movie house -the old fashioned way, plus live organ nightly) Anyhow… at the end of each intermission (without adds thank you) we took the house lights down then played the one-minute music opening fanfare from “2001 A Space Odyssey” in full darkness. As the music crescendoed, we brought-up the bright red footlights onto the red velvet traveler curtains then faded to dark. This was immediately followed by the film logo on the curtain -and NEVER a blank screen! I also recall hearing the audiences applauding to our little bit of “showmanship.” Sadly today, there is NO showmanship in movie houses, especially the dreary multiplexes -the only thing they know how to do is sell expensive drinks and candy.
Louis, perhaps if I jog your memory you may be able to make entries for the VILLAGE, APOLLO (North & South), MIAMI LAKES, and HIALEAH MALL.
This was a Wometco house which was twinned in the seventies. It often played with the ABC Florida State run so it could include the Disney product that did so well in Hialeah. When ABC took over the Chris McGuire Village down the street, a battle for the Disney and James Bond films began culminating in both theatres opening THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN day and date.