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| Sunset Theatre (vertical sign) next to the taller Sweet Building 1939 - Looking north on Andrews Florida State Archives/Florida Memory/Romer |
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| Postcard depiction of Sunset Theatre next to Sweet Building Florida State Archives/Florida Memory |
313 South Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale
By Jane Feehan
Entertainment in the United States shifted from live performances to a hybrid that included film in the 1920s. Early Fort Lauderdale was no exception to the shift.
The Sunset Theatre, by some accounts, opened in 1922—just 11 years after the city was established. Located at 313 South Andrews Avenue (and later adjacent to the Sweet Building that went up next door), the theater housed more than 750 seats. It served as a popular place for live concerts, vaudeville acts, musical benefits, meetings and events for the Lion’s Club, Woman’s Club and other civic groups.
The building the theater occupied was once owned by early Fort Lauderdale developer M. A. Hortt. Rental office space there was offered through classified advertisements of the time. No doubt it was a popular place from which to operate a business. The theater was a high-profile operation and everyone knew where it was; why not open a real estate or medical office at the same address?
When The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille’s blockbuster with a cast and extras of 5,000 was presented at the theater in 1925 (about two years before the first “talkies”), Fort Lauderdale over-capacity crowds were turned away for both the afternoon and evening showings. The turnout was a testament to both the popularity of the Sunset and wild interest in film.
Early movies were accompanied by live orchestras. The Fort Lauderdale theater provided its own Sunset Theatre Orchestra, but The Ten Commandments came with its traveling “orchestra of 20 men.” Ticket prices for other live performances and movies went for 50 cents to two dollars. I could not find ticket prices for a movie, but chances are the 10-25-cent movies came decades later when musicians’ pay was not a factor.
There is an interesting side note for those who know of the first awardee of the Medal of Honor of World War II, local hero Alexander (“Sandy”) R. Nininger, Jr. (see https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/07/first-wwii-congressional-medal-of-honor.html).
His father, A.R. Nininger, was tapped as manager of the Sunset Theatre in 1928 and oversaw its transition to talking film. Recruited from Ocala where he managed the Publix-Saenger-Sparks Theaters (for Publix film connection, see https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2021/01/about-that-name-publix-and-its-link-to.html).
Nininger senior was quite the promoter of the Sunset enterprise; he frequently invited a variety of guests to attend shows for free, such as the Boy Scouts and other civic organizations for which he was mentioned frequently in the Fort Lauderdale News. He also promoted amateur acts from the theater to broadcast on radio. (Nininger senior accepted his son’s Medal of Honor in Tampa in February 1942.)
Some sources indicate Sunset Theatre ceased operations in 1953, though ads for movie schedules were published into early 1954. Business details remain murky, but the theater emerged in 1954 as the Sunrise Art Theatre offering plays, foreign films and a temporary venue for the Little Theater. The building closed in the 1970s.
Sources:
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan.
15, 1925
Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 24, 1925
Fort Lauderdale News, May 21, 1928
Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 10, 1928
Fort Lauderdale News, Jun 24, 1933
Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 20, 1954
Tampa Tribune, Feb. 11, 1942
Gainesville Times, Oct. 1, 2021
CinemaTreasures.org
