The Edison Theatre

The Edison Theatre is a former cinema located at 1533 Hendry Street in downtown Fort Myers, Florida. The theatre opened on 9 September 1941 with a double bill of Charlie Chan in Rio and Mystery Ship and was operated by E.J. Sparks, whose theatre circuit was affiliated with Paramount. Designed by architects Frank Bail and Roy A. Benjamin, the single-screen cinema was built in a Streamline Moderne and Art Deco style, with a curved marquee and a tall vertical sign spelling out EDISON above the corner entrance. The auditorium originally accommodated around 800 people. After decades as one of the city’s cinemas, the Edison closed permanently in June 1981. The building survived and was later converted into offices while retaining much of its distinctive exterior, including the original-style marquee and vertical sign. It is a contributing building within the Fort Myers Downtown Commercial District and is regarded as one of the city’s notable surviving examples of Art Deco architecture.

The Edison Theatre has appeared in Day of the Dead (1985). George A. Romero used the theatre and the surrounding streets of downtown Fort Myers for the film’s opening depiction of an abandoned city after the collapse of civilisation. The exterior and prominent Edison sign can be seen as the characters search the deserted streets for survivors, while other nearby buildings and sections of Hendry Street were incorporated into the same sequence.

In Day of the Dead (1985), the Edison Theatre appears during the opening search for survivors. After Sarah Bowman wakes from a nightmare aboard a helicopter, she, Miguel Salazar, John and Bill McDermott fly over an apparently deserted Florida city before landing to investigate. Sarah and Miguel move through the empty downtown area while Miguel repeatedly calls for survivors with a bullhorn. During the sequence, the camera travels along Hendry Street and the closed Edison Theatre can be seen with its large vertical sign and marquee still intact, helping establish the impression of a once-busy city that has suddenly been abandoned. The theatre had in reality already been closed for several years when filming took place, making its empty exterior particularly suitable for the scene. Their calls eventually draw zombies into the streets instead of survivors, forcing the group to abandon the search and return to the helicopter. The wider sequence also uses several nearby Fort Myers locations, including Hendry Street and the former Robb & Stucky building, but no interior scenes were filmed inside the Edison Theatre.

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