They Once Showed a Movie Here
As we've been hitting the pavement taking pictures, I noticed that there were several
old movie theaters I had once frequented which were closed, or being used for another purpose. I saw some of the best films of the 20th century at a few of them, and had very specific memories of each.
[Harris/Selwyn Theatres, C. Howard Crane & H. Kenneth Franzheim, 1922 /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
First up is the movie theater where I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. Believe it or not, I saw
the film on a grammar school field trip. Why our 5th grade teachers thought that a large group of 10-year-olds would enjoy, or even understand the film, puzzles me to this day. But, I remember having a great time, and occassionally looking at the screen. I vividly recall the dank, dark, slightly seedy interior and the monkeys running around on screen screaming at a large, black slab of rock. My fellow classmates and I were more interested in finding rats running around under our seats - of which there were none. And, for all my inattention, I never forgot that strange movie and an odd-voiced character named Hal.
[Harris/Selwyn Theatres, facade detail, 180-90 N. Dearborn St., Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
The "Twin Theaters" were designed by Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim for three
big-time New York theatrical producers: Sam Harris and the brothers Archie and Edgar Selwyn. The theaters are more like fraternal, rather than identical twins. The scale is similar, but the ornamentation is different. The Harris, on the left, is inspired by the Italian Rennaissance, while the Selwyn looks to neo-classical English motifs for its decoration.
[Detail of figures in niches /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
Here's another example. The stautes are exactly the same, a draped female with a lyre.
But the niches that enclose each figure are completely different in style.
By the time I went to see 2001, live theatrical performances had been replaced by
movie screenings. Mike Todd, a motion picture impressario and husband of Elizabeth Taylor, was showing giant screen, Cinerama and Todd-A0 70 mm films in the rechristened Michael Todd and Cinestage Theatres. After a number of years in the mid-70s showing porn and blaxploitation films, and a stab at mainstream Hollywood fare in the 80s, the theaters closed for good. Now only the facades survive, the Goodman Theatre has turned the property into a live performance venue once again, but demolished the original interiors to make way for state-of-the-art facilities for a 21st century theater company.
[Parkway Theater, 1911, 2736 N. Clark St., Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
You would never know when you walked past the Lens Crafter store, that this was once
a vaudeville house and one of the best movie revival theaters in the country. In the 1980s, I saw more movies of more variety at the Parkway Theater than in any one place at any one time. A classic revival house, the Parkway showed old Hollywood pictures, contemporary foreign films, art house fare, cult flicks, along with director's festivals and themed presentations. All this on a double bill, that ran from noon to midnight which changed daily - that's over 700 movies a year. I loved the Parkway.
The theater was built in 1911 as a live perfomance venue for vaudeville and small
legitimate performances, with moving pictures on the bill as well. After falling on hard times in the 60s and 70s, the Landmark Theater chain took over the management of the theater and the revival came to town. Unfortuantely, it was too expensive to maintain the old place, and after Landmark left, the theater stood idle. Today Lens Crafters fills the old lobby and first level of the auditorium, while a Bikram yoga studio is upstairs in a newly created second floor, carved out of the balcony and ceiling area of the old auditorium.
[Lakeshore Theatre, 1914, 3175 N. Broadway, Chicago /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
When I went to see Pulp Fiction at the Lakeshore, it was known as the Broadway. This
theater was built in 1914 for film exhibition, and although the auditorium wasn't a large, ornate movie palace, it was a nice sized, comfortable space to see a film in. It went through a period of decline like so many movie theaters in the 60s and 70s, but by the 80s, it was spruced up and showing first-run Hollywood fare. The auditorium is surrounded by retail and apartment space, so without the marquee, you'd never know there was a theater tucked back in there. Apparently once I left Chicago for LA, the movie venue was changed to a live performance venue, focusing on comedy performances.
So, one theater now plays host to eye glasses and limber bodies, another is still a
theater only with a different purpose, and two are merely facades of their former selves. But, they each have great memories for me, and I have a couple more to share with you on Wednesday. For tomorow though, get out your red, white and blues - it's Bastille Day!
old movie theaters I had once frequented which were closed, or being used for another purpose. I saw some of the best films of the 20th century at a few of them, and had very specific memories of each.
First up is the movie theater where I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey. Believe it or not, I saw
the film on a grammar school field trip. Why our 5th grade teachers thought that a large group of 10-year-olds would enjoy, or even understand the film, puzzles me to this day. But, I remember having a great time, and occassionally looking at the screen. I vividly recall the dank, dark, slightly seedy interior and the monkeys running around on screen screaming at a large, black slab of rock. My fellow classmates and I were more interested in finding rats running around under our seats - of which there were none. And, for all my inattention, I never forgot that strange movie and an odd-voiced character named Hal.
The "Twin Theaters" were designed by Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim for three
big-time New York theatrical producers: Sam Harris and the brothers Archie and Edgar Selwyn. The theaters are more like fraternal, rather than identical twins. The scale is similar, but the ornamentation is different. The Harris, on the left, is inspired by the Italian Rennaissance, while the Selwyn looks to neo-classical English motifs for its decoration.
Here's another example. The stautes are exactly the same, a draped female with a lyre.
But the niches that enclose each figure are completely different in style.
By the time I went to see 2001, live theatrical performances had been replaced by
movie screenings. Mike Todd, a motion picture impressario and husband of Elizabeth Taylor, was showing giant screen, Cinerama and Todd-A0 70 mm films in the rechristened Michael Todd and Cinestage Theatres. After a number of years in the mid-70s showing porn and blaxploitation films, and a stab at mainstream Hollywood fare in the 80s, the theaters closed for good. Now only the facades survive, the Goodman Theatre has turned the property into a live performance venue once again, but demolished the original interiors to make way for state-of-the-art facilities for a 21st century theater company.
You would never know when you walked past the Lens Crafter store, that this was once
a vaudeville house and one of the best movie revival theaters in the country. In the 1980s, I saw more movies of more variety at the Parkway Theater than in any one place at any one time. A classic revival house, the Parkway showed old Hollywood pictures, contemporary foreign films, art house fare, cult flicks, along with director's festivals and themed presentations. All this on a double bill, that ran from noon to midnight which changed daily - that's over 700 movies a year. I loved the Parkway.
The theater was built in 1911 as a live perfomance venue for vaudeville and small
legitimate performances, with moving pictures on the bill as well. After falling on hard times in the 60s and 70s, the Landmark Theater chain took over the management of the theater and the revival came to town. Unfortuantely, it was too expensive to maintain the old place, and after Landmark left, the theater stood idle. Today Lens Crafters fills the old lobby and first level of the auditorium, while a Bikram yoga studio is upstairs in a newly created second floor, carved out of the balcony and ceiling area of the old auditorium.
When I went to see Pulp Fiction at the Lakeshore, it was known as the Broadway. This
theater was built in 1914 for film exhibition, and although the auditorium wasn't a large, ornate movie palace, it was a nice sized, comfortable space to see a film in. It went through a period of decline like so many movie theaters in the 60s and 70s, but by the 80s, it was spruced up and showing first-run Hollywood fare. The auditorium is surrounded by retail and apartment space, so without the marquee, you'd never know there was a theater tucked back in there. Apparently once I left Chicago for LA, the movie venue was changed to a live performance venue, focusing on comedy performances.
So, one theater now plays host to eye glasses and limber bodies, another is still a
theater only with a different purpose, and two are merely facades of their former selves. But, they each have great memories for me, and I have a couple more to share with you on Wednesday. For tomorow though, get out your red, white and blues - it's Bastille Day!
Posted by designslinger at 7/13/2009 2:38 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: C. Howard Crane Goodman Theatre Chicago Pulp Fiction Michael Todd
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: C. Howard Crane Goodman Theatre Chicago Pulp Fiction Michael Todd
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