New 400 Theaters
6746 N. Sheridan Road,
Chicago,
IL
60626
6746 N. Sheridan Road,
Chicago,
IL
60626
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Showing 101 - 124 of 124 comments
I have a friend who was at The 400 Theater on December 7, 1941, when the movie was interrupted with an announcement that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. How can I find out what movie was playing?
Cinemark Fan,
I still stand by my prediction that Village Theatres (aka Village Entertainment) will be no more by the end of 2008.
I did some research a few weeks ago, and when Village first became a chain circa 2000-2002, the company DID advertise its cinemas and did appear to be a legitimate chain and not a “crash-and-burn-operation”. The December 20, 2002 edition of The Chicago Tribune shows the following cinemas that Village advertised and the movies playing there:
HINSDALE: Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers
GLENWOOD: Two Weeks Notice, Wild Thornberry’s, & Lord of the Rings 2
BURNHAM PLAZA: Gangs of NY, Lord of the Rings 2, Drumline, Empire
BLOOMINGDALE: Gangs of NY, Two Weeks Notice, Lord of The Rings 2, Drumline, Star Trek Nemesis, Die Another Day.
STRATFORD: Wild Thornberry’s , Lord Of the Rings 2, Hot Chick, Harry Potter & the Chambers Secrets, Analyzze That.
WATER TOWER: Personal Velocity, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Emporer’s Club,Ararat.
BIOGRAPH: Analyze That, Two Weeks Notice, Gangs of New York.
VILLAGE: Gangs of NY, Rodger Dodger, Emporer’s Club, Man From Elysian Fields.
VILLAGE NORTH: Lord of the Rings 2, Drumline, Star Trek Nemesis.
GOLF GLEN: Two Weeks Notice, Gangs of NY, Wild Thornberry’s, Lord of the Rings 2, Harry Potter, and Analyze That.
Apparantly, Village Entertainment was promoting its cinemas and had decent bookings (although it still gets decent bookings). And Water Tower was showing art films! The questions are what happened and when did Village become a “crash-and-burn” operation?
Whew, that was a close one. You see, two of my brothers snuck off and saw Escape From LA here back in 1996. They lied and said it was at Water Tower so our mom wouldn’t know. But I didn’t go because I was too young for them to take me that far. Ever since they said it was such a great throwback theater, I’ve been trying to get down there.
Isn’t it odd that they didn’t book a new movie like Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer? Anyway, I’ll see what I can do about going here this week and snapping some auditorium shots.
Hard to say what will happen here. Either way, I am not sure anyone needs to rush out to experience the old 400. It is a productive neighborhood movie house, but no movie palace to be sure.
Try calling again. I heard showtimes for today and tomorrow.
Uh-Oh! That’s not good news for those who live in Rogers Park.
Village’s website says that the theatre is still open. I think that once this place goes, that’ll be it for Village’s chain.
Does anyone have any photos of one of the four auditoriums at Village North? Because I’ve searched for showtimes, and there’s no listing. I called them, but no voice giving showtimes. It’s just ringing. I belive it’s closed. I hope I’m wrong though.
Cinemark Fan…
Remember that the link is to a blog about the Village North’s building for sale, nothing official. But it does add to my theory that Village Theatres will be out of business by next year.
Oh snap, I better get down there ASAP. Maybe next weekend.
You sure about that, Catherine?
Village Theater For Sale?
This will probably be the last of Village’s theatres to survive. It gets good walk-in trade from Loyola and the neighborhood.
The website should be shown as www.villagetheatres.com
The entry for the Guild Theater at 717 West Sheridan in Chicago shows that it was known as the Essex as well as the Pine Grove, Panorama, and Little.
Did the Essex ever have another name? I’m not finding much about it here, or elsewhere.
NEWS ITEM, when the Village was previously called the 400 Theatre:
Chicago Daily News, Thursday, October 7, 1954, p. 53, c. 1:
Retreat From TV Ending: CLOSED MOVIES TO REOPEN
by Sam Lesner
Four of Chicago’s closed movie houses are reopening!
The Essex theater, Sheridan rd. near Lake Shore dr., closed for two years, reopens Friday with the widely acclaimed French-Italian omnibus film, “The Seven Deadly Sins.”
The Calo Theater, 5406 N. Clark, another victim of the theater-devouring TV giant, will be reopened Oct. 22, with Jack Webb’s “Dragnet,” the first feature length film version of Webb’s TV program which was No. 1 in the Hooper ratings for September. (Isn’t that poetic justice, or something?)
The 400 theater, another North Side film house that has been dark for some time, is being remodeled for a new lease on its former movie life.
The Armitage, 3545-51, also an early TV victim, is being remodeled for an early reopening—-as a film house, of course.
This is one theatre that Village seems to have improved. See photos of the theatre the way I remember it in this gallery:
http://www.mekong.net/random/cinema6.htm
It was a dump in the 80’s & 90’s. They put up that 400 Twin sign and seemed to start twinning the place. Then all work stopped. But they continued to operate in a state of shambles.
Note that these photos may not be reproduced without permission of their owner.
Oh, shoot. I forgot to edit that before linking.
Here are photos of this theater.
Village is now advertising legal movie downloads on its website.
Is it me, or is it just plain wrong for a movie theatre chain to do this?
LTS,
It has been awhile since I was at the Village North. It was okay. The floors were clean, as were the rest rooms. The Village North gets significant walk-in trade from the community.
Once when I was there, circa 1997-1998, there was a petition being circulated protesting the proposed multi-plex. So, perhaps indirectly, Village Theatres won on that one.
See comments on the Norshore Theatre Paul.
Also, I think the building remained a single auditorium until the 90’s. I went there a few times late 80’s / early 90’s. It looked like they started to twin it, then ran out of money and continued to operate while everything was in shambles. There were holes punched for the second projection booth for instance. It made the Plaza Theatre on Devon look like the Uptown!
The description above for this theatre should be changed. The Adelphi has been demolished so now the Village North is the only movie theatre left in Rogers Park.
Also, a few years ago, there was a proposal to build a new multi-plex across from the CTA’s Howard Street L Stop (Red Line). Anybody know whatever became of that plan?
In the late ‘70s I saw the cult film Rock-n-Roll High School starring the Ramones. As a kid growing up on the westside it was my first time in Rogers Park.
“The Four Hundred” is an old term for the highest of high society. That’s probably what the namers were going for.
Anyone know why it was called the 400?
This cinema was called the 400 up until 1996 when the
village theater purchased it.