Chicago Theatre
175 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
175 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
83 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 320 comments found
Many public libraries, and especially the main ones in large cities, have computers linked to vintage newspaper archives through a service called ProQuest. Via ProQuest, you can read the Chicago Tribune for most, if not all, of its entire history, and certainly since the introduction of movies. To do a search of display ads for movie theatres, you just have to enter a date and a keyword. I always use “Balaban” (without quotes), since Balaban & Katz dominated the entertainment advertising. Nearly always, the search will bring up entire pages, showing all theatres regardless of ownership. You can print out copies of the ad pages at the lbirary for a minimal charge, but you also can e-mail them (free of charge!) to your computer at home. ProQuest uses Adobe Acrobat Reader, so you will need that on your home computer. The program is available free from the Adobe website.
Fred – I’m not sure how to answer that. As a kid I simply started writing down the bookings each week (and have several more theaters still to post)in the 70’s. As a teen I used to go to the library and one day found old newspapers and started going backwards until I got to 1964 and then I stopped going. Since you are in KC going to the library is not an option. Outside of that I can’t think of any other way since you can’t find it on the Internet (that I know of). Thanks for your kind words and look for my other listings as I post them. And good luck in your search. Should you ever find them make sure to post them!!
JRS40 – Thank you so very much for your downtown theater listings!! It means a great deal to me personally. I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into it. How can I go about getting these same listings for 1959 thru 1963? I now live in Kansas City. How can I research from my end? Would appreciate any advice you could offer and thanks again for the listings!!
Archives – FUNNY GIRL played at the United Artists (check out the film schedule I have listed there as well).
Mike – With the exception of some obvious re-release double and triple features, the movies that played the Chicago were first run. Up until the mid 70’s it was almost always an exclusive engagement as well and there were even a few in the mid to late 70’s as well but the exclusive runs were phased out by studios who saw the chance to make a bigger profit by opening it simultaneously on screens in the suburbs as well.
JRS40 Was this a first run theater or second run?
JRS40
Great historical research on the film listing! What Chicago theatre played the reserved seat engagement of FUNNY GIRL in October 1968? It wasn’t the Mike Todd as someone responded to my earlier question on this. Thanks.
Here is a list of the films that played here from 1964-1980.
1/03/1964 – CHARADE
2/21/1964 – MAN’S FAVORITE SPORT?
3/20/1964 – CAPTAIN NEWMAN M.D.
5/08/1964 – PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES
5/29/1964 – THE CHALK GARDEN
7/03/1964 – THE CARPETBAGGERS
8/21/1964 – MARNIE
9/25/1964 – THE VISIT
10/9/1964 – WHERE LOVE HAS GONE
11/6/1964 – FAIL SAFE
11/25/1964- YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE
12/25/1964- SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL
2/12/1965 – STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
3/12/1965 – DEAR BRIDGETTE
3/26/1965 – DEAR HEART
4/16/1965 – IN HARM’S WAY
5/28/1965 – MIRAGE
6/11/1965 – JOY IN THE MORNING
6/25/1965 – HARLOW
7/23/1965 – THE SANDPIPER
8/25/1965 – CAT BALLOU
10/8/1965 – THE IPCRESS FILE
11/11/1965- THE CINCINNATI KID
12/25/1965- THAT DARN CAT
1/28/1966 – MADE IN PARIS
2/18/1966 – THE SILENCERS
4/15/1966 – CAST A GIANT SHADOW
5/27/1966 – THE LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS
6/17/1966 – NEVADA SMITH
7/15/1966 – ARABESQUE
8/12/1966 – TORN CURTAIN
9/30/1966 – AN AMERICAN DREAM
10/12/1966- KALEIDOSCOPE
10/26/1966- SECONDS
11/9/1966 – THE PROFESSIONALS
12/22/1966- MURDERER’S ROW
2/15/1967 – FUNERAL IN BERLIN
3/15/1967 – HOTEL
4/19/1967 – HOMBRE
5/26/1967 – 8 ON THE LAM
6/15/1967 – YOU ONLY LIVCE TWICE
8/23/1967 – BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
10/11/1967- ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO
10/27/1967- WATERHOLE #3
11/17/1967- TONY ROME
12/20/1967- THE AMBUSHERS
1/24/1968 – GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?
4/12/1968 – WHERE ANGELS GO TROUBLE FOLLOWS
5/01/1968 – MADIGAN
5/22/1968 – YOURS, MINE AND OURS
6/21/1968 – THE GREEN BERETS
7/26/1968 – ROSEMARY’S BABY
10/11/1968- BARBARELLA
11/8/1968 – SHALAKO
11/27/1968- COOGAN’S BLUFF
12/20/1968- CANDY
2/07/1969 – THE STALKING MOON
2/26/1969 – THE WRECKING CREW
3/26/1969 – WHERE EAGLES DARE
4/30/1969 – MIDAS RUN
5/17/1969 – WINNING
6/18/1969 – MACKENNAS GOLD
7/11/1969 – THE WILD BUNCH
8/27/1969 – WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE?
9/24/1969 – BULLITT plus BONNIE AND CLYDE
10/10/1969- BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
12/19/1969- THE ARRANGEMENT
1/16/1970 – TOPAZ
2/18/1970 – THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
3/11/1970 – THE LAST GRENADE
3/25/1970 – THE ADVENTURERS
5/20/1970 – THE GRASSHOPPER
6/17/1970 – TOO LATE THE HERO
7/03/1970 – CHISUM
7/24/1970 – THE OUT OF TOWNERS
8/21/1970 – EL CONDOR
9/11/1970 – WATERMELON MAN
10/9/1970 – MONTE WALSH
11/6/1970 – HOTEL
11/20/1970- DIRTY DINGUS MAGEE
12/25/1970- LOVE STORY
6/04/1971 – THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES
6/30/1971 – LE MANS
7/23/1971 – MURPHY’S WAR
8/11/1971 – THE LOVE MACHINE
9/17/1971 – NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS
10/1/1971 – LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH
10/22/1971- PLAY MISTY FOR ME
11/19/1971- SOMETHING BIG
12/8/1971 – LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
12/24/1971- SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION
1/14/1972 – SUCH GOOD FRIENDS
2/09/1972 – POCKET MONEY
3/08/1972 – PLAY MISTY FOR ME plus THE BEGUILED
3/22/1972 – THE GODFATHER
7/14/1972 – FRENZY
8/16/1972 – THE NEW CENTURIONS
10/8/1972 – BARON BLOOD plus THE THING WITH TWO HEADS
10/25/1972- LADY SINGS THE BLUES
12/22/1972- THE GETAWAY
3/07/1973 – CIN-A-ROCK (LIVE MUSIC AND FILMS)
3/14/1973 – LADY SINGS THE BLUES
4/18/1973 – SOYLENT GREEN
5/13/1973 – COFFY
6/08/1973 – TERMINAL ISLAND
6/27/1973 – THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING
7/20/1973 – JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
9/21/1973 – DETROIT 9000
10/7/1973 – HIT!
11/11/1973- SACRED KNIVES OF VEANGENCE plus FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH
11/25/1973- CLEOPATRA JONES plus SUPERFLY
12/25/1973- MAGNUM FORCE
2/08/1974 – SERPICO
4/05/1974 – THE GODFATHER plus LADY SINGS THE BLUES
4/12/1974 – THE SUPER COPS
5/10/1974 – CLAUDINE
6/21/1974 – UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT
8/30/1974 – TOGETHER BROTHERS
9/27/1974 – TRUCK TURNER plus FOXY BROWN
10/18/1974- THE FAMILY plus TRICK BABY
10/25/1974- THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
11/15/1974- THE KLANSMAN
12/20/1974- THE TOWERING INFERNO
3/14/1975 – DIRTY HARRY plus MAGNUM FORCE
4/18/1975 – THE STREETFIGHTER plus POLICE WOMEN
5/02/1975 – THE CHINESE CONNECTION plus FISTS OF FURY
5/23/1975 – FRENCH CONNECTION II
6/27/1975 – COOLEY HIGH
10/17/1975- MAHOGANY
12/25/1975- FRIDAY FOSTER
2/11/1976 – THE DEVIL WITHIN HER
4/02/1976 – THE RIVER NIGER
5/28/1976 – EMBRYO
6/11/1976 – MOTHER, JUGS AND SPEED
6/15/1976 – THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES
7/16/1976 – THE BINGO LONG TRAVELLING ALL-STARS AND MOTOR KINGS
9/10/1976 – LADY SINGS THE BLUES plus MAHOGANY
10/1/1976 – NORMAN, IS THAT YOU?
11/19/1976- PIPEDREAMS
12/22/1976- THE ENFORCER
2/11/1977 – THE SENTINEL
4/01/1977 – UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT plus LET’S DO IT AGAIN
4/22/1977 – BROTHERS
5/20/1977 – THE GREATEST
7/01/1977 – DISCO 9000
7/29/1977 – GREASED LIGHTNING
8/26/1977 – THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
9/09/1977 – FINAL CHAPTER WALKING TALL
9/16/1977 – SCOTT JOPLIN plus HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER
10/6/1977 – A PIECE OF THE ACTION
12/23/1977- THE CHOIRBOYS
1/20/1978 – SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
2/10/1978 – BLUE COLLAR
4/28/1978 – F.I.S.T.
6/02/1978 – CAPRICORN ONE
6/16/1978 – THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY
7/14/1978 – THE SWARM
7/28/1978 – THE DRIVER
8/25/1978 – DOGS plus DAMIEN: OMEN II
9/15/1978 – THE GREATEST plus THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY
9/22/1978 – WHICH WAY IS UP? PLUS CAR WASH
9/29/1978 – ENTER THE DRAGON plus FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH
10/13/1978- COUNT DRACULA AND HIS VAMPIRE BRIDE
11/3/1978 – MESSAGE FROM SPACE plus CHAMPION OF DEATH
11/17/1978- HALLOWEEN plus THE HILLS HAVE EYES
12/20/1978- EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE
1/05/1979 – SUPERMAN – THE MOVIE
4/13/1979 – HURRICANE
4/20/1979 – LOVE AT FIRST BITE plus BLACULA
5/04/1979 – BOULEVARD NIGHTS
5/18/1979 – THE REDEEMER – SON OF SATAN plus PLAGUE
6/01/1979 – THE DARK plus THE FAMILY
6/15/1979 – BUTCH AND SUNDANCE – THE EARLY DAYS
6/22/1979 – SILVER STREAK plus MAGIC
6/29/1979 – MOONRAKER
8/03/1979 – THE MUPPET MOVIE
9/07/1979 – EYEBALL plus SUSPIRIA
9/14/1979 – LOVE AND BULLETS plus THE DEER HUNTER
9/28/1979 – WHEN A STRANGER CALLS
11/9/1979 – THE FISH THAT SAVED PITTSBURGH
12/14/1979- THE JERK
1/25/1980 – GUYANA – CULT OF THE DAMNED plus BLUE COLLAR
2/08/1980 – AMERICAN GIGOLO
2/15/1980 – CRUISING
3/07/1980 – TRUCK TURNER plus FOXY BROWN plus HELL UP IN HARLEM
3/14/1980 – DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE plus TERROR
3/28/1980 – PENITENTIARY
5/16/1980 – THE HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS
5/23/1980 – EDGE OF FURY plus THE FOG
5/30/1980 – SILENT SCREAM
6/20/1980 – THE BLUES BROTHERS
9/12/1980 – GAME OF DEATH plus RETURN OF THE DRAGON
9/26/1980 – HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE plus INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
10/10/1980- GLORIA plus WHOLLY MOSES
10/24/1980- MOTEL HELL
11/14/1980- MONKEY HUSTLE plus FOXY BROWN plus BLACK CAESAR plus TALES FROM THE CRYPT
11/21/1980- ALLIGATOR plus FADE TO BLACK
12/5/1980 – FLASH GORDON
Mentioned once or twice in all the postings is their Screening Room “for the trade only”. Primarily in the 70s I went there on odd invitation—one entered the Chicago not off of State St but from the doors on Benton Pl, the south side of the bldg. At that entrance there’s a bank of elevators that takes one to the upper floors for that screening room; perhaps it was on flr 7 or maybe 11. Titles I saw immediatley before opening were BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (DeNiro, Voight), and HAUNTING OF JULIA (Keir Dullea, Mia Farrow). I was with a small group of friends standing in the hallway up there when Roger Ebert walks up to us and gives us his strong recommendation to some other film.
On the CHICAGO main floor I remember seeing BARBARELLA on opening there. And all those above wracking their brains trying tom recall the name of the nearby downtown hamburger joints, will you still haven’t got it right. It was WIMPY’S—after the Popeye character.
Don’t believe everything that you read on postcards and in advertising. Actual seating capacities were often greatly exaggerated. But it seems very probable that the Chicago could hold 5,000 people if you included lobbies and foyers where they waited for occupied seats to become available.
I have a postcard for the Chicago from 1922 which claims it has 5 000 seats!
View link
GOSSIP COLUMN ITEMs:
Chicago Tribune, Monday, August 5, 1955, s. 3, p. 6, c. 5:
Tower Ticker, by Herb Lyon
“Jack Webb’s "Pete Kelly’s Blues” should put movie houses in the black all over the country. His personals at the Chicago theater Friday almost equaled his own all-time house record for one day and the movie has nothing but moxie. Every muckety-muck in town turned out to greet Jack and his Dorothy at the Jimmy Hart’s party in the Ambassador Sat. night. [They even let me in.]… ."
same paper, column: Thursday, August 25, 1955, s. 4, p. 3, c. 1:
“The Jotted Lyon: Producer Sam [Mr. Prototype] Goldwyn in person, will be among the celebs in town for the "most spectacular” movie premiere yet—“Guys and Dolls” at the Chicago theater Nov. 11. Brando, Sinatra, etc., are expected to join in the hijinks … Balaban and Katz, as yet, are undecided whether to drop stage shows for the extended engagement of this 6 million buck tingler … ."
same paer and column, Thursday, July 7, 1960, s. 1, p. 14, c. 1:
“… . Sign on the Chicago theater: "Ice Palace. Cool Inside!”
same paper and column, Sunday, July 10, 1960, s. 1, p. 7, c. 4:
“… . ‘Twas Barney Balaban who launched the Chicago theater, and now his son, Burt, makes his own debut as a big league movie producer. Burt’s "Murder, Inc.” opens there Friday, tho financed by Fox, not by his dad’s outfit, Paramount. Burt, 38, and his 16 year old daughter arrive Sunday for a pre-opening buildup and to visit local Balaban relatives… . "
Can someone e-mail me the bookings of the Chicago Theatre from 1964 to 1980 and if possible 1981-1985? My e-mail is
Thank you,
300bowler
I notice that due to the work going on on the next-door Page Brothers Building and the temporary covered sidewalk in front of the building, that the side attraction panel on the Chicago Theatre’s marquee facing Lake Street is partially obstructed and the lettering is now all pushed to the right-hand side of the panel for now (see the examples here, here, and here.)
BWChicago and Bryan – thanks for the photos. It’s a rather odd looking building, with that hole in the middle. And an odd name (MoMo, or Modern Momentum!) But it’s certainly better than the Walgreens building it replaced. And the addition of those condo units should only help the downtown theatre business.
Here is a photo I took early last fall showing MoMo rising next to the Chicago Theatre.
Sure; a page on MoMo is here, with renderings. The building is not yet complete.
Can anyone point me to a photo of the building that was recently constructed next to the Chicago Theatre, the one that replaced the Walgreens building? Thanks.
Looks like the office space above the lobby has been renovated. Last time I saw it (probably 1990) that space had basically been gutted to the brick walls.
A recent night view of the Chicago Theater can be seen here.
Thank you that answers a lot of questions .
thank you for your time on this matter.
Plitt took over in the mid-60’s. Actually, the theatre was part of the ABC/Paramount chain split off after the consent decrees. Plitt worked as a circuit manager for ABC/Paramount directly under the ABC head Leonard Goldenson. The ABC owned TV station in Chicago was WBKB (Balaban & Katz Broadcasting)and the engineer who put it on the air was I. F. Jacobson, who was the technical head of the Balaban & Katz theatres. When ABC/Paramount got out of the theatre business, Plitt took over the chain. I was working part-time as a projectionist in a downstate Illinois Publix theatre (the chain had theatres under a variety of names including Paramount/Publix) at the time Plitt took over and gave circuit-wide passes to all the employees. My passes were always listed under the Plitt theatres name, and it was about that time that the top of the Chicago vertical sign was changed to Plitt.
Also i also think that the high side attraction boards were removed durring the restoration, also the vertical sign is not the orginal one i think it is lighter than the first one and the marquee i think now has a sort of a piller think happing on the street level. If i rember right thire was a whole page in the Sun-Times or may be the Tribune i am not sure witch one. Thanks again
I saw in the picture from the post above that the name on the vertical sign whare the B&K would be it says PLITT whan did PLITT take over from B&K?
Thank you for your time
Here’s an early 80s (maybe 1982?) view of the Chicago Theatre showing “Scanners” and “Prom Night” with “Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip” coming soon. Notice the high side attraction boards on the marquee which I’m guessing were removed around the time of the 1986 restoration.
When did the first Hollywood-style premiere take place in Chicago, and at what theatre?
The CHICAGO TRIBUNE gives us the answer: Thursday, October 24, 1940, p. 23, c.1 (news item):
CHICAGO’S FIRST MOVIE PREMIERE IS A SCOOP FOR STATION WGN
Chicago showed Hollywood something yesterday about putting on a real motion picture premiere—and a day early at that. But the rousing reception given the arriving “Northwest Mounted Police” stars and Producer Cecil B. DeMille was only a foretaste of what may be expected when Chicago has its first real motion picture premiere tonight.
The premiere of the DeMille technicolor production tonight is double barreled. First of all WGN, the Mutual network, and the Canadian corporation network will bring the radio premiere to the nation and to Canada. This is a scoop for WGN, for the premiere is exclusive over these networks. It will be presented from 7:30 to 8 o'clock on the regular In Chicago Tonight program under the direction of William A. Bacher.