While not the NEW APOLLO per se, the PIONEER LOUNGE & BILLIARDS bldg
(as it was once called) directly across Pulaski sure as hell looks like a former movie theatre, from all sides. I used to go bowling there decades ago, so if there was a conversion it would have to go back at least to the ‘40s, or ????? My (strong) feeling is that it (the PL&B bldg) indeed was a theatre, but the NEW APOLLO may have stole its’ thunder fairly early on, not to mention the (former) TIFFIN just around the corner. Anyone else out there have a similar opinion?
The CROWN theatre bldg stood until 1960 (closed) I saw, then sayonara. Somehow I’ve always associated with the nearby “Paulina Street El”, and it’s skeletal stations, this ghost of a theatre in my mind.
Last MERCURY pic I caught was SUPERMAN 4 QUEST FOR PEACE (which was my first son’s first theatre trip). Before that TRON when the air-conditioning failed and I had to walk out. And yes David S. the Sonny & Cher film was GOOD TIMES, director William Friedkin’s first effort.
This LOGAN SQUARE theatre was called the MARS in its final years (had large marquee), and its' demolition I would place @ 1965 (technically before the subway ramp began in 1969). I used to go right past it then although shuttered for (apparently) years, when you rode the Kimball CTA bus from the north entering the old ‘L’ terminal bus lanes. Another name for the LOGAN SQUARE / MARS theatre would be the RIO. The MegaMall bldgs alluded to elsewhere here definately were not the theatre(s); they’d be a couple doors south of the original site. Hope I’ve been of some help.
When the ESQUIRE was still single-auditorium it had what must’ve been the steepest projection angle from booth down to screen that I’ve ever seen. Plus they were still operating w/ carbon arc lighting then—about the last to change-over to xenon I’d guess. The point I might be trying to make is the picture there was incomparable when SUPERMAN I, STAR TREK I, & CLOSE ENCOUNTERS first opened.
Around 1973 Mr. Linwood G. Dunn gave a neat special-effects reel presentation at the ESQUIRE. In early ‘70s they were also big on running the “stereo-phonic sound” version of FANTASIA, plus the un-cut original KING KONG.
My first drive-in experience! Saw PSYCHO, WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE, THE LAST VOYAGE….it was a big thing to have a kiddie playground (right below the screens) for us then.
All this talk about the GATEWAY and no mention anywhere about its' nearby (former) ‘little cousin’ the JEFF THEATRE (after neighborhood Jefferson Park), which old timers will recall was around the corner on Milwaukee Ave 4700 block, west side of street. Just recently in on-air reminisces the JEFF theatre was mentioned on WDCB’s Saturday “THOSE WERE THE DAYS” radio show (by those who should know).
The JEFF and its' bldg disappeared in early ‘50s, but maybe someone w/ more info than me will upgrade this (misplaced) comment into a full-fledged, pin-pointed theatre entry.
Yes this is the BELL theatre (w/ correct address) I’d recalled under nearby CORTLAND theatre comments last week. Despite its alternate latter-day use the place I recall still looked like a theatre (w/marquee) and name still identifiable, when it disappeared from sight altogether around 1962.
AKA time again: this theatre on Milwaukee Ave was perhaps more commonly called the WICKER PARK (after its' neighborhood). The name BELL usually applied to the one recently identified @ 3064 W. Armitage Ave (of all this I am sure). Somebody else out there must also remember this.
GRAND theatre demolished around ‘81 – empty lot now still. Last saw SON OF BLOB there (w/ Larry Hagman) in early '70s, and they went X-rated mid-late in the decade. Very typical of small neighborhood operations I’d say, with a druggist/soda-shop 1 door east. In the early '60s my Dad painted custom posters for their management and I got a free 1/week pass as a result.
The CRYSTAL’d have Saturday a.m. kiddie shows in the early ‘60s, for
which free passes sometimes were distributed around my grammar school (7 FACES OF DR. LAO for example). Unique was that the theatre’s outside movie poster displays were NOT glass-encased (just tacked-up at all times); many budding film poster collections were begun here as a result of this. They gave up the ghost around 1965 and quick demolition without the usual conversion or darkened aftermath (which stunned me a little then).
Most piquant memories re-surface from my childhood of the ROYAL! “DINOSAURUS!”–“BRIDES OF DRACULA”–“THE COSMIC MAN”, etc. Yeah the bathroom was colored hellfire red. Cheapest place around – 35 cents for triple features. Remember the pair of timers/clocks behind the ticket booth telling ‘time getting-in / time getting-out’(when we’d leave ‘cause “this is where we came in at”)? Perfect baby-sitter place for my Mom while she went shopping at Milwaukke Ave stores, and I couldn’t have been happier. In the late '60s their fare was Mexican flix.
LUNA was able to thrive years longer than other small neighberhood theatres because of the economics when the projectionist/operator also is the owner (or so the popular story went then). One funky aspect was only a heavy black (fabric) curtain separated the lobby/ entrance from the auditorium! The dates given in the heading for closure/demolition are accurate ‘cause I went there till the end, and yes in their final years seemed to specialize in the gorier product. To their credit they were the only ones here to run (1969?) POOR COW w/Terence Stamp ('Genl. Zod’).
In the early ‘60s the MilFord tried its’ hand as a ‘mature audiences'
art house (i.e., topless nudies, before X-rated) for a few years, even offering serve-yourself free coffee. But that changed and in the '70s alternating weekly between US sub-runs and Polish films,
earning itself the nickname 'cinema Polski’ among the locals. Screen was in bad shape when I last saw Beetlejuice (M.Keaton) there
myself.
I agree w/ C.Koski because yes there was a(nother) BELL cinema on Armitage Ave, small but w/ marquee I distinctly recall standing (though shuttered) till early ‘60s. However I put it @ 2900 W. street address (bldg long gone now), a couple blocks east of Kedzie
(& Kimball). Who will corroborate?
While not the NEW APOLLO per se, the PIONEER LOUNGE & BILLIARDS bldg
(as it was once called) directly across Pulaski sure as hell looks like a former movie theatre, from all sides. I used to go bowling there decades ago, so if there was a conversion it would have to go back at least to the ‘40s, or ????? My (strong) feeling is that it (the PL&B bldg) indeed was a theatre, but the NEW APOLLO may have stole its’ thunder fairly early on, not to mention the (former) TIFFIN just around the corner. Anyone else out there have a similar opinion?
PORTAGE theatre trivia: JOAN RIVERS introduced her (directed) “RABBIT TEST' there in-person in 1978. Just thought you’d like to know.
The CROWN theatre bldg stood until 1960 (closed) I saw, then sayonara. Somehow I’ve always associated with the nearby “Paulina Street El”, and it’s skeletal stations, this ghost of a theatre in my mind.
Last MERCURY pic I caught was SUPERMAN 4 QUEST FOR PEACE (which was my first son’s first theatre trip). Before that TRON when the air-conditioning failed and I had to walk out. And yes David S. the Sonny & Cher film was GOOD TIMES, director William Friedkin’s first effort.
This LOGAN SQUARE theatre was called the MARS in its final years (had large marquee), and its' demolition I would place @ 1965 (technically before the subway ramp began in 1969). I used to go right past it then although shuttered for (apparently) years, when you rode the Kimball CTA bus from the north entering the old ‘L’ terminal bus lanes. Another name for the LOGAN SQUARE / MARS theatre would be the RIO. The MegaMall bldgs alluded to elsewhere here definately were not the theatre(s); they’d be a couple doors south of the original site. Hope I’ve been of some help.
When the ESQUIRE was still single-auditorium it had what must’ve been the steepest projection angle from booth down to screen that I’ve ever seen. Plus they were still operating w/ carbon arc lighting then—about the last to change-over to xenon I’d guess. The point I might be trying to make is the picture there was incomparable when SUPERMAN I, STAR TREK I, & CLOSE ENCOUNTERS first opened.
Around 1973 Mr. Linwood G. Dunn gave a neat special-effects reel presentation at the ESQUIRE. In early ‘70s they were also big on running the “stereo-phonic sound” version of FANTASIA, plus the un-cut original KING KONG.
There are printed newspaper ads for the ELM dating into the early ‘60s I’m pretty certain.
There are printed newspaper ads for the ELM dating into the early ‘60s I’m pretty certain.
My first drive-in experience! Saw PSYCHO, WRECK OF THE MARY DEARE, THE LAST VOYAGE….it was a big thing to have a kiddie playground (right below the screens) for us then.
All this talk about the GATEWAY and no mention anywhere about its' nearby (former) ‘little cousin’ the JEFF THEATRE (after neighborhood Jefferson Park), which old timers will recall was around the corner on Milwaukee Ave 4700 block, west side of street. Just recently in on-air reminisces the JEFF theatre was mentioned on WDCB’s Saturday “THOSE WERE THE DAYS” radio show (by those who should know).
The JEFF and its' bldg disappeared in early ‘50s, but maybe someone w/ more info than me will upgrade this (misplaced) comment into a full-fledged, pin-pointed theatre entry.
Yes this is the BELL theatre (w/ correct address) I’d recalled under nearby CORTLAND theatre comments last week. Despite its alternate latter-day use the place I recall still looked like a theatre (w/marquee) and name still identifiable, when it disappeared from sight altogether around 1962.
AKA time again: this theatre on Milwaukee Ave was perhaps more commonly called the WICKER PARK (after its' neighborhood). The name BELL usually applied to the one recently identified @ 3064 W. Armitage Ave (of all this I am sure). Somebody else out there must also remember this.
GRAND theatre demolished around ‘81 – empty lot now still. Last saw SON OF BLOB there (w/ Larry Hagman) in early '70s, and they went X-rated mid-late in the decade. Very typical of small neighborhood operations I’d say, with a druggist/soda-shop 1 door east. In the early '60s my Dad painted custom posters for their management and I got a free 1/week pass as a result.
The CRYSTAL’d have Saturday a.m. kiddie shows in the early ‘60s, for
which free passes sometimes were distributed around my grammar school (7 FACES OF DR. LAO for example). Unique was that the theatre’s outside movie poster displays were NOT glass-encased (just tacked-up at all times); many budding film poster collections were begun here as a result of this. They gave up the ghost around 1965 and quick demolition without the usual conversion or darkened aftermath (which stunned me a little then).
Most piquant memories re-surface from my childhood of the ROYAL! “DINOSAURUS!”–“BRIDES OF DRACULA”–“THE COSMIC MAN”, etc. Yeah the bathroom was colored hellfire red. Cheapest place around – 35 cents for triple features. Remember the pair of timers/clocks behind the ticket booth telling ‘time getting-in / time getting-out’(when we’d leave ‘cause “this is where we came in at”)? Perfect baby-sitter place for my Mom while she went shopping at Milwaukke Ave stores, and I couldn’t have been happier. In the late '60s their fare was Mexican flix.
LUNA was able to thrive years longer than other small neighberhood theatres because of the economics when the projectionist/operator also is the owner (or so the popular story went then). One funky aspect was only a heavy black (fabric) curtain separated the lobby/ entrance from the auditorium! The dates given in the heading for closure/demolition are accurate ‘cause I went there till the end, and yes in their final years seemed to specialize in the gorier product. To their credit they were the only ones here to run (1969?) POOR COW w/Terence Stamp ('Genl. Zod’).
In the early ‘60s the MilFord tried its’ hand as a ‘mature audiences'
art house (i.e., topless nudies, before X-rated) for a few years, even offering serve-yourself free coffee. But that changed and in the '70s alternating weekly between US sub-runs and Polish films,
earning itself the nickname 'cinema Polski’ among the locals. Screen was in bad shape when I last saw Beetlejuice (M.Keaton) there
myself.
I agree w/ C.Koski because yes there was a(nother) BELL cinema on Armitage Ave, small but w/ marquee I distinctly recall standing (though shuttered) till early ‘60s. However I put it @ 2900 W. street address (bldg long gone now), a couple blocks east of Kedzie
(& Kimball). Who will corroborate?