Milford Theatre
3311 N. Pulaski Road,
Chicago,
IL
60641
3311 N. Pulaski Road,
Chicago,
IL
60641
6 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Ascher Brothers Inc., Balaban, H & E, Kohlberg Theaters
Architects: Henry L. Newhouse
Nearby Theaters
The Milford Theatre was opened February 24, 1917 with Robert Warwick in “The Argyle Case”. It was built for and operated by the Ascher Brothers circuit, located on Crawford Street (now N. Pulaski Road) at N. Milwaukee Avenue in the Irving Park neighborhood. It was equipped with a Kilgen 2 manual 7 ranks organ.
The Milford Theatre remained in operation longer than most of its contemporaries in the neighborhood, remaining open until 1990. The theatre was demolished four years later. A CVS Pharmacy stands on the site today.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 33 comments)
Wonderful to see pictures of that fine old theater that no longer exists, except in my memory. Spent loads of my childhood there in the 1950’s. I sure miss it. Joanm65
http://tribune-files.imagefortress.com/attachment1s/887187/medium_wm/ANR-230-CT_F.JPG?1290820562
This opened on February 24th, 1917. Grand opening ad posted here.
Link to a photo of the Milford Ballroom when it “had seen better days”:
http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/photo-chicago-milford-ballroom-when-it-had-seen-better-days/photo-chicago-milford-ballroom-when-it-had-seen-better-days/
Gosh, it is sure nice to see that the Milford Theatre still lives on in other people’s memories. I grew up on Eddy street right by Addison and Pulaski. I can not tell you how many memories this topic, and location hold for me. I remember my Dad taking us there to see Towering Inferno, the line went all the way around the block. I remember the Jack in the Box across the street, Keystone drugstore, the whole area is some how ingrained in Technicolor inside of me. I really would like to go back, if only for one day, and ride my Schwinn Scrambler down for Baseball practice at Kilbourn Park, and wait on the porch for my day to come home from work. Well, he’s gone now, and the area doesn’t look the same. A bit sad.
Small world; The Milford! Remember the ticket agent, the long lines, and the sticky floors? We grew up at Addison and Pulaski also. Hung out on Eddie street every day by the Orlick’s or by the Kreigers. We loved the secret sauce at Jack In The box, and busting the ketchup packets on the table to splatter all over the window. The whole neighborhood is unforgettable. Best years of our lives.
I moved into the area in 1985, and saw one film at the Milford. Being a suburbanite, the novelty of walking to a theater was part of “city life”. At the time, the ballroom was an Hispanic night club, and the young people dressed for the evening.
The back wall of the theater is part of then auto parts store now auto zone. I found out later that you get a deal from the city for “renovation”, but all that you need is 1 wall to get it.
One additional memory is that the demolition of the Milford and the Oak Theater (Armitage and Western) started the same week. I was picking up a friend from that neighborhood when I saw them demolishing the Oak.
http://archive.org/stream/motography17elec#page/503/mode/1up/search/newhouse
I lived down Milwaukee Avenue from the Milford from 1973 to 1976. At sixty cents admission, it was probably the cheapest entertainment around. However, you had to be careful about going to a Saturday matinee. If it was a movie that kids could attend, station wagons full of kids (each with sixty centers in his or her hands) would pull up and disgorge their contents. Before long, there would be screaming kids running up and down the aisles. (Maybe there was one aged usher.) I also remember that the Milford had Polish films once a month or so. Sorry to learn that it is gone.
Circa 1984 photo added courtesy of William Nichols.