Davis Theater

The Davis was an early theater design by W.W. Ahlschlager, who later went on to design the Belmont and Grove Theaters in Chicago, and the Beacon and Roxy in New York City among many others.

Here is an undated exterior view of the Davis.

Is the wood ticket booth original to the Davis/Pershing, or was it moved from somewhere else?

Does anyone know why this is called the "Davis"?
was it associated with the Davis Theater chain?
If so, what is known about that chain?

I beleive that the Davis's dubious-yet-memorable moment came circa 1978. It was the only theatre in the Chicagoland Area to show CALIGULA--at the then-outrageous price of $7.50. The funny thing about this movie was that the mainstream stars of this movie--Sir John Gielgud, Malcom McDowell, Helen Mirren, and Peter O'Toole--were supposedly unaware that they were doing a glorified porn movie!

I heard somewhere that a chain actually owns this theatre. Is this true or is the Davis independent? I believe it was an Essaness at one time, one of only about 4 remaining in the Chicagoland Area.

It looks like it was a gut job to create the 4 cinemas, but the lobby is still mostly intact from the 1930s. All the cinemas have between 230 and 250 seats. Also, look at the north-facing side of the vertical sign- the 'i' is upside-down. But it's a decent place to see a movie. The sound isn't fantastic, but the picture is clear and bright, and it has comfortable rocker seats, even if the floor slants at a funny angle.

I enjoyed going to The Davis when it was a single screen theater back in the 80's. The first movie I saw at the davis was The Shining. I miss all the old single screen theaters. The Davis was just like The Patio, But when the Davis turned into 4 small theaters the whole experience ended.

This website has some photos of the Davis theater. Click the thumbnails to expand.

jjj

I know that in the late 70s and early 80s two 6ft 6in twin brothers who wore Cowboy boots owned the Davis, I was a Shoe shine Boy and would shine their
Boots for a ticket and Popcorn, I had a friend who eventually went to work there in the mid 80s and threw a late nite party and someone brought a motercycle in through the back door exit and we were rideing it up and down the isles! I viewed All the great 70s and 80s Movies at the Davis, Alien, Conan, E.T., Raiders Of The Lost Ark, And all the rest! The price was 2 movies for $1.50. I Have many Great Childhood memories thanks to the Davis Theater. morganfab@sbcglobal.nete

Here is a recent photo of the Davis Theater.

I visited this place in the late 80's after it became a multi-screen theatre. I remember it being a pit: musty, sticky floors, non-descript screening rooms, poor choice of colors used in decoration.

Sounds like maybe it has come up since then.

This is a more recent photo of the Davis Theater.

My brother and I are going to go see NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN here next week. Has anybody been here recently? What's this theatre like? I haven't been here in years.

Similar to the Logan, maybe even a bit nicer. It's NOTHING like the hellhole it was in the late 1990s.

I went to the Davis theatre with my parents throughout the 1960's when it showed German language movies. We lived near Irving Park Road & Sheridan and Sunday evenings would dress up, take the bus to the cinema, buy Germany magazines (and comics) at the store nearby and meet the German community out for entertainment. The films back then were mostly musicals. As the German movie industry declined in the 60's, the Davis theatre initiated live music and entertainment shows. Bringing German pop stars to Chicago. These shows were always hosted by Armin Homann, who still has a regular German language radio show in Chicago. What I did not realize was, that the theatre actually has a history of showing German films going back to its earliest days! Glad the place is still up and running. I visited the neighbourhood last year and was surprised to see the Old Town School of Music using my old library as their new home!

I was only in the Davis a few times in the late `80's. "Look Who's Talking" is all I remember though. Maybe "976-Evil" too. I love that they've maintained their huge vertical signage.
I wish them continued success.

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Here is a 1982 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/dgnquy

This site has a photo of the Davis Theater.

I worked for the company that distributed Caligula and we couldn't get anyone in Chicago to play it. Then a guy named Nick DeLuca came through with the Davis. Nick was a pleasure and we had a good run there.