Cadillac Palace Theatre
151 West Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
151 West Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
21 people
favorited this theater
Opened in October of 1926, as the New Palace Theatre (there was already a Palace Music Hall located at Clark Street and Randolph Street which was later renamed the Erlanger Theatre), and was designed by Rapp & Rapp. Its interior design is similar in vein to the Los Angeles Theater – a French Renaissance style beauty inspired by Versailles. The New Palace Theatre was originally opened as the flagship of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit (the State Lake Theatre, also in the Loop, was another one of the Orpheum circuit’s vaudeville palaces in Chicago). After showcasing dozens of big-name stars during the late-1920’s, the theatre was converted into a movie palace in 1931 as the RKO Palace Theatre.
In the 1950’s, attendance began to wane, at what was by then called Eitel’s Palace Theatre and live shows were re-introduced to the repertoire. During the late-1950’s, the Palace was altered to show Cinerama films. The neighboring Bismarck Hotel purchased the theater in the 1970’s and the auditorium was converted into a banquet hall by removing the seats on the orchestra level. In 1984, the theatre, now renamed the Bismarck Theatre, was converted into a concert venue.
Barely used during the 1990’s, the former New Palace Theatre was finally restored and renovated during 1999, and renamed the Cadillac Palace Theatre thanks to a large donation by the company towards the theater’s spectacular restoration. The renovated theatre was reopened during the fall of 1999, with the premier of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida”. The renovation has made true the name of the ‘Palace’.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 99 comments)
I’m looking at a June 3rd, 1965 Chicago Daily News that lists it’s name as only the “Palace Theatre, Randolph at LaSalle”. “My Fair Lady” is the film.So maybe “Palace” should be added as one of it’s former names.
I recall seeing “How the West Was Won” in Cinerama at this theater,and I believe the name of the theater was McVicker’s Cinerama at the time. Am I imagining this?
The McVickers was a different theatre that did show Cinerama, including How The West Was Won
Michael Coate has done a lot of research on CINERAMA theaters and CINERAMA films. Here are his results on Eitel’s Palace. Thanks Michael.
PLEASE NOTICE HOW MANY WEEKS THESE CINERAMA FILMS PLAYED!
THIS IS CINERAMA, July 29, 1953, 98 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
CINERAMA HOLIDAY, June 15, 1955, 78 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, December 12, 1956, 70 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
SEARCH FOR PARADISE, April 16, 1958, 22 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE, September 18, 1958, 59 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
THIS IS CINERAMA, (Return Engagement) June 28, 1961, 14 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, (Return Engagement) October 4, 1961, 15 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
CINERAMA HOLIDAY, (Return Engagement) January 17, 1962, 11 Weeks, 3-Strip CINERAMA
Chicago’s CINERAMA Theaters
Palace
Opera House
McVickers
Cinestage
Edens
Just caught an old matchbook cover of the Bismarck on Craigslist. The Swiss Chalet was the restaurant just East & connected to the lobby of the the theater/building. It appeared their own sign was mounted on the East end of the Bismarck overhang.
Boy Kisses Girl, Then Kills Her
‘Sealed Lips’ on Screen As Youth Chooses Theater for Shooting
CHICAGO. Feb 25, 1942 â€"APâ€" A 17- year-old former high school student was seized in surburban Berwyn today and confessed, Coroner A. L. Brodie announced, that he kissed pretty Dorothy Broz, his 16-year-old companion, and then shot her to death while they sat in the downtown Palace Theater.
The youth, Clarence McDonald, a railroad employee, was seized on information supplied by the victim’s friend, Miss Elaine Mastney, 17, a senior in the Morton High School.
She told authorities that Dorothy said Clarence was inordinately
jealous, and had said: “If I can’t have you, nobody else will.”
‘IT JUST HAPPENED’
Some 12 hours after the shooting late yesterday in the theater balcony where “Hellzapoppin” and “Sealed Lips” were being shown,
the youth made a statement to the attorney Leslie Curtis. “I don’t know — it just happened,“ he was quoted as saying. "Was there any conversation before you shot her?” the boy was asked. “No,” he replied, “I was kissing her.”
GOING TOGETHER
Young McDonald said he had been going with Dorothy for about two years, that they had talked of marriage, but later decided “to wait four years “until she was a little older.“ He admitted the officials said, that on a former occasion he had drawn a pistol on the girl while they were in an ice cream parlor, but that he was just "fooling."
Prior to making the statement, the youth told the coroner that he and his victim had quarreled about trivial things — baseball, football and school affairs.
The clue was obtained shortly after the identification of Dorothy's
body in the morgue where it had lain among the unknown dead for almost 11 hours after the shooting.
Identification was made by an uncle who said Dorothy, also of Berwyn,
was the daughter of a real estate man and that she had finished high school this month.
Police had obtained only a vague description of the youth who stepped across Dorothy’s bleeding body, sprinted up an aisle and escaped in the dark and confusion of the theater.
Noisy with pistol shots and girlish screams, “Hellzapoppin' had finished and a companion picture, "Sealed Lips.” had started building its mystery plot.
In the nearly empty balcony, Dorothy was sitting with a young man. Suddenly she cried “Help, oh help me! He’s got a gun!” Those nearby heard her but associated her cry with the antics in the picture just ended. A scene in the crime feature, a fight in a prison mess hall, had the sound of amplified roaring as a perfect cover for the shot that followed by a few seconds. “Oh, get that man! I’m shot, I’m shot!” Dorothy screamed, then collapsed in an aisle, a bullet beneath her heart.
Here’s a photograph of the Palace Theatre taken in 1936 and another photograph taken in 1937 by George Mann of the comedy dance team, Barto and Mann.
Here is a 1960 photo
Never visited the Palace Theatre until it reopened as the Cadillac Palace Theatre for the show “The Producers”. Wonderful place!