Milford Theatre

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Another view of the Milford Theatre and Ballroom

Hi my name is Bill Boshears, My mom was the popcorn lady there. I to have alot of good memories from the Milford theatre, so when they were tearing it down i had to have the Milford sign, i bought the blue and yellows for $50 from the wreckers.I brought it to rockford,IL to hang up in a rec room and three letters were taken , and now i have to hang it up the MIL and the D and say some SOB stole my FOR, i was pretty upset for awhile of them taking those letters , but they cant take the memories.what a conversion piece now it is.

My father use to take us here when we were Kids . We loved to spend time with him at the show here . I remember the MIlford Theater very well . They use to show two movies for 90 cents or so . You dont get a double feature no More , thats a thing of the past . We use to look forward to see the show with my dad that use to pick us up on the bus . I think back in 1990 or 1994 they tore it down for cvs . Its like all the other theaters in chicago north side that got torn down . The gate way was one of them too . I seen the return of the jedi there . Man this site brings back memorys in chicago , I love Chicago very much . I wish I had the money to move back there . I miss it very much and all the memories as well .

1982 Night Photo

We had a freinds brother sneak us in to see Little Darlings because it was rated R. Man we were there every weekend.Jaws…Rocky…Star Wars…The Muppett Movie….and the best second movie of a double Feature, Gray Lady Down. When we were kids it was 50 cents for kids and 60 cents for adults. After a double feature my ass was so sore. I can still smell the popcorn. I think I lost a pair of shoes on that floor.

A Kilgen theater organ opus 3728 size 2/7 style U015 was installed in the Milford Theater in 1927. Note: $8,105 credit allowed for Kimball traded in. Kilgen later moved to State Roller Rink, Hammond, Indiana; $14,605.00.

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.

Saw a few films here, including Lethal Weapon 2 (or was it 3?). It was raining during that film and leaks began to drip down into the auditorium. The seats were OK, although dirty. Not a terrible crowd that night. The place was probably 20% full. They sold “Milford Theatre Double Feature” t-shirts with a film reel emblem on them in the lobby. I bought one, which is now at the Theatre Historical Society. It was showing it’s age but still had charm. Now that I think about it I miss the place.

I am amazed that this theatre lasted as long as it did. In the 1970s and early 1980s, it still drew a big crowd. It was cheap and dirty and had the least comfortable seats anywhere.

I saw a totally ‘70s sci-fi flick here called CAPRICORN ONE. It starred Elliot Gould, James Brolin, OJ Simpson, Hal Holbrook, Karen Black, Telly Savalas, Brenda Vaccaro, and Sam Waterston.

And it was of course named for the intersection of Milwaukee and Crawford (Now Pulaski) where it sat. Note that “Pulaski” is spelled incorrectly in the address field above.

The 60-cent admission price survived well into the 1970s; by 1980 it was up to 90 cents. The Milford’s newspaper ads in those years looked similar to the Bryn Mawr’s, but I don’t know if they were under the same management.

The Milford theatre is fondly mentioned in the book “Lords of Lawndale”, written by a local gang member. His description of the theatre is very similar to how I will always remember it.