Oakbrook Center Cinemas
300 Oakbrook Center,
Oak Brook,
IL
60523
300 Oakbrook Center,
Oak Brook,
IL
60523
4 people
favorited this theater
The Oakbrook Center Cinemas was opened in the early-1980’s by Plitt Theaters with three screens. In 1987 (when Cineplex Odeon took over the chain), four more screens were added. They were best known for showing independent films and regular movies.
In 2001, four of the screens were closed by Loews/Cineplex. In September 2003, the remaining three were closed. The last movies that were booked were “Seabiscuit”, “Dirty Pretty Things” and “Whale Rider”.
Contributed by
James Piscitelli
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Recent comments (view all 31 comments)
Sorry to say it is true aek316. I hoped and prayed for a long time that someone would buy Oak Brook 1-4 and turn it into an art house or something along those lines. All the theaters you mentioned I went to as well. If you visted Oakbrook 1-4 between 1993 and 1997, I probably sold you a ticket. My first job was at the Mercury in Elmwood Park, and I also worked at Forest Park and North Riverside Mall before becoming the manager at Oak Brook. It was such a nice theater, as a manager I knew all my regular customers. Now a days with these ridiculous 20 and 30 screen houses, it is impossible. Such a waste.
Bob,
Was in the area today and you are right. If you didn’t know any better, you’d never know there was a theater there once. The front doors are blocked off and the marquee is down from the front of the building. I went up the stairs around to the other side of the building and there are in fact retail stores there. Not sure if it was always that way, but from the looks of the front they are probably gutting it or just leaving the front of the building alone unoccupied or for storage since the property has been closed for so long. As you said, what a waste. I saw a lot of movies here in college (you just may have sold me a ticket there and at North Riverside and to my parents at Mercury and Forest Park too) and it was a nice place. All these new multiplexes lack character (not to mention adequete space) and moviegoing is no longer an experience anymore as evidenced by all the old theaters closing. I fear the Norridge is the next one to go as I heard rumors Cost Co wants to move in there. They recently tweaked the marquee and things looked a little run down in there when I was in there this week. That and the Lake are the last 2 places left that I saw movies at when I was growing up. Really too bad, thanks for the update though. Glad to see someone feels the way I do about some of thes old places-
Hello aek316,
Sorry it’s been so long since my reply. It’s so nice to have someone agree with someone when it comes to the old movie houses. I really miss my position with Cineplex Odeon. It was such a joy to go to work everyday at Oak Brook 1-4. Had no idea about Norridge. Just what we need, another big box retail outlet. I hardly ever go out to the movies anymore. I was just at AMC Woodridge to see Sweeney Todd. That theater is a nightmare! Oak Brook would have been a great theater for that movie.
I worked as an usher at the Oakbrook Theatre in the mid-70’s when it was part of the ABC Great States theatre chain. Around 1974 the northern tier of the chain was purchased by Henry Plitt, an ABC employee. Plitt changed the company name to “Plitt Theaters.” I remember getting a new usher jacket when the change took place.
The building was a modern design but retained the classic elements of an old movie house. An outside box office was used to sell tickets, the screen was covered with a curtain and the lobby was large enough to hold hundreds of patrons. The candy counter was surrounded by a dark brick floor, an unusual architectural feature at that time. The brick floor was flanked by a large carpeted area with square padded benches along the perimeter. A modern architectural feature in the lobby was floor to ceiling windows, which went across the entire length of the lobby. During matinees we would close the lobby curtains to prevent light from entering the auditorium. There were no doors between the lobby and auditorium. Patrons entered through a tunnel-style ramp.
The auditorium had a raked main floor and large balcony that resembled a modern-day stadium style theater. A unique feature in the auditorium was rocking chair seats. The isles were wide and easy to navigate. One summer, my job was to replace most of the arm rests on the seats. It took most of the summer but was a nice way to earn extra money.
The projection system could handle 35mm and 70mm film. The screen had adjustable masking around it, which always created a clean border around the film image. There were three different masking settings that corresponded with the film formats that were shown (35mm, flat; 35mm, widescreen; 70 mm, taller and wider than 35mm widescreen). The 70mm films appeared to be a much higher resolution than 35mm (similar to modern day digital houses). The image was larger than widescreen films and the projection system provided an early version of surround sound, using film with a magnetic strip for discrete audio channels (rather than the mono optical tracks found on most 35mm films of the day).
When a film was over, patrons could exit the auditorium through art galleries, which bordered both sides of the lobby. Works of art, mostly modern paintings, were hung in the galleries. I never knew who provided the art work. Perhaps they came from local galleries.
Jim Currant was the manager when I was employed at the Oakbrook Theater. He did a good job of assembling a great team. Most of us loved movies. I remember seeing “The Godfather†about 35 times. To this day, I can still recite many of the lines from memory! Ushers were pretty good at memorizing lines, especially when a movie ran for more than 5 weeks.
If anyone has any pictures of the Plitt Oakbrook Theater, please post them. It would be great to see it again.
Balaban & Katz retained the services of the firm of Loebl, Schlossman & Bennett, the architects of the Oakbrook shopping center, to design the original Oakbrook Cinema, according to an item in Boxoffice Magazine, December 23, 1963. Plans called for 1200 seats in the single-screen theater.
The December 7, 1964, issue of Boxoffice announced that B&K would hold an open house for the new theater on December 19 and 20, with the formal opening slated for Christmas Day. The final paragraph of the article was interesting:
I wonder if anybody connected with the shopping center will remember that the time capsule is there?Does anyone know if Oak Brook 1-4 was converted into anything or is it still unoccupied?
The “upper” section of Oak Brook 1-4 was converted into stores, which face the opposite side of the theatre. The box office was finally covered up a few years back. The food court area opposite seems to be having issues (McDonald’s pulled out and a brand new sushi joint closed just a year after opening). It’s too bad. I saw many flicks here as a kid, including some of the Star Wars re-releases at the standalone theatre in the parking lot.
Sad Story!
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t there always stores on the oppisite side of the theater? When I was last at the mall 2 or so years ago, I did see the box office covered up. I guess whether they built in the theater space or not, sadly I don’t think it’s ever goign to function as atheater again. Sad story indeed. All the old Cineplex’s are almost gone…
Here is a link to the Boxoffice item I cited in a previous comment. There is an artist’s rendering of the original Oakbrook Cinema.