Coral Theatre
4710 W. 95th Street,
Oak Lawn,
IL
60453
4710 W. 95th Street,
Oak Lawn,
IL
60453
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 26 comments found
Worked as an Usher for Mr. Kehe, in 1964 he taught me to say Yes Sir. I had a big crush on a girl named Wilma, she worked as a Candy Girl we called here Willy. The popcorn had real butter! When a Hard Days Night came out girls would scream and several passed out. We where so innocent then. After graduating from OLCHS, I was off to Nam.
An exceptionally unusual artifact from Mr. Kehe:
View link
Always good to hear stories from people who worked the theatres.
I too worked as an usher at the coral in 1963. The manager at that time was Mr.Kay and he was a hard man to work for. I was there for the remodel and was involved in mostly clean up. We came in and worked all night on that detail. I remember the narrow stairs up to the dressing room and our new uniforms. Black tux with cardboard dickie and collars. Red cumberbun with red stripe down the side of the legs. There was a White Castle across the street. Some of the movies we ran were: The longest day, The nutty professor, Bye bye Birdie, Mutny on the Bounty, The Frankie and Annete beach movies, The great escape and many more. Pay was no good but great memories.
Two for the price of one though.
Playing B movies in 1983 photo,too nice of a theatre for that.
The Coral Theatre and its sister house the Arlington were the subject of this article in Boxoffice of April 25, 1942. The scan of the magazine is a bit blurry, but two photos of the Coral show the original appearance of the facade and the auditorium. Judging from the 1983 photo linked in Lost Memory’s comment of May 16, 2009, the building was later expanded (as was the Arlington, in 1962.) Originally, both houses had almost identical exteriors.
The Boxoffice article identifies the architect of the Coral Theatre as Frederick Stanton, and says that theater consultant David N. Sandine was the supervisor of the design on both projects. Both houses were decorated by the Hanns Teichert Studio.
Roy B. Blass, currently identified by Cinema Treasures as the architect of the Coral, did design a theater for Oak Lawn in 1941, but I don’t think it was ever built. It was to be called the Camera Theatre, and a rendering of it appeared in Boxoffice’s “Just Off the Boards” feature for June 21, 1941.
the coral theater i remember didn’t but up to 95th it sat back from 95th—-it was all white i believe——on the corner of 95th was a frozen custard shop with a huge stone polar on it’s hind legs——i’m embrassed to say the custard place is more fresh than the theater—-we lived on 63rd and went to the lawn,colony,hi-way,and downtown——i left the city——in 1957—-then went in the army——so much has changed——-does any one remember the custard place? p.s.——add bear after polar——polar bear
1983 Photo
A small color photo can be seen near the bottom of this page.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE ad announced on Friday, August 2, 1959, the opening of the Coral theatre, at 95th and Cicero, “Your Family Theatre,” and of the Arlington theatre, downtown Arlington Heights—-I’m assuming that the Coral must’ve been rehabed by new owners, and reopened.
I miss the Coral. I think the last time I was there was in ‘82 to see Rocky III. I remember that because me and my friends were always cheering for Mr. T (Clubber Lang) and we got some strange looks from the other patrons! It was a very nice theatre, and unique compared to even the other great Chicago theaters on the south side such as the Brighton, Colony, and Marquette.
As a kid, I remember the Corral during the late 50’s and 60’s. It was one of the ‘locals’ for us Palos/Orland kids.
It opened February 7, 1942 for Lucas management and the architect was Roy B. Blass
The Coral looks like it was the twin of the Arlington in Arlington Heights. Same operator too.
My family lived on the north side of Chicago, and then Oak Park. So trekking all the way south to the Coral was a big deal (especially since my dad was the one who usually took me to the movies and he relied on public transportation). But I do remember going there to see the Disney film “The Jungle Book” near the end of its initial run. I’d have gone to the Antarctic to see “The Jungle Book,” I loved it so much—and the Coral seemed just as far. But it was worth it; a favorite film in a lovely venue. And years later, I remember seeing a film there called “Fantastic Planet.” It was a strange little animated feature from, I believe, France. It’s become somewhat of a cult classic since…but I remember sitting there thinking that this was not like your typical Disney fare!
I just missed you, RO, because I started working there in the summer of 1976, after my sophomore year at Richards High School. I had gone to the IHOP next door to apply for a job, and they were so busy I couldn’t even get someone’s attention for an application. This isn’t for me, I thought, so I left. As I left the IHOP I was facing the Coral, and the side exit facing IHOP was open, so I walked over there. It turned out they’d had rain damage the night before and had propped open the doors for fresh air to help dry out the carpets. I met Mrs. Evans, the manager, asked if she needed anybody, and she hired me on the spot because she needed one more usher and, more importantly, she was thrilled that I was Ukrainian, like her. The only time I’ve ever gotten a job due to my ancestry, and it was pure luck that the propped door caught my attention; I wasn’t planning to apply there. I had great times there, too, though no hide and seek during my two years.
I spent my younger days working at the coral theater. Work full time and part time off and on 1967-1975. Usher,head usher, doorman,parking lot attendent, janitor. What a time we used to have. small door by the bathrooms opened up to a narrow staircase that led up to the ushers changing room. next to it was the door that led into the film room. I used to hang out in the film room, after making friends with the film operator, and what a site to watch him changing the arc rods in the projectors. I got to change them a few times and change reels and it seems like yesterday. there was a secret passage that led from the projection room to the area above the concession stand and you could come down a set of stairs and end up behind the concession area. We also used to lock up at night and then pick up teams to hide and seek. With all the lights out and no film running, the auditorium was pitch black. Straws and a hand full of popcorn seeds, and let the games begin!!
I still have a piece of carpet from the lobby and a couple bricks from the original part of the building that I took as they were demolishing it. :(:(
This was truly a treasure our new generations dont get to enjoy in todays world.
Thanks a lot. Last June I drove by the site for the first time in 19 years, to show my children where the Coral had once been. They had heard about it mostly from a true story I’ve told them about a mouse who lived in a hole in the wall at the back of the right aisle, which I fed popcorn.
An aerial view of what the site looks like today can be seen here.
I was an usher at the Coral in 1976-77. The auditorium sat around 1400, quite large. Single screen. There were 3 aisles, with a double door entrance to each. No balcony. In the summers, we showed Disney movies as matinees for kids out of school, with regular first-run movies at night.
There were no “roadshows”, at least while I was there. We did once have a stretch of playing rock concert movies for 5 straight weeks, including Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same and Woodstock. We had a number of sell-outs and generally great ticket sales during those 5 weeks, but also had to contend with marijuana smoking and general rowdiness, and had to hire security guards. One night during that stretch I showed up to work, and the glass to the ticket booth had several taped over cracks – the crowd the night before had been so big that it surged forward when tickets went on sale, cracking the glass! And the ticket taker had his arm in a sling, from a confrontation with a patron. I was both glad, and somewhat disappointed, that I had not worked the previous night! I have lots of memories of the place, and I’m so glad this website exists to “memorialize” such places.
Goto View link and search for CORAL to see photos.
The auditorium was great, with the murals of Polynesian island scenes on the walls and all the little architectural details. Going in there was like being transported somewhere else. It had character, it looked like SOMETHING, unlike these bland cookie cutter theaters they have now. I don’t remember the patio. It had the misfortune to be located near the busiest intersection in the southwest suburbs, so it was sold to a shopping center developer.
Wow this must have been an awesome place to see movies. I wish they had included a shot of the auditorium. The patio is such a unique idea. Did this theatre play roadshows?
Another Bryan Krefft masterpiece contribution. What a lovely snazzy cinema.
Late 40s moderne cinemas are always just so groovy.
How’s the management! Imagine seeing THUNDERBIRDDS ARE GO there and meeting any one of those 3 guys in the foyer! a complete experience!