River Oaks Theatre
Calumet City,
IL
60409
8 people
favorited this theater
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Yesterday I found this site, and was sad to hear about the death of this theater. I saw the first run on the first night, of Star Wars (1977) in this theater. The line circled the building twice. This was an outstanding and majestic place to experience cinema. I loved hearing the silent roar of the projectors and looking back to occasionally see the projectionist. This was a landmark theater, a generation of good times lost.
In the beginning there was the River Oaks theater. Then the much smaller River Oaks 2&3 theaters were built across the street. After that, a small theater was built attached to the original River Oaks. That made River Oaks 4 and that’s when I moved on. What was build after that and where in the mall is unknown to me. Hope this helped. —Fred
Notice this theater is listed as Having One screen. It did start out as 1 screen and later had another screen added. Riveroaks 1-4 closed as a two screen theater.
During December in the late 1970s a local charity rented out what used to be called #1 (back when there were only three theaters) and they played the 1970 musical Scrooge which starred Albert Finney. I had never seen it before so I watched and danced along as much as I could. Watching that film has become a holiday event in my house. The DVD gets a workout. I’m glad I got to see it in the big theater in all its glory. That’s a very fond River Oaks memory.
Cinemark=. The Lobby 4 photo is not A View to a Kill. A View to a Kill Played at 2-3 across the street near Denny’s. I went to see that movie soooo much. Oh and the first Photo is of 5-6 with the long hallway. I saw Dreamscape and Return of the Living Dead there Then had some Mcdonalds right around the corner. Them were the days.
Why are they saying 1600 seats? Unless they are including the addition next door that is way off. The Motion Picture Herald article shown says 1200. I think that is probably rounded up a bit but no way to 1600.
If anyone has any knowledge of whatever crew Loews Cineplex sent in to clear stuff out when this theatre closed (just before AMC took over) I would like you to contact me. I’m trying to find out where some items went. Please drop me an email at screen(AT)filmteknik(DOT)com Thanks!
River Oaks Theatres Timeline:
1969: Theatre 1 opened with 1600 rocking chair seats by the ABC Great States chain. It’s premiere was “100 Rifles” with Jim Brown and Raquel Welch.
1972: Theatre 2 is opened across the street from theatre 1 by the ABC Great States chain. It had 500 seats (but not rocking chair). It’s premiere was “What’s Up Doc” with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal.
1974: ABC Great States becomes Plitt Theatres.
1975: Theatre 3 opens adjacent to Theatre 2 by Plitt Theatres. It also sat 500 seats. It’s premiere attraction was “Once Is Not Enough”.
1977: “Star Wars” opens.
1978: Theatre 4 opens adjacent to Theatre 1 by Plitt Theatres. It had 900 rocking chair seats like Theatre 1. It’s premiere attraction was “Magic” starring Anthony Hopkins.
1980: “The Empire Strikes Back” is released.
1980: Theatres 5 and 6 opened by Plitt Theatres. It had 500 seats each. It was located a few blocks away from the other theatres.
1983: “Return Of The Jedi” is released.
1983: Theatres 7 and 8 opened by Plitt Theatres. Its premiere movies were “The Dead Zone” with Christopher Walken and “Rumble Fish” starring Matt Dillon.
1986: Plitt Theatres become Cineplex Odeon Theatres.
1988: Cineplex Odeon opens a 6-screen theatre inside the mall. Theatres 1 and 4 become 9 and 10; Theatres 5 and 6 become 11 and 12; 2 and 3 (for a time) became 13 and 14; 7 and 8 retain their numbering.
1990: Theatres 13 and 14 close.
1998: Cineplex Odeon Theatres become Loews/Cineplex Theatres
1998: Theatres 11 and 12 close.
1999: “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance” opens.
2002: “Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones” opens
2005: “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith” opens
Fall, 2005: Theatres 7 and 8 close.
January, 2006: Theatres 1-6, 9 and 10 close a day before Loews/Cineplex became AMC Theatres.
June, 2006: Jenco Theatres(the owners of the nearby Lansing Cinema 8) reopens Theatres 1-6.
November, 2007: Theatres 1-6 starts showing second-run movies.
2008: Theatres 1-6 close again.
Cinemark – to answer your questions as best I can, the first photo is definitely not the 1-4 lobby. If it is River Oaks it looks like 5-6 because when you walked in and turned an immediate left, there were posters lining the wall on the right. So the pic would be from the opposite side with the entrance doors down the hall and behind the staff and off camera on the right.
As far as the Pacino poster? I would bet on SCARFACE. Remember he did very few movies in the 80’s and that would have been the biggest. The only other possibility? CRUISING.
There is no way to see what the movie on #4 is because you can’t read the sign clearly because of the angle. You can tell it isn’t A VIEW TO A KILL though that IS the poster. But back then the Now Showing Posters were outside and not in the lobby. The movie was definitely coming soon. If I had to guess as to the movie playing based on the letters of the sign it COULD be BREWSTERS MILLIONS.
Hope that helps.
It was such a big deal to go to RO for a movie. Normally we would go to the Nortown in Chicago heights or theDiana in Washington Mall, the Park Forest, or Brementown mall.
But if the movie was just opening, it was either River Oaks or Lincoln Mall
And some titles that I noticed in the photos provided by Cinemark:
The Shining
A View To A Kill
Pale Rider
Scarface
Star Wars
Return Of The Jedi
Hamlet (1990)
The Fly
All The Right Moves
Return Of The Living Dead
All Of Me
Back To The Beach
Fletch
I would have gone with Leon (then known as The Professional) for Thanksgiving 1994.
More from RO’s Plitt/Cineplex era
2/17/84 – FOOTLOOSE
10/5/84 – TEACHERS
5/2/86 – JO JO DANCER: YOUR LIFE IS CALLING
2/10/89 – THE FLY II
4/28/89 – FIELD OF DREAMS
4/27/90 – THE GUARDIAN
3/13/92 – MY COUSIN VINNY
11/13/92 – BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA
4/15/94 – ABOVE THE RIM (no kidding)
5/13/94 – CROOKLYN
11/11/94 – INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
11/23/94 – A LOW DOWN DIRTY SHAME (I liked this movie, but no way I would’ve booked it in 9-10 over “ST: Generations”)
12/9/94 – DROP ZONE
If I owned it now…
11/6/09 – PRECIOUS
11/20/09 – THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON
12/11/09 – UP IN THE AIR
12/18/09 – AVATAR (3-D XL)
2/19/10 – SHUTTER ISLAND
3/6/10 – ALICE IN WONDERLAND (3-D XL)
3/27/10 – THE GHOST WRITER (moveover from 1-6)
4/2/10 – TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED 2
4/16/10 – KICK-ASS
5/7/10 – IRON MAN 2
5/28/10 – PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
6/4/10 – SPLICE
6/11/10 – THE A-TEAM
6/30/10 – THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
7/16/10 – INCEPTION
PopcornFan, I was able to see pictures (at facebook) of RO durning its years as 1-4. I must say, wow! That was a lot of red in that lobby. I have a few questions regarding some of the interior photos.
Is this 1-4 or another RO theater?
Is that a teaser poster for Scarface in the background?
In this photo taken in the lobby of #4, does anyone know what movie is playing there? Or what was playing at 1-4 around that time? I think it could be “A View to a Kill”, because I can make out the poster of that over on the far right, with the man in blue by the games.
Looking at the photos, I am even more inspired to try and restore this building. Some say it will be costly (I believe that), but its worth it.
Second half of 2009 suggestions:
7/9 Predators
7/16 Inception
7/30 Beastly
8/6 The Other Guys
8/13 The Expendables
8/27 Piranha 3-D
9/3 Machete
9/10 Resident Evil: Afterlife
9/17 The Town
9/24 Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole
10/22 Hereafter
11/5 Megamind
11/19 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
12/10 The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
12/17 Tron: Legacy
12/25 True Grit
Saw a few films there back in their early glory days (when I lived in Lansing for a year or two, walked all the way from 186th to go see most of them): Easy Rider, Bob And Carol And Ted And Alice, They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, MAS*H, Woodstock, Catch 22, probably Carnal Knowledge too. Hadn’t quite turned 16 by then, so guess I was lucky to be let in to see them at all. Think I sat thru just about all of them at least twice in a row. Also saw Towering Inferno there in ‘75 or '76, but perhaps it wasn’t on the biggest screen (thought it was, but same building anyway).
The southern suburbs of Chicago finally got a first-run movie theatre when River Oaks opened up their movie theatre. Though it was well out of my way, I remember it quite fondly and luckily missed the period when it was in decline. Someone had some comments about the local police of the era and I had a good chuckle. Does anyone have any thoughts about why movie theatres seem to run well for a while, then go into decline?
More suggestions:
3/12/2010 REMEMBER ME
3/19/2010 THE RUNAWAYS
3/31/2010 THE LAST SONG
4/2/2010 CLASH OF THE TITANS (IN REALD 3D)
5/14/2010 ROBIN HOOD
7/23/2010 SALT
8/20/2010 TAKERS
10/22/2010 PARAMORMAL ACTIVITY 2
11/19/2010 HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART I
PopcornFan,
I now have a photobucket account, but I still can’t view the album.
PopcornFan,
Thanks for the link. I can’t view it however, because I don’t have a photobucket account. So I’ll get on that sometime today.
2010 Suggestions:
1/15 The Book Of Eli
1/29 Edge Of Darkness
2/5 Dear John
2/12 Valentine’s Day
2/19 Shutter Island
2/26 The Crazies
3/5 Alice In Wonderland
3/26 How To Train Your Dragon
4/16 Kick-Ass
4/23 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
4/30 A Nightmare On Elm Street
5/7 Iron Man 2
5/21 Shrek Forever After
6/4 The Losers
6/11 The A-Team
6/18 Toy Story 3
6/30 Eclipse
I finally got around to scanning some pictures I had of Rivers 1 & 4, (or 9 & 10 if that is what you know it by). There are pictures inside the lobby and outside the building. I’m sorry I can’t remember who asked me about the paintings in the driveway, but I did manage to find some of those pictures as well. If you are interested you can find them here: View link
There’s a recent picture of the closed River Oaks on this blog page; scroll down to see it: View link
Here’s some suggestions:
12/18/2009 AVATAR (in REALD-3D)
12/25/2009 NINE (on screen #9)
12/25/2009 IT’S COMPLICATED (on screen #11)
12/25/2009 SHERLOCK HOLMES (on screen #10)
1/15/2010 THE BOOK OF ELI
1/29/2010 EDGE OF DARKNESS
2/5/2010 DEAR JOHN
2/12/2010 THE WOLFMAN
2/12/2010 VALENTINE’S DAY
2/19/2010 SHUTTER ISLAND
3/12/2010 GREEN ZONE
4/2/2010 TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO
5/7/2010 IRON MAN 2
5/7/2010 LETTERS TO JULIET
5/28/2010 SEX AND THE CITY 2
7/2/2010 THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
I don’t have any memory of “The Blood of Heroes” playing at River Oaks. I even asked a friend of mine if she remembered it since she also worked there until 1999, and she didn’t either. Now all of the movies listed in Eric’s post from 1978, I saw all of those with the exception of Paradise Alley at River Oaks, The Parmount or the Parthenon. My weekends were always spent at the movies. Nowadays I am all about weeknight movies and the midnight shows.
I was going through some microfilm from 1990, and I’m in awe of the discovery that the Rutger Hauer b-movie, “The Blood of Heroes” ran here from 2/23/90 – 3/15/90. For anyone who may have worked here or went here during that time, is that correct? I’m finding it hard to believe because it grossed only 882k at the BO.