Princess Theatre
60 N. Chicago Street,
Joliet,
IL
60432
60 N. Chicago Street,
Joliet,
IL
60432
1 person
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Like another former downtown Joliet movie house the Mode Theatre, the old Princess Theatre, located on Chicago Street at Van Buren Street, has been been converted into an office building.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
The Princess had 900 seats, and the Mode 750, according to the 1944 Film Daily Year Book. At that time, Joliet’s largest theatre was the Rialto, with 2,089 seats. The smallest was the 300-seat Majestic.
A Hinners theater organ size 2/10 was installed in the Princess Theater in 1913.
1982 Photo
Boxoffice of August 12, 1950, said that the Princess Theatre would soon reopen after extensive renovation. The architect for the project was Frank J. Lapasso.
The item said that the Princess had opened in 1912, operated by the Royal Theatre Co., and was taken over by Great States Theatres in the 1920s. The renovated house would be operated by Publix Great States.
The Princess never quite got the best movies. The top movies went to the Rialto or the Mode and the Princess showed first run B movies. If there was a horror movie released, you can bet it was showing at the Princess. No balcony. Just a good sized single screen theatre.