Cadillac Palace Theatre
151 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
151 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
24 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 109 comments
Made it to Saturday morning, first screening. The ‘El’ was my escape to paradise. Was already a very young film lover, so made it a point to see things I thought would be fun. Had been using CTA since about eight. The times were safer than, and I was fearless when it came to seeing movies. Within a year or so of Cinerama, I made it down to The Chicago Theater for its first screening @ around 10AM for ‘House of Wax’. You might imagine, I loved 3-D too.
And while the Chicago still had live stage shows, the Palace didn’t. Lowell Thomas only appeared on celluloid in the Cinerama prologue.
LMB-
I’m guesing you were about eleven when you saw “This Is CINERAMA”. Any chance you can give us any details on how you happened to be lucky enough to be at the Palace here in Chicago that first night and anything else. Was Lowell Thomas there etc.?
“Ladies and Gentlemen, This is CINERAMA!” Lowell Thomas, September 30, 1952
Its amazing what imprints are left as meaningful and remarkably pleasureful more than fifty years later.
I agree LMB; for so many us so fortunate to have seen “This Is Cinerama” in the 1950s in one of its original presentations, it was an indelible, etched-in-the brain and memory experiences. I have seen many attempts to recreate that thrill, (at world’s fairs, IMAX, Omnimax
3-D, CircleVision 360, etc.) but really, no matter how good (and many are very good) still nothing else really compares.
Saw ‘This is Cinerama’ on opening day, which was always a Saturday in those days. Will never forget the moment when Lowell Thomas announces from a small square screed, “This is Cinerama…” as the curtains part, the screen expands, the sound magnifies into multi-track stereo, and the roller coaster drops. What a thrill.
Many years later, saw 2001 in 70mm Cinerama at the Warner Hollywood. The subject of the film and its treatment were worthy of the big picture, but the impact of that first roller coaster ride in Chicago couldn’t be matched. – Leslie Michael Bender
I recall that Mayor Richard J. Daley, George Dunne and/or the Democratic Party held several convention style events in the Bismark Hotel/Palace Auditorium.
I believe even past Presidents may have spoken at some as well. So to answer the lady from 2005, yes they did various conventions there.
Somewhere I have a set of mauve coffee mugs with “Bismark Hotel” on them.
In all my years in Chicago, I did not know the Bismark/Palace ever showed films until linking over from the Chicago Theatre page.
I did see the stage version of “The Producers” there, when it first premiered with Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick. We had gotten or tickets very early on. And it was quite interesting to be suddenly targeted by people dressed to the nines looking to score tickets, when our cab pulled up.
Literally older folks in silk scarves & furs looking to pay $500+ for seats. It was like walking out of the Addison “L” before a Cub game.
I see no mention of it, but the Bismark Hotel was renovated into the Allegro Hotel around 1998.
The Allegro was also the name of the Division Steet tavern that would ultimately become The Lodge.
Now in their 51st year.
Here’s a painted picture of the theatre and the Bismarck Hotel:
View link
Thanks, folks! And the drawing that’s in the link in the topcities site mentioned 7/14 here is the one I was referring to.
According to the Trib, Citizen Kane had a dual premiere at the Palace and Woods on May 6, 1941. The film continued to play at the Woods as a two a day roadshow, reserved seat, and at the Palace continuously in the afternoon with an evening reserved seat show.
The Palace changed features on May 20, and the Woods dropped the reserved policy. It closed at the Woods on July 13. On August 30, it had returned to the Palace at regular admission through roughly September 14. It then played neighborhood houses starting November 15.
You can see a rather grainy photo of the Eitel’s Palace three booth set-up for Cinerama here:
http://cinerama.topcities.com/ctchicago.htm
There is also a drawing there of the set-up; this may the same sketch that Veyoung referred to above. The same sketch also was used on the cover of a book by John Belton called “Widescreen Cinema” that was published in 1992 by the Harvard University Press.
Sorry for my typos; I am still getting used to my new glasses. I should have said “right up to the time time of the fairly recent renovation” and “these cutouts were filled in…”
I can answer your first question; yes, when the Palace (then Eitel’s Palace) became Chicago’s first Cinerama theater, the booths were suspended from the balcony overhang in front of some of the loge boxes; later, in the late 1960s, when 70mm was installed, the Able and Charlie booths were removed and the Baker booth was enlarged to accommodate two DP70 projectors; that booth remained in place right up to the time of fairly recent the renovation that transformed the theatre into the Cadillac Palace, although the projectors were gone when I attended a few events when the theatre was called the Bismarck Pavilion. There were cutouts that had to made in the balcony overhang so that the projector beams would not be blocked; these cutouts was filled in during the restoration and there is no trace of them now.
As far as “Citizen Kane” is concerned, I do know that it played at the Woods as I have seen black and white pictures of the marquee during its run there. I do not know if it played at the Palace, but it may very well have as “Kane” was an RKO picture and the Palace was under RKO management for a time.
A line drawing in the 1953 book “New Screen Techniques” shows what is supposed to be a Cinerama installation in a large theatre in which the three booths were not located on the orchestra floor, but were hung directly below the balcony above the floor. Would this be this Palace? And, also, is this the Palace that had a disastrous roadshow engagement lasting less than a week of “Citizen Kane” in May of 1941 while the film played simultaneously on “grind” at the Woods?
Here is an early postcard of the lobby.
similar to above inquiry, are all dressing rooms on same level? If so, what floor in relationship to the stage level? How many dressing rooms, and approximate layout/sizes?
can anyone tell me about backstage? I’m going into the theatre for a show and I want to know if there are elevators backstage that the cast and crew can use? Can anyone give me the lay of the land (backstage)?
photo of Auditorium facing Proscenium Arch, September 2007:
View link
Here is a nice, albeit low resolution early postcard view of the Palace.
NEWS ITEM:
Chicago Tribune, Sunday, June 1, 1958, s. 3, p. 6, c. 5:
PHIL SILVERS' FRIENDS THINK A LOT OF HIM
by John Fink
Phil Silvers memories of Chicago go back to the heyday of vaudeville. “Chicago was great in vaudeville days,” he says. “It was the center of the Orpheum circuit. One time you could stay six months in Chicago and not repeat a single theater. You played the Palace going west, and when you came back played the State-Lake and Orpheum.”
I seem to recall that the show where the floor collapsed was a band called “Frankie Goes to Hollywood”.
I was amazed when they restored the Palace. During the 90’s I thought for sure that I would walk by one day to find a crew gutting it for offices.
It sure seems to be making a go of things, which is fabulous to see.
Palace—-first movie theatre in Chicago to show famed “Schmeling vs. Louis” fight film—–
NEWS ITEM:
Chicago Daily News, Monday, June 22, 1936, p. 14, c. 7:
SCHMELING vs. LOUIS PICTURES AT PALACE
The complete and official film record of the hair-raising battle between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling is, at the moment, the proud and exclusive property of the Palace theater. As in the case of previous major fights, the Palace long ago contracted for the exclusive rights to the films which were rushed to Chicago by airplane on Saturday in time for showing yesterday. The cameramen had no ill-luck in photographing the upset battle. All of the deciding blows were caught by the cameras, and many of the crucial moments were photographed in slow motion. Though they are longer than expected, the films are not being trimmed in any manner by the theater and are being added to the regular program that includes the holdover “Show Boat” and the accompanying stage show starring Paul Haakon.
NOTE: Later that same week, the fight film was showcased at eight Balaban and Katz movie houses: Roosevelt, Apollo, Marbro, Tivoli, Southtown, Granada, Varsity and Uptown; also at the Regal on the south side for one day.
It actually did not go unused after its last motion picture showings in the 70’s; until its restoration for live theater, it became a mixed-use facility known as the Bismarck Pavilion which was operated by the Bismarck Hotel for both concerts, stage performances, and banquets. A false floor was built over the orchestra level seats. I recall that some time in the 1980’s, part of this false floor collapsed during a concert, fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. I attended a function there in the year just before the restoration began; the projection booth for the 70mm projectors was still in place at that time suspended from the balcony level ceiling; during its Cinerama days, all three booths were suspended from that ceiling.
Yes, this was the CINERAMA place w/ 3 seperately-boothed projectors operating simultaneosly. “CINERAMA HOLIDAY” was another title, and the panorama effect one got was quite different from 70mm. You could notice a trace of the 2 picture ‘seams’, though they tried to minimize that with aperture plates in the projectors that actually vibrated. Then there was “HOW THE WEST WAS WON” where the director cheated and substituted 70mm-filmed scenes among the true 3-camera scenes (public never noticed), and from that point it was inevitable that the CINERAMA people just went to straight 70mm for their process. Hrrrumph.
A variation on the process called CINEMIRACLE, which the Bismarck also ran, put all 3 projectors into one central booth but re-directed (2 of) the lightbeams w/ mirrors I think (so one person could handle it in one place). Only one title – “WINDJAMMER”, another travelogue derivative. (Whatever became of that film?)
You probably guessed I know this place primarily as the BISMARCK. They used to have a very tall, modern-style, neon sign for the name.
Last film I saw there myself was TORA TORA TORA (1969, probably 70mm blow-up). In its' heyday, this place was obviously quite a classy joint, but for me it lacked the very ornate, romantic quality of other ‘Palaces’. Why it went unused in ‘80s-'90s is peculiar.
Fondly recall attending “This is Cinerama” at the Palace Theater, Chicago in Feb., 1955 with my 7th grade class from Franklin School in Gary, Indiana. One of the informative field trips our teacher, Miss Sanders, arranged for us. I believe it was on Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12.
Fondly recall attending “This is Cinerama” at the Palace Theater, Chicago in Feb., 1955 with my 7th grade class from Franklin School in Gary, Indiana. One of the informative field trips our teacher, Miss Sanders, arranged for us. I believe it was on Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12.