State-Lake Theatre

G. Albert Lansburgh was evidently also an architect here:Photos

I have many memories of the State-Lake. Including seeing the original Casino Royale, Poseidon Adventure & The Warriors. But most memorable was when I went with my family to see “With Six You Get Eggroll”. Once we were inside the door, my mother was handed a box of frozen eggrolls by an usher. Every sixth group of patrons apparently got the same, as part of the film/theatre’s promotion.

I thought I had seen “Where Eagles Dare” & “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” there, but don’t see them on the list. So they must have been somewhere else. Or they were undocumented limited runs.

The latter actually had an intermission, when CCBB drives off of a cliff. Pleated curtain closing and all. We don’t learn CCBB can fly until after the intermission. Truly thrilling for an 8 year old.

I also remember the general unease at the theatre, when we went to see “The Warriors”. It had already been pulled in Boston and elsewhere, after gang related shooting deaths at other theatres. We were all 19. So we kinda got the once over at the door.

I too think ABC could have done more to save the State-Lake heritage. Or at least expounded on it’s history.
Or somehow incorporating the old marquee into things. But it’s possible the marquee had come down long before the rest of the major renovations.

P.S. I wish the Esquire developer would take they’re lead from the Selwyn/Michael Todd/Goodman. Save the front, build what you want/need inside. Since the interior was all destroyed when converted to multi screen anyway.

The article I cited above does not make “a big mistake by assuming that this first Natural Vision process is 3D”. Although the whole article is about 3D, in the section referring to the first use of the term Natural Vision, it clearly indicates that when Spoor and Bergren first announced that they were working on it, it was “alleged” to be a 3D process, but the article also explicitly states that when the first feature length film presented in it was shown (at the State-Lake – “Danger Lights”), it had become a name for a wide-gauge film process promoted by RKO.

There are a number of brief references to this first use of Natural Vision in a book by John Belton called “Widescreen Cinema” published in 1992 by Harvard University. (A book that also is not error free). Belton quotes some ad copy for RKO used for “Danger Lights” that strongly implies that Natural Vision produced a 3D-like effect, however that term is not actually used.

Apparently, there was a period of experimentation in the 1920s with wide-gauge film by several studios; RKO was promoting this Natural Vision, Fox had a 70mm process called Grandeur, Paramount had something called Magnafilm. According to Belton, nothing much came of these primarily because of the relatively high conversion costs for theater owners who, by the end of the decade, were installing sound equipment at considerable expense, and because of an agreement with the Hays Office to limit the exhibition of these experimental widescreen films and processes to just ten cities. This fact limited the intial audience exposure to widescreen, and provided little challenge to standard 35mm presentation. Wide screen would not come into wide use until the 1950s when the introduction of Cinerama and the challenge of television forced studios and theaters to take another look at these processes and invent some new ones.

There are a few problems with facts from the book “Wide Screen Movies”. Daniel Sherlock wrote a paper on the many corrections for that book back around 2004. That book can be used as a guide but not true facts. Some problems are in reseaching vs. fact. You would have to read to document “Wide Screen Movie Corrections” to see the problems. It’s about 60 pages long.

If you go this website: http://widescreenmovies.org/WSM11/3D.htm
you will find an article from “Widescreen Movies” magazine. In “The 1900s” section, this 63mm process is credited to a George K. Spoor and Paul J. Bergren.

I agree. That is a spectacular photo. Thanks.

Here is an early view

Bryan, your notes about the 6 theaters closing due to violations all stemmed from a surprise inspection on the Woods theater the Friday before New Year’s in 1974. There were a load of violations but the worst were electrical and unsafe storage of boxes behind the screen. The city shut the Woods down immediately and it was a big deal because they had the exclusive run (only in week 2) of the James Bond adventure “The Man With The Golden Gun.” According to the article by the late Gene Siskel, the theater manager was able to reach contacts of Mayor Daley who graciously supplied electricians (on top of those the Woods hired) and another inspection team at 6pm on the Friday before a holiday. While it is unlikely the violations were thoroughly corrected, the Woods was allowed to open for Friday night business and led to inspections at all the other downtown palaces.

Heh heh, my brother told me that my mom took them all to see “Rain” at Evergreen. That was six years before I was born.

Thank you, BWChicago, for solving one mystery… I guess we did not see “Purple Rain” at the State Lake. However, I am sure it was not at the Chicago — the only show I ever saw there, to my recollection, was Raffi, the live show (with my kids), in the early 1990s. Also, I never visited the Carnegie on Rush (although I visited my share of after-hours martini establishments there). Hmmmm… were there any other semi-dilapidated theaters on State Street, or just off of State Street, that might have shown “Purple Rain” when it came out?

Can someone confirm if the State Lake Theater showed Prince’s “Purple Rain” just after it came out? This would have been about 1984. My husband and I went to see the film on State Street after work — it must have been at the State Lake — and it was the most amazing going-to-the-movies experience we have ever had. The audience simply would NOT sit still. Not only were people dancing in their seats or even in the aisles, they were singing and just basically hooting and hollering all through the movie. We didn’t mind that we were missing some of the film, because watching the audience was just as much fun, and a great show in itself. Can anybody out there verify if “Purple Rain” ran at the State Lake circa 1984?

Yes, same building.