Woods Theatre

The Woods was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places before it was destroyed.

“Designed by Marshall and Fox, the Woods Theater (1917) is architecturally significant for its distinctive design and system of gothic-inspired detailing in which foliated friezes, clustered and twisted columns, and arched fenestration unify the 10-story Commercial-style office building and the adjacent low-scale theater structure. Historically, the office and theater facility is significant for its associations with the development of Chicago’s music publishing and performing arts industries in the early 20th century and its contribution to the identity of the Randolph Street area of downtown Chicago as "Tin Pan Alley” in the 1920s."

I know his comment is 5 years old but I have to respond. The Wood’s Theater was not demolished in the early 1980s. It was closed in the late 1980s.

Here is an article on the occasion of the Woods' closing.

I remember my dad taking me to see the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever” at the Woods when I was about 12. It was a cinematic rite of passage that led to my being a lifelong Bond fan. The cool thing I remember was how the theater would immerse you in the moviegoing experience, from playing John Barry’s score between showings to featuring wallpaper in the washroom entrance with silhouettes of what my 12-year-old eyes absolutely swore were nude women—a visual staple of every Bond film’s opening credits. (Can anyone substantiate that last memory? Customized wallpaper seems like an odd way to promote a movie…but they used to do stranger things to market films back then.) We subsequently saw the first-runs of “Live and Let Die” and “Man With The Golden Gun” there. And I vividly remember going there to see a double feature of “Thunderball” and “You Only Live Twice,” which United Artists re-released to capitalize on the success of “Diamonds.” I know we saw other films there as well—Clint Eastwood’s “The Gauntlet” springs to mind—but it’s the initial viewing of those Bond films that have stuck with me.

The Oriental and the Palace were restored due to the demand for theatres of this size for touring broadway musicals.brucec

Now that’s a blast from the past. On my very first trip to Chicago I arrived at that bus terminal and took the long escalator ride up from below street level. The first Chicago streetscape that I encountered was of that strip of Randolph St. It was even more spectacular since it was at night and I was dazzled by all the lights. (OK, so I was an impressionable teen). I can’t recall if my uncle had parked his car in the garage next to the terminal or not, but for some reason the Woods marquee still sticks in my mind even now.

Some Woods Trivia. In the Spring of 1957, the Essaness chain proudly announced to the world that the Woods Theatre “grosses more per seat than any other film house in the world.” Always excepting Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy in Manhattan, this statement might hold some water. For one thing, beginning during the war years, the Woods began a policy of being open 22 hours a day, closing only for cleaning. This was to attract service men and women and shift workers who wanted entertainment in the wee hours of the morning. In the March 20, 1957 statement Essaness pointed to the example of Paramount’s “High Society” raking in nearly $60,000 in its first week at the 1,206-seat house with a $1.50 top. Another reason given by the chain is that the house steadfastly refuses to stick to advertising material given it by the distributors. Citing “The Moon Is Blue” and “Man With The Golden Arm,” the chain’s executive praised his chain’s “unique and independent policies in respect to programming and advertising.” Continuing, he said, “…whole selling program has developed with the Essaness policy of training its advertising staff from the lower echelons of assistant managers and ushers….Moreover…a theatre must have a personality of its own to sell, especially in the video age.” Sage words even today, methinks.
Also out of the trivia box. In 1960, the Woods was one of Paramount’s biggest grossers for Hitchcock’s “Psycho” which broke all attendance and boxoffice records at the time.
Widescreen/Techno trivia: December 21, 1966 saw the world premiere here of Arch Obeler’s (he introduced “Bwana Devil” in 3D in 1953) “The Bubble” in what was called “Space Vision 3-d”!

There is an apocryphal story that Plitt (which operated the competing United Artists theater just across from the Woods) purposefully booked a film into the “U.A” just because the name of the film was “Don’t Go Into The Woods.”

I’d love to know if this is true.

I love the marquee of the Woods and the United Artists theatres in Chicago. Would love to see pictures of Randolph St in the late 50’s and early 60’s of the marquees on the street at that time. brucec

The Woods theatre was located in the Woods building which was built in 1917. The theatre,located at 50-56 W. Randolph Street, was demolished in 1989. Immediately after demolition the site was used for parking. The Woods was one of many great theatres that were located on Randolph Street…the United Artists, the Garrick, the Oriental, the Palace. Fortunately the Oriental and the Palace have been restored and are Performing Arts Centers.

The Woods is definitely gone. I remember it being demolished when I worked in downtown Chicago back in the early 80’s. Last time I was in Chicago you could still see the outline of the balcony on the wall of the building next door. I guess they left that wall intact as taking it down would have probably endangered that building.