State-Lake Theatre

JohnSanchez on August 13, 2004 at 9:19 am

Bruce I think I have a list that starts in 1963 or 64 and goes up until 1980. Provide an email address with the exact years you want and I will be happy to send it along.

Will Dunklin on July 9, 2004 at 2:03 pm

I am fortunate to know Stan Hightower, formerly managing director of the Loop Theaters for Plitt, a good friend who, over dinner and a cigarette, can tell stories of the big four Plitt “Loop” theaters that are much more entertaining than many of the pictures shown in those same halls. I asked him to send some memories of the State Lake which are copied below. I forgive him for being critical of the State Lake’s decor as he spent most of his time across the street in the dazzeling Chicago Theater.

For your consideration, here are Stan’s thoughts –

That sound system was indeed second to none. I remember when “Apocalypse Now” opened there in 70mm six-channel mag (lines around the block, etc), P B** was the manager and he happened to like the “Ride of the Valkyries,” so the projection staff were instructed to “crank it” when that particular scene came on. People were cowering in their seats trying to survive the blast. There were a couple of panels on the marquee which should have been
felted, organ-style, for they began to buzz like the old bronze
weather-stripping in a high wind. You could hear the sound track in the vestibule of the Chicago Theatre across the street. And not a hint of distortion.

Things I couldn’t stand about that theatre: Kroehler Pushbacks. And it was very, very ugly. Loew’s/Adam ugly. There were dumb pipe-fronts on the organ chambers, and a large monstrosity suspended from the middle of the dome, which we called the upside-down turtle-shell, because that’s exactly what it looked like. This silly thing held all the cove lights for the dome, and there was a ladder down to it from the “attic” (actually a space between the house ceiling and the eighth floor of the State-Lake building). Ugly as sin,
but the S-L was one of the top earners in the circuit when I was there. They turned some incredible grosses for a house with only 2700 seats, and the overhead was quite low because Balaban & Katz owned the office building.

The S-L was a great place to see a picture. Floors were raked exactly right, and there was a triad of Norelco AA2’s in the booth with Schneider lenses and Super-Cinex lamps. The picture was always bright, sharp, and punchy as hell.

JohnSanchez on July 9, 2004 at 10:12 am

Actually the building itself was not torn down. ABC studios gutted the inside, removed the ticket box and the marquee. The exit doors on the side of the building are still there though.

PeterKoch on July 9, 2004 at 9:28 am

The voice of Mercedes McCambridge as the demon must have sounded awesome on the State Lake’s sound system ! Ditto the animal sounds and loud banging.

Glad you had fun, but I hope you didn’t get possessed or “Repossessed” !

Did you play your tape of the backward-spoken parts backward, so you could hear “I am no one !” Or did you hear “Turn me on dead man !” or hear John Lennon say, “Stupid ! You’re playing this backwards !”

PeterKoch on April 23, 2004 at 4:57 pm

The first film I saw at the State Lake was “Superman II” in June 1981 followed by “Prince Of The City” in October 1981 and “Return Of the Jedi” in July 1983 (three times). That last film made me appreciate the sound system there because when Jabba The Hutt spoke, the floor shook ! I almost saw “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” there in May 1984 but waited until I got to California on vacation to see it. Too bad, in retrospect, as I read above that “Temple Of Doom” was its final feature. I saw “Swamp Thing” and “Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip” as a double feature across State St. at the Chicago Theater in April 1982.

Ruth Calner, I would love to answer your question, and cannot. My father was born two days later, on October 28, 1919, in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York. Jackie Gleason was from that neighborhood and got his start there on amateur nights at the Halsey Theater. Gleason calls the neighborhood “Bensonhurst” on “The Honeymooners”, but it’s really Bushwick, and when he and the other
regulars name streets, they are naming real streets in Bushwick.

JohnSanchez on February 12, 2004 at 1:56 pm

The State Lake was one of the grandest, most popular of the movie palaces in the Loop. In the 60’s there were many a premiere of movies with the stars of those films in attendance. One of its biggest successes, if not the biggest, was its exclusive run of “Mary Poppins” in 1964-65. The newspaper ads shrewdly included that the State Lake was the only theater within 400 miles that would play the film during its run. It paid off handsomely as the film played for months. In the 70’s the State Lake continued running first run exclusive films and became the home to Richard Pryor’s early movies. “The Wiz”, “Greased Lightning”, “Blue Collar”, and “Which Way is Up?” all had their Chicago debuts at the State Lake and all of them were hugely popular. My only visit there was in 1977 for a showing of “Sorcerer”. I can remember that there were few in attendance but was dazzled by it’s beauty and the sound system which was magnificent. As the 80’s came around the State Lake, much like the other palaces, started losing business. The theater wasn’t being kept up as it should and constant reports that it was the worst theater in the Loop for mice infestation didn’t help. There had been some talk of closing the State Lake and making it either a triple or twin but the cost proved too high. In 1984 the State Lake closed for good with, sadly, little fanfare. It’s final feature was “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”. A few years later is when ABC news moved in and the theater was all but obliterated, sadly ending any hope of renovation like the neighboring Chicago and Oriental theaters. When you walk by today you would never know such a grand movie palace was once housed there.