I think this fireplace was in Theater 2’s lobby, actually, not Theater 1, which indeed was the lounge area with the TV. I don’t remember there being a TV on this side. The concession area would in the background of this photo, in the upper left corner, then the Theater 1 entrance and lounge.
Sweet photo! Brings back so many memories.
I will say that it doesn’t immediately give a full perspective of the size since there are no people to provide scale. This theater was quite large. This picture is taken from the balcony. If you look a little more closely, one can see just how many seats are on that main floor, and I don’t believe it’s a full view (I’m pretty sure there’s another section to the right, out of view?).
Both of these photos were taken in July, 2008. The time stamp on the camera was incorrect. As you can likely tell, the restaurant that had occupied the space was closed. It still had one of the old movie poster display boxes. The building is currently a bar/restaurant as of 2017.
I’m pretty certain this theater was actually located 810 Lee Hwy, near the Pizza Hut. It is now a bar/restaurant. I used to to Corinth in the summer to visit relatives. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi here.
Wow…so hard to believe. 15 years is a very short lifespan for a movie theater. This theater replaced the old Randhurst twin. It is very similar to the AMC at Northbrook Court that opened at the same time.
Oh well. I’m glad to see, at least, that AMC opened a new theater there.
True, but it did have “stereophonic sound!” The makers of “Star Wars” were, of course, huge innovators in that field.
Some of my fondest memories were seeing “Star Wars” here (and I also saw it at Mt. Prospect General Cinemas, Golf Mill on re-release, and Palwaukee….probably on re-re-release!) and “Superman: The Movie.” One of the theaters, I think Edens II, had these carpeted partitions in the front of the first row. I remember sitting on the floor in front of those things to watch some movies.
Ah, finally, this theater gets a little love with a page of its own! I have such fond memories of this General Cinema probably because I saw my very first movies there: Star Wars, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, For the Love of Benji, Pete’s Dragon, The Cat from Outer Space, Return from Witch Mountain, Candleshoe, The Jungle Book (re-release), Hot Lead & Cold Feet, to name a few. Yes, I was a little kid then (hence the Disney heaviness), so maybe my memories of it are nicer than it actually was. But I remember it as clean, and being decently sized theaters (I understand it was originally one screen and twinned later on). Even though I was so young, I can recall the audience booing at Darth Vader’s entrance, and kids clapping along to the jazzy General Cinemas theme song (you can see the bumper here: View link) I lived in Northbrook, but back then, movie theaters only had 1-3 screens, so it was not unusual to drive a few towns over to see what you wanted. I drove by the place not too long ago, and the memories came flooding back. I’m a little surprised my parents took the time to haul us all the way out there. It is now a now banquet hall, but I could still recognize how it appeared then. I’m surprised it closed in ’83…longer ago than I thought! How time flies. I know I saw Jaws there on a re-release, and some of the last few films I attended included Halloween II and Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan.
Yeah, me too. I definitely miss it. My favorite memory is waiting in line to see “The Empire Strikes Back” on opening day. A close second was doing the same for “Rocky III”. At the time, I thought that movie was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. I called my mother on the lobby payphone to tell her that we were staying to watch it a second time. And you know what? Rocky III still kicks butt!
I also saw there: Star Wars, Hooper, Return of the Pink Panther, Flash Gordon, The Blues Brothers, Hangar 18, Smokey and the Bandit 2, The Great Muppet Caper, Return of the Jedi, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, Firefox, Buckaroo Bonzai, Easy Money, Tootsie, Grease 2, The Toy, The Right Stuff, Lone Wolf McQuade, Twilight Zone, Red Dawn, The Ice Pirates, Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Pulp Fiction…..oh my, I could go on & on. The last few I went to there was Boogie Night, and Men in Black
Hey Mike, I checked on that too. Looks like “Mad Max” did play pretty extensively in the Chicagoland area in 1980, but not at Golf Mill. It was indeed re-released on April 8, 1983 to capitalize on the new popularity of Mel Gibson after “The Year of Living Dangerously” and “The Road Warrior.” The re-release poster’s tagline was “now you can see what made Max so mad.” Also playing at the time was “Gandhi”, “The High Road to China”, “Black Stallion Returns” and “Man, Woman and Child” (whatever that last one was…don’t remember it). I know Golf Mill only had three screens, but they ran matinees on the weekends.
I just checked the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive and can confirm the opening date at Golf Mill for “The Road Warrior” on August 20, 1982. Feel free to email me for the scan.
The Mill Run Theater (or Mill Run Playhouse in its old days; it opened in 1965) was in the space occupied by Kohl’s today. It was a completely different building, of course.
Incidentally, its first play was “A Man for All Seasons” starring Charlton Heston. I have a couple of Chicago Tribune scans that show “artists' renderings” of the interior. There’s an exterior shot as well, but it’s not very clear. Email me if you’d like and I’ll forward them:
I was likely at the same shows poster Joe was at too.
When Empire Strikes Back came out, my mother – knowing what Star Wars fanatics we were – picked me and brother up at lunchtime to get out of school early that day (it was a Wednesday). We waited in line at Golf Mill for at least two hours. I remember how long line was!
I prepared to do the same when Jedi came out, but it wasn’t necessary for whatever reason. I waited about 30 minutes in line, right in the lobby.
I’ve tried unsuccessfully to find the exact capacity for these theaters, but the best I could find was a mention in the Tribune that Edens II had 1,000 seats.
I suppose it’s possible that the Cinerama show had some traveling equipment?
I didn’t see “This is Cinerama”, but it played at Edens II. If memory serves, this theater did have a concave screen. The theater building itself was a round-ish shape.
The land that the Twin once occupied is still largely vacant (not sure what it’s purpose is). If you drive along Hintz Road, going West off of Milwaukee, just look over to your left. One of the old screens actually stood along here for at least a few years after the theater closed. There is a new building there now, which is some kind of Korean religious school. Before that was built a couple of years ago, there were still about 4-5 speaker stands still in that lot. Now, I don’t think there’s any trace of it left. In the 80s, there was a go-cart track & batting cages built right by the entrance to the Twin. This is now a car lot of some kind. The fence/screens for the track are still there. It’s pretty obvious once you know what it was. So, that should give you a rough idea where it was.
Yeah, the second theater broke ground for construction in August 1968 and was known as “Edens II.” If you’re interested in the Tribune blurb on this (which includes artist’s rendering of theater), feel free to let me know.
You’re definitely welcome. I’m glad I took them. I wish I took a few more. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a closeup of the marquee someplace. I’ll have to see if I can find it. If you look by the door, you should be able to see the poster for one of the last pictures that played there. It was a Nicolas Cage movie called “Holiday Man” or something like that.
Hmmm…that was a really long time ago. I almost vaguely remember that. I’m sure I was aware of it at the time. Do you know what the color scheme was originally? Any chance you could post scans of the Historical Society photos?
Here’s a couple of pics I took of the shuttered Town & Country mall exterior. I believe this has now all been torn down. This entrance also lead to the theater. I wish I put my camera up to the glass for a few photos…I might have caught the theater in the back.
Along with Town & Country, Golf Glen was one of the first few “multiplex” type theaters to open in the northern Chicago suburbs in the early to mid 1980s. It was located near the popular Golf Mill Theaters and shopping mall. During it’s heyday, it saw a large mix of often-younger patrons from nearby Maine, Glenbrook, Niles, and Morton Grove school districts. It operated until around early 2006 (it had closed for a period several years earlier, only to be reopened under new management). Since it’s opening, a funny thing happened with Golf Glen: it never changed. Not only was the place never modernized/remodeled, the demographics of the area also changed pretty dramitically. Personal memories: I saw many horror films here for some reason, including several of the “Nightmare” films, “The Believers”, “Silence of the Lambs” and a laughably bad Wes Craven film called “Deadly Friend.” I remember seeing “Ferris Bueller” and the “Karate Kid” here as well.
I think this fireplace was in Theater 2’s lobby, actually, not Theater 1, which indeed was the lounge area with the TV. I don’t remember there being a TV on this side. The concession area would in the background of this photo, in the upper left corner, then the Theater 1 entrance and lounge.
Sweet photo! Brings back so many memories. I will say that it doesn’t immediately give a full perspective of the size since there are no people to provide scale. This theater was quite large. This picture is taken from the balcony. If you look a little more closely, one can see just how many seats are on that main floor, and I don’t believe it’s a full view (I’m pretty sure there’s another section to the right, out of view?).
Both of these photos were taken in July, 2008. The time stamp on the camera was incorrect. As you can likely tell, the restaurant that had occupied the space was closed. It still had one of the old movie poster display boxes. The building is currently a bar/restaurant as of 2017.
That’s it! I know I have a photo of it from about 6-7 years ago when it was closed. I’ll dig it up and post it soon.
I’m pretty certain this theater was actually located 810 Lee Hwy, near the Pizza Hut. It is now a bar/restaurant. I used to to Corinth in the summer to visit relatives. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi here.
Wow…so hard to believe. 15 years is a very short lifespan for a movie theater. This theater replaced the old Randhurst twin. It is very similar to the AMC at Northbrook Court that opened at the same time. Oh well. I’m glad to see, at least, that AMC opened a new theater there.
True, but it did have “stereophonic sound!” The makers of “Star Wars” were, of course, huge innovators in that field.
Some of my fondest memories were seeing “Star Wars” here (and I also saw it at Mt. Prospect General Cinemas, Golf Mill on re-release, and Palwaukee….probably on re-re-release!) and “Superman: The Movie.” One of the theaters, I think Edens II, had these carpeted partitions in the front of the first row. I remember sitting on the floor in front of those things to watch some movies.
There is a fascinating little 5-part documentary up on YouTube with footage of the demolition. I was very surprised to see this! Amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVwzY19eEU
PS – I don’t know how to post a link here anymore. Anyone?
You’re welcome! A lot of fun to reminisce about those early movie memories.
Ah, finally, this theater gets a little love with a page of its own! I have such fond memories of this General Cinema probably because I saw my very first movies there: Star Wars, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, For the Love of Benji, Pete’s Dragon, The Cat from Outer Space, Return from Witch Mountain, Candleshoe, The Jungle Book (re-release), Hot Lead & Cold Feet, to name a few. Yes, I was a little kid then (hence the Disney heaviness), so maybe my memories of it are nicer than it actually was. But I remember it as clean, and being decently sized theaters (I understand it was originally one screen and twinned later on). Even though I was so young, I can recall the audience booing at Darth Vader’s entrance, and kids clapping along to the jazzy General Cinemas theme song (you can see the bumper here: View link) I lived in Northbrook, but back then, movie theaters only had 1-3 screens, so it was not unusual to drive a few towns over to see what you wanted. I drove by the place not too long ago, and the memories came flooding back. I’m a little surprised my parents took the time to haul us all the way out there. It is now a now banquet hall, but I could still recognize how it appeared then. I’m surprised it closed in ’83…longer ago than I thought! How time flies. I know I saw Jaws there on a re-release, and some of the last few films I attended included Halloween II and Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan.
Yeah, me too. I definitely miss it. My favorite memory is waiting in line to see “The Empire Strikes Back” on opening day. A close second was doing the same for “Rocky III”. At the time, I thought that movie was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. I called my mother on the lobby payphone to tell her that we were staying to watch it a second time. And you know what? Rocky III still kicks butt!
I also saw there: Star Wars, Hooper, Return of the Pink Panther, Flash Gordon, The Blues Brothers, Hangar 18, Smokey and the Bandit 2, The Great Muppet Caper, Return of the Jedi, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, Firefox, Buckaroo Bonzai, Easy Money, Tootsie, Grease 2, The Toy, The Right Stuff, Lone Wolf McQuade, Twilight Zone, Red Dawn, The Ice Pirates, Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Pulp Fiction…..oh my, I could go on & on. The last few I went to there was Boogie Night, and Men in Black
Hey Mike, I checked on that too. Looks like “Mad Max” did play pretty extensively in the Chicagoland area in 1980, but not at Golf Mill. It was indeed re-released on April 8, 1983 to capitalize on the new popularity of Mel Gibson after “The Year of Living Dangerously” and “The Road Warrior.” The re-release poster’s tagline was “now you can see what made Max so mad.” Also playing at the time was “Gandhi”, “The High Road to China”, “Black Stallion Returns” and “Man, Woman and Child” (whatever that last one was…don’t remember it). I know Golf Mill only had three screens, but they ran matinees on the weekends.
I just checked the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive and can confirm the opening date at Golf Mill for “The Road Warrior” on August 20, 1982. Feel free to email me for the scan.
The Mill Run Theater (or Mill Run Playhouse in its old days; it opened in 1965) was in the space occupied by Kohl’s today. It was a completely different building, of course.
Incidentally, its first play was “A Man for All Seasons” starring Charlton Heston. I have a couple of Chicago Tribune scans that show “artists' renderings” of the interior. There’s an exterior shot as well, but it’s not very clear. Email me if you’d like and I’ll forward them:
I was likely at the same shows poster Joe was at too.
When Empire Strikes Back came out, my mother – knowing what Star Wars fanatics we were – picked me and brother up at lunchtime to get out of school early that day (it was a Wednesday). We waited in line at Golf Mill for at least two hours. I remember how long line was!
I prepared to do the same when Jedi came out, but it wasn’t necessary for whatever reason. I waited about 30 minutes in line, right in the lobby.
I’ve tried unsuccessfully to find the exact capacity for these theaters, but the best I could find was a mention in the Tribune that Edens II had 1,000 seats.
I suppose it’s possible that the Cinerama show had some traveling equipment?
I didn’t see “This is Cinerama”, but it played at Edens II. If memory serves, this theater did have a concave screen. The theater building itself was a round-ish shape.
That’s an excellent story.
The land that the Twin once occupied is still largely vacant (not sure what it’s purpose is). If you drive along Hintz Road, going West off of Milwaukee, just look over to your left. One of the old screens actually stood along here for at least a few years after the theater closed. There is a new building there now, which is some kind of Korean religious school. Before that was built a couple of years ago, there were still about 4-5 speaker stands still in that lot. Now, I don’t think there’s any trace of it left. In the 80s, there was a go-cart track & batting cages built right by the entrance to the Twin. This is now a car lot of some kind. The fence/screens for the track are still there. It’s pretty obvious once you know what it was. So, that should give you a rough idea where it was.
Yeah, the second theater broke ground for construction in August 1968 and was known as “Edens II.” If you’re interested in the Tribune blurb on this (which includes artist’s rendering of theater), feel free to let me know.
Of course, one could never forget to honk the horn when the hot dog finally jumped into the bun!!
You’re definitely welcome. I’m glad I took them. I wish I took a few more. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a closeup of the marquee someplace. I’ll have to see if I can find it. If you look by the door, you should be able to see the poster for one of the last pictures that played there. It was a Nicolas Cage movie called “Holiday Man” or something like that.
Hmmm…that was a really long time ago. I almost vaguely remember that. I’m sure I was aware of it at the time. Do you know what the color scheme was originally? Any chance you could post scans of the Historical Society photos?
What did they change exactly? It looks the same to me as it always did.
Here’s a couple of pics I took of the shuttered Town & Country mall exterior. I believe this has now all been torn down. This entrance also lead to the theater. I wish I put my camera up to the glass for a few photos…I might have caught the theater in the back.
http://bmac5.photosite.com/townandcountry/
Along with Town & Country, Golf Glen was one of the first few “multiplex” type theaters to open in the northern Chicago suburbs in the early to mid 1980s. It was located near the popular Golf Mill Theaters and shopping mall. During it’s heyday, it saw a large mix of often-younger patrons from nearby Maine, Glenbrook, Niles, and Morton Grove school districts. It operated until around early 2006 (it had closed for a period several years earlier, only to be reopened under new management). Since it’s opening, a funny thing happened with Golf Glen: it never changed. Not only was the place never modernized/remodeled, the demographics of the area also changed pretty dramitically. Personal memories: I saw many horror films here for some reason, including several of the “Nightmare” films, “The Believers”, “Silence of the Lambs” and a laughably bad Wes Craven film called “Deadly Friend.” I remember seeing “Ferris Bueller” and the “Karate Kid” here as well.
http://bmac5.photosite.com/Album8/