United Artists Theatre
45 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
45 W. Randolph Street,
Chicago,
IL
60601
32 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 145 comments
CONFIRMED: The demolition of the United Artists Theatre began in January 1990. Final curtain for Loop theater January 17, 1990 | Chicago Sun-Times (IL) Page: 5 | Section: NEWS 57 Words
Read News Document Caption: A wrecking crane demolishes the United Artists Theatre Tuesday at Randolph and Dearborn in the Loop. The 1,700-seat theater, which opened as the Apollo legitimate theater in 1921, is being razed as part of a North Loop redevelopment; project. Another grande dame of the movies, the Granada Theater, is being razed on the North Side.
Credit: Rich Hein
United Artists Theatre seen 7/14/87 & 9/17/89 in two panoramic photos copyright Thomas Yanul in below link.
http://www.thomasyanul.com/indexblock371.html
6/20/75-12/4/75 photo in link below. Disregard description of it being June 1976.
https://www.alamy.com/june-1976-lunch-hour-in-the-sun-chicago-illinois-image220805103.html?irclickid=SKT2PG2fkxyNRqG3iHyDTyiwUkDT633CE1xOzI0&utm_source=77643&utm_campaign=Shop%20Royalty%20Free%20at%20Alamy&utm_medium=impact&irgwc=1&fbclid=IwAR1hDaEhsge-Qsd1KA_EHTu-e6K0x2rvOEDvffk6jnqVMfjacSjAL0Tz3wA
12/29/86 photo credit Kevin Mueller.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/37640374@N04/4212014009?fbclid=IwAR3Pt2Ygi_lhOLV4U7qPZmBRbs5J77N8ouwWmZXYXE-abOxmWN-DLEt4JnM
Painting on Flickr.
Some artistic license as that film came out 2 years after the United Artists was demolished.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45436499@N02/12763356925/
Mis-dated Chicago Sun-Times image.
“Jaws” ran at the United Artists 6/20/75-12/04/75.
https://www.alamy.com/june-1976-lunch-hour-in-the-sun-chicago-illinois-image220805103.html?irclickid=SGLVMaUzAxyLWAL0EkzjZTwgUkEQfyTuIzOT3Q0&irgwc=1&utm_source=77643&utm_campaign=Shop%20Royalty%20Free%20at%20Alamy&utm_medium=impact
Full width 8/31/66-9/22/66 photo credit Zeus Of Hollywood via Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zeusofhollywood/3375169478?fbclid=IwAR3Uf9dwCjyg0kxhLk7zdJ9gOVXVWjIPPxAMLnziTE_qTYP1kFfxQI5H9Dc
I thought this was in the gallery but it wasn’t. Underside of the United Artists marquee. 1/17/64-2/20/64 photo credit Jeanette Williams via Flickr link below.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jarchie/3553050290/in/album-72157618596556846/
YouTube link with footage from November-December 1978 that shows the United Artists Theatre beginning at the 2:46 mark. It shows “Blackjack” with an added feature of “The Black Godfather” from 1974, which does not appear on the master list of film presentations on page 5 of the comments. The Oriental Theatre is seen as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrNmKfhTPhY&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR12qM12hfzp99fRKy7NgngEwZ7QgmW266XP04zQPkqyBchzzuTQZWrhnxo
The much maligned Block 37 has been completely developed and also includes a mainstream movie theatre, the AMC Dine In Block 37.
July 29, 1965 photo added credit Roland Anderson.
6/24/66-7/22/66 photo, source unknown.
5/15/64 -6/04/64 photo added credit Saul Smaizys.
My neighbor Joe was the manager of the UA towards its closing. He told me that in 1973, a long-term run of “The Exorcist” was helping keep the doors open while the other Loop theatres were showing Kung Fu and Blaxploitation films.
Hey, Barry. Check out the photo section. I just posted a photo of the auditorium.
Why are there no auditorium photographs posted? I’m keen to see what the interior was like.
1962 photo added courtesy of the John Chuckman Collection.
Additional demolition photos added. Photo credits John P. Keating Jr.
Re: the nightclub next door, Flo’s Kit Kat – there’s a short film called “Dance Craze” on YouTube filmed at Flo’s, including a scene of the swinging girl outside.
What awesome signage and to think now how AMC makes the outside of their locations dark and marqueeless.
It turns out the United Artists was still in operation as of February, 1988. Here’s a newspaper ad from February 26, 1988. Cineplex Odeon pulled out of there , I believe, in late 1987 and Henry Plitt took it back briefly, if I’m not mistaken.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1988/02/26/page/123/article/display-ad-112-no-title
1927 ad in photo section.
Here is a 1966 view.
i saw the world premeire of NORTH BY NORTHWEST there, and got alfred hitchcocks’s autograph
I was referring to the photo at the top of the page that is part of the photos gallery for this page, not any photo posted by bkrefft.