Today Theater
62 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60602
62 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60602
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Grand opening ads loaded at last.
Photo added credit Keith Rieger Sr.
rivest266, the grand opening ad did not properly load to the photo section.
This opened on February 28th, 1941. Its grand opening ad can be found in the photo section.
The Today is seen at 3:38 in this Vivian Maier film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXASDjCwxsE&feature=youtu.be
Around 1969 a friend and I saw a couple of soft-core movies at the TODAY. The posted minimum age was 17 or 18 and my friend, an ex-Navy veteran of 28, could not believe he was carded!
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I kind of discovered this theater by chance. They never ran ads in the newspapers.
Here is a June 1973 article in the Harrisonburg (VA) Daily News Record:
Some adult movie houses and book stores closed their doors Friday or planned to change their fare in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling apparently giving police more leeway to get tough with pornography peddlers. “Closed due to uncertainty of court decision. Open when situation more stable,” read a sign on the door of the Adult Movie Arcade in downtown Louisville, Ky.
Don’s Playland a block away decided on a closeout sale. “Due to the most recent ruling by the Supreme Court, we are liquidating all stock — 50 per cent off.“ Owner Don Marsh prophesied the ruling would drive pornography back underground. He called the decision a "rape of the Constitution.” Other newsstands and bookstores displayed signs saying closed “for inventory.”
Most pornography peddlers agreed the industry was in trouble and some film houses planned to change their tastes as a result. “The law is the law. We have to abide by what they say,” said Paul Jones, manager of Today, an X-rated theater in Chicago. “We’ll just have to go to something else. We’ll go to the films with less sex and black films.”
Joseph Boardman, advertising manager of the underground newspaper, the Los Angeles Free Press, said he alerted his sales staff that “there’s a good chance we’ll be changing our advertising policy drastically in light of the Supreme Court ruling.” “If they (the police) start hasseling us …we’ll take the nudies out…”
In the book “THEN & NOW”-CHICAGO’S LOOP" by Janice A. Knox, there is a nice shot of the Today theatre- circa 1960- on page 69. ONE HOUR PROGRAM LATE NEWS on the marquee. Just west of the theatre is the great Forum Cafeteria, which was wildly popular. On page 94, there is a shot of Madison and Dearborn -circa 1960- looking west.There is another picture (very small) of the Today.
The book “Chicago’s Loop” claims that the Castle theatre on State was the first newsreel theatre in chicago, beginning in 1932
The Forum –“Serving the Best in Foods” (motto)
Demolished Toward the end it showed porno movies. Site is now the 3 First National Plaza Building