Rockne Theatre
5825 W. Division Street,
Chicago,
IL
60651
5825 W. Division Street,
Chicago,
IL
60651
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 41 comments
FDYB 1926, covering 1925, lists the Ambassador Theatre under Ascher Brothers. In 1926 the Ambassador was hived off to the Ambassador Theaters Corp. As such, the Ambassador was no longer listed under Ascher in FDYB 1927, covering 1926. In January 1927 Film Daily noted that Ambassador Theaters Corp. had taken over the 20-year lease of the Drake, “one of the larger outlying theaters,” from Drake Amusement Company. By September 1928 Ambassador Theaters was in the hands of a receiver, joining three Chicago chains with a string of over 40 Chicago-area houses that ended up being operated under a receivership by the Chicago Title & Trust Company.
Andrew Barrett. The Elm Console and parts of the organ were in the Elm Skating Club. Some of the ranks from the Rockne were generally in the organ, namely the Cornopean, Viol D Orchestra, and orchestral Oboe. The 4 manual relay from the Rockne was paired with the 3 manual Gottfred Relay to accomodate the Elms much larger size. The 4th manual relay was needed to accomodate the 4 manual Elm/Rockne console in the rink. I still have the bench and a couple of souvenier stop tablets from that console.
After Vaudeville fizzled out this was one of the several theaters my grandfather managed
1941 photo added courtesy of Jack Spatafora.
The Connie Stevens performance was “Two on a Giuatine” probably spelled wrong, and I was there too, she sang a song that the Beach Boys taught her before the movie. Also saw Sonny & Cher, still remember her Bell Bottoms but can’t remember the movie that they were introducing, The Beatles were even there for a quick intro to Hard Days night (but the line was all around the corner/block) and I missed that one sadly. Eileen Nykaza – John Hay
What a cool-looking building, I’m glad it’s still standing and being used for something!
According to David Junchen’s “Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ”, pg. 144, the Ambassador (Rockne) Theatre in Chicago originally had a 4 manual, 14 rank Geneva theatre pipe organ installed in 1925. The serial # of the organ’s blower was 17083. According to the Geneva chapter of the aforementioned book, this was one of the firm’s “show” organs and had what may have been the only 4-manual console built by the firm.
According to pg. 142 of the same book, the four-manual console from this organ was in daily use at the Elm Skating Club “as of 1983”. It turns out that through a few unfortunate events, the rink closed in the late 1980s and was torn down shortly thereafter. I do hope the console (and/or the rest of the organ, or parts of it) still exist somewhere today.
Does anybody know any more about this organ? I’m researching it for the Geneva Organs history page on my upcoming website.
Thanks!
Remember the “Mudhole”? – I Certainly Do, Spent A Lots Of Time In That Water. It Was Actually A Cool Public Pool, Come To Think About It.… LOL
My Cousin And I Went To Byford Then St. Angela’s…!
Also A Little Ma & Pa Store On The Way To School Mary & Joe’s..!
Joe Fry’s “Standard Gas Station” Corner of Iowa & Agusta..!
Went To The Rockne On Saturdays Mostly..! (House On Haunted Hill)..!
WOW What Memories, I Was A Fucking Kid..!
Does anyone who worked there remember the manager? Think his name was Jim Masino
Cindy – does this theatre have a balcony? How large is the lobby – how ornate is the auditorium?
The candy store I spoke of was on Division near Waller road not Wheeler
I lived just down the street from the Rockne at 1242 N. Waller avenue from 1963-1967. I was 6 when we moved there from Wash.D.C. but back in those days mothers kicked the kids out and said,“ come back before the street lights come on”. I spent many a weekend waiting to get in this grand old theater.With the balcony and velvet curtains. there were these little romeo balconies along the walls that had big urns in them, which were lit up. Very awesome to a small child. I saw the Dave Clark 5, live as they premiered their movie.The line went around the building. Eventually I got in but had to crawl on the floor and under seats in order to get to the front so I could see the stage.All the teenagers were standing and yelling. I also saw some other actress Connie Stevens? premiering a horror movie. I believe Vincent Price was in it. Those were the good old days when you got cartoons before the movie. Heck I think there may have even been news reels! there wasn’t a whole lot on T.V. back then. Most times you’d see a movie once and never see it again.Reruns? Not a chance! no such thing. Me and Patty Olson would pull our wagon around the neighborhood collecting bottles. Then hit the candy store on the corner of Wheeler road. OMG! an honest to god candy store where you could get 3 pieces of candy for a penny!Everything laid out on parchment paper or in glass jars!does anyone remember the name of the store? But the Rockne was one of my favorite memories of Chicago. I remember everything about my time there. The Royal Airs drum and bugle corps who my father taught when he wasn’t running Sounds and Songs further up Division st. The great Blizzard that buried cars. Saint Angela’s Young elementary school which catered to children with special needs. Being able to go into a strangers homes during Halloween, for the little parties they held. OMG! How about the candy factory up the road that always smelled like Bazooka bubble gum? Those were the days my friend.
Tomkonsoer, my brothers and I were at the Rockne practically every weekend during the 60’s. As we got older, we would venture down to the State, the Lake, or even the Mercury, but the Rockne remained our favorite. I remember the Sonny and Cher event, but don’t remember the DC5 show.
I lived at 1050 N Monitor all during the 60’s and started ushering at the Rockne when I was 12. They still had lots of costumes left over from when they did live shows. Don’t remember Sonny and Cher, but it seems like the Dave Clark Five were there. Austin was a great neighborhood to grow up in, mostly hung around Chicago Ave. St. Angela’s, Key School, Austin Town Hall. Took drivers ed at Austin High. Remember the “Mudhole”?
I lived in one of the two apartments above the theatre from Oct 1962 thru Oct 1963, we moved here from Rockwell and North Ave, I had transferred from Tuley High School. I loved that year. Attended Austin High School. But living there was totally unusual. You could hear the sounds of the movies , because the Projection Room was right down the hall. The Music Man was playing the week that we moved in and the next week it was The Birds !!!! Noisey. We had to go down into the lobby , by the main front doors to pick up our mail. And it was just neat being a teenager there. There on either sides of the stage , were dressing rooms. We were only there a year and moved to Stone Park after here in 1963 and I attended Proviso West then. I would love to here from any fellow students from Austin who knew about and attended the Rockne….contact me at or Susan Besaw on Face Book…would love to hear from you !!!
Nice 80,s photos.
The 1920-21 Film Daily Yearbook lists an Ambassador theatre in Chicago. Is it possible that this theatre was built earlier than 1924 or is this a different theatre? (No other information listed.)
Here are 1982 and 1983 photos:
http://tinyurl.com/dcwtuf
http://tinyurl.com/cn237k
The exchange in 1954 was AUstn 7-3266. As you can see by the ad immediately above, the exchanges were no longer being used by 1967.
Here is a July 1967 ad from the Austin Journal:
http://tinyurl.com/3p2lqs
Here is an undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/6m6pnw
I attended the Rockne only once when visiting Chicago in 1956. The movie was Elvis’ first: Love Me Tender. My cousin and I walked about 5 blocks from Lombard Ave. As a teenager from northern Wisconsin, I thought the theater was overwhelming. I was also quite impressed with the balcony. Very enjoyable to see the photo of the Rockne and read all the comments.
We would go to the Rockne every now and then as we mostly attended the Tiffin on North Avenue.
One movie in particular that I vividly recall seeing there was Disney’s Babes in Toyland, which shows how long ago this was.
I mostly recall it being a little more upscale than the Tiffin. (I certainly don’t recall the coppola shown in the picture above.)
Not only did the Rockne show good movies it was also a clean theater. Don’t ever recall the place looking shaby or dirty at all. Went to the Rockne from the mid 50’s to early seventies. Lived about six blocks away. I do recall though maybe in the late 50’s or early sixtes they re-did their lobby.
The ROCKNE to me had a more respectable reputation than other neighborhood theatres it seems; saw SOUND OF MUSIC there first, later THE GRADUATE. I say this knowing it went the adult route later on. It was the theatre one took the Division St bus to the end-of-the-line to.
Yep. That is the rotunda at right. Last time I was by here the ROCKNE vertical sign was still up. But that was many years ago. At some point the exterior of the building was totally redone. I have always assumed that took place at the point they adopted the ROCKNE name.