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The pictures on this page are all of Woodfield One and Two which was located OUTSIDE the Mall. There was also a Woodfield 3 and 4 located outside the mall. These should have their own page. The theaters inside the mall were separate.

My friend Steve worked at Johnston & Murphy shoes, not Florsheim. I loved working at that mall. You could walk for hours; I’d never seen so many shops! I was always hanging out at Walden Books looking for movie stuff. My Mom’s second job was at Lord & Taylor so I could have whatever I wanted off the reduced rack plus employee discount. I worked in the stock room and the display dept. at Penny’s and never once used my employee discount! Ow! But I think we got reduced theater tickets as well, which was great. Still needed a ride, though!!!I remember getting lost in the parking lot looking for my Mom and my Grandmother after an evening of shopping. I became very anxious and,when I finally saw them in the distance, started to
tear up. It was cold and dark; I didn’t remember if we were in section A, B or AA or BB!!

Wikipedia has good pics of the inside of the mall

No Photos?

Boxoffice has uploaded scans of most of its archive to Issuu, a web publishing site. To find items on specific subjects it’s best to use Google advanced search, but once a particular issue of the magazine is opened at Issuu, their internal search will quickly find specific words (only one at a time, alas) within that issue.

The first theater at the Woodfield Mall was opened to the public by ABC-Great States on July 30, 1971, but had its formal grand opening on September 9 that year. It was a twin screen operation called the Woodfield 1 and 2, and was designed by the architectural firm of Loebl, Schlossman, Bennett & Dart, the same firm that designed the original River Oaks Theatre in Calumet City.

The October 11, 1971, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an item about the opening, but failed to mention the seating capacity of the new theater. An earlier Boxoffice item published on February 1, 1971, announcing the groundbreaking for the project, had said that one of the auditoriums would seat 1200, but that the capacity of the other had not yet been announced.

The June 4, 1979, issue of Boxoffice said: “The Woodfield 2 and 3 opened May 25, giving Woodfield 1 and 2 the much-needed room in one of the country’s largest shopping centers.” The use of Woodfield 2 and 3 as the name of the new theaters must have been carelessness on the part of Boxoffice. Later issues refer to the new houses more sensibly as Woodfield 3 and 4.

I’ve been unable to find anything in Boxoffice about the Woodfield 5.

Was it ever called the Century?
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I remember seeing Apollo 13 here with my parents when it came out, and there was a long line waiting outside. We were in the South screen of the 1 & 2 complex, so not sure which screen it was. My bro and I were forced to sit almost in the front row off to the side, so imagine how big the screen was to us. I'l always remember that place because I had a new, large bag of Reece’s Pieces with me, and we all know how hard those are to open. Well I was struggling and struggling with them until all of a sudden the bag ripped open and flung Pieces EVERYWHERE. I was left with maybe a handful or two. I was SO depressed. Also, I don’t know about the woman’s bathroom, but the guy’s was sunken down like 5 stairs and I always joked with my brother that if a bomb ever went off, I’d want to be in the bathroom since it was “under ground” (again, keep in mind I was a kid, so 5 steps was underground to me).

-Brian

Woodfield Mall started out with four sceens located in two free standing buildings. Theaters 1 and 2 were the two biggest screens and these typically received the newest and most-anticipated films, many times in 70mm. I saw all three of the original “Star Wars” trilogy among countless other films here. Theater 1 had a gaudy yellow, orange, red and purple curtain. Theater 2 might have been the same size (probably was) but if anything it was smaller. The seats were red fabric with a rocking chair mobility. When no one was sitting in them, the seat would flip up against the back.

Theaters 3 and 4 were located in a smaller building to the north of theaters 1 and 2. Again, the more popular films were shown here.

The theaters inside were built in the early 80s in place of the skating rink. A hamburger joint called “John’s Garage” used to have windows overlooking the rink. They were boarded up when the theater went in. Sadly, John’s Garage was recently forced out of Woodfield. I believe there were between 5 and 6 screens on the inner multiplex. This was where the lesser known films would play, and older first run films that were moved from the outdoor theaters.

It’s also worth noting that where the “Streets of Woodfield” are located today was once known as One Schaumburg Place, another mall that had first run theaters. These served as something of a missing link between the classic Woodfield Theaters that were destroyed to what stands today at the Streets of Woodfield.

I was at the theatres outside the mall on their last night of operation. The final movie was “Thin Red Line” with John Travolta, John Cuscak, and many more!

The theaters in the mall went in roughly about 1985-86. The first movie I remember seeing there was Iron Eagle and that would have been in ‘86. They were pretty lousy theaters, too. Woodfield 1 & 2 outside were great theaters, though!

I remember in 1996 the Woodfield Mall Cinemas were playing art movies. I remember seeing “Broken English” (which was NC-17 rated), “Career Girls”, “Niagara,Niagara” and “The Full Monty”.