Mom took us to see "Ben-Hur" at the Marbro Theater in 1960. I had been to the Marbro a few times in those days. Few would have thought these theaters would be gone. The Marbro's Fan Window at the front was 4 stories tall and I glanced up and saw the drapes which must have needed a crane to mount on the inside. The Chandelier there was massive. The inside decoration was incredible--truly a grand castle of ancient times. The only part of the Marbro complex left is the corner building at Karlov which still shows some of the exterior wall ornamentation seen around these theaters.
Chicago is doing much better than my home town, San Francisco...in 1963, we lost one of the grandest movie palaces in the country...the 4500 seat Fox Theatre...a French Baroque...delight...with a 4/36 Wurlitzer Organ, one of four built. The others were in the New York Times Square Paramount, St. Louis, and Detroit Fox Theatres, the latter two instruments still in use. What an era of craftsmanship and entertainment!
The San Francisco Fox is a memory, but it's WurliTzer is now in the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, in excellent condition. It was my privilege to work on the instrument for several years.
I grew up in Chicago I miss the old theaters. I still remember Rivera portage Milford Logan Congress Davis Avon ...any of these around? Didn't they tear down uptown theater?
Can you please update the status of it's possible restoration? I heard that it is now owned by Ticketmaster. Not sure. I grew up in Uptown in the 60's & 70's where I attended movies at the Uptown. I was last there in 2013 when they were filming the Transformers movie. I would like to see this landmark restored and repurposed as a movie theater again. Thanks.
Lovely production! Be nice to see these theaters. I have stood outside the Chicago Theater. We have the Warner, Palace & Shubert here in Conn. I wonder what their history is?
On my first visit to Chicago, I took rides on the Els and and saw many of the theater buildings. it is just like it is in the boroughs of New York City. We have Els here and the theater buildings are very identifiable. Churches saved a good number of these buildings. We are saving some of the great houses. I would say that the Loew's Kings is the Brooklyn equal for the Uptown. The Kings is being restored and it shall receive a new pipe organ.
Many of the houses had ugly red brick exteriors with bulging black roofs. The Loew's Oriental in Brooklyn looked like a giant dog house but it's interior was much more opulent!
