The World's Largest and Finest Theatre

From the archive... Uptown, World's Largest And Finest, Opens By Rob Reel

Source: Chicago Evening American, 18 August 1925, p. 20.

Chicago became the possessor of the largest and finest motion picture theater in the world as a result of the informal opening last night of Balaban & Katz' palatial Uptown at Lawrence av. and Broadway.

The house, which surpasses anticipation, was thrown open to the general public formally at high noon today, with a repetition of the throngs which pressed around the entrances last night even though they were not permitted to enter.

Indeed, so much interest has already been manifested by citizens in both the central Uptown district, where an elaborate pageant is being held in celebration of the new theater's completion and throughout the city, that attaches of the Balaban & Katz Corporation predicted between 50,000 and 100,000 people will be attracted to the locality both tonight and the rest of the week.

The affair last night was really a dress rehearsal of the performance, members of the firms who helped to build the magnificent structure being invited that they might inspect the completed whole. Many notables of the Rialto also attended, as well as all those connected either closely or remotely with the Balaban & Katz organization.

The great lobby, almost an exact replica of that in the Chicago, only larger, grander and more golden, was banked with floral tributes from hundreds of firms who had cooperated in constructing and outfitting the theater, as well as hundreds of well-wishers throughout the country.

Monument to Prosperity.

William K. Hollander, director of publicity for Balaban & Katz, acted as master of ceremonies, thanking each and every one who had helped complete the Uptown and presenting the theater to the central Uptown district. A representative of the Central Uptown Business Men's Association felicitated him in turn and accepted the new monument to the prosperity of this section.

Under the supervision of Frnak Cambria, art director, the whole program was presented and everything was exactly as though for the formal opening today with one exception—the mighty Wurlitzer was silent. A crew of experts had been working night and day to get the great instrument ready, but were unable to accomplish it in time for the dress rehearsal. Those who had precious invitation last night, therefore, had to forego the pleasure of hearing Jesse Crawford.

Nathaniel Finston, however, was in charge of the orchestral baton, Tschaikowsky's beautiful "Capriccio Italienne" has been chosen as the premiere overture, and under his capable direction the great band of splendid musicians assembled as the Uptown's Symphony Orchestra render it in stirring fashion.

Pretentious Program.

What is undoubtedly the most pretentious presentation ever offered in a motion picture theater has also been provided by Balaban & Katz to accompany the theater's debut. First there are some fine syncopation specialties by the Oriole Orchestra of the Edgewater Beach Hotel, with Ted Fiorito at the piano and little Dan Russo as leader.

Then there is a musical production, "Under Spanish Skies," to harmonize with the Spanish motif which has been carried out in the architecture, presenting Don Jose Majica and Marie Herron, a tenor and soprano of high caliber. There is a very nice ballet incoporated in this, too, and a peacock dance that is truly gorgeous, Maria Montero also appears, a Spanish dancer with color, talent and fire, who shakes her castanets as only one who has learned the art from childhood can.

Last, but not by any means least, there is the movie—First National's "The Lady Who Lied."

Excellent Cast.

"The Lady Who Lied" is a pretentious picture, matching up with the pretentious program. Its scene is laid first in Venice during carnival time, then in Africa, and these strange locales as well as an extraordinary situation or two tend to lift it out of the ordinary eternal triangle type of film. Then, too, it is excellently cast with Lewis Stone as his polished self: Nita Naldi, as Oriental-eyed and attractive as ever: Leo White, priceless as a comic valet, and Virginia Valli, good to look at as the heroine whom it is all about.

Virginia, by the way, is a Chicago girl, who spent a good deal of her time in the Uptown district, especially when she was first struggling for recognition in films.

Taking it all in all, it's grand and glorious.

But you must see it to appreciate it.

Thousands Show Up for Opening of Uptown Theatre!

From the archive... 5,000 Guests See Splendors of New Theater

Balaban & Katz Inaugurate Huge House with Private View.

By H. Campbell-Duncan.
Source: Chicago Evening Post, 18 August 1925, pg. 1-2.

Five thousand guests of Balaban & Katz filled the new Uptown theatre  last night to witness the final dress rehearsal of the inaugural bill before the doors should be thrown open at noon today to an eager and enthusiastic throng of movie fans.

As an honored member of an honorable profession—the Press, God bless it—I was accommodated with an sumptuous, crimson velvet arm chair in box E, right in the center of the glittering lodge horseshoe, beneath the huge balcony that sweeps in a graceful curve 170 feet from wall to wall of the immense auditorium.

It was a nice seat, roomy and deep and soft, with plenty of room for the knees. As I lounged in it vivid memories were aroused of the days when I used to shift uneasily on a kitchen chair, nailed to its neighbor with a piece of scantling, in a nickelodium. And that wasn't so very long ago, either.

Gives Place Once-Over.

But before settling down to enjoy the show I made the rounds of the gilded corredores [sic], passed in and out of the gracious salons and lofty foyers and generally gave the magnificent new shrine to the silent drama the professional once-over. At each corner and turn I encountered crimson uniformed ushers and attendants ready to give me courteous directions and information. They were everywhere and at a distance appeared like flaming hibiscus blossoms splashed against the deeper tones of rich hangings and mural decorations.

Passing thru the main entrance on Broadway into the lofty pillared foyer was to be thrilled by the orgy of expenditure displayed on every side. Money seems to have been poured out like water to make the Uptown theater the last word in cinema palace gorgeousness. The architects, I am told, refer to the style of the building as "Spanish Mexican renaissance." I've no doubt they are right.

Passing over an acre or so of oriental rugs with a depth of pile that gave the effect of walking upon moss, and following the sweeping curve of the grand staircase to the mezzanine floor, and so up another wide and gracious flight of broad steps thru a richly decorated hall, I found myself in one of [the] entrances to the vast balcony. Below me lay the spacious auditorium while on my right, climbing away up to the gilded ceiling, rose tier upon tier of seats, any one of which, I was told, assured perfect vision and hearing.

Up in the lofty roof softly modulated lights played aurora borealislike over a grandly proportioned dome.

Sees Orchestra Rise.

Returning to Box E, I sank back into my chair just in time to see the musicians, sixty of them, rise majestically from the depths of the orchestra pit to the level of the stage, while iridescent beams from a flood light played over them.

Fewer clothes and some seaweed in their hair and they might have been Neptune and his entourage rising from the sea.

Then came: "Oh, say! Can you see—?" With every one standing, followed by Tschaikowsky's "Capriccio Italienne," really awfully well played.

The rest of the program followed the halting course of the regular dress rehearsal, as such it was, with frequent interruptions by the stage manager. This official, megaphone in hand, popped on and off stage incessantly like the little bird in a cuckoo clock, with shouted order to the "flyman" up aloft or the electrician at the vast switchboard back stage.

All this to the huge delight of the audience.

But the show ran very smoothly nevertheless, and I venture to predict that today's performances will go thru like magic.

Given Elaborate Bill.

The bill was an elaborate sample of future programs. In addition to a news reel, a comedy and a feature picture, "The Lady Who Lied," with Lewis Stone, Nita Naidi and Virginia Valli, a gorgeous stage diverstissement. [sic] "Under Spanish Skies," was given with a great deal of excellent singing and dancing. There was also the Oriole orchestra from the Edgewater Beach hotel in a series of popular jazz numbers and several selections on the colossal Wurlitzer with Jesse Crawford at the console. [sic]

In celebration of the opening of the theater, the Central Uptown Chicago association is holding the pageant of 1925.

The entire north side, from Montrose to Argyle and from the lake to Halsted street is decorated with brilliantly colored illumination, flags, bunting and drapes.

Arrange Special Sales.

Free entertainment on the streets, parades, free band concerts and numerous other attractions are expected to bring the total of visitors to the neighborhood to at least 100,000 daily. The opening of the theater alone, it is estimated, will attract over half that number. Merchants are decorating their windows and arranging special sales. A window shoppers' contest with $5,000 in prizes is another attraction.

On four or five important street intersections band stands have been erected, and near by a free spectacular attraction will be given twice daily.

Flory, the death diver, who sets fire to his clothes and leaps into a tank of water from the top of a skyscraper, will perform afternoon and evening, as will the three Morak sisters, dainty beauties who will swing high in the air between buildings and sing to the crowds.

Dainty Marie, famous musical comedy and vaudeville "singing Venus," who retired from the stage to open a gymnasium for fashionable women on Sheridan road, also will contribute a spectacular act twice daily.

On Thursday night will be the "Parade of Colors," with over 200 floats in line, and on Friday night "The Parade of Uptown Prosperity," with nearly 300 floats in line.

Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass, Deluxe Theatre

Was Warren Beatty ever this young? He has such a baby face in this poster for Splendor in the Grass, playing at the Deluxe Theatre on Wilson at Broadway. This Oscar-award-winning film came out in 1961, so that's the date for the poster.

What? You've never seen Splendor in the Grass? It's a romantic drama filled with love, heartache, and sexual repression. Go! Go get it now! Splendor in the Grass

The Deluxe Theatre, 1970

Thanks to reader Anna Bradley for sending in this great photo of the Deluxe from 1970.

The Deluxe Theatre was built in 1912 and, according to Cinema Treasures, was one of the earliest theatres in the once-fashionable Uptown neighborhood built specifically for motion pictures.
It is said that Gloria Swanson, a Chicago-native and future movie star, hung out at the Deluxe when she lived in Uptown, before she started making her own movies at local Essanay Studios.

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Play Golf in Edgewater, 1942

A full-sized print of this image of Bob and Bing at the Edgewater Golf Club can be purchased from the Chicago Tribune.

Skating at the Rainbo, 1992

A full-size image is available as a print from the Chicago Tribune.

Wilson and Broadway, 1958

The Chicago Tribune is selling vintage prints of Uptown.

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 In 1958, an accident on the El killed 8 and injured nearly 200.

Skating at the Edewater Beach Hotel, 1934

Uptown Chicago Revisited

Bill Matteson
Uptown Correspondent

A friend of mine gave me a book titled Landmarks and Legends of Uptown. I really loved looking through it, as it's always a trip down memory lane for me and my wife. We both grew up in Uptown on Kenmore Ave.

So today it's 10 AM and we're both a little older than our Uptown days. I just blurted out, "Hey hon, let's  take a trip to the old neighborhood." She was at the closet getting her jacket before I finished my statement. We gassed up the car in Harvard, Illinois, where we now live, hit the tollway outside of Marengo, and headed east,  to Lawrence Ave.

Both of us were reliving our youth as we talked about our old friends, at least the ones we could remember,  the things we done, and the old buildings.

The trip east on Lawrence was exciting. I had long forgot city driving and pedestrians, who all seem to have a deathwish as they dart out in front of you in the middle of the street. I slam on my brakes so I won't run into them and they give me the evil eye ... I was thinking they should be thanking me instead.

Lawrence was always a melting pot of diverse ethnic groups, and it still is really diverse. I do believe we made a world tour just on one street. As we passed Clark St. and St Boniface, things started to really change. The stately high brick wall that used to run down Lawrence was gone, someone dismantled it, took it down, or just allowed it to fall into ruin. I wanted to get out of the car and find the person responsible. As we get east of Broadway, we start to get into our "hood." The old El station, no Marquis lunch cafeteria, no National T store, no watchmakers shop, no pawn shop. Progress, I guess.

I saw the old Ritz grill still standing,empty and dilapidated, but no one would know that the best hamburgers and chili were once made there. The New Lawrence Hotel was almost unrecognizable. Sir James Night Club was missing, the Viceroy hotel—well, the building is still there, and all the windows of Garys Payless drug store were bricked in. The empty lot that used to be south of the Viceroy was in our time built into a single story structure that housed a Laundromat and is now boarded up. The corner where Happy Jacks Deli was is still there, although it's something else now. I couldn't tell what. All the old buildings at Lawrence and Sheridan to the north on both sides of the street were razed and replaced. No C.C. Club,  no 21 Tap.

We turned south on Clarendon to Leland then turned east. I forgot they blocked off some parts of Leland so we turned around, continued south to Wilson, then East to Kenmore, the street of our youth. On  the southwest corner was a large building. Gone were the apartment buildings that used to predominate the neighborhood. Leibermans Drug Store, Ma Skinners Diner, the Pretzel Benders Bar, the very corner that was so sacred to us for hanging out on, for playing pinner, for lagging coins, now all gone.

On the opposite corner Barney's Tavern is now some other store...sadly. I parked in front on 4734.  My wife lived at 4740 and me at 4737. We got out, I took a picture of her in front of her old building. We couldn't get close because of a large locked iron fence—the same as in front of the house I once lived in. In our day the front doors were rarely locked but privacy was always respected.

My wife had to go back to the car and rest. A young lady walked by and I said, "Hi, could you do me a favor?" The look on her face was priceless and a little quizzical. "That depends," she said. I smiled my best grampa smile and asked her to take my picture in front of my old house. I told her we just wanted to see the old neighborhood. She asked, "Both of you?"  "Yes. She lived there and I lived here." "You were childhood sweethearts; oh how sweet." Now we were pals; she took two pictures of me and walked off saying, "How sweet, how sweet."

We went up Kenmore  past St. Thomas to Argyle then west, past where the old Agmore used to be. We turned south on Winthrop Ave,  which turns back into Kenmore.

Winthrop Ave from Leland to Kenmore in our day was all black. An empty lot on Leland used to house the Colliers Chicken shack. They made the best fried chicken. They even delivered it in a 1949 Crosley. The same empty lot was also home to a traveling carnival once a year.

West on Wilson, then north on Broadway. Our hearts fell as we saw what used to be a very majestic structure, the Wilson Ave El.. What happened here? OMG, it's criminal to let this beautiful old building fall into such a state. I'm blaming Richard Daley for this, him being a southsider, a sox fan and all. Glad to see  all the stores on Broadway, even though I wouldn't go in one. No Kresge's dime store, no Woolworth dime store.

And as we passed Leland Ave no Majestic Men's store.  No Goldbaltts, now that is sad..

We drove around becoming more depressed. LOOK WHAT THEY DONE TO OUR SONG, MA was the tune running through my head. Our movie theaters, all gone. The Uptown, our Friday night home, gone. The Rivera, the Lakeside, the Argmore, the Pantheon, the Mode, the Sheridan...At Irving and Sheridan the bar on the NE corner, the Berlitz, featuring the "Dynatones," is now a lot. Then to cap it all they've closed my old school, the same school that gave us the Exorcist, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Harrison Ford. We ended up driving west on Montrose. We found Hagen's fish Market. Glad to see it still in business. We drove home with a bag of shrimp and a bag of scallops.They advertised Lake perch. I asked which lake, they said Erie. I said make that a 1/2 pound.

Was the trip worth it? Yes... will we do it again... no, we  want to remember our Uptown, the Uptown of our youth, and the Kenmore Ave of our memories.

To the Residents of Kenmore Ave: I am glad you are there. You have painstakingly restored Kenmore back to an era in time and made it better. Thank you for this. 4737/39 looks like it's a 6-unit condo now instead of the 25 cut-up apartments when I lived there. Wish I could have seen the backyard, the scene of many a marble tournament, baseball, and football games.. but then maybe it's better this way.

Bill Matteson, 4737 Kenmore
Eileen Griffin, 4740 Kenmore
married 58 years
9 children
21 grandchildren
11 G grand children

LOOK WHAT THEY DONE TO OUR SONG MA