The Movie Theaters of Uptown Chicago -- A Reader's Perspective

Reader Bill Matteson writes in:

THE MOVIE THEATERS IN UPTOWN

As a kid, I loved my neighborhood. I had access to everything a boy could desire. School was a block and a half walk south on Kenmore to Stewart School. The Lake Front was only a few blocks away, to the East. But mainly we had Theaters, all within walking distance

My favorite movie house was the Lakeside on the 4700 block of Sheridan Road. From my back porch on the 2nd floor of 4737 Kenmore, looking straight across over the garage roof tops and across the alley was the back fire escape of the Lakeside, which led right into the projection room.

One day while I was playing in the alley, the projectionist came out on the fire escape and waved me over, threw down a quarter, and told me to get him some coffee from Happy Jacks, a deli at Lawrence and Sheridan, on the S.W. corner, which I did. I brought it up to the back iron door and he let me come in and watch whatever movie was playing. Mom and Dad were coffee drinkers, so a couple of times a week I would knock on the back door with a coffee pot then retrieve it at end of day.

At Broadway and Lawrence we had the Uptown and The Rivera. On Sheridan was the Lakeside and the Pantheon; farther south was the Sheridan, later to become a synagogue. And just on the other side of Irving Pk Blvd. was the Mode (we pronounced it mo-day).

The Mode was Saturday matinee fare, two westerns, 10 cartoons, and two serials all for 12 cents.

The Mode, showing its original facade from when it was a Keystone theatre and a later remodel. From Flickr user BWChicago.

On the extreme north of my area was the Argmore, on the N.W. corner of Argyle and Kenmore. Actually, I think it was a door or two off the corner. I would go there with my mom because they would give plates and dish cloths as premiums. I saw two great serials there, the first Batman and another serial the Monster and the Ape.

Now there were two other theaters worth mentioning, just a little out of the area One was the Vogue. The Vogue was on Sheridan Road, but where Sheridan runs east for a bit, just south of Irving Park. The Vogue had seats built for two. Great to make out in. That's when making out consisted of putting your arm around the girl and maybe a kiss.

The other theater was the Julian on Belmont Ave, just a couple of doors east of the EL tracks. We went to the Julian sometimes on Saturday for the westerns. The ushers wore cowboy garb and they made us check our cap guns at the candy counter. They had saddles hanging on the walls.

I have a collection of old movie serials that I still watch. The other night my 5-year-old grandson and I watched the first 7 chapters of Captain Marvel, and he loves them. I'm in my glory. He's staying over Friday and wants to see the rest.

The glory days of movie theaters are over, but I still have my memories and that's more than the young kids today will have. I might mention we have 21 grandchildren, all of which know more about old movies than most adults

Bill Matteson

Pantheon Theater, Uptown Chicago

Thanks to L. for sending in this image! Awesome view; I'd love to get this one for my personal collection.

We've posted other images of the Pantheon in recent weeks (once located at 4642 Sheridan); check them out here and here.

Another View of the Pantheon...

It's been brought to our attention that there aren't many photos of the Pantheon Theatre in existence (see illustration of front that we posted earlier today). The Library of Congress has a great one that's worth sharing; the perspective is Sheridan, looking north from Wilson. The theatre is on the left.

Pantheon Theatre, 4642 N. Sheridan, Uptown, Chicago

The Uptown wasn't the only large movie house in Uptown. Before that, there was the Pantheon, located just north of Wilson on Sheridan. Designed by Walter Ahlschlager for the Lubliner and Trinz chain, it opened in 1918. Here's a great advertisement for Kewanee Smokeless boilers featuring the Pantheon Theatre.

According to Cinema Treasures:

"The Pantheon opened its doors in 1918 for the Lubliner & Trinz chain, located in the Uptown neighborhood on Sheridan Road at Eastwood Avenue. At the time it opened, it was said to have 3000 seats. It was the largest movie theater in the area until seven years later, when the nearby Uptown Theatre opened. The theater cost over $750,000 to build, and was decorated in the style of the Italian Renaissance, complete with a double organ and a 30-piece orchestra. Within a few years, the operation of the Pantheon was taken over by Essaness until, like so many other theaters in Chicago, it was added to the always-expanding Balaban and Katz chain. By the 50s, the Uptown neighborhood was no longer the entertainment mecca it was from the 1910s through WWII, and the Pantheon's fortunes rapidly declined, as did the rest of Uptown. The Pantheon remained in operation into the early 60s. It was demolished in 1962 and was replaced by a parking lot."

If Ahlschlager's name sounds familiar, it's because he designed a number of Uptown's most prominent buildings, including the Sheridan Plaza Hotel. Get a PDF download of some of his work here: Walter Ahlschlager.