Liberty 1 & 2 Theatres
708 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Libertyville,
IL
60048
708 N. Milwaukee Avenue,
Libertyville,
IL
60048
2 people
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It’s hard to believe that in obscure Libertyville, far removed from the glamor and glitz of Hollywood, a world premiere of a major Hollywood film took place—-but a premiere did take place at the Liberty theatre (seating capacity 700) in 1942, during World War II—-the following news item will explain:
Chicago Tribune, Thursday, September 24, 1942, p. 16, c. 7:
WAR BOND FETE IN LIBERTYVILLE YIELDS $65,000
TOWN HAS WORLD PREMIERE OF MOVIE
Residents of Libertyville in Lake county [population 3,900] stepped out last night on a duel mission. With all the panoply of Hollywood repeated they saw the world premiere of a new movie, “Desperate Journey,” starring Errol Flynn, and they bought war savings bonds to the amount of $65,000 or more.
The town had already purchased more than $110,000 of the bonds and the new total of $175,000 brought a compliment from Gov. Dwight H. Green, who was present.
The Dunes Theatre in Zion, IL is a part of this chain (RMC). But there seems to be another RMC chain doing business in Effingham, Jacksonville, and Streator, IL and Waterloo all in Illinois. I was trying to find a website for the Dunes and the Liberty and all I found was a site for the above mentioned cinemas. The RMC website I found, www.rmccinemas.com wasn’t even updated—it said that all information for showtimes, party room rentals, etc., was “coming soon.”
A website shows that the Grayslake Drive-In and the Antioch were both RMC’s too.
Here are photos of this theater.
It certainly was better the old way. But even that 70’s look it sports now is kind of cool. Reminds me of a lot of buildings that were around when I was a little kid.
I just visited Cinema Tour and looked at the photos there of this theatre that should never have been changed and thus lost its unique charm!
“At some point, the Liberty lost its Moderne facade, including the vertical sign, and compared to the original, the current one is rather plain.” You can say that again!
While surfing the CT site I came upon your theatre in Libertyville Illinois. I was looking at the b/w photo then found another photo in a 9/17 post. I think I see a big difference in that the original photo showed smooth decorative tile with a rather neat art deco vertical marquee. What happened? And thanks for providing your email address.
I am a manager at The Liberty Theater and yes the adress is 708 North Milwaukee Ave. If you have any more questions pertaining to the theater I’ll be happy to answer them, E-mail me at
Marlon Brando briefly worked here before being fired!
Hi,
Do you know where I could get a photo of the outside of your theatre?
Thanking you,
Doug
Through the various conversions and “remodelings” to turn this into twin theaters, virtually all the exterior and interior design characteristics have been stripped from this theater. All that remains is a box with a wall down the middle. What a shame! You would never know by looking at this theater today that it once was a vintage theater.