Milford Theatre
3311 N. Pulaski Road,
Chicago,
IL
60641
3311 N. Pulaski Road,
Chicago,
IL
60641
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Here is a blurry 1922 picture of the Milford.
And it was of course named for the intersection of Milwaukee and Crawford (Now Pulaski) where it sat. Note that “Pulaski” is spelled incorrectly in the address field above.
The Milford and Bryn Mawr (and the Des Plaines) were all owned by H&E Balaban for a very long time. The Milford opened 6pm February 24, 1917 for the Ascher Brothers chain, not Lynch.
The 60-cent admission price survived well into the 1970s; by 1980 it was up to 90 cents. The Milford’s newspaper ads in those years looked similar to the Bryn Mawr’s, but I don’t know if they were under the same management.
I remember in the sixties it was 50 cents for kids and 60 cents for adults. Kids usually preferred the Irving Theater just down the street, because it was only a quarter.
The Milford theatre is fondly mentioned in the book “Lords of Lawndale”, written by a local gang member. His description of the theatre is very similar to how I will always remember it.
The original building still partially stands. The North wall and East (alley) wall were retained for the NEW building that is now on the property. The new building first opened as an auto parts chain and now it’s a CVS Pharmacy. Go thru the alley, and you can see the bricked in areas from the theatres Fire exits.
The Milford was another reduced admission priced theatre. There was also a ballroom in part of theatre building complex. I saw many movies at the Milford but didn’t go as often as I would have liked because quite often they showed Polish films. I was in Chicago when it was being torn down, but by the time I drove by there was just one wall standing. Memory tells me it was torn down the same time as the Granada but I’m not positive. The Milford had no balcony and ufortunately I never took a picture of the theatre.