McClurg Court Cinemas
330 E. Ohio Street,
Chicago,
IL
60611
330 E. Ohio Street,
Chicago,
IL
60611
22 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 155 comments
As someone who attended the McClurg regularly from its opening (bought my family road show tickets for Fiddler on the Roof) and later even booked the theatre for Loews Theatres, let me offer a little different response about the screen in the big theatre.
The curvature was an interesting gimmick, but I never once saw an anamorphic films there in anything other than soft-focus to the poiht that it detracted from the presentation.
On the other hand, I saw Days of Heaven (which was 1.85x1) in 70mm twice in one night when they brought the film back for a week in 1979 (the only time it played 70mm in Chicago for the public). That looked amazing.
I was downtown today for the air and water show and drove by McClurg. The windows are all now covered with posters advertising Mcclurg Court apartments (maybe to discourage people like me from looking through the windows?). Strangely, the marquee was lit up. No for lease signs anywhere or anything. I wonder what is up with this place? Maybe they have given up trying to sell the space? That would be better then the alternative I suppose…If anyone knows anything, let me know.
Cinemark Fan
FYI, the December 20, 2002 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times shows Spirited Away (Digital Prjection Presentation!), Spirited Away, and Trapped!
To Sanford: I sent you an email. I may have been typing too fast though.
Cinemark fan – please send me an e-mail to talk about McClurg Court. I’d be interested in sharing ideas about possibilities for the theater. I can be reached at
Here is a listing of what played from its 1971 opening to 1980.
11/10/1971- FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
12/14/1972- MAN OF LA MANCHA
3/23/1973 – LOST HORIZON
5/03/1973 – LAST TANGO IN PARIS
8/31/1973 – ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE
9/20/1973 – VISIONS OF EIGHT
10/5/1973 – PAPER MOON
10/19/1973- FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKINEILER
11/9/1973 – SISTERS
11/21/1973- CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH
12/7/1973 – THE GODFATHER
12/21/1973- ASH WEDNESDAY
1/18/1974 – LAST TANGO IN PARIS
2/01/1974 – CINDERELLA LIBERTY
2/22/1974 – FANTASIA
3/01/1974 – CRIES AND WHISPERS
3/15/1974 – ZARDOZ
5/10/1974 – BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
5/31/1974 – WHAT’S UP DOC?
6/14/1974 – BANANAS/SLEEPER/EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX
6/26/1974 – THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
10/18/1974- 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
12/12/1974- LENNY
3/20/1975 – AT LONG LAST LOVE
4/18/1975 – JANIS
5/23/1975 – THE LION IN WINTER
6/26/1975 – ROLLERBALL
8/22/1975 – THE WIND AND THE LION
10/3/1975 – 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
10/17/1975- CAMELOT
10/24/1975- GONE WITH THE WIND
11/14/1975- RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER plus BANANAS
11/21/1975- MR. QUILP
12/5/1975 – 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
12/19/1975- THE SUNSHINE BOYS
2/27/1976 – TAXI DRIVER
4/23/1976 – MEAN STREETS plus ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
4/30/1976 – CRIME AND PASSION
5/07/1976 – TUNNELVISION
5/28/1976 – WON TON TON – THE DOG WHO SAVED HOLLYWOOD
6/11/1976 – GONE WITH THE WIND
6/23/1976 – LOGAN’S RUN
7/30/1976 – SWASHBUCKLER
8/13/1976 – THE RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HORSE
9/10/1976 – THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT plus THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT PART 2
9/17/1976 – THE SHOOTIST
10/8/1976 – WOODSTOCK
10/22/1976- THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME
11/19/1976- BUGSY MALONE
12/16/1976- NETWORK
3/04/1977 – BOUND FOR GLORY
3/18/1977 – HAROLD AND MAUDE plus KING OF HEARTS
3/25/1977 – NETWORK
4/01/1977 – DEMON SEED
4/15/1977 – MR. BILLION
4/22/1977 – THE GODFATHER plus THE GODFATHER PART II
5/06/1977 – ANNIE HALL
7/01/1977 – NEW YORK, NEW YORK
8/12/1977 – THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
9/23/1977 – THX 1138
10/7/1977 – NEW YORK, NEW YORK
10/14/1977- ANNIE HALL plus LOVE AND DEATH
10/21/1977- WOODSTOCK
10/28/1977- BOBBY DEERFIELD
12/16/1977- SEMI-TOUGH
2/03/1978 – THE ONE AND ONLY
2/24/1978 – THE BOYS IN COMPANY C
3/10/1978 – ANNIE HALL
3/24/1978 – THE BIG SLEEP
4/07/1978 – ANNIE HALL
4/28/1978 – F.I.S.T.
6/02/1978 – THE END
6/30/1978 – CONVOY
7/14/1978 – THE MANITOU
7/28/1978 – INTERNATIONAL VELVET
8/04/1978 – HOOPER
8/25/1978 – WHO’LL STOP THE RAIN
9/22/1978 – CHEECH AND CHONG’S UP IN SMOKE
10/13/1978- MAN OF LA MANCHA
10/20/1978- A NIGHT FULL OF RAIN
10/27/1978- COMES A HORSEMAN
11/15/1978- LORD OF THE RINGS
1/10/1979 – COMING HOME
1/26/1979 – MOVIE, MOVIE
2/09/1979 – THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY
3/16/1979 – DAYS OF HEAVEN
3/23/1979 – HAIR
5/11/1979 – MANHATTAN
6/29/1979 – MOONRAKER
8/10/1979 – AMERICATHON
8/17/1979 – ROCKY II
9/07/1979 – RUST NEVER SLEEPS
9/14/1979 – THE GODFATHER plus THE GODFATHER PART II
9/28/1979 – TIME AFTER TIME
11/2/1979 – SLEEPING BEAUTY
11/9/1979 – FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
11/21/1979- APOCALYPSE NOW
12/21/1979- CUBA
1/11/1980 – HAIR
1/18/1980 – WINDOWS
2/01/1980 – HAIR
2/08/1980 – HERO AT LARGE
2/22/1980 – LA CAGE AUX FOLLIES
2/29/1980 – SOLDIER OF ORANGE
3/07/1980 – THE BLACK MARBLE
3/21/1980 – HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT
4/04/1980 – THE BLACK STALLION
5/23/1980 – THE LONG RIDERS
6/19/1980 – CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC
7/04/1980 – THE MUPPET MOVIE
7/11/1980 – THE BLACK STALLION
7/18/1980 – HONEYSUCKLE ROSE
8/01/1980 – THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
8/15/1980 – BEING THERE
8/22/1980 – THE BIG RED ONE
9/12/1980 – THE BOOGEYMAN
9/19/1980 – BEING THERE
9/26/1980 – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND – SPECIAL EDITION
10/3/1980 – STARDUST MEMORIES
10/24/1980- APOCALYPSE NOW
10/31/1980- THE AWAKENING
11/7/1980 – THE IDOLMAKER
11/21/1980- FAME plus HAIR
12/12/1980- 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
12/19/1980- THE FORMULA
There’s a group called “Emerging Cinema” or something, that franchises a system of showing art films in small venues in digital video which is a less expensive way to exhibit. Maybe you could run something like this in the small theater and celluloid in the big theater. Just a thought.
Aek316:
It’s rough right now. I’ve been trying to get my business plan written well, and I’ve been going through lists of investors that would give me the time of day. Over the next few weeks, maybe months, I’ll be talking to some investors to convince them that reopening McClurg wouldn’t be a bad idea. Of course, the hardest part will be trying to get Baum Realty who own the McClurg, to listen. But I think I’ll be okay. I have so much ideas that would make this place a winner again. And that’s not including theater 1, which has an epic screen that’s 75ft wide, and 3 and a half, maybe 4 stories tall. Seeing an indie flick on a screen this big would bring in lots of people.
Yikes. Close call here! I ran across this online on CBS 2’s website, happened just yesterday:
CBS) CHICAGO A fire has broken out at a shuttered movie theater high-rise building in the Streeterville neighborhood north of downtown.
The fire was reported at 330 E. Ohio St., just off Fairbanks Court.
CBS 2’s Rafael Romo reports workers touched a small fire inside of the shuttered McClurg Court Theatres, a former movie multiplex. Fire officials said there were no injuries and the fire was put out quickly with hand pumps.
A still-and-box alarm was called for the fire, along with an EMS Plan 1, which sends five ambulances, according to Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.
The building is about a block from CBS 2’s studios. Fire vehicles were using Ontario Street right outside CBS 2 as a staging area, and police closed down streets throughout the Streeterville neighborhood.
CBS 2 Producer Dan Kraemer reported from the scene there was a major response from the Fire Department, but the small fire appeared to be out by 12:20 p.m.
Since a fire killed six people in 2003 at the Cook County Administration Building, at 69 W. Washington St., and another fire brought massive damage to the LaSalle Bank Building downtown a year later, the Fire Department routinely sends extra amount of equipment and personnel to high-rise fires or responses to hirise alarms.
The Cook County building fire was the subject of an investigation for more than a year, concentrating in large part on the need for improved responses from the Fire Department for high-rise fires.
CBS 2’s Rafael Romo, Producer Dan Kraemer, and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
Bizarre how a fire could’ve started in an abandoned theater. Luckily doesn’t seem to be any major damage. Cinemark Fan, any new developments in your quest to purchase this theater?
That is a great idea, CinemarkFan. You should do the same thing for Oakbrook 1-4. Speaking of Oakbrook 1-4, it needs a new marquee since they removed the Cineplex Odeon marquee about a year ago.
To Paul:
Cineplex re-did it a tad bit. I belive they just re-painted the bricks. According to my oldest brother, the marquee was a new one added by CO.
PS: I walked by here today after seeing Last King Of Scotland, everything is still intact. Which is a good thing for me. River East is great and all, but they put art-house fare in tiny screening rooms that sell out fast on weekends. That’s why if I can get through to the heads of the people who own McClurg, I’ll turn it into an art-house with a mini resturant, 70MM film-festival, and new bathrooms near theaters 2-3. If I succeed, I could buy the space next door and expand it into theater space. Thoughts, anyone?
Cinemark Fan:
Was the exterior color on this place a Cineplex-Odeon re-do? It sure looks like the same color brick used on the Burnham, the Bricktown, the Lincoln Village, etc.
As we’ve mentioned many times, the interior received a C-O re-do just like the Biograph did.
I found an article online in the trib regarding Mcclurg Court adding room service for residents of the complex. The article said that no plans have been announced or decided as of yet regarding the fate of the theater.
Just walked past here the other day on my way to River East to see Blood Diamond. It looked like everything Cineplex Odeon-ish was still intact.
Another painful loss. I didnt discover this theater until high school when during the summer months me and my best friend would trek all the way downtown Chicago from Evanston and catch sneak previews on their huge screen.
It could open up again in some form. I never thought the Water Tower Cinemas on street level would open again, and yet they have.
Mike I don’t believe there was ever another theater even nearby before AMC River East 21 opened.
I echo Cinemark Fan’s sentiments. This place had better not be gutted and turned into stores. I can’t imagine what else they’d do with the space though. What a shame.
Looking at the photot posted by Cinemark Fan, it look slike the restaurant had what look slike a movie marquee. Was there another theater in the spot where the restaurant was?
I can tell you with 100% certainty that the McClurg Court residential building was just sold. It is to remain a rental property. No condo conversion plans at present. I would assume that sale included the theatre and restaurant as well.
Anymore updates about this place? Also, people should check out this photo: View link
Now it’s it just me or does that look like the theater and the restaurant next door may face(God I hope not) the wrecking ball? Something about that picture gives me bad feelings.
Woah, that’s waaay before my time. I don’t remember the screen with gold curtains. It was always dark blue/purple when I went. Thank you so much for posting that. It makes me want McClurg Court back even more.
Here’s a Russell Phillips Photo from before Cineplex:
Auditorium Entrance
My gut says the McClurg Court will not become a church. I don’t such an idea would be well-received in that area.
Thanks for the update, Cinemark fan. That sucks that no one is cooperating with your plan. How can the realty company not call you back?! It’s not like they’ve been overwhelmed with offers since the theater has been vacant for over 3 years! Judging by the positive responses above, I think Mcclurg could definitely be revived as an art house. It’s a shame how so many unique theaters have been shuttered over the years in favor of multiplexes with small screens, and multiple tiny rooms where you can barely even find a seat especially if you go with a group. I can’t fathom why people would rather pay 10 bucks to sit in environment like that rather than go to a place with a huge screen like Mcclurg and have a real experience.
I hope things turn around for you in your plans to buy this theater. It does concern me though that someone has purchased it since the for lease sign is down. It would indeed be a tragedy if this place became stores or the most popular fate of all the old theaters near where I grew up-a church.