AMC Norridge 6
4520 N. Harlem Avenue,
Norridge,
IL
60706
4520 N. Harlem Avenue,
Norridge,
IL
60706
12 people
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Showing 101 - 125 of 131 comments
Has anyone heard the rumor that this theatre is being closed to make room for a Big Box store?
I have noticed for the last few months the Marquee on Harlem Avenue hasn’t been listing the movies but the theatre has remained open.
There is a handfull in the suburbs. There might be some in Chicago left on the south side.
The Coachlite in Roselle (western suburbs) is where the Riverview Roller Rink and Axle (Hub) reunions are held in October
There’s the Orbit in Palatine
Are there any roller rinks left in Chicagoland? I thought they were pretty much a thing of the past.
I remember the Theater reopening and seeing Bad News Bears. If it wasn’t the first movie after the reopening it was close to it. 1978 sounds right.
keep the roller rink discussion going
Here are pictures of this theater
Didn’t mean to mislead, yes, dad was only assistant manager of Niles before going to Countryside as manager. My email is shill (at) harpercollege.edu – drop me a line, I couldn’t pull up an email address for you.
(More apologies for the roller rink discussion…)
Hi Steven – Here’s the scoop. The managers of the Niles were Bill Simpson and Elaine Calabrese. When I called Elaine about your comments, she totally remembered you and Warren. Warren was the manager of Countryside. (I too remember that rink shutting down in the late 70s. For whatever reason, we took those mushroom seats apart.)
My parents hope you are doing well and are curious to know how your father is doing. Drop me an email if you can.
(Apologies for the roller rink discussion…)
Well, here’s where I’m coming from on the Niles Axle closing. My dad (Warren) was manager and my mom was cashier there. I was there when the building was sold and they shut down – I remember them taking the globe lights and disco ball down – and our family moved to Florida from 1978 to 1982. If it really did close in August 1984, something is seriously wrong with time, and I shouldn’t have stepped on that butterfly. :)
Paul is correct with regard to M&R history. However, the Niles Axle Roller Rink closed on August 8, 1984, not 1978 (as Steven Hill mentioned). My family members managed many of the M&R chains, including the Twin Drive-In, Evanston Theater, Niles Theater, etc.
Great memories!
The nearest theatres are the Melrose Park and the Pickwick. Even the new Golf Mill theatres won’t harm this place’s attendence.
Nah, it’s on here as the Lansing 8. I’ll look it up and see if I can refine any further though.
Brian Wolf: here’s a research project for you, should you choose to accept it. I remember seeing ads for a theatre called River Run back in the 80’s. It would have been GCC or M&R. I got the impression that it was similar to Norridge, or the original Old Orchard or Randhurst Cinemas. No idea what town it would’ve been in. Don’t see a listing on this site. Could be remembering wrong, but am 99% sure that I am not.
Cinemark Melrose Park is a distant away from the Norridge. Even though the Cinemark is the closet theater to my house I also go to the Norridge to see a movie that is not playing at the Cinemark.
Life’s Too Short:
The Old Orchard and the Norridge were both originally in the M&R chain. I grew up around here and frequented this place. It is good to see that it is doing well, still. But as you say, there’s no real competition within MILES of this place.
Cinemark in Melrose Park is far enough away that I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot of mutual draw. Someone who lives at Harlem & I-90 is not likely to drive all the way down Harlem and out North Ave. to get to the Cinemark when the film offerings are similar at both theatres.
I’ve never been inside here, but my brother says it’s huge. I think it has something like 4400 seats in total. Anyway, is this theater doing well? Because Cinemark at Melrose Park is not far away.
I took a ride by it tonight. It looks to me like they had the twin, added a third screen the same size as the first one, split the original twin 3 ways each, and added more screens in the annex part. In other words the original twin is auditoriums 5-10 and the 1-4 is annex. The roller rink is some kind of kiddie amusement place now. I’m sort of surprised this theater is still around – and under loews/amc – since it’s not really in a shopping center, although there is a very busy shopping area surrounding it. Presumably it was also built to sap the audience from the old Harlem Outdoor.
I passed this place on the way home last night. Given that I had just been discussing it, decided to drive off of Harlem Ave. and take a look. It seems pretty cool. Reminds me a lot of the original Old Orchard, which is cool because I saw many great films there. There was a big crowd coming out of the place. This was something like 11:45 at night.
They had the Howard Bowl at Clark and Howard for years, too. I thought I read somewhere they were getting back into movies again.
It seems that M&R got into all kinds of side-business. They had a car wash next to the Old Orchard Theatre. Now I know they had roller rinks. What other business lines did they get into?
I believe the M&R corporate entity still exists. But they don’t get into entertainment anymore. I think it’s basically a real estate speculation outfit now. I actually made a business call to the outfit one day years ago, and the guy who picked up the phone got into the story with me.
The original twin opened June 26, 1970 with “Paint Your Wagon” and “A Boy Named Charlie Brown”. It featured rocker seats and the architects were Edward Cohon and Associates. This must be one of the only theaters of this era still operating in Chicagoland.
The Axle in Niles closed in either late 1977 or early 1978. The building was sold to Syms (which is still there). M&R also had an Axle Roller Rink in Countryside, which closed at roughly the same time.
Yes, the Axle did have an organist.
This theatre was originally owned by M&R. M&R also, at one time or another, owned the Lawrencewood, the Old Orchard, the Portage Park, and a few others. M&R also owned the Hub Roller Rink, which was next door to the Norridge. Later on, the Hub was called the Axle—but still owned by M&R. M&R also had an Axle Roller Rink in Niles, near the Golf Mill Theatres. Both roller rinks closed circa 1983, I beleive.
Later on, M&R was bought by Sony-Loew’s and the Norridge had the Sony Theatres logo on it.