Marbro Theatre
4110 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60624
4110 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60624
22 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 274 comments
Scott, I am sure there are pictures taken with little kodaks of the Marbro’s lobby holiday decorations. They are probably sitting in someones draw or basement. They did blend in with all the ornate marble. I never saw anything that looked like a decoration at the Paradise except for a few flags during 4th of July week. And by then the Paradise was hanging on by a string…
Scott, it wasn’t every year. I don’t know how often managers were changed. I think it was up to the manager if he wanted to celebrate. Sometimes the State theater had decorations and sometimes not. I wonder if there was an allowance from management for that purpose.
Does anyone remember the Christmas tree in the Marbro lobby?
One year they had it between the balcony stairs that were divided. Another year they had it on a side lobby wall with garlands hanging between the marble columns.
Scott, I saw the M-Squad set in one the chain video stores in Chicago and will be interested to hear what you discover in them. I
think when talkies came in and B&K got the Marbro and other Marks Bros. theaters, they did not change the bill as often as before. I am glad you are enjoying the TCM series. I am. Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in cyberspace!!!!!
If you find anything with the Marbro or Paradise marquee,I would be very interested in buying the set. I really don’t ever remember any world premier at the Marbro. It would have been in the west side papers and all the kids would have been talking about it at school.
I went to a program on silent films recently and the talker said it was common for the palaces of the 20'e to change their bills 3 times a week. Sometimes showing a film at one time a day in order to get the other films shown. For example, A film would open at the Marbro and would be there a week, it would move down to one showing at say 6pm leaving the time slots open for new films. If the film was still popular, it was given to the State theater down Madison St. After B&K bought the Marbro and sound came on the scene, maybe they would sent it down to the Paradise until it “fizzeled down” I do not know if they continued the three-a-week policy after 1930. Everyone enjoying “Moguls” on TCM? Monday showed a nice picture of Chicago’s Granada Theater with a big sign under the marquee above the door entrance spelling out “A BALABAN & KATZ THEATER”………
OeOeO, Thanks for the tip. I’ll try to watch. I don’t remember any premieres in any of the westside palaces. Only downtown first, then to the westside. I saw “The Robe” first at the State-Lake on a reserved seat basis, than again at the Marbro months later and enjoyed it better because of the glorious theater. As I said here before, B&K should have re-mastered the Paradise for the wide-screen
treatment for these biblical epics and highly advertise them to schools and church groups. I bet you would hear more than once from
a child leaving with the parents, “Does God live here”?……….
Anyone in the Chicago area watching the M Squad reruns. They are on ME2 tv(ch26.3), daily at 10pm and on the weekends. There are various location shots of Chicago from 1957-1960. Not really theater oriented, though some show up. Last night they showed the advertising for “The Vikings” on an unidentified theater as Lee Marvin walks by.I’ll have to check to see where the Vikings premiered. He makes various references to people living in upscale west side residences though I can’t identify the area from the clips.
There is an interesting history to this series as they had to do these location shots guerilla style as Mayor Daley disapproved of showing the city in a violent way. BTW the city does not looks as glamorous as we have imagined it in our youthful memories.
Scott, Thanks for the info. No wonder they have the same feeling.
I saw the promo on WTTW for the upcoming show in November with Geoffrey Baer. It shows alot of the beauty that I remember as a child. I never went to Washington Park or for that matter Douglas Park. Mostly stayed around Garfield Pk and Columbus Pk. And yes, I got to them on streetcars!!
Scott, I am hoping they will give details about Garfield Park in the years it was developed. It was pretty nice along with Douglas Park.
Chicago had very good planners when it came to parks. Sorta like the people that developed Central Pk. in NY. Every little detail was thought about for the comfort and enjoyment of the population. And we were quite safe to roam around in them. I loved the lagoons!
My pleasure Scott, Lets hope they might be new photos of our Paradise and Marbro in the mix. One can only hope…..
Scott, I often wondered myself why West Garfield never gentrified?
The park is beautiful. Oak Park was a skip & jump away as you say. The transportation (even without the trolleys) is close to the loop.
There is a program on WTTW in late November on the Monday after Thanksgivg I believe called “Bicyling the Boulavards” on Chicago Sts.
This is the latest installment of Chicago-remembered. Many of the beautiful parks will be featured as well as the neigborhoods. Should be interesting!
Thanks OeOeO for the map view. It was like being on an airplane looking down to my former “playground” in the 50’s. Scrabbie is right about Robert Hall & Goldblatt’s. Also spent alot of time at Madigans next to the Marbro. I think some of the suburbs are trying to have that feel to them today. A library down from the movie theater along shops and places to munch. Downers Grove is like that. Park Ridge and Elmhurst too. But they all pale in the comparison of the large scale that Madison & Crawford had.
Wow such a wonderful link for information and what a gem this is! I will have to check out further when I have more time. Thanks so much OeOeo. Have a great day.
Thanks again. Very interesting — I used the google street view and saw Church’s Chicken, Payless Shoes, and Al’s Beef. Now I have to check out your latest link with a pdf map.
Btw. Here is a link to Jazz Age Chicago with info on the Madison Crawford area. It includes a pdf map from 1950
View link
Before you decide to take a physical tour I recommend you take a virtual tour with google street view.
To access click on MAP, to the right of the theater address at the top of the page. Then either,
A. Click on the balloon with the A in it, then click enter streetview.
or
B. Click and hold on the little orange man figure (left on the map) and drag him to any blue bordered street.
Directions for using streetview are at this link,
View link
Oeoeo: I just looked again at the pictures you were kind enough to provide thru the link, and really enjoyed looking at them. Thanks so much for posting for us. I wonder how it would look to drive over there today — maybe one Sunday afternoon, I will take a ride and head over that way (it will be a long drive, but I’m sure it would be very interesting none-the-less). It almost seems like yesterday that my Mom would take us into Goldblatt’s at Madison and Pulaski or the Robert Hall Clothing Store on Madison, just east of Pulaski. Also, I recall the Library on the east side of Pulaski which was south of Madison. Have a great day now!
Nor to me Scott.. Who wants to go and see glass towers that resemble one another or row houses that look like cardboard. I wonder how they would reclaim Lake St. around Pulaski? or for that matter Madison St. and Pulaski. I think Lake St. is even worse. How are you going to make the population re-locate in order to build the new buildings? Maybe they are waiting for Socialism to take root where all housing will be paid for by the government. We’ll see after Nov 2nd where this is heading!!!!
I was talking with a developer and said that in 50 years, most of the neigborhoods will be leveled in Chicago and new neigborhoods will be rising. Could be. I was on Madison St. in the near West Loop around Racine and I couldn'e believe how trendy and modern it looked. New stores, alot of townhomes, shops and eateries. After Racine and the Chicago Stadium it is as we recall and talked about before. So maybe there is hope. When I see it, I will believe it. Even though I will not be around for sure.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go back when it was great. The only way to do that today is in our memory. What I really miss is the way people treated each other with respect and all the glory those days meant to me. Thanks gang!!!
Thanks, OeOeO. What interesting photos — golly, they brought back a flood of memories. Have a great day.
Actually there are three photos, one is from the sixties and looks like the Marbro is closed.
There are two shots of the Marbro in the 30s at this link.
View link
Thanks for map info. I pased there a couple of years ago when
the Eisenhower was jammed. Hard to believe it was the same place. Everybody that we knew DID NOT want to move. We were sorta forced too. We had neighbors that were wonderful. Jewish, Irish, Italians and others. We all got along fine and visited each other’s homes and had different foods of different countries. When we got to the suburbs it was nothing like that. Of course times were different also. As I said in a different posting, it seemed Chicago didn’t mind the neighborhood changing and I would like to know why? Didn't
the alderman & commiteemen want to keep their jobs and the city losing all the sales tax? Nobody enforced any laws on the books.
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