Esquire Theatre
58 E. Oak Street,
Chicago,
IL
60611
58 E. Oak Street,
Chicago,
IL
60611
28 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 188 comments
Can somebody please photograph the Art Deco touches, such as the railings? And, post the photos on a flickr or other website, linking that here so people can see?
The last time I was here was to see Kingdom of Heaven. The place seemed fine to me except the seats. It’s comfortable but it needs cupholders. That’s always been by problem with Esquire.
I plan to see A Scanner Darkly here sometime next week. I’ll check out the cafe/seating area you were talking about Paul.
LTS,
The Esquire is okay. The washrooms appear to be clean. The floors are also clean. But new seating is needed! They appear to be using the same seats from the ‘80s makeover. There are no cupholders.
Some art deco touches remain, particularly the railings. There is also a neat little cafe/seating area. The staff seems improved under AMC. Unfortunately, the Esquire has terrible popcorn. If AMC was willing so put just a little money into this place, freshen it up a little, and get better popcorn, it would be a terrific movie experience.
If you are in the area and they’re showing a picture you really want to see, then the Esquire is okay, but it could be better.
Saw a comment on the 600 N. Michigan page stating that the Esquire is not being well maintained. I have not been there in about three years. But on my last trip I thought it seemed OK in all the usual respects: cleanliness, quality of presentation, prices, etc.
Anyone been there recently who cares to comment?
The Chicago theater was also a Plitt theater. I rememebr seeing old pictures and at the top of the vertical Chicago sign was Plitt
Before it was gutted, it was run by Cineplex/Plitt. They were rather upset about being thrown out. Their plans had been to twin or quad the original auditorium. They also wanted to move the Esquire name to 900 N Michigan after they were booted.
My research of movie ads circa 1997-1999 reveals that this was a Sony Theatre. Sony, which is the name Loews/Sony-Loews was trading under (in Chicagoland anyways), had taken over the old M&R Amusements chain.
But for some reason, I can recall this place being in the Plitt chain in the 1970s-1980s, although I could be wrong.
I came around the bend where Oak Street hits Lake Shore Drive the other night, and there was the Esquire’s vertical sign blazing away. It may be a multiplex now. But it is still very cool to look at during the night.
I have fond memories of the Esquire. My dad and I went there to see “Blazing Saddles” when it first opened. I remember going there myself to see an early Brian dePalma film called “Phantom of the Paradise.” And most memorable of all, standing outside the theater for an hour on a hot summer afternoon before getting in to see “Star Wars.” It seemed like the Esquire—and its neighbor, the Carnegie—showed films that were not only popular, but kind of hip.
I found the Grand opening ad (full page) for this theatre, Feb 16 1938 p 17
“Theatre of Magnificent Comfort” it opened with “The Firefly”
H and E Balaban was never owned by Paramount as far as I know. Where did you get this information?
Please let me know. Thanks
DBalaban
Who knows what will happen after AMC gets it hands on this theater.
This seems to be Loews’s “art house” (somewhat) for the Downtown Chicago area. Recently, they’ve shown “March of the Penguins”, “Shopgirl”, “Capote”, and “Good Night & Good Luck”. It seems to have been cleaned up somewhat and it’s not an unpleasant place to see a show. I hope that Loews keeps it open so that those of us who live near the Loop (Downtown Chicago) have a place to go to see the fare mentioned above.
“Obviously, major changes had to be made [to the Esquire] by the time the 70mm ‘Star Wars’ opened in 1977.” (veyoung, Nov 25, 2004)
What makes you think the Esquire ran a 70mm print of “Star Wars”?
The Esquire was built and owned by H&E Theaters, (the ‘H’ and ‘E’ being the two youngest brothers in the Balaban family.)
Throughout the fifties and into the sixties, H&E was a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. But the Esquire itself was not managed by Paramount; it was their only theater holding after the 1949 consent-decree split of the studio and United Paramount Theaters because Paramount had its regional sales and distribution office in the buidling.
The architect William Pereira did considerable work for Paramount, including an expansion of the Hollywood studio.
From Russell Phillips' Galleries:
Esquire Ladies Lounge, 1984
Fond memories of this palace too. Ditching school and standing in line for the 1st show of Star Wars, getting sucked into the world of Blade Runner, riding high in the Right Stuff, the plane shots in Out of Africa. Damn I hate multiplexes!!
The real estate is probably just too expensive there. If it weren’t, I would imagine someone like Village would jump on it.
I think the reason the McClurg closed was because the 21 screen River East opened just a few blocks away. The Esquire really doesn’t have any nearby competition. The closest ones which were just a few blocks away were 900 North and Water Tower and those both closed. Had they gone by interior quality McClurg would easily still be open. Hopefully someone will buy it and make it an art house or maybe even a place where classic films can be seen on the big screen.
Granted, the Esquire has a rather remarkable exterior, but given its bland, late-‘80s, post-renovation interior, it’s a bit stunning how this theatre was allowed to stay open and Loews instead opted to close the McClurg Court Cinemas.
The Esquire was gutted and remodeled by the Gelick Foran Associates in 1989. When it reopened, the chain was M&R/Loews. The lobby appears to be mostly the same as it was in the original building. An article on the renovation was published, “The March of Time-the Remaking of Chicago’s Esquire”, Inland Architect, November 1991
I went there for the first time yesterday, and i’ll never go again. Half the sidelights in the 300-some seat I was in were burnt out, and the print was absolutely abysmal at no more than 2 weeks old. It was stretched on the pletter from start to finish, so every frame had horizontal scratches and vertical scratches. The stretching also made the audio horrible, it had static on everything. And on top of all that, it was slightly off focus. Just awful. Plus a red exit sign right next to the screen. The only kind words I have for it are that they didn’t show a slideshow before the 15 minutes of commercials, and the seats were at least halfway comfortable. The lobby did look art deco though- is it certain that they demolished both the orginal lobby and auditorium? The three-floor layout seems fairly consistent. All in all though, the exterior is the only worthwhile part of this theater. I want my 9.50 back.
This really stretches the memory cells, but here goes: I used to have a set of Encyclopedia Brittanica’s with the yearbook of 1948 or 1949. There was a photograph of the Esquire’s auditorium. The proscenium consisted of a series of rectangular “concentric” arches that “enclosed” a smallish 1.33:1 screen. When I saw this photo in the 1950’s I said to myself that that house could never show ‘scope. As I recall through reading the “theatre grosses” section of “Variety,” no scope films at all were shown in the 1950’s. Later research turned up the fact that during that period the theatre was managed, or at least booked, by Paramount Distribution Corporation. Paramount at that time, as I’m sure you realize, had only a handful of 2.35:1 releases (if any at all) at that time. Obviously, major changes had to be made there by the time the 70mm “Star Wars” opened in 1977.
Here are a couple closeup shots from Chicago Uncommon:
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The brief history of the theatrer, above, states “landmarked exterior.” Where is that documented?
To my knowlege, the building has no such protection.
It was once proposed for city landmark designation but was declined and cannot be re-proposed because of ordinance preventing a second bite at the apple, so to speak.