Alex Theater
3826 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60624
3826 W. Madison Street,
Chicago,
IL
60624
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Showing 1 - 25 of 71 comments
The Hamlin/Alex was evidently an elaborate but failed dance hall called the Wigwam from 1925-1926. The Tribune gives the address of the Wigwam as 3826 Madison. The owners were Butch Crowley, a Joliet bootlegger, and Ned Allen, former warden of Joliet prison. http://archive.org/details/variety81-1926-01/page/n109/mode/1up?view=theater
Original 1911 Hamlin Theatre facade image added.
Old ads and program flyers show the address as 3826 W. Madison.
The Hamlin re-opened as the modernized Alex on the night of May 22nd, 1938. An ad has been uploaded to the photos section.
It wasn’t only TV that killed movie theaters…. It was the clientele ! The Gangs and Thugs that moved into what were once decent neighborhoods was a huge factor.
Went there many times. Hard to understand the beautiful Marbro being closed and the Alex and Crawford stayed open for awhile.There were hold-ups outside the Marbro as well as inside and we were told to keep our eyes open around us. I can only imagine what went on inside the Alex & Crawford!
Anyone rem. the Crawford theater at about 100 s. Pulaski… orig. called Crawford av. back then. It later changed names to the National theater and showed Spanish movies. It was located just s. of Goldblatts
I can remember a gym on one of the upper floors where Pro Boxers trained ? When a young kid a friend and I went up to see it.
Their clients may have been. These ladies were engaged in what is referred to as: “The world’s oldest profession.”
I assume they were lawyers or doctors right?
The building still stands. Now known as the Midwest Apartments, offering subsidized low to moderate income rental units. When I worked in the neighborhood in the ‘50s, the Midwest was an SRO hotel with long-term guests. These included a number of professional ladies who would meet their clients upstairs for services.
The Alex was just a short distance from the Mid West Hotel on the n-w corner of Madison and Hamlin av. The Hotel was said to be the tallest Bldg. west of the loop for many years.
Bug House square was just across from the Newberry Library. A big time gay hangout back in the mid to late 50s Also some hung at the Alex back then also, for sure!
I loved this place. I saw the movie Black Sabbath when it first premiered. It was a huge hit for mu favorite horror character Boris Karloff. Those where my days. Meet my first girlfriend there too.
The Newberry and the Chestnut were two separate theaters within a block of each other on the west side of Clark St. The Newberry was torn down, the block replaced by a high rise apt. The Chestnut Station was a former post office converted to a pretty nice multiplex.
one can’d discuss chicago theatres that acquired substantial gay patronage without mentioning the old Newberry theatre on Clark St by the library (later metamorphosizing into the Chestnut Station). i’d also say it’s very unlikely the ALEX theatre ever acquired that audience slant
I think there might be a little confusion here. I really don’t believe gays ventured up to the West Side to spend the night at this legendary schlock house. I once heard from an old veteran theatre owner that the Parkway Theatre, at Clark and Diversey, was a gathering spot for gays. The Parkway was a schlock house for many years up unil 1979 when Landmark Theatres took it over and began a revival program there. I believe that would be more credible since there’s a higher gay prescence around the Parkway Theatre area. I think JAYJay got these two schlock houses mixed up, but I could be wrong.
On the other hand, these theaters all had organs….Sorry I couldn’t resist.
Well, I dunno why that guy brought it up, he doesn’t have much of a comment history. Is it more important to read comments about what monster movies someone watched 50 years ago than about the roles particular theaters played in the lives of a persecuted minority?
If this site were about the sexual mores of urban cultures, then OK. I think there is something more prurient afoot here.
Theatre history is social history.
Why is this an important topic?
Dunno about the Alex, but the Patio was the subject of a couple raids on homosexuals.
Hit the wrong link I didn’t mean to unsubscribe
I don’t remember that at all..However the Alex did show alot of “Hercules” movies which would attest to that fact.