Monogram Theatre
3451 S. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60616
3451 S. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60616
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The New Monogram operated here and the original Monogram operated at 3028 South State Street. They had a short period of interoperation so should be listed seperately.
Below book link claims there were two Monogram Theaters. The first Old Monogram which opened about 1910 at 3026-3028 South State Street. Then the New Monogram that opened in November 1913, in the old Merit Theater building at 3453 South State Street. Much more about both Monogram’s below.
https://books.google.com/books?id=_E9fx8f0uCcC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=Monogram+Theatre+chicago+address&source=bl&ots=7a_IVNKLOp&sig=lc9Hih6kXfLGAbBWtoyndA3nm3I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3mObljqfJAhUBNj4KHSs1BM4Q6AEIRTAJ#v=onepage&q=Monogram%20Theatre%20chicago%20address&f=false
I learned of the Monogram Theater while reading the last pages of the novel “Not Without Laughter” by Langston Hughes. I grew up in the near vicinity of the theater, some years after it was closed. My curiosity of the authenticity of this place lead me to this site and a 1928 article in the Defender newspaper that remains in print.
Operators of the Grand Theatre in Tulsa agreed to an exclusive booking agreement with Grand National Pictures, in association with Monogram Studios, to exhibit only product from those two mentioned production companies. During WWII years this contract was mutually cancelled to allow the Grand to switch over to showing only newsreels.
An ad in the Freeman, an African-American newspaper, circa 1917, shows the address as 3451 South State Street. The ad describes the theater as “The Home of Colored Vaudeville”.
Did it have any affiliation with MONOGRAM PICTURES? I never believed the film company operated any cinemas, butlike PRC and other poverty row outfits, apparently they might. It is unusual to have the Monogram Theatre as a name…….anyone? PAUL BRENNAN.