Joy Theatre
1611 W. Roosevelt Road,
Chicago,
IL
60608
1611 W. Roosevelt Road,
Chicago,
IL
60608
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Essaness Theaters Corp., Marks Brothers
Firms: Aroner & Somers
Previous Names: Orpheus Theatre, Cine Tampico
Nearby Theaters
Located on the Near West Side, on W. Roosevelt Road at the intersection of S. Ashland Avenue, the Orpheus Theatre opened in 1913.
The movie house was later operated by the Marks Brothers circuit, and still later, by the Essaness circuit. By the 1940’s, the theatre was renamed the Joy Theatre. In 1952, the Joy Theatre was acquired by the Gomez family, who renamed it the Cine Tampico, for their home town in Mexico. It was still in operation as a Spanish-language movie house by the mid-1970’s.
A drive-up bank is located today where this movie theatre once stood.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
I think so. Listed as Cine Tampico in 1960 yellow pages.
That makes sense, because the Cine Tampico was also listed in the 1953 yellow pages.
This item from the Art Institute of Chicago might depict the Joy Theatre soon after its construction.
The above is almost certainly this Joy Theatre. Compare it with the photo linked to on the page of the other Joy Theatre, which is of the Roosevelt Road cinema.
Beautifully unique facade! I wish I could have experienced these places in their prime.
Here is the Joy after a remodel
Built as a cinema for the Marshfield Amusement Company in mid-1912, it was on a Z-shaped lot. Concrete was furnished by the S. L. Cooper Co. Façade was crème terra cotta by Midland Terra Cotta illustrating “Primitive Dance”, “Ancient dance” and “Modern Dance” in that order, designed by the architects. The white Italian marble lobby occupied the full frontage with ornamental plaster above, and the auditorium was bowl-shaped. The ceiling was vaulted and spanned by curved trusses.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Z-shaped lot. Sounds like a challenge for an architect.
This opened as Joy on October 3rd, 1936. Grand opening ad posted.
Also reopened as Orpheus on October 18th, 1929 another ad posted.