Harvard Theatre

Living at 227 W. 61st Place (now the Dan Ryan expressway) I frequented the Harvard since it was the closest to my house. The sound of the “el” trains was barely noticed. The most memorable movie I saw there was “Tulsa” when an entire oil field exploded and burned. It was in color. When the neighborhood north of 63rd Street changed in the early fifties, many of the small “mom and pop” stores started getting constantly robbed, resulting in their closing.

Here is a photo I found of the Harvard Theater. Taken from the Harvard EL Station on the Englewood route. https://thetrolleydodger.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/img802.jpg Hope this link works, if not I have the image on my hard drive. If there is a way to embed this photo, let me know.

it is wondered why someone would build such a small theatre such as the Harvard. Being so small, i am sure it was only meant to be a neighborhood theatre. I remember seeing it in the 30’s, my grandfather took me to that area on a visit to a hardware store. Of interest, there was an El station at 63rd and Harvard. The El at that time continued on to 64th and Halsted Street, where it ended, but at 63rd and Harvard at that time and through the war, the El line unhooked one car from the train and it took a spur line father south, ending at Loomis Boulevard, i cannot recall what the east/west street was. When a train from Halsted, came back to go downtown it would wait at 63rd for the spur train to be hooked on the back of the main line train and contunue to the loop. i rode that train many times as a young boy. The year my grandfather took me to that hardware store was 1935. If my memory serves me right, there was a White Castle or a Wimpy’s under the el tracks on 63rd.

Here is a July 1915 ad from the Suburbanite Economist:
http://tinyurl.com/pvmyxy

From the Chicago Sunday Tribune of August 31, 1947:

THEATER UNIT
IS LEASED FOR
TERM OF YEARS
Samuel Chernoff, who has been operating motion picture theaters in the Chicago area for the last 12 years, yesterday leased for a long term of years, the Harvard Theater building, 6312 S. Harvard Avenue. The building contains a 750-seat theater and five stores.
The lessors were Ivan Goode and Samuel Lerner. Irving S. Kaulin was attorney in the leasing transaction. Chernoff said he intended to install new lounges, winter and summer air conditioning, and new lobby and auditorium decorations before he begins operating the theater.

Hi again, Now this is one theatre that I never knew how it survived so long.It was down the street on Harvard between 63rd.St. and 63rd.Pl.and anytime I went there it always seemed empty. It was way off the beaten path of the shoppers in the Halsted area and did not seem to have any spectacular movie criteria. I think it was mostly locals who wanted to get out of the house. The only movie I remember
seeing there was The Pit and The Pentulum with Victor Price, WHOOPEE!
Chuckie Z.