UA Marina Cinemas
300 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60610
300 N. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60610
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Showing 26 - 37 of 37 comments
Excluding very early short-lived small theatres, this must have been the shortest-lived theatre (1970-1977) in the city of Chicago. Second place might well go to the Bricktown (1989-2000).
All that i have to say is thank you that makes sence to me now.
Thank you for clearing that up.:)
In the ‘old days’ theatres were operated with two projectors per screen, and the projectionist had to wind up the reels, switch from one projector to another at a precise time, etc. Here, as in modern theatres, the films are wound on a pair of platters, allowing it to run continuously through a single projector. All that needs to be done is press a button and the lights dim, sound comes on, curtains open (if there were any), etc, and the same after the show. Also, since the theatres sat a total of 662 seats, and less than 300 in any screen, UA thought they could get away with only one projectionist under union rules, I think. Where UA saw one facility with only 662 seats, requiring only one projectionist, the union saw 3 theaters, requiring one projectionist per screen. This presumably led to the conflict causing the Marina’s downfall. If you were UA, would you want to be paying a full union wage to run a 168-seat house? If you were Local 150, would you want to let this set a precedent for multi-screen theaters?
Can you explane to me what a “Fully automated theatre” is ?
Does that mean that a computer runs the projector?
Or does it have something to do with the consesions?
Just would like to know,thank you for you time.:)
The UA Marina Cinema 1, 2, and 3 were chicago’s first fully automated theaters and sat 296, 198, and 168 seats, for a total of 662 seats. I’m amazed they had any trouble filling such small rooms. Also notable is that they ran 16mm here. The theaters were beneath the WFLD-32 studios in what was originally designated as space for meeting rooms. The original plan for Marina City included live theater, and these were seen as a partial remedy. The design of the theaters was reverse of the norm; the theaters tapered away from the screen with the intent of intensifying the sound. Goldberg believed that theater was a necessary component to bring outside traffic into Marina City to patronize the services there; I think he’d be pleased with House of Blues. Goldberg had wanted to convert the studios into a live theater.
The only triple features that I can ever recall seeing were at the Marina Cinema. The most memorable, circa 1972, was a bill that featured “Dr. No,” “From Russia With Love,” and “Goldfinger.” For many years after, my dad and I would hearken back to that afternoon with misty-eyed nostalgia. I also remember going there to see a triple feature of “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” and “A Touch of Class.” (Thought I was going to say “Young Frankenstein” for that third one, didn’t you?!) I think the Marina Cinema was also the first place I saw an R-rated feature without an accompanying adult. If memory serves correctly, this event took place on my birthday, when I became “of age” (17) during a viewing of “The Omen.” I thus owe the Marina Cinema a debt of gratitude for helping foster my passage into adulthood. I’m surprised to learn the cinemas were only around for seven years. But considering that they were small auditoriums in an era when large theaters were still the norm, and that they were sort of hidden away on the lower level of Marina City, I guess I shouldn’t be that shocked.
Opened September 25, 1970, the premier movies were Hello Dolly, The Hawaiians, MAS*H
I have the newspaper ad if someone wants to see it.
Due to rapid money loss the theaters closed on May 19, 1977 despite UA having a lease until 1980. The final features on two of its screens were “Young Frankenstein” and “Rocky”. As listed above the third screen had closed in February of 1977 due to the high demand of the union projectionists contract calling for one projectionist per screen. The Marina Towers is well known for its odd circular structure and is most famous in the world of movies for being the site of the concluding chase in Steve Mc Queen’s last film “The Hunter” in which a car actually was driven off one of the towers into the Chicago River.
Here is Marina City’s architect, Bertand Goldberg, speaking about the planned theatre:
“Here is it necessary to think of the relationship to human size. For this relationship, we have used the Marina City theatre. The central form of the theatre and the sculptural concrete of the theatre has a degree of intimacy which none of the other structures at Marina City has. The theatre, itself, we call the Marina City Center, because it is at this point that people will disembark, and it is from this point that people may reach any other portion of the Marina City under cover with automatic forms of transportation – the escalator, and the elevator.
…
The theatre building is the building which will be seen in terms of greatest intimacy by the approaching pedestrian or passenger. This is a building which in its scale of forms we have retained personal intimacy and suggestion of masculinity. We hope that there is a physical quality to the design of the theatre, which will relate the onlooker to the composition as a whole.
The next slide shows the curious relationship of the structure of the theatre tot he physical structure of an arm. Where the exterior concrete frame of the theatre touches the ground, we have the elbow. At the extreme cantilevered reaching end, we have the hand. And high up, we have the shoulder. The roof is slung by means of catenary cables between the hand and the shoulder. The seats, the gallery, is supported along the concrete arm itself.
We have used many devices to relate the theatre form to the pedestrian. We have mentioned the masculinity of the form, we have mentioned the physical quality of the form. A third relationship is in the slope of the theatre overhang. This is identical to the slope of the automobile ramp, and will relate these complex buildings one to the other.
The next slide shows the rear of the theatre which will be the Dearborn Street frontage. Here you may see the shoulder muscles which are holding the shoulder down to the ground and which keep the structure from tipping over around its elbow. “
–(http://www.architechgallery.com/arch_info/bodies_of_work/goldberg_marina_city.html)
The Marina Cinemas opened in September of 1970. Its premiere attractions were “Airport”, “The Hawaiians”, and “Hello Dolly.”
I remember it being the first theater in Chicago to run film on platters, as opposed to reel-to-reel. Al Wrobel was the business agent for Local 110, IATSE, in those days. Before becoming a projectionist in 1974, I was headquartered out of the Marina for the State of Illinois as a highway accident investigator under Governor Ogilvie. The Marina was the hotest place in town!
Actually the theater opened as a triple in 1970 or 1971. It was a big deal because it was the first non-single screen downtown. The theatre played a mix of art films, first and second runs, exclusive first runs and even classic old movies. In September of 1976 one of the screens was closed due to the projectionist union’s demand that there be one projectionist per screen. The Marina wasn’t profitable and keeping all 3 screens running under that rule would have proved crippling. Despite that the theaters continued to lose money and finally closed in May of 1977. The Marina Cinema may have been most notable for an incident in 1972 when the young female manager was stabbed and killed in the lobby by an unknown assailant. Despite the fact that it was a Friday in the mid afternoon with many people nearby due to the other businesses in the tower, witnesses could provide very little about the assailant and, as of today, the case remains unsolved.