Village Art Theatre

I went over here this afternoon to take some last photos. Somehow, I don’t believe that this will ever be a movie theatre again. There was still a tied bundle of CHICAGO SKYLINE (a free weekly newspaper) from April 12 in front of the theatre.

Speaking of the SKYLINE, a front-page article in that April 12 issue dealt with the Village’s closing. The article stated that the building owners wanted an increase in rent and that Ron Rooding refused to go along with it. So he abruptly closed the theatre.

Per Cam’s comment http://www.mekong.net/random/theatres.htm
above, it looks like the auditorium and the decor was mostly intact in 1990. I never was here when it was a single screen. The last movie I saw here was “Venus” starring Peter O'Toole.

What happened? It looks like they didn’t waste any time closing this place after the one-year lease was up. This explains why there was no answer when I tried calling to get showtimes.

Cinemark Fan and I had a “Deadpool” going as to which Village Entertainment cinema would close. We both picked the Bloomingdale Court. Boy were we wrong! The odd thing is that the Village could still draw a good crowd and still was popular with the locals.

I think that the closing of this place has sealed Village’s fate as a cinema chain. I think that the remaining Village’s will close no later than December, 2008. What say you, Cinemark Fan?

GOSSIP COLUMN ITEM: Chicago Tribune, Tuesday, June 21, 1960, s. 1, p. 14, c. 1:
“Tower Ticker” by Herb Lyon

“… Marquee on a North Clark street movie: "Sink the Bismarck.” “Once More With Feeling!” …“

The ad in the movie section reads:

GOLD COAST … “Sink the Bismarck"
… … … "Once More With Feeling”

My Dad took me in 1959 to see (Jacque Tati’s) MON UNCLE here when it was still (definately) called the GOLD COAST. Somewhat art-house fare, as it did win an oscar for ‘best foreign film’ back then. The auditorium looked completely different then, even as a single-screen. And thanks, Dad.

Took my 2 older sons to see THE SHADOW here (VILLAGE this time) in the mid-90s; kinda neat they gave Jonathon Winters a little improvisatory room.

One more remembrance, if you don’t mind: (probably) just before they ‘plexed it I saw ONE TRICK PONY (w/ Paul Simon) there and during
the intro they cranked up the volume for “Late In the Evening” to distortion levels, and that is certainly one way to see (hear) it. The film also served to add the work 'mellifluous’ to my regular vocabulary (you’ll have to see it).

At least for the front two. The rear two are a bit bigger.

Cinemark Fan,

The movie-going experience here is okay, but only just okay. I’d give it two stars out of four. The rest rooms are clean, if a little run-down, same goes for the floors. As stated above, little decor remains. The staff is friendly in that you’ll get a polite “hello” but little else. The auditoriums here are tiny, and the seats resemble those removed from the Belvidere. The popcorn here is okay, somewhat reasonably priced.

But they do charge $2.00-$2.75 less than AMC! My girlfriend and I come here because the parking here is cheaper than at the River East or 600 North. And the Village apparently gets a lot of walk-up trade from the neighborhood. So all-in-all, if you come here “don’t-expect-much-and-you-won’t-be-disappointed.”

Here are photos of this theater.

Village is now advertising legal movie downloads on its website.

Is it me, or is it just plain wrong for a movie theatre chain to do this?

Cinemark Fan,

The picture quality was okay. The screen sizes were small. It was what you would expect from any small, chopped up, awkwardly re-configured old theatre.

Oh Paul, how was the picture quality when you went? And how small were the screens?

I attended a movie at the Village when it was still a single screen. This was in the pre-art house days. It was standard second-run at discounted prices. It was the usual situation for an old cinema: decoration at the front of the house covered by a modern screen and everything painted one shade of grey. It probably was an attractive house when it first opened. But it wasn’t too exciting at that point. The lobby looked then much as it does today, as did the exterior. All in all it was a good experience. The presentation was good, the concessions were good and the auditorium was comfortable and clean. This was in the 80’s. Don’t know who ran it at that point. But I don’t think it was Village.

In fairness, it was put up by the building’s owner, not Village. Although Village is terribly cheap about signage, like the CO logos that are still everywhere. In fact, at Bloomingdale Court, they took half of the CO logo and rotated it 90 degrees to make a ‘V’ for Village.