Mount Prospect Cinema I & II

828 E. Rand Road,
Mount Prospect, IL 60056

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Broan
Broan on October 14, 2013 at 10:55 pm

Grand opening ad with illustration uploaded.

rivest266
rivest266 on June 23, 2012 at 4:45 pm

I uploaded the 1963 grand opening ad in the photo section for this theatre.

billymac72
billymac72 on May 26, 2011 at 9:00 pm

You’re welcome! A lot of fun to reminisce about those early movie memories.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on May 25, 2011 at 8:22 pm

Thanks billymac72 from an old GCC employee in Georgia.

billymac72
billymac72 on May 25, 2011 at 8:20 pm

Ah, finally, this theater gets a little love with a page of its own! I have such fond memories of this General Cinema probably because I saw my very first movies there: Star Wars, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, For the Love of Benji, Pete’s Dragon, The Cat from Outer Space, Return from Witch Mountain, Candleshoe, The Jungle Book (re-release), Hot Lead & Cold Feet, to name a few. Yes, I was a little kid then (hence the Disney heaviness), so maybe my memories of it are nicer than it actually was. But I remember it as clean, and being decently sized theaters (I understand it was originally one screen and twinned later on). Even though I was so young, I can recall the audience booing at Darth Vader’s entrance, and kids clapping along to the jazzy General Cinemas theme song (you can see the bumper here: View link) I lived in Northbrook, but back then, movie theaters only had 1-3 screens, so it was not unusual to drive a few towns over to see what you wanted. I drove by the place not too long ago, and the memories came flooding back. I’m a little surprised my parents took the time to haul us all the way out there. It is now a now banquet hall, but I could still recognize how it appeared then. I’m surprised it closed in ’83…longer ago than I thought! How time flies. I know I saw Jaws there on a re-release, and some of the last few films I attended included Halloween II and Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan.

Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois
Ret. AKC (NAC) CCC Bob Jensen, Manteno, Illinois on April 22, 2011 at 2:07 am

Opened with THE THRILL OF IT ALL! with Doris Day & James Garner.

Claimed to have “THE LARGEST SCREEN IN THE MIDWEST”.

More info and photos always welcome.