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Jerry Lewis Coming to Arcada Theater in Marvelous St. Charles, Illinois

April 19th, 2009 by Scott Marks

Jerry should feel right at home in the Arcada Theater. Not only were both institutions erected the same year, the Arcada’s birthday is September 6, 1926 - Labor Day!

OH, YEAH!

Lester J. Norris, a millionaire commercial artist and cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, put up $500,000 to build a thousand seat, three story showplace for the 5,000 residents of St. Charles, Illinois. The opening night festivities included two performances of the William Boyd western The Last Frontier, an Our Gang Comedy and a vaudeville show. The St. Charles Chronicle noted in their opening night review, “There may be larger theaters in Chicago, but for beauty of auditorium and artistic stage setting, there are none superior to the Arcada of St. Charles.” The theater (brainchild of architect Elmer F. Behrns) was originally designed as a vaudeville and silent movie palace. (The marquee was added in 1943.) The theater played home to countless performers, everyone from Burns & Allen, Charlie McCarthy & Edgar Bergen and Fibber McGee & Molly to Olivia de Havilland, Walter Slezak, Maria Von Trapp and Vincent Price!

Throughout the years, the theater has undergone only slight modifications. In an effort to provide wider seats and aisles, the size of the house was reduced by 100 seats sometime in the 60s. The Norris Family owned the Arcada for almost 60 years. Henry J. Plitt and subsequently Cineplex Odeon acquired the property in the 80s and ran the place into the ground until 1993 when Classic Cinemas bought the Arcada and restored it to its original glory. One year later, on August 16, 1994, the theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Classic Cinemas acquired the rights to the nearby Charlestowne 18, and in 2001 sold the Arcada to a group of private investors who brought in live acts and an occasional Brew ‘N View movie event. Better Bookstarred than Brew ‘N Viewed!

In January of 2005, the investors announced that it would be closing the theater. Later that summer, the Onesti Entertainment Corporation steppen in and turned the theater into a venue for concerts, live stage performances, special events and occasional film screenings.

The theater was quite a haul from my West Rogers Park home, but I did manage several visits to the Arcada under both the Plitt and Classic Cinemas regimes. It’s not as big as the Tivoli in Downers Grove, but what the theater lacks in size is more than made up for by architectural splendor.

Credit Lucias Clay @ Flickr

I wish that I could join you on May Ninth, just one day before the official start of the Summer Cinema Solstice, to see Jerry perform in such an intimate setting. Honestly, looking over their lineup I would have rather been there last month to see Connie Francis. I had no idea they brought her out of mothballs to perform.

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Top Ten Movies You Never Want To See Playing At A Single Screen Theater Near You

April 17th, 2009 by Scott Marks

Marquee de Sad

10. Rest for the Weary Ministries

9. Closed for Remodeling

8. Your Ad Here

7. Thanks for Your Patronage

6. Drive-In Combo: Closed For The Season and See You In The Spring

5. Flea Market Every Sat. & Sun.

4. Plan Your Event Here

3. All Items 99 Cents

2. For Sale

1.

On a personal note, sorry for the absence over the past few days. Believe it or don’t, I have been away from a computer for four days. I’m twitching, just like a spastic! Went on a job interview in Mailbu (got it, thank you!) and spent two days teaching a film class for a friend in Santa Monica. (She asked that I not use her name or the name of the public school she teaches at and you will soon know why.) I thought it would be a cinch to work on some stuff at the school, but they must have a filter that found EC unacceptable for impressionable young minds. Who are they kidding? These kids are way ahead!

My former students will remember that I began every class by going around the room asking what new movies they had seen. Old habits die hard. “Okay, kids,” I began my spiel to the ninth-graders. “What have you seen recently that you liked.” I half expected Fast and Furious or Hanna Montana.

“Two Girls One Cup,” came a masculine voice from the rear. It was all over. I know that I was there to be a role model, but this one waylaid me. It would have been Danny Thomas-time had I been drinking coffee.

Sorry I didn’t hook up with EC Stormtroopers Schultz and Wilson, but I only spent one night in Burbank. Even though the interview was for a job in San Diego, I’m sure that I’ll be back up in the Valley soon.

I’ll have more to say about my SoCal Joyride on tomorrow’s show, including a blow-by-blow (I took notes) description of a bus ride from Burbank to Santa Monica with Tennessee Tourists, mental patients, some 60-year-old guy staring a hole through me, a turned-on Hollywood Blvd. and other knee slapping anecdotes. I need rest.

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