December 18 Final “Memory” movie at Bank of America (originally North West Federal Savings) auditorium on Irving Pa
rk Road in Chicago. The final film, from 1934, is “Babes in Toyland” starring Laurel and Hardy, presented in honor of the two stars whose films were among the first presented in 1971, the year the series began. Chuck returns as special guest and tells about the origins of the Memory Club.
December 31 Wall Street Journal columnist Shira Ovide writes:
Most Saturday nights for the past 38 years, a movie house tucked inside a nondescript bank in the Windy City’s northwest side screened a mix of Hollywood classics and obscure flicks. There was no marquee and no advertising. The 300-seat theater was accessible to knowing moviegoers only through an alley along the concrete wall behind the bank. …
On the last night moviegoers feasted on donated cupcakes and speeches from the bank’s branch manager and the founder [Chuck Schadenj of the original… movie series. Some swapped memories and hugs, others were glued to the screen through the very last reel, a 1960s training film for train engineers. There is something of a Hollywood ending: The screen and projection gear are being donated to a local arts organization; cinema workers …are decamping for the Portage Theater, which in February will revive the weekly film series on a new night (Wednesdays) and a new name, the Northwest Chicago Film Society.
