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Adam Carston

@windycityballyhoo

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An exploration of Chicago's moviegoing past, film industry, and beyond!

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Fifty years ago today, Russ Meyer’s Up! (1976) opened at the Loop Theatre, where the director and his latest starlet, Raven De La Croix, signed autographs and took photos with fans before every screening. #chicago #russmeyer #cultmovie #exploitation #cinema by @windycityballyhoo

4 PSYCHO-SHOCKERS, MACABRE-MONDOS OF THE INNER WORLD! Sixty years ago, the South Suburban Starlite Drive-in offered another wild lineup: William Castle’s Macabre (1958), Mondo Pazzo (1966), Psycho (CBS canceled a scheduled TV broadcast weeks earlier), and I Passed for White (1960). #chicago #driveinmovie #psycho #horrormovie #cinema by @windycityballyhoo

For those who observe: HAPPY GODZILLA DAY! On May 5, 1972, Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1971) opened across Chicagoland as a double feature with Twilight People (1972). In the years that followed, Roger Ebert frequently cited the film as a guilty pleasure in his column, eventually declaring it “my favorite” entry in the series in his review of Godzilla 1985. #chicago #godzilla #godzilladay #rogerebert #cultmovies by @windycityballyhoo

Forty years ago, at the corner of Dearborn and Randolph in The Loop, the head-banging horror film Trick or Treat (1986) played at the United Artists Theatre. Unfortunately, the theater’s iconic marquee would be shut off for good about a year later. #chicago #movietheater #photography #chicagophotography #horrormovies by @windycityballyhoo

A smattering of spectacularly spooky selections from Chicagoland drive-in theaters on Halloween 1971. Of these frightful film fests, which one would you choose to see? At your own risk...of course. #chicago #driveinmovie #horrormovies #horror #halloween by @windycityballyhoo

3 HOUSES OF HELL! Just in time for Halloween 1976, drive-in theaters across Chicagoland screened a trio of domestic shockers: The Last House on the Left (1972), The House That Vanished (1973), and Don’t Look in the Basement (1973). Oddly, even Joe(1970) gets a mention in the ad! #chicago #driveinmovie #horror #horrormovies #halloween by @windycityballyhoo

Eighty years ago, Howard Hawks’ masterpiece The Big Sleep (1946), starring the iconic duo of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, was a box-office smash in The Loop, where the film noir classic enjoyed a ten-week run at the Apollo Theatre. #chicago #filmnoir #classichollywood #film #cinema by @windycityballyhoo

FROM THE BALLYHOO ARCHIVES: A movie herald for the New Glen Theatre (Glen Ellyn, IL) from its first month of operations in February 1927. Though most of the films listed are now lost, the venue still operates as the Glen Art Theatre today. #chicagoland #movietheater #silentfilm #cinema #film by @windycityballyhoo

From fifty years ago today, a sampler of grindhouse programming in The Loop featured Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) and Rattlers (1976) at McVickers; Crypt of Dark Secrets (1976) and Kung Fu Master (not Agnès Varda) at the Oriental; and The Bod Squad (1974) alongside The Shanghai Killers (1971) at the Woods, among others. #chicago #grindhouse #godzilla #film #cinema by @windycityballyhoo

Sixty-five years ago, two European classics debuted in Chicago arthouses after a long delay: Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960) premiered at the World Playhouse, and Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura (1960) premiered at the Town Theatre. #chicago #arthouse #worldcinema #film #cinema by @windycityballyhoo

In 1971, who was the baddest mother at the Chicago box office? I’m talking about Shaft! Gordon Parks’ iconic film dominated The Loop for an impressive eighteen weeks at the Roosevelt Theatre. Can you dig it? #chicago #shaft #blaxploitation #cinema #70smovies by @windycityballyhoo

Forty-five years ago, Hell Night (1981), the latest entry in the slasher craze and starring Linda Blair, opened across Chicagoland, including an engagement at the mighty Woods Theatre alongside the kung-fu film 60 Second Assassin (1978). #chicago #horrormovies #slasher #grindhouse #kungfu by @windycityballyhoo