Granada Theatre

The inventor of the electric light bulb, Thomas Edison, also contributed to the birth of motion pictures. In 1889, he joined George Eastman in perfecting frame-lined celluloid film, the key to putting pictures into motion. By 1892, Edison-designed Kinetoscopes were being hand-cranked throughout America. Movies were not an instant hit with the public; they were instead regarded as something of a curious novelty. In 1903, the first feature-length motion picture, "The Great Train Robbery" shocked and delighted its viewer with trains speeding and bullets flying towards the camera, illusions impossible on stage. As the public demand grew throughout the Roaring Twenties, movies became an enormous business. And movie palaces, whose exteriors and especially interiors were as fantastical as the illusions on screen, became the local gathering spots and centers of downtown nightlife. Located in Chicago's north side neighborhood of Rogers Park, the Granada Theatre was designed by Levy & Klein for the Marx brothers. It opened in 1926 with seating facilities for 3,448 and featured both live stage shows and films. The theatre's interior was intricately designed and formed from plaster and marble, while the extravagant terra-cotta exterior was crowned by a tall dome. The wrecking ball paid a visit to this grand theatre in 1990, but not before much of the terra- cotta facade and decorative pieces were stripped off and sold.