Where Did You See ‘A Hard Days Night’?
The theater was as magical as the movie.
I was nine years old in 1964. That’s when the Beatles’ movie ‘A Hard Days Night’ came to Chicago. It was an event not to be missed.
In 1964, on the South Side of Chicago, parents (at least mine) didn’t worry about where you were going. When I told my parents that a bunch of us were going to walk to the Avalon Movie Theater at 1645 E. 79th Street from 8111 S. Chappel, it didn’t cross their minds that the walk was kind of a long one. None of the parents back then offered to drive us…anywhere. We had feet, we had bicycles…we had feet.
So, a group of us got together and made the trek. It’s not like we hadn’t done it before. The Avalon was considered one of the many neighborhood movie theaters. But it was so much more. Entering the Avalon was like entering another world. The multiplexes of today pale in comparison. Sure, you can now see twelve different movies without leaving the building, but so what. Going to the Avalon wasn’t going to a movie; it was going to an event. Even at nine years old, every time I would enter the theater, my jaw dropped.
It was opened in 1929 and designed by John Eberson in a Middle Eastern style. It originally had stage shows preceding the movie, and although there were no more live shows, the stage was still there separating us from that huge screen. There were still the pipes standing from the huge pipe organs that had been part of the music.
The ceiling. The arched ceiling was painted deep blue with stars that could be seen even during the movie. It was magnificent.
By the time we arrived at the Avalon the line to get in was already down the block. We didn’t care. The place had over 2,500 seats.
Girls were already screaming. The screaming only intensified once the movie began. I didn’t hear a word of the goddam movie. The only thing I screamed was, “They can’t hear you, you idiots!!” as I held my hands over my ears.
I have seen ‘A Hard Days Night’ many, many times since then. It’s one of my favorite movies ever. Richard Lester was a genius. But for all the times I’ve seen the movie on my own, it’s still not as good as not hearing a word of it at that glorious movie palace on the South Side of Chicago in 1964.
