There`s a revival going on at the 3 Penny Cinema, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave.
Defying conventional wisdom, owner Jim Burrows has turned one of his theater`s two screens into a repertory, or revival, cinema. The new booking policy was launched last month with a program of Three Stooges shorts, all 10 featuring Curly.
Four times a week, patrons can enjoy a different uncut, widescreen epic, such as ”2001: A Space Odyssey,” or a thematically linked double feature. It`s the kind of programming that recalls the glory days of such legendary Chicago movie houses as the Clark, the Parkway, the Varsity and the old 3 Penny itself.
Like the 3 Penny, which began as a turn-of-the-century nickelodeon, Burrows, 50, is a survivor. After two decades, he is one of Chicago`s few remaining independent theater owners. At one time, he owned the Adelphi, the Devon and the 400. He bought the 3 Penny four years ago and runs it with June, his wife of 15 years.
He is no stranger to repertory, its joys and risks. ”Revival is something in which I`ve always been interested,” he said while sitting in the lobby beneath an original poster of John Ford`s classic western ”The Searchers,” a souvenir from the late, lamented Clark Theatre.
”We did it in 1980-81 when I ran the 400. Even though it`s a tremendous amount of work, it is real enjoyable to put it all together.”
The current schedule, which runs through Nov. 14, features family-oriented or general-audience films on Sundays, cult films on Mondays and Tuesdays, foreign films on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and more commercial titles on Fridays and Saturdays.
”I was told by almost everyone in this business that this has no chance,” Burrows said. ”But the only way you`re going to find out is if you try it.”
Now that he has tried it, how is it going? ”I`ve learned a lot from this first series,” Burrows said. ”I already have a much better idea of what we`re going to be able to play and what we`re not. Some of the stuff you expect to do well does nothing. Recently we had (the cult films) `Rock `n`
Roll High School` and `The Kids Are Alright.` We hardly took in enough money to cover the film rentals.”
But audiences for the foreign films have exceeded expectations. Burrows said he plans to expand foreign films to three nights a week.
This all comes at a time when second-run movie theaters have become an endangered species. Burrows estimated that of the 1,000 revival houses that once existed in the U.S., probably less than 20 remain. The long-established Music Box Theatre on Southport Avenue is the only other theater in Chicago to regularly offer repertory films along with first-run foreign and independent movies.
It was the new Piper`s Alley theaters in Old Town that opened the door for repertory at the 3 Penny. Burrows found himself in competition for second- run films that would once have moved over automatically to his theater.
”It was just getting tougher and tougher,” he said. ”I decided to give repertory a chance.”
Burrows faces formidable competition from two rivals that did not exist when repertory was in its heyday in the mid-`70s: cable TV and videocassettes. ”Rebel Without a Cause,” for example, recently played the 3 Penny just as it was being featured on the Encore movie channel.
Video, however, is Burrows` biggest obstacle. ”People can rent these titles, and that`s their privilege. I think one of the reasons our foreign films are doing better is because they are hard to watch on television.”
Burrows refuses to blame these or other factors for disappointing audience attendance.
