The documentary Uptown: Portrait of a Palace, which debuted at the Portage Theater earlier this year, is now out on DVD, and will also be aired on Chicago's WTTW, Channel 11 on the season premiere of Image Union on October 6th at 10:30 P.M. The 4,000+ seat Uptown, one of the grandest of Chicago's movie palaces, has been closed since 1981, and continues to deteriorate as advocacy groups such as Friends of the Uptown continue to try to find a way to save it. In the words of the press release, the documentary "explores the history of the Uptown and why the biggest and arguably most elaborate movie theatre in the country has been left vacant for more than twenty-five years. It uses interviews with subjects close to the theatre combined with breathtaking footage from inside the rarely seen venue to ask What is really important in a society fueled by money and private interest?" Is the Uptown a remnant of the long-forgotten past, or is it, as Rapp & Rapp remarked when they built it, a theatre 'not for today, but for all time?'"
The 26-minute DVD of the documentary, pressed in a limited quantity of 500, is available for $10.00, plus $4.00 shipping and handling, from Compass Road Cultural Crossroads.
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