The enchanting allure of the Music Box Theatre hits every spectator right before the house lights dim. Gazing at the projected images of moving clouds on the ceiling, the audience knows this is a movie house unlike any other.

The Music Box, 3733 N. Southport, didn’t always stand out from other Chicago theaters. It was just one of many more glamorous movie houses when the theater opened in 1929 as a self-proclaimed “little brother” to several first-run movie theaters in the Chicago area that boasted thousands of seats. It was not even in downtown Chicago, where venues had the advantage of a glitzy, ritzy location — the movie house has always been located in the modest Southport neighborhood. Despite its 800 seats, the theater’s balcony (no longer in use), giant screen and organist managed to draw crowds.

Today, the Music Box stands out as a magical movie palace. It blends a rich, operatic architecture scheme in the main theater with more classically European d