Documentary tells the tale of Tivoli Theatre

An iconic Downers Grove movie house that has been entertaining locals and visitors for almost a century is set to be the star of its own show.

It was on Christmas Day in 1928 that the Tivoli Theatre opened at 5021 Highland Ave. in Downers Grove around the same time the silent film era was winding down and “talkies” were becoming the next sensation.

The Tivoli was built as one of the first “sound” theaters in the country. In its 95 years, the venue has outlasted three owners, survived three nearly business-ending shutdowns, housed an embalming facility in its basement, introduced an X-rated film scandal, and, eventually, was lovingly preserved by its current, and accidental proprietors, the Johnson family of Downers Grove.

Now a documentary about the Downers Grove landmark is set to premiere in a single-night screening May 2.

Called “History Happens Here, The Tivoli Theatre,” the film is co-produced by filmmaker Jim Toth, along with the Downers Grove Historical Society. For the event, doors will open at 6 p.m. Admission is free to Downers Grove Historical Society members and costs $5 for other viewers, with proceeds benefiting the society. Tickets can be bought in advance at www.dghistory.org/tickets.

Toth, who spent more than 20 years in the Chicago advertising world, calls the film “a labor of love.”

“This started out as yet another personal passion project and then snowballed into something,” Toth said. “It was a pretty big undertaking and it’s a pretty cool little film.”

Little is an understatement. The feature-length film clocks in at about 90 minutes. Toth said countless hours were spent filming and editing the piece.

This is the third documentary in three years he has gifted to the historical society. His first film centered on the Downers Grove Main Street Cemetery and was made as a companion piece to an interactive cemetery app Toth spearheaded while a board member of the Downers Grove Historical Society. The second film focused on Mochels Hardware Store, which opened in 1884.

His interest in independent filmmaking was piqued after losing his job when the pandemic hit.

“I knew I had to do something to pay the bills and as I scrambled to figure out what to do next, it also made me think, ‘What do you like spending your time doing?’ I’ve always liked linear storytelling and I had all this extra time on my hands,” Toth said. “I wanted to increase my hands-on experience with filmmaking, which is something I’d been tangentially a part of through the advertising world. I bought a camera and decided to take on these endeavors.”

Toth is excited to share his latest work with the community. And so are the theater’s owners, Willis and Shirley Johnson.

The pair bought the Tivoli building, of which the theater was its largest tenant, in 1976. When the theater’s operator abruptly left in 1978, Willis Johnson, who had been a partner in a printing business for more than two decades, and his wife took over.

“It was a great leap of faith that Willis and Shirley took in themselves – and in one another,” Toth said. “They found an opportunity and in that opportunity they discovered something that they loved and then invested every ounce of themselves into it.”

The Johnsons went on to found Classic Cinemas. Today, the family-owned company operates 16 theaters with 137 screens in 15 communities in the northern Illinois and Wisconsin area.

“To initially make the Tivoli a success, and then to consequently build a theater empire … neither of their vocations came close to preparing them in theater ops,” Toth said. “[It’s] just amazing to me that without any background in theater operations, somehow, through sheer will, Willis and Shirley Johnson turned that single cinema screen into 137 of them, and successfully.”

Toth said getting the business off the ground was no small task as the Johnsons “kind of inherited a mess.”

“The gentleman that owned the theater prior had kind of let it fall into an incredible state of disrepair. So they painstakingly rebuilt the entire theater, repainted every inch of it, got new seats,” Toth said. “At one point, the Johnson family wanted their dad to get a new car because the one he was driving was 20 years old. But Willis told them no because he said if he didn’t get the car he could get new curtains for the movie theater. Every cent they had he poured into this thing. And it’s a family business. He had his five children who all grew up in Downers Grove and worked in and out of the theater business. And all the grandkids have had jobs there.”

Willis Johnson’s son, Chris Johnson, was named chief executive officer of Classic Cinemas in 2014. But his start in the business was nowhere near as alluring. At age 11, he was tasked with clearing out the Tivoli basement. Two years later, he began working at the theater.

He is excited about the film, which he likens to watching a history lesson unfold.

“It’s excellent and really showed the life’s work of my dad and Shirley and how they fell into this by accident in their 40s and really changed not only Downers Grove, but many other communities where they did the same thing,” Chris Johnson said. “So many theaters have gone by the wayside and they actually have saved so many and shown that history can be saved in towns. Downers Grove is lucky to have a prime example of it.”

Johnson said theaters have long served as a backdrop for many life events.

“A lot of first dates happen there, it’s a first job for a lot of people, marriage proposals, other life events along the way … and they all get grounded by that visit to the theater,” he said. “And it’s more than just watching a movie. It’s sharing time together, sharing moments. It’s amazing what a movie theater can mean to a town.”

Johnson is excited for the introduction of “History Happens Here, The Tivoli Theatre” to the community.

“The Tivoli is one of the only businesses that’s still around after almost 100 years,” he said. “I think the story of it will resonate, especially if you’ve been in the town for a while. But even if you haven’t, you’ll get an understanding of how the Tivoli has always kind of been there and been a part of the history.”