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The Film Programs of the Detroit Film Theatre, Michigan Theater and Redford Theatre

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September 1931

Step back in time to see what our movie palaces were presenting in September 1931. Also included is interesting history about other area movie theaters. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

The Redford took advantage of newer films opening at more prominent show houses in the Publix theater chain. On Sept. 2 and 3, the Redford showed Confessions of a Co-Ed, with Sylvia Sidney, also in Street Scene, which opened at the United Artists theater on Sept. 3. Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney starred in Smart Money at the Redford on Sept. 13-15, a few days before Robinson opened in Five Star Final at the UA on Sept. 19.

Other popular films this month at the Redford included Politics, another pairing of the long-running comedy duo Marie Dressler and Polly Moran; The Public Defender, with Richard Dix (co-star of the smash 1931 hit Cimarron); and Frank Capra's Dirigible (with Jack Holt). The Redford also showed Huckleberry Finn, which the "For the Children" column in the Sept. 13, 1931 Detroit News rated as "particularly suitable" for children (the column also listed movies that were "not harmful" for children).

The fall season of the Michigan opened on Sunday, Sept. 27, 1931 with Joan Crawford's latest movie, This Modern Age. Also featured was a live show by silent movie comedian Harry Langdon, whose film career had declined and who declared bankruptcy in 1931. A Saturday night at the Michigan on Sept. 12, 1931 included William Haines' Just a Gigolo, along with this buffet of entertainment: the talking comedy Too Many Husbands, the Looney Tune Ups 'N Downs, clarinetist Ted Lewis in Happiness Remedy, the travel short Dublin and Nearby (with Burton Holmes), and Paramount Sound News.

Hard times continued to pound the entertainment dollar in 1931 Detroit. On Sept. 4, prices were reduced at the Michigan (in Detroit), the Fisher, the Paramount and United Artists theaters. Tickets now ranged from 25 cents for the earliest shows to 60 cents for evening shows (children were always charged 15 cents).

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