Detroit
Movie Palaces
The Film Programs of the Detroit
Film Theatre, Michigan Theater and Redford Theatre
The Film Programs of the Detroit Film Theatre, Michigan Theater and Redford Theatre
Your Guide to Classic Movie Theater Fun!
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M.
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Looking Back
April 1956
Step back in time to see what our movie palaces were presenting in April 1956. Also included is interesting history about other area movie theaters. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.
An
"exciting new policy" was announced for the Redford and other
neighborhood and drive-in theaters. The featured movies would be appearing
in Detroit for the first time, at "regular prices." This policy
started on April 4 with Never
Say Goodbye, starring Rock Hudson. Other affected indoor theaters
were the Eastown, Harper, Mercury, Riviera, Wyandotte and 6 Mile Uptown.
At
the Music Hall, Cinerama
Holiday passed the 60-week mark. The advertising for this second
Cinerama feature (following 1952's This
is Cinerama) noted that it "cannot and will not be shown
at any local or neighborhood theatre." On April 22, 2006, the Redford
will show Cinerama
Adventure, a documentary about this dramatic widescreen format.
The
suspenseful 1953 French film The
Wages of Fear opened in Detroit at the Surf (13135 Fenkell) and
Coronet (15635 Mack). In March 1992, a restored (and longer) version of
this movie was shown at the Detroit Film Theatre.
The
Michigan Theater rode the waves of current events. On April 7, moviegoers
enjoyed a midnight showing of Rock
Around the Clock ("The Screen's First Great Rock 'N Roll
Feature"), with Bill Haley and the Comets. Also on the big screen
were On
the Threshold of Space and French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot in
one of her first English language films (Doctor
at Sea).
The
Michigan also presented a documentary about Monaco, where film star Grace
Kelly would be reigning with her new husband Prince Rainier (they married
on April 19, 1956). And, in this Presidential election year, Michigan
visitors laughed at the cartoon Popeye
for President.
