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Looking Back

January 1958

Step back in time to see what area movie theaters were presenting in January 1958. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

For more information about these theaters, see Cinema Treasures or Water Winter Wonderland.

"Look to The Giant Screen For The Finest Entertainment You'll See in 1958!" read the Butterfield theaters ad in the Jan. 3, 1958 Ann Arbor News. The Butterfield chain included the Michigan, whose top attraction in January was Pal Joey, starring Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak (This musical was also part of the Michigan's 2007 Summer Classic Movie Series.).

Also popular at the Michigan was Don't Go Near the Water, with Glenn Ford. The month began with Legend of the Lost (John Wayne, Sophia Loren, and Rossano Brazzi). It ended with the Walt Disney movie Old Yeller (Dorothy McGuire, Fess Parker), which enjoyed critical and financial success and was "the first of innumerable Disney projects about a boy and his dog." (The Disney Films, Leonard Maltin). On Jan. 13, the Michigan hosted José Greco and his company of Spanish dancers.

At the Redford, the first week of 1958 brought the final days of a three-week run of the 1956 blockbuster The Ten Commandments. Patrons then enjoyed a midwinter taste of April Love (Pat Boone, Shirley Jones). Two future television stars (Robert Wagner and Joan Collins) headlined Stopover Tokyo, on a double bill with Joanne Woodward's Oscar-winning lead performance in The Three Faces of Eve.

Other attractions at the Redford were Operation Mad Ball (Jack Lemmon, Mickey Rooney, Ernie Kovacs); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Gina Lollobrigida, Anthony Quinn); The Tin Star (Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins); The Sad Sack (Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Kirk); and a star-studded double feature of My Man Godfrey (June Allyson, David Niven) and Man of a Thousand Faces (James Cagney, Dorothy Malone). The Saturday children's matinee included an afternoon of the science fiction movie Conquest of Space (1955) and three cartoons each starring Popeye, Bugs Bunny, and Tom & Jerry.

"Don't look for Gallic subtlety here," wrote Detroit News movie reviewer Al Weitschat on Jan. 19 about ...And God Created Woman, starring Brigitte Bardot. "The idea is to exploit sex and it's done relentlessly and obviously." This film was the first feature at the re-named Trans-Lux Krim, which had been purchased by Trans-Lux Theaters (Detroit News, Jan. 12, 1958).

In Detroit theaters, Peyton Place (Fox) and Sayonara (Michigan) continued strong runs after opening at the end of 1957. And ads announced that very long runs would soon end for the 1956 movies Around the World in 80 Days (United Artists) and the Cinerama feature Seven Wonders of the World (Music Hall).

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