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

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Looking Back

November 1931/1956/1981

Step back in time to see what our movie palaces were presenting in November 1931, 1956, and 1981. Also included is some interesting history about other area movie theaters and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

* 1931 * 1956 * 1981 *

1931

Michigan Theater visitors saw Clark Gable in his first starring role, in Sporting Blood. Gable, who began 1931 in lower-billed roles, later teamed up with Greta Garbo in Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise). Jimmy Durante was promoted as the "Idol of Broadway" in New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford (with William Haines) and as "Schnozzle Durante" in The Cuban Love Song (with Lawrence Tibbett).

Other popular movies at the Michigan included the Eddie Cantor comedy Palmy Days and the drama Once a Lady, in which Ruth Chatterton played "a woman who becomes a social outcast in one scandalous moment - and who regains glorious renown in a life of Love-atonement." Also at the Michigan were highlights of the University of Michigan's Nov. 21 6-0 win over the University of Minnesota in front of a homecoming crowd of about 50,000.

Current visitors to the front lobby of the Redford admire a large "Photo of the Original Marquee," which shows George O'Brien and Noah Beery starring in Riders of the Purple Sage, along with promos for a bunch of Mickeys: Mickey Mouse cartoons and Mickey McGuire (Mickey Rooney) in Mickey's Thrill Hunters. That Nov. 13-14 lineup was followed on Nov. 15 with the live appearance of bandleader Del Delbridge. Laughter echoed throughout the Redford at the antics of Laurel and Hardy (in Pardon Us, their first full-length feature), Buster Keaton (Sidewalks of New York) and the Marx Brothers (Monkey Business).

"Members of the Allied Theater Owners of Michigan, representing 350 theaters throughout the state, will donate two per cent of their gross receipts for November as their contribution to President Hoover's campaign for unemployment relief," read an article in the Nov. 3 Detroit News. Highly publicized films in Detroit included Possessed (with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable), which opened at the United Artists on Nov. 12; Frankenstein (RKO Downtown, Nov. 19); and The Champ (Paramount, Nov. 21). Also popular was The Sin of Madelon Claudet.

Visitors to the Detroit Institute of Arts continued to admire fine prints loaned by Detroit collectors and sculptures by Carl Milles. They also took in a Sunday afternoon concert by the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, a lecture on "Animals in Chinese Art," and a presentation on a topic that still has relevance today—"Mohammed and His Followers".

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1956

The Redford's Thanksgiving weekend included the end of one long run by a recent popular movie (High Society, with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra), and the start of another (Bus Stop, with Marilyn Monroe). Second features for these films included Walk the Proud Land (Audie Murphy), and The Burning Hills, with Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood ("Young America's Favorites").

Another crowd pleaser at the Redford was The Eddie Duchin Story, with Kim Novak and Tyrone Power. Walt Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase appeared on a double bill with Gary Cooper in the 1949 movie Task Force. Popular westerns included The Fastest Gun Alive (Glenn Ford) and Seven Men From Now (Randolph Scott). Famous stars appeared in lesser known films like Lisbon (Ray Milland) and Gaby (Leslie Caron).

"Hey, Mom!" shouted an Ann Arbor News ad for the Michigan Theater. "Thanksgiving Morning Cartoon and Comedy Festival". Kids got in for 25 cents to see the Three Stooges, Tom & Jerry, Popeye, the Little Rascals, Commander Cody and Rin Tin Tin. Later, the Michigan presented "A Wonderful...Happy Thanksgiving Show for the Whole Family"—a double bill of Showdown at Abilene (with Jock Mahoney) and Fighting Trouble (Huntz Hall and the Bowery Boys).

Two days after Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to his second term as president of the United States, an Ann Arbor News ad for the Michigan's screening of The Solid Gold Cadillac (with Judy Holliday) read, "You Voted a Landslide for this great comedy...so we're holding it over through Friday!"

Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 21) brought the Detroit premieres of The Ten Commandments at the Madison Theatre (Woodward at Grand Circus Park), and Love Me Tender, with Elvis Presley, at the Fox. Moviegoers also could enjoy Giant (which opened at the Michigan in Detroit on Nov. 7) or Oklahoma!, showing at the United Artists Theatre "At Popular Prices" with no reserved seating.

Art film in Detroit included Maurice Chevalier in My Seven Little Sins (1954) at the Coronet and Surf, Rififi (1955) at the Studio and World, and Umberto D. (1952) at the Krim. In Ann Arbor, the Orpheum presented the 1956 documentary Secrets of the Reef, Riviera (1954) and The Ladykillers (1955). The Detroit Institute of Arts hosted the New Chorale of Detroit, which sang Latin American folk songs, Renaissance and Baroque works, and compositions of the 20th century.

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1981

The Detroit Film Theatre's showing of the 1977 Polish political film Man of Marble helped DFT moviegoers better understand the recent rise of the Solidarity labor movement in Poland. A DFT double bill of "Action and Suspense from Down Under" included the Australian films Mad Max (1979, with a young Mel Gibson) and Roadgames (1981). Saturday nights at the DFT included classics from Sweden (Persona, 1966), France (Children of Paradise, 1945) and Russia (October, 1927, with restored footage related to Leon Trotsky).

The DFT's tribute to Alfred Hitchcock continued, with The 39 Steps (1935), Secret Agent (1936), Sabotage (1936), Young and Innocent (1937) and The Lady Vanishes (1938). The afternoon film program in the Detroit Institute of Arts paid tribute to French director René Clair, with À Nous la Liberté (1931), Le Million (1931), The Ghost Goes West (1935) and The Flame of New Orleans (1941).

On Nov. 13-15, the Redford added a Sunday afternoon showing of the 1967 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (with Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing). The extra day helped business at the Christmas Bazaar of the Motor City Theatre Organ Society, which featured "Dozens of hand-crafted holiday treasures—perfect for the gift-giving season." Two weeks later, on Nov. 27 and 28, Cary Grant livened the Thanksgiving weekend in the 1937 comedy Topper. Organist Danny Holley performed at the Redford on Nov. 7.

Films by Asian Indian director Satyajit Ray appeared at the Michigan. This Classic Film Theatre-sponsored series included Distant Thunder (1973), Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and The World of Apu (1959). CFT double features were devoted to Catherine Deneuve (Mississippi Mermaid (1969) and Belle de Jour (1967)); the Marx Brothers (The Cocoanuts (1929) and Horse Feathers (1932)); and musicals (Swing Time (1936) and The Band Wagon (1953)).

On Friday, Nov. 6, the CFT and the Michigan Community Theatre Foundation presented "Radio City at the Michigan," which included an organ overture, the 1937 movie Topper, and "A Thanksgiving Pageant," described as a "spoof on all Thanksgiving productions". On Nov. 8, organist Don Haller performed at the Michigan in the monthly Second Sunday Organ Concert of the Motor City Theatre Organ Society.

A restored version of the dramatic 1927 French film Napoléon played at Ford Auditorium in Detroit on Nov. 3-8. Described by Detroit Free Press movie writer Jack Mathews as "one of the theatrical experiences of a lifetime," the music for this film was performed live by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. The conductor and composer of this music was Carmine Coppola, father of film director Francis Ford Coppola.

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