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

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Looking Back

February 1932/1957/1982

Step back in time to see what our movie palaces were presenting in February 1932, 1957, and 1982. 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.

* 1932 * 1957 * 1982 *

1932

"Frank Capra, Director of Hits, wins new laurels by megaphoning the greatest love story every filmed," read a Feb. 10, 1932 ad in The Ann Arbor Daily News for Forbidden, starring Barbara Stanwyck. Both the Michigan and Redford showed this movie, which "really put Stanwyck on top," wrote David Shipman in The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years.

The month at the Michigan got off to a great start, with a held-over week-long run of Mata Hari, starring Greta Garbo and Ramon Novarro. This film later moved across town to the Wuerth. Other stars that lit up the Michigan's silver screen were Robert Montgomery (Lovers Courageous); Marie Dressler (Emma); James Cagney (Taxi!); Joan Blondell (The Greeks Had a Word for Them); William Powell (High Pressure); and Constance Bennett (Lady with a Past).

Also in Ann Arbor, a month-long experiment with German language films at the Whitney (Main and Ann) ended, after the screening of such films as Zwei Menschen, Die vom Rummelplatz, and Der Weg zur Schande. "The bulk of the support came from (University of Michigan) faculty individuals and some students," wrote Allison Ind in The Ann Arbor Daily News (Feb. 23, 1932). "For this type of trade, the location of the theater is disadvantageous."

The Redford presented some of the biggest hits of 1931, including Private Lives (Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery); The Champ (Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper); and Delicious (Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell). The newest film entertainment at the Redford was a Feb. 26-27 double bill of The Rainbow Trail (George O'Brien) and File 113 (Lew Cody). Another crowdpleaser was Ladies of the Big House (Sylvia Sidney), one of several movies to appear on Sundays with vaudeville acts.

The Detroit Institute of Arts presented an exhibition of Greco-Buddhist sculpture. At the Wilson Theater (now the Music Hall), the stage play The Band Wagon starred Fred and Adele Astaire, along with Frank (The Wizard of Oz) Morgan. The Shubert showed a Talkie version of the 1925 silent movie The Big Parade.

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1957

With Oscar nominations coming up on Feb. 18, Detroit Free Press Movie Critic Helen Bower wrote (on Feb. 17, 1957), "You can say it again and again that movies ARE better than ever, when there is a list of more than 15 pictures that could qualify for the coveted Golden Boy statues." Bower's Oscar contenders included films showing this month at the Redford, whose second run lineup was helped by the publicity for the Academy Awards.

Redford movies included War and Peace, which brought director King Vidor an Oscar nomination, and starred Bower's personal choice for Best Actor—Henry Fonda (who was not nominated). When the nominations were announced, the Redford was showing Lust for Life, with Best Actor contender Kirk Douglas. Next at the Redford was Baby Doll, with Best Actress nominee Carroll Baker. Also on screen was Tea and Sympathy (Deborah Kerr), on double bills with Everything But the Truth (Maureen O'Hara) and Julie (Doris Day)

At the Michigan, the highlight of the month was The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford. This movie played for 10 days, with Bugs Bunny as an opening act (A Star is Bored). An Ann Arbor News ad for the Walt Disney movie Westward Ho the Wagons! (Fess Parker) and featurette Disneyland U.S.A. included this Note To Mothers: "This program is highly recommended for children of all ages. Let them attend the matinee after school. They'll enjoy this fine Disney treat and be home in time for dinner."

On the alternative film front, La Strada (which would win the 1956 Oscar for best foreign language film) entered its second month at the World and Studio in Detroit. The Krim showed Fantasia (1940) and noted the recent death of Humphrey Bogart with a double bill of Casablanca (1942) and The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948).

Also in Detroit, the Dexter (Dexter and Burlingame) paired the French Les Lettres De Mon Moulin (1954) with the American The Naked City (1948). A Detroit Free Press ad for Papa, Mama, the Maid and I (1954, at the Coronet and Surf) asked, "l'amour, anyone?" Films at the Orpheum in Ann Arbor included Dance Little Lady (1955), Anthony Adverse (1936), and A Day to Remember (1953).

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1982

The Detroit Film Theatre presented the 1981 Brazilian film Pixote, which DFT curator Elliot Wilhelm has described (in his 1999 book VideoHound's World Cinema) as "one of the most grueling, powerful, and disturbing films of the last quarter-century." Another highlight of the month was The Boat is Full (1981, Switzerland/West Germany/Austria), a drama about limits on Jewish immigration from Germany to Switzerland during World War II.

Also at the DFT was Soldier Girls, a 1981 documentary about women in basic training in the United States Army, and Ticket to Heaven, a 1981 Canadian film about religious cults. Older films at the DFT included Camille (1936), with Greta Garbo. Also on screen was the French Elevator to the Gallows (1958), which returned to the DFT in Sept. 2005 as part of a tribute to director Louis Malle. The Afternoon Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts presented a rich selection of Ernst Lubitsch films, including Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942), and Heaven Can Wait (1943).

On Feb. 5 and 6 at the Redford, Jean Harlow and Lee Tracy starred in Bombshell (1933), "a hilarious satire about a poor little rich movie star longing to live a 'normal' life." (David Shipman, The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years). Two weeks later, audiences enjoyed Don Haller's organ music and laughed at the 1963 musical comedy Bye Bye Birdie (Janet Leigh, Dick Van Dyke, and Ann-Margret). Lively Caribbean music warmed up winter-chilled patrons on Feb. 27, courtesy of the 21st Century Steel Band.

"Radio City at the Michigan" on Feb. 19 included an organ overture by Rupert Otto; a stage show by the Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre; and the 1956 film The King and I. Double features at the Michigan included Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not (1944) and The Big Sleep (1946); the comedy dramas King of Hearts (1966) and A Thousand Clowns (1965); and the humorous Take the Money and Run (1969) and And Now for Something Completely Different (1971).

On Feb. 3-6 at the Michigan, The Comic Opera Guild presented La Vie Parisienne, by Jacques Offenbach. On Feb. 21, the Travel and Adventure Series of the Ann Arbor Western Kiwanis presented Welcome, New Zealand, with Robert O'Reilly.

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