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Even before the entertainment began on the night when the Redford Theatre celebrated its 80th birthday (April 19, 2008), I could sense a deeper, richer feeling in the theater than I usually did. This feeling brought out more of the texture and details of this ancient wonder, like the intimate lighting under the pagoda eaves and the smooth varnish of the staircase railing.
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Notes from a movie palace weekend (March 14-16, 2008):
After enjoying the focused intimacy of the Redford Theatre (Friday, March 14, 2008) and the Detroit Film Theatre (March 15), the spaciousness of the Michigan Theater on March 16 hit me very strongly. Steven Ball’s organ playing drifted out into the Grand Foyer and the street energy of downtown Ann Arbor continued into the Michigan’s auditorium.
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If I had to pick one film that tied together the interests of most visitors to the Detroit Film Theatre, Michigan Theater, and Redford Theatre, it would be Buster Keaton’s 1927 silent comedy The General. A close second would be The Phantom of the Opera (1925) with Lon Chaney.
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At the Redford Theatre’s Feb. 1, 2008 screening of Tarzan and His Mate, it was hard to imagine what might have astonished the crowd the most.
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I made my second visit today to the Detroit Historical Museum’s fascinating exhibit about movie theaters in Detroit. Detroit: The “Reel” Story is a valuable record of local history, and any movie buff should hurry to see this show and find out how the Detroit moviegoing experience has evolved through the years.
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The big V in VistaVision jumped out at the audience of the Redford Theatre at the Jan. 19, 2008 showing of the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock thriller To Catch a Thief. Soon, this Paramount Pictures widescreen process was taking the Saturday night crowd on a scenic tour of the Mediterranean coast of France.
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The hopeful, vulnerable face of the six-year-old Russian boy in The Italian, and his moving journey from an orphanage to maybe a real family and home (Detroit Film Theatre and Michigan Theater).
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As I walked across the parking lot of the Redford Theatre on the evening of Dec. 1, 2007, the falling snow peacefully muffled the sounds of the city. As I passed the stage end of the building, I heard the warm tones of Christmas music being played on the Redford’s Barton organ.
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A unique atmosphere always surrounds the Redford Theatre’s last movie before Thanksgiving. It’s a fun time to look back on the rich, varied programming of the fall, and look forward to the happy burst of entertainment that always ends the year. It’s the “Friday evening” of the year, as we relax from another 12 months of work, and get ready to have some enjoyment before starting all over again.
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Excitement is building for the re-opening of the Detroit Institute of Arts (which hosts the Detroit Film Theatre), and the Michigan and Redford screened the peak performances of the late Deborah Kerr (1921-2007).
