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 Filmgoing!
|
Read
about recent events
in the Detroit Movie Palaces blog! |
Explore
theater history Gaylord Carter Plays at Redford (May 1981) |
Look What's Coming!
|
Get
a world of laughs at the Alliance
Francaise Comedy Film Shorts Series at the DFT
May 31.
|
|
Learn more about the grieving process in the documentary Transforming
Loss at the Michigan
May 30.
|
|
The renovated Redford re-opens with Julie Andrews flying high as Mary Poppins July 12-13. |
Home
Upcoming Films
| DFT | |
| Michigan | |
| Redford |
Detroit Film Theatre
| Essay | |
| Fact Sheet | |
| Web Site | |
| Blog Entries | |
| Images | |
| Videos |
Michigan Theater
| Essay | |
| Fact Sheet | |
| Web Site | |
| Blog Entries | |
| Images | |
| Videos |
Redford Theatre
| Essay | |
| Fact Sheet | |
| Web Site | |
| Blog Entries | |
| Images | |
| Videos |
Lobby
| Blog | |
| Links | |
| Looking Back | |
| Other Venues |
Books By Web Site Author
Looking Back
June 1932
Step back in time to see what area movie theaters were presenting in June 1932. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.
For more information about these theaters, see Cinema Treasures or Water Winter Wonderland.
As
the Great Depression continued, the Redford and Michigan in Ann Arbor
tried new ways to pull in crowds. The Redford started presenting live
plays on Sundays, along with movies. Plays also were staged at other neighborhood
Publix Theaters (Annex, Alhambra, Ramona). The Michigan lowered the highest
ticket price for its regular shows from 50 to 40 cents, and cut the adult
price for the Saturday morning children shows from 30 to 15 cents.
"A
new dispensation in things theatrical began at the Redford Theater Sunday
afternoon with the opening performance of a three-act comedy, presented
by living actors of excellent gifts in a temple heretofore devoted to
the magic shadowshapes of the cinema," wrote Russell McLauchlin in
the June 6, 1932 Detroit News. This Thing Called Love featured
Emily Ross, a star of Detroit Civic Theater productions at the Bonstelle
Theatre.
On
the Redford screen, Paul Muni, George Raft and Ann Dvorak starred in the
gangster drama Scarface.
Patrons marveled at Tarzan
the Ape Man (Johnny Weismuller) and also enjoyed a "Big Surrounding
Show." Robert Montgomery appeared in But
the Flesh is Weak and Letty
Lynton (with Joan Crawford). Other leading ladies included Claudette
Colbert (Misleading
Lady) and Joan Bennett (The
Trial of Vivienne Ware). As the Republican presidential convention
debated Prohibition, moviegoers watched The
Wet Parade, with Walter Huston and Jimmy Durante.
At
the Michigan in Ann Arbor, Greta Garbo graced the screen in As
You Desire Me. Stars of the recent hits All
Quiet on the Western Front (Lew Ayres) and Frankenstein
(Mae Clarke and Boris Karloff) lived in a Night
World. Some pre-Production Code spice seasoned the titles of Sinners
in the Sun (Carole Lombard and Chester Morris) and Merrily
We Go To Hell (Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March). Ruth Chatterton,
star of the late 1920s and early 1930s, tried to boost her career with
her first Warner Brothers movie, The
Rich Are Always with Us.
In
Detroit, the United Artists Theater closed for the summer on June 8 (with
the last showing of As
You Desire Me), and re-opened on Sept. 1 with White
Zombie. In the June 19, 1932 Detroit News, a note at the
end of the "Selected for the Children" movie list read: "Pictures
shown in downtown theaters do not commence neighborhood runs until 28
days later."
