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Looking Back

December 1982

Step back in time to see what area movie theaters were presenting in December 1982. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

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

The Detroit Film Theatre ended its fall schedule with the final films in its three-season tribute to Alfred Hitchcock (who died April 29, 1980): Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), and Family Plot (1976). The highlight of the newer films was the Ismail Merchant/James Ivory film Quartet (starring Isabelle Adjani), which Detroit News writer Peter Ross described as "a stunning picture—visually intoxicating, dense, as evocative and invitingly dangerous as a heavy perfume." (Dec. 6, 1982)

Other DFT films were Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), The Women (1939), Cattle Annie and Little Britches, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), and The Long Goodbye (1973). The Afternoon Film Theatre featured the work of director Tod Browning, including The Show (1927) and Lon Chaney in The Unholy Three (1925), The Blackbird (1926), West of Zanzibar (1928) and Where East is East (1929).

The sounds of Mario Lanza as The Great Caruso (1951) filled the Redford on Dec. 3-4. Organist Barry Rindhage also entertained patrons. On Dec. 17-18, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman weaved their way through the intrigue of Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946). Live organ music was provided by Lionel LeMay. At the annual Motor City Theatre Organ Society Christmas Show on Dec. 11, organist Ron Rhode and the Ford Chorus provided holiday cheer.

Ann Arbor movie fans took a break from their Christmas shopping to visit the Michigan on Dec 22-23 to see the 1965 musical The Sound of Music (which appeared at the Michigan as a stage play on Dec. 8-11). Christmas Day brought an Errol Flynn double bill of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Captain Blood (1935). Other movie highlights of the month were West Side Story (1961), and twin bills of The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) / The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) and The General (1927) / The Gold Rush (1925).

In first-run theaters, popular holiday movies included Tootsie, 48 Hrs., The Dark Crystal, The Toy, and The Verdict. Susan Stark of The Detroit News noted that the year's most popular film, E.T., had grossed $315 million and "pundits are calling it a sure bet to beat Star Wars as the industry's all-time box-office champ." (Dec. 31, 1982)

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