November 1941
Step back in time to see what area movie theaters
were presenting in November 1941. Film titles are linked to the Internet
Movie Database.
For more information about these theaters,
see Cinema
Treasures or Water
Winter Wonderland.
The
Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor opened in Detroit
at the Michigan on Friday, November 7, 1941. It had earlier opened in
New York City on October 3, 1941. It debuted in Los Angeles on November
20, 1941.
Also
on the bill with The
Maltese Falcon at the Michigan was Kisses
for Breakfast (Dennis Morgan, Jane Wyatt). These movies succeeded
a twin bill of New
York Town (Fred MacMurray, Mary Martin, Robert Preston) and Barnacle
Bill (Wallace Beery, Marjorie Main).
"Messrs.
Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang, filmdom's ace thriller directors, had
better look to their laurels, for they are facing dangerous competition
in John Huston, whose maiden effort as a director, 'The Maltese Falcon,'
opened Friday at the Michigan," wrote Detroit Free Press Motion
Picture Editor Frank P. Gill on November 8, 1941.
"In
John Huston, son of the celebrated actor, Walter Huston, Hollywood has
found its most gifted young director since Garson Kanin," commented
Al Weitschat in the November 8, 1941 edition of The Detroit News.
"Huston's first achievement is this Dashiell Hammett detective story
filmed twice previously. Having also adapted the yarn himself, Huston
scores something of a one-man triumph in bringing fans one of the best
mystery thrillers the screen has produced."
Other
downtown Detroit movies when The
Maltese Falcon opened were You'll
Never Get Rich (Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth) at the Adams; Tom,
Dick, and Harry (Ginger Rogers, George Murphy) at the Broadway
Capitol; Week-End
in Havana (Alice Faye, John Payne, Carmen Miranda, Cesar Romero)
at the Fox; New
Moon (Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy) at the Madison; New
York Town (Fred MacMurray, Mary Martin, Robert Preston) at the
Palms-State; and Honky
Tonk (Clark Gable, Lana Turner) at the United Artists.
The
Redford was screening a double bill of That
Hamilton Woman (Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier) and Here
Comes Mr. Jordan (Robert Montgomery). The Senate also was showing
That
Hamilton Woman, along with Sailors
on Leave (William Lundigan). The art house Cinema was screening
The
Art of Love (Danielle Darrieux) and The
Bedroom Diplomat (Reginald Gardiner).
The
Maltese Falcon played at the Michigan until
November 18, before moving to the Palms-State on November 19. It screened
at the Palms-State until November 27, before being replaced the next day
by Birth
of the Blues (Bing Crosby, Mary Martin).
The
Maltese Falcon began its Detroit suburban
and neighborhood run on December 31, 1941 when it opened at the Bloomfield.
It played at the Redford from Friday, February 27, 1942 to Monday, March
2, 1942 on a double bill with The
Big Store (The Marx Brothers, Tony Martin).
Ann
Arbor audiences were treated to the opening of The
Maltese Falcon at the Majestic on the historic
date of Sunday, December 7, 1941, after a run of Smilin'
Through (Jeanette MacDonald). The
Maltese Falcon and the Warner Bros. cartoon
The
Trial of Mr. Wolf screened for four days at the Majestic, succeeded
on December 11 by Dr.
Kildare's Wedding Day (Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day,
Red Skelton).
Also
playing in Ann Arbor on December 7, 1941 were Birth
of the Blues (Bing Crosby, Mary Martin) at the Michigan; Secrets
of the Lone Wolf (Warren William) at the Whitney; In
the Navy (Abbott and Costello, Dick Powell, The Andrews Sisters)
at the Wuerth; and The
Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard) and Singapore
Woman (Brenda Marshall) at the Orpheum.
PDF
of newspaper images relating to the opening of The
Maltese Falcon.
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