March 1942
Step back in time to see what area movie theaters
were presenting in March 1942. Film titles are linked to the Internet
Movie Database.
For more information about these theaters,
see Cinema
Treasures or Water
Winter Wonderland.
The
1,500-seat State Theater in Ann Arbor opened on Wednesday, March 18, with
a showing of the Paramount musical The
Fleet's In, starring Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, Eddie Bracken,
and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. Also showing was the Merrie Melodies cartoon
Rhapsody
in Rivets and a newsreel.
"New
Local Theater Most Modern Found in Michigan," read a headline in
The Ann Arbor News on March 17, 1942. The article noted that the
State was completely air-conditioned; thoroughly fire-proofed, with no
wood except for trim; equipped with seats that sprung up when not in use
and shaped to cushion the underside of knees; and the first theater in
Ann Arbor built specifically for movies.
The
State was owned by the W.S. Butterfields Theater company, which also owned
the other movie theaters in Ann Arbor. Work on the theater started before
the United States entered World War II in December 1941, so theater construction
wasn't affected by the wartime restriction on materials.
Also
screening in Ann Arbor on March 18 was Son
of Fury (Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney) and a Mickey Mouse cartoon
at the Michigan; A
Date with the Falcon (George Sanders, Wendy Barrie) and Man
from Headquarters (Frank Albertson, Joan Woodbury) at the Whitney;
Unfinished
Business (Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery) and The
Chocolate Soldier (Nelson Eddy, Risë Stevens) at the Wuerth;
and Earthbound
(Warner Baxter, Andrea Leeds) and The
Smiling Ghost (Wayne Morris, Brenda Marshall) at the Orpheum.
Downtown
Detroit movies on March 18 included The
Shanghai Gesture (Gene Tierney, Victor Mature) and the Andrews
Sisters in person at the Michigan; Ball
of Fire (Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck) and Castle
in the Desert (Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan) at the Fox; and Woman
of the Year (Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn) and Joe
Smith, American (Robert Young, Marsha Hunt) at the United Artists.
Also
in downtown Detroit on March 18 were Son
of Fury (Tyrone Power, Gene
Tierney) and Shut
My Big Mouth (Joe E. Brown) at the Adams; The
Fleet's In (Dorothy Lamour, William Holden, Eddie Bracken, and
the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra) at the Palms State; It
Started with Eve (Deanna Durbin, Charles Laughton) and Playmates
(Kay Kyser) at the Broadway-Capitol); and Man's
Castle (1933, Spencer Tracy, Loretta Young) and Rose
of Washington Square (1939, Alice Faye, Don Ameche) at the Madison.
The
Telenews newsreel theater at 1540 Woodward showed a one-hour program of
news and short subjects, including the "last films from blazing Singapore!"
The Tower at Grand River and Meyers screened a March of Time presentation
of The Far East Command, about "the United Nations counterattack
in the Pacific!"
The
art film Cinema theater across from the Fox was screening the "Adults
Only" The
Love Wanga (1936), along with a "Chaplin Parade" and
Virgins
of Bali (1932).
The
Redford was showing a double feature of South
of Tahiti (Brian Donlevy, Broderick Crawford) and Highway
West (Brenda Marshall, William Lundigan). The Senate featured
a twin bill of A
Tragedy at Midnight (John Howard) and Freckles
Comes Home (Johnny Downs), and also gave free to all lady patrons
"Fire King" flame-blue oven glass.
Also
in Detroit on March 18 was Count Basie and his orchestra at the Paradise
("formerly Orchestra Hall"), along with the movie Treat
'Em Rough.
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