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Looking Back

September 1952

Step back in time to see what area movie theaters were presenting in September 1952. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

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

The Quiet Man with John Wayne opened in Detroit on September 26, 1952 at the United Artists Theatre. It opened in New York City on August 21, 1952 and in Los Angeles on October 2, 1952.

At the United Artists, The Quiet Man succeeded a twin bill of Fearless Fagan (Carleton Carpenter, Jane Leigh, Keenan Wynne) and You for Me (Peter Lawford, Jane Greer, Gig Young).

"It's a grand picture by the name of 'The Quiet Man' they'll be opening Friday at the United Artists Theater," wrote Detroit Free Press Movie Critic Helen Bauer on September 26, 1952. "It was filmed in glorious Technicolor on the auld sod itself with John Ford directing and John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald taking off the leading characters-not forgetting a big cast of good supporting players headed by Victor McLaglen and Ward Bond."

"You don't have to tote a harp to savor the refreshing entertainment contained in this boisterous slice of Irish life served up by Director John Ford," wrote Detroit News reviewer Al Weitschat on September 26, 1952. "Ford has permitted his Technicolor cameras to linger lovingly on the fabled landscape of Ireland to create a stunning backdrop for a drama full of characters and customs and bubbling over with lusty fun."

Other downtown Detroit movies when The Quiet Man opened were The Devil Makes Three (Gene Kelly, Pier Angeli) at the Adams; What Price Glory (James Cagney, Corinne Calvet, Dan Dailey) and a film of the Joe Walcott-Rocky Marciano fight at the Fox; The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima at the Madison; Just for You (Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman) and All Because of Sally (Ann Blyth, Edmund Gwenn) at the Michigan; Caribbean (John Payne, Arlene Dahl) and Last Train from Bombay (Jon Hall, Christine Larson) at the Palms; and Valley of the Eagles (Jack Warner, Nadia Gray) and The Wild Heart (Jennifer Jones, David Farrar) at the Broadway-Capitol.

The Redford was screening a double bill of Jumping Jacks (Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis) and The Wild Heart (Jennifer Jones, David Farrar). The Senate was showing Lovely to Look At (Red Skelton, Kathryn Grayson) and The Girl in White (June Allyson). Art house films included Luis Buñuel's The Young and the Damned at the Studio; Dead of Night (Michael Redgrave, Googie Withers, Roland Culver) at the Coronet; and Last Holiday (Alec Guinness) and Murder Without Crime (Dennis Price) at the Krim.

The Quiet Man played at the United Artists until October 23, 1952, before being replaced by The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner). The Quiet Man began its Detroit neighborhood and suburban run on December 31, 1952, when it opened at the Fisher, Woods, Norwest, Allen Park, Senate, and Radio City. It played at the Redford on April 7-11, 1953 on a double bill with The Stooge (Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis).

Ann Arbor audiences were treated to the opening of The Quiet Man at the State on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1952, after a run of Bloodhounds of Broadway (Mitzi Gaynor).

Also playing in Ann Arbor on November 27 were One Minute to Zero (Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth) and My Man and I (Shelley Winters, Ricardo Montalban) at the Wuerth; Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder (Frankie Laine, Billy Daniels) and Apache War Smoke (Gilbert Roland, Glenda Farrell) at the Michigan; and The Promoter (Alec Guinness) at the Orpheum.

The Quiet Man played at the State until December 3 and was replaced by The Clouded Yellow (Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard) and Tembo (Howard Hill).

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