------

Home

DFT

Michigan

Redford

Lobby


Detroit Movie Palaces

The Film Programs of the Detroit Film Theatre, Michigan Theater, and Redford Theatre

Your Guide to Classic Movie Theater Filmgoing!

Home

Upcoming Films

  DFT
  Michigan
  Redford

Detroit Film Theatre

  Essay
  Fact Sheet
  Website
  Blog Entries
  Images
  Videos
  Reviews

Michigan Theater

  Essay
  Fact Sheet
  Website
  Blog Entries
  Images
  Videos
  Reviews

Redford Theatre

  Essay
  Fact Sheet
  Website
  Blog Entries
  Images
  Videos
  Reviews

Lobby

  Blog
  Links
  Looking Back
  Other Venues
  Opening Dates
  Silent Films
  Site Author

Looking Back

November 1956

Step back in time to see what area movie theaters were presenting in November 1956. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

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


The Redford's Thanksgiving weekend included the end of one long run by a recent popular movie (High Society, with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra), and the start of another (Bus Stop, with Marilyn Monroe). Second features for these films included Walk the Proud Land (Audie Murphy), and The Burning Hills, with Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood ("Young America's Favorites").

Another crowd pleaser at the Redford was The Eddie Duchin Story, with Kim Novak and Tyrone Power. Walt Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase appeared on a double bill with Gary Cooper in the 1949 movie Task Force. Popular westerns included The Fastest Gun Alive (Glenn Ford) and Seven Men From Now (Randolph Scott). Famous stars appeared in lesser known films like Lisbon (Ray Milland) and Gaby (Leslie Caron).

"Hey, Mom!" shouted an Ann Arbor News ad for the Michigan Theater. "Thanksgiving Morning Cartoon and Comedy Festival". Kids got in for 25 cents to see the Three Stooges, Tom & Jerry, Popeye, the Little Rascals, Commander Cody and Rin Tin Tin. Later, the Michigan presented "A Wonderful...Happy Thanksgiving Show for the Whole Family"—a double bill of Showdown at Abilene (with Jock Mahoney) and Fighting Trouble (Huntz Hall and the Bowery Boys).

Two days after Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to his second term as president of the United States, an Ann Arbor News ad for the Michigan's screening of The Solid Gold Cadillac (with Judy Holliday) read, "You Voted a Landslide for this great comedy...so we're holding it over through Friday!"

Thanksgiving Eve (November 21) brought the Detroit premieres of The Ten Commandments at the Madison Theatre (Woodward at Grand Circus Park), and Love Me Tender, with Elvis Presley, at the Fox. Moviegoers also could enjoy Giant (which opened at the Michigan in Detroit on November 7) or Oklahoma!, showing at the United Artists Theatre "At Popular Prices" with no reserved seating.

Art film in Detroit included Maurice Chevalier in My Seven Little Sins (1954) at the Coronet and Surf, Rififi (1955) at the Studio and World, and Umberto D. (1952) at the Krim. In Ann Arbor, the Orpheum presented the 1956 documentary Secrets of the Reef, Riviera (1954) and The Ladykillers (1955).


Back to Top

Looking Back Main Page


Home

Site Map

Disclaimer


Hi! I'm the site mascot! Visit a Detroit Movie Palace Today!

Comments

This website is not affiliated with the Detroit Film Theatre, the Michigan Theater, or the Redford Theatre.

Website copyright © 2021 by Robert Hollberg Smith, Jr.

Launched November 25, 2005.

Last updated November 25, 2020.

Graphics courtesy of Christmas Graphics Plus, Free GIFs and Animation, and 123GIFS.