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Looking Back

March 1965

Step back in time to see what area movie theaters were presenting in March 1965. Film titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database.

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

The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer opened in Detroit at the Madison Theater on March 17, 1965. It had earlier opened in New York City on March 2, 1965 and in Los Angeles on March 10, 1965.

At the Madison, The Sound of Music succeeded a double bill of Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers) and The Pumpkin Eater (Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch).

" 'Sound of Music' has come to the Madison in movie form with its usual collection of delights and awkwardnesses but certain to go on forever because of Julie Andrews, the greatest girl to hit the movies since Greta Garbo," wrote Louis Cook in the Detroit Free Press on March 18, 1965.

"Hollywood has a bellringer here. No doubt about it," wrote Detroit News Amusement Editor John Finlayson on March 18, 1965. "Which is to say that 20th Century Fox's version of the Broadway stage hit, 'Sound of Music,' at the Madison Theater, will be around town for a long time, delighting young and old and filling the box office coffers to overflowing."

Other downtown Detroit movies when The Sound of Music opened were My Fair Lady (Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison) at the United Artists; Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland) at the Palms; Sylvia (Carroll Baker, George Maharis) at the Adams; Lawrence of Arabia at the Michigan; the Cinerama The Greatest Story Ever Told at the Music Hall; the Cinerama Circus World (John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale) at the Summit Cinema; The D…. Girls and I Passed for White (James Franciscus) at the Fox; and Fanny Hill at the Grand Circus.

The Redford was screening a double bill of A Boy Ten Feet Tall (Edward G. Robinson) and Crack in the World (Dana Andrews). Also showing in area theaters were How to Murder Your Wife (Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi) at the Mercury; Goldfinger (Sean Connery) at the recently remodeled La Parisien; and Marriage Italian Style (Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni) at the Krim.

The Sound of Music played at the Madison for 98 weeks until January 29, 1967, before being replaced with The Bible (Stephen Boyd, Ava Gardner), which opened on February 1, 1967.

The Sound of Music began its suburban run on February 15, 1967, when it opened at the Camelot in Dearborn, the Mai Kai in Livonia, and the Universal City in Warren. It played for at least five months at each of these theaters. The re-release of The Sound of Music on March 16, 1973 was hosted by the Americana I in Southfield.

Ann Arbor audiences were treated to the opening of The Sound of Music on May 12, 1967 at the Michigan, after a run of Hombre (Paul Newman, Frederic March). The Sound of Music played for two months at the Michigan, until July 13, 1967, followed by Eight on the Lam (Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller).

Also playing in Ann Arbor on May 12, 1967 were A Man for All Seasons (Paul Scofield) at the Campus; Casino Royale (Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress) at the State; and La Dolce Vita (Marcello Mastroianni) at the Vth Forum. Drive-in entertainment included The Projected Man and Island of Terror at the Ypsi-Ann; The Reluctant Astronaut (Don Knotts) and Gunfight in Abilene (Bobby Darin) at the University; and A Countess from Hong Kong (Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren) and Texas Across the River (Dean Martin, Joey Bishop) at the Lakes.

PDF of newspaper images relating to the opening of The Sound of Music.

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