Addendum to my earlier posting above. (I completed more research while visiting Columbus last weekend.)
02/15/67 Grand Prix
09/13/67 Mediterranean Holiday
10/04/67 James Joyce’s “Ulysses"
11/01/67 The Comedians
12/06/67 Enter Laughing
12/13/67 The Love-Ins
12/20/67 Far from the Madding Crowd
02/07/68 Custer of the West
03/13/68 Sol Madrid
03/20/68 A Man Called Dagger
03/27/68 Samson and Delilah
04/03/68 Guns for San Sebastian
04/17/68 A Stranger in Town
05/01/68 Day of the Evil Gun
05/08/68 The Double Man
05/15/68 Doctor Zhivago
06/12/68 2001: A Space Odyssey
04/02/69 Ice Station Zebra
05/14/69 CLOSED PERMANENTLY
Loew’s opened both the Arlington and the Morse Road the week of 12/21/66. Below are the films which played at the theater from opening week in 1966 through 1969. Dates are the Wednesdays of the opening week. Research from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
12/21/66 After the Fox
01/25/67 The Blue Max
02/08/67 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
03/22/67 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
04/26/67 Hombre
05/17/67 Doctor Zhivago
06/14/67 The Honey Pot
06/28/67 A Guide for the Married Man
08/09/67 Barefoot in the Park
09/20/67 Luv
10/04/67 Bonnie and Clyde
11/08/67 Waterhole # 3
11/22/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Fitzwilly
01/10/68 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
02/07/68 The Graduate
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
07/24/68 Rosemary’s Baby
09/25/68 The Producers
10/16/68 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
11/13/68 Duffy
11/20/68 West Side Story
12/25/68 The Impossible Years
04/02/69 Support Your Local Sheriff
06/25/69 True Grit
08/13/69 Midnight Cowboy
11/26/69 Alice’s Restaurant
12/24/69 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Some big exclusive first-runs at the this theater. More years will be added as I am able to get the information.
This theater and the University City Cinema were opened the same week by General Cinema Corporation in 1966. Listed below are the films which played here from 1966-1969. The date listed is the Wednesday of the opening week. Research is from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
11/16/66 Texas Across the River
12/07/66 Rage
12/14/66 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
12/21/66 Gambit
01/11/67 Penelope
01/25/67 The Blue Max
02/08/67 Zorba the Greek/The Visit
02/15/67 Monkeys, Go Home!
03/01/67 Tobruk
03/15/67 Follow Me, Boys!
03/22/67 A Countess from Hong Kong
04/05/67 Deadlier than the Male
04/19/67 The Great Race
04/26/67 Hombre
05/17/67 Doctor Zhivago
06/14/67 Gunn
06/21/67 The Perils of Pauline/Tammy and the Millionaire
06/28/67 Snow Whie and the Seven Dwarfs
07/12/67 The War Wagon
07/26/67 The Gnome-Mobile
08/09/67 Barefoot in the Park
08/23/67 In Like Flint/The Professionals
08/30/67 The Absent-Minded Professor/The Shaggy Dog
09/06/67 The Russians are Coming/What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
09/13/67 Fathom
09/20/67 Luv
10/04/67 Bonnie and Clyde
10/18/67 The Dirty Dozen/The Glass-Bottom Boat
10/25/67 Murderers Row/The Silencers
11/01/67 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?/Sex and the Single Girl
11/08/67 Waterhole # 3
11/22/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Valley of the Dolls
03/06/68 Bonnie and the Clyde
04/03/68 Blackbeard’s Ghost
04/24/68 Firecreek
05/01/68 Sgt. Ryker
05/08/68 Far from the Madding Crowd
05/22/68 The Shakiest Gun in the West
05/29/68 Madigan
06/12/68 What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?
06/19/68 The One & Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
07/03/68 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
07/10/68 The Green Berets
07/31/68 Never a Dull Moment
08/21/68 King Kong Escapes
08/28/68 Prudence and the Pill
09/11/68 Rachel, Rachel
10/02/68 The Odd Couple
10/09/68 The Producers
10/16/68 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
10/30/68 The Sound of Music
11/13/68 Duffy
11/20/68 West Side Story
12/11/68 Anyone Can Play
12/18/68 The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit
01/08/69 Hellfighters
01/29/69 The Stalking Moon
02/19/69 The Wrecking Crew
03/05/69 The Brotherhood
03/12/69 Rachel, Rachel/The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
03/26/69 Oliver!
08/20/69 Rascal
08/27/69 Castle Keep
09/10/69 Finian’s Rainbow
09/17/69 Last Summer
10/08/69 Thank You All Very Much
10/15/69 On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who…
10/22/69 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
11/05/69 The Christmas Tree
11/12/69 True Grit/My Side of the Mountain
11/19/69 Bonnie and Clyde/Bullitt
11/26/69 Don’t Drink the Water
12/03/69 2001: A Space Odyssey/The Impossible Years
12/10/69 Madigan’s Millions/Fearless Frank
12/17/69 80 Steps to Jonah/Petulia
12/24/69 101 Dalmatians/Johnny Appleseed
Being at a major mall at the time, this theater played almost every Walt Disney picture released, as well as “roadshow” films when they were released as “no reserved seats-popular prices.”
The Eastland Theater first opened in 1968. Films which played at this theater in 1968-69 are listed below. The date is the Wednesday of the opening week. Research is from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
02/14/68 The Happiest Millionaire
03/27/68 No Way to Treat a Lady
04/17/68 In the Heat of the Night
05/08/68 Bonnie and Clyde
05/29/68 Half a Sixpence
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
07/24/68 How Sweet It Is!
08/07/68 Dark of the Sun
08/28/68 With Six You Get Eggroll
09/18/68 Interlude
10/02/68 A Lovely Way to Die
10/16/68 Barbarella
11/13/68 Coogan’s Bluff
12/11/68 Rachel, Rachel
12/18/68 Camelot
02/19/69 Funny Girl
08/20/69 3 into 2 Won’t Go
09/10/69 True Grit
09/24/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe…?
10/08/69 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
11/12/69 Paint Your Wagon
The Eastland Theater first opened in 1968. Films which played at this theater in 1968-69 are listed below. The date is the Wednesday of the opening week. Research is from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
02/14/68 The Happiest Millionaire
03/27/68 No Way to Treat a Lady
04/17/68 In the Heat of the Night
05/08/68 Bonnie and Clyde
05/29/68 Half a Sixpence
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
07/24/68 How Sweet It Is!
08/07/68 Dark of the Sun
08/28/68 With Six You Get Eggroll
09/18/68 Interlude
10/02/68 A Lovely Way to Die
10/16/68 Barbarella
11/13/68 Coogan’s Bluff
12/11/68 Rachel, Rachel
12/18/68 Camelot
02/19/69 Funny Girl
08/20/69 3 into 2 Won’t Go
09/10/69 True Grit
09/24/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe…?
10/08/69 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
11/12/69 Paint Your Wagon
Listed below are the films that played at the Orpheum Theater in Seattle from 1959 through its closing in 1967. Research is from microfilms of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Variety. The date listed is the Wedensday of the opening week.
12/16/59 The House of the Seven Hawks/Libel
12/23/59 The Miracle
12/30/59 Elephant Gun/Sea Fury
01/06/60 Terror is a Man/The Scavengers
01/13/60 Happy Anniversary
01/27/60 The Beast from the Haunted Cave/The Wasp Woman
02/10/60 A Date With Death/The Hideous Sun Demon
02/17/60 The Last Voyage
03/09/60 The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond/It Happened in Rome
03/16/60 Guns of the Timberland/The Pusher
03/23/60 Sapphire/Wild and Innocent
04/06/60 Kidnapped
04/20/60 This Rebel Breed/The Threat
04/27/60 Nature’s Paradise/Too Soon to Love
05/04/60 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
06/08/60 Giant of Marathon/Davy
06/22/60 Head of a Tyrant/The Cossacks
06/29/60 Ice Palace
07/06/60 Dinosaurus/SOS Pacific
07/20/60 Stop! Look! and Laugh!/My Dog Buddy
07/27/60 The Time Machine/The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
08/24/60 College Confidential/Four Fast Guns
09/14/60 Expresso Bongo/Cage of Evil
09/28/60 The Angel Wore Red
10/05/60 For Members Only/The Mating Time
11/23/60 Sunrise at Campobello
11/30/60 Girl of the Night/Crooked Circle
12/28/60 The Sundowners
01/25/61 A Fever in the Blood
02/08/61 Gold of the Seven Saint/Tormented
02/22/61 Swiss Family Robinson
03/08/61 Question 7
03/22/61 The Great Imposter/Shakedown
04/12/61 Question 7
04/26/61 Gorgo/Trouble in the Sky
05/24/61 The Young Savages/A Matter of Morals
06/28/61 Morgan the Pirate/The Green Helmet
07/12/61 The Ladies Man/Love in a Goldfish Bowl
08/09/61 The Thief of Bagdad/Posse from Hell
08/16/61 Ada/The Pharoah’s Woman
08/23/61 Tammy Tell Me True/Wings of Chance
08/30/61 The World by Night/Blast of Silence
DARK FOR SEVERAL MONTHS
04/11/62 Rome Adventure/The Singer, Not the Song
04/25/62 Samar/House of Women
05/02/62 King of Kings
05/16/62 Ride the High Country/Malaga
05/23/62 Judgement at Nuremberg
DARK FOR SEVERAL MONTHS
11/14/62 Gay Purr-ee/The Valiant
12/19/62 In Search of the Castaways
01/23/63 If a Man Answers/Stagecoach to Dancer’s Rock
02/06/63 Term of Trial
02/13/63 The Hook/Cairo
02/20/63 The Days of Wine and Roses
04/03/63 It Happened at the World’s Fair
05/01/63 40 Pounds of Trouble/Mystery Submarine
05/08/63 Come Fly with Me/Rififi in Tokyo
05/15/63 The Ugly American
05/29/63 The List od Adrian Messenger/Showdown
06/05/63 Tammy and the Doctor/The Traitors
06/19/63 Spencer’s Mountain
06/26/63 A Gathering of Eagles
07/10/63 A Ticklish Affair/In the Cool of the Day
07/17/63 Summer Magic
07/31/63 PT 109/Black Gold
08/14/63 The Thrill of it All
10/16/63 Rampage/Wall of Noise
10/23/63 Twilight of Honor/The Young and the Brave
10/30/63 Mary, Mary
11/20/63 Palm Springs Weekend
12/11/63 Freud: The Secret Passion
12/18/63 Kiss of the Vampire/The Sword of Lancelot
12/25/63 Charade
01/29/64 Dead Ringer/With Their Eyes on the Stars
02/12/64 Man’s Favorite Sport
02/26/64 Children of the Damned/Gladiators 7
03/04/64 Sunday in New York
03/18/64 Captain Newman, M. D.
04/01/64 The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao/Cavalry Command
04/08/64 The Incredible Mr. Limpet/The Raiders
04/15/64 Kissin' Cousins/The Beauty and the Body
04/22/64 The Brass Bottle/Young and Willing
04/29/64 Advance to the Rear/Square of Violence
05/06/64 Mail Order Bride/Any Number Can Win
05/13/64 The Best Man
05/20/64 Tarzan’s 3 Challenges/Tamahine
05/27/64 A Distant Trumpet/FBI Code 98
06/03/64 The World of Henry Orient
06/10/64 Flipper’s New Adventure/Gold for the Caesars
06/17/64 Viva Las Vegas/The Great Armored Car Swindle
07/01/64 The Seventh Dawn
07/08/64 Robin and the Seven Hoods/Dr. Crippen
07/29/64 Looking for Love/Never Put it in Writing
08/05/64 Ensign Pulver
08/12/64 The Moon-Spinners
09/02/64 Honeymoon Hotel/Aliki, My Love
09/09/64 The Christine Keeler Affair/Tomorrow at Ten
09/16/64 Woman of Straw
09/23/64 MGM’s Big Parade of Comedy/The Golden Horseshoe Revue
10/07/64 Four Days in November
10/14/64 Kisses for My President
10/21/64 Of Human Bondage/The Naked Kiss
11/04/64 The Young Lovers/A Yank in Vietnam
11/11/64 Joy House/Racing Fever
11/18/64 Youngblood Hawke
12/23/64 Sex and the Single Girl
02/17/65 36 Hours/The Pink Panther
03/10/65 The Rounders/The Second Time Around
03/24/65 Ferry Cross the Mersey/A Hard Day’s Night
04/07/65 Girl Happy/The Young Racers
04/21/65 John Goldfarb, Please Come Home/The Notorious Landlady
05/12/65 The Black Torment/The Brain
05/19/65 Masquerade/A Shot in the Dark
05/26/65 Joy in the Morning/Lili
06/02/65 I’ll Take Sweden/Period of Adjustment
06/16/65 Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion/Hercules, Samson, and Ulysses
06/23/65 Seaside Swingers/The Bounty Killer
06/30/65 Operation Crossbow
07/14/65 The Monkey’s Uncle
07/28/65 Having a Wild Weekend/The Woman Who Wouldn’t Die
08/04/65 The Glory Guys/How to Murder Your Wife
08/11/65 Help!/Swingers' Paradise
09/15/65 Billie/Go Go Big Beat
09/22/65 Murieta/Cheyenne Autumn
09/29/65 She/Sandokan the Great
10/06/65 Never on Sunday/Topkapi
10/20/65 Old Yeller/Indian Paint
10/27/65 The Ipcress File/Dark Intruder
11/24/65 Harum Scarum/Your Cheatin' Heart
12/08/65 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
12/22/65 Thunderball
03/23/66 The Slender Thread/My Six Loves
04/27/66 Harper
05/25/66 Frankie and Johnny/Bye Bye Birdie
06/08/66 Around the World Under the Sea/Zebra in the Kitchen
06/15/66 A Big Hand for the Little Lady/Spencer’s Mountain
06/22/66 Hold On!/Get Yourself a College Girl
06/29/66 The Glass-Bottom Boat/Son of a Gunfighter
07/13/66 A Fine Madness
08/03/66 Maya
08/10/66 Batman/Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title
08/17/66 What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
08/24/66 Up to His Ears
09/14/66 Ambush Bay
09/21/66 Chamber of Horrors/Hysteria
09/28/66 Goldfinger/Dr. No
10/19/66 Seconds/Waco
10/26/66 Kaleidoscope
11/02/66 Mister Buddwing/The Nanny
11/09/66 The Fighting Prince of Donegal
11/23/66 Spinout/Fireball 500
12/07/66 The Swinger/When the Boys Meet the Girls
12/21/66 Any Wednesday/Mozambique
01/18/67 Funeral in Berlin
02/08/67 A Fistful of Dollars
03/01/67 The Corrupt Ones
03/08/67 First to Fight
03/15/67 Easy Come, Easy Go
03/29/67 Hotel/The Wild Affair
04/19/67 Doctor, You’ve Got to Be Kidding!/Panic Button
04/26/67 The 25th Hour
05/03/67 Mondo Cane/Bad Girls Do Cry/Mau Mau
Listed below are the films which played at the Cinerama from its opening in 1963 through 1976. Research is from microfilms of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Variety. The dates are the Wednesday of the opening week.
01/23/63 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
04/10/63 How the West Was Won
04/22/64 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
03/24/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told
08/11/65 The Hallelujah Trail
11/03/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told
12/22/65 Battle of the Bulge
03/30/66 Russian Adventure
06/29/66 Khartoum
10/12/66 The Appaloosa
11/09/66 Texas Across the River
12/21/66 Gambit
02/01/67 Grand Prix
10/04/67 Thoroughly Modern Millie
05/29/68 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/19/69 Ice Station Zebra
02/25/70 Krakatoa, East of Java
04/29/70 Ben-Hur
05/13/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
06/17/70 A Boy Named Charlie Brown
07/01/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
07/29/70 Two Mules for Sister Sara
08/05/70 Catch-22
12/23/70 Song of Norway
05/05/71 Julius Caesar
05/19/71 They Might Be Giants
06/09/71 The Andromeda Strain
09/22/71 Two-Lane Blacktop
10/06/71 The Devils
11/03/71 Carry on Camping
11/10/71 Bless the Beasts and the Children
11/17/71 Ryan’s Daughter
12/22/71 Sometimes A Great Notion
02/09/72 A Clockwork Orange
06/14/72 Silent Running
07/19/72 Frenzy
08/16/72 The Man
08/23/72 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex…
11/08/72 Cancel My Reservation
11/15/72 Oh, Calcutta!
12/20/72 The Great Waltz
01/31/73 Innocent Bystanders
02/07/73 Up the Sandbox
03/14/73 Save the Tiger
04/11/73 Brother Sun, Sister Moon
05/02/73 Camelot
06/20/73 The Friends of Eddie Coyle
07/11/73 This is Cinerama
08/15/73 Romeo and Juliet
09/19/73 Blume in Love
10/17/73 Electra Glide in Blue
11/14/73 Executive Action
12/19/73 The Day of the Dolphin
02/27/74 The Exorcist
07/17/74 That’s Entertainment
11/13/74 The Gambler
12/25/74 Freebie and the Bean
03/12/75 Funny Lady
07/16/75 Rollerball
09/24/75 Undercovers Hero
10/15/75 Three Days of the Condor
12/24/75 Dog Day Afternoon
02/11/76 Barry Lyndon
03/31/76 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
06/23/76 Logan’s Run
08/25/76 The Return of A Man Called Horse
10/06/76 A Matter of Time
11/03/76 Shout at the Devil
12/22/76 A Star is Born
Thanks, Mike. I need St. Paul, MN, Milwaukee, WI, San Diego, CA, Buffalo, NY, Kansas City, MO, Indianapolis, IN, Tampa, FL, Columbus, OH, Phoenix, AZ, Portland, OR, Providence, RI, Charlotte, NC, and Toronto, ONT – various years for each from 1957-1975. I’m trying to document what played each week in the first-run theaters or the date and theater(s) that other b-type films opened. I’ve been having my library borrow microfilms through Inter-Library Loan, but can only get 6 reels at a time (roughly 2 or 3 months) and it takes forever for stuff to come. The one market for which I have no research is Tampa, FL. I’ll consider St. Pete as part of that metro area, but does the St. Petersburg paper also have listings for Tampa? And how do you get to where you can type in the various dates you want – the link above just has December 25, 1965. Thanks!
Mike Rivest – what newspapers can you find like the links you posted for http://news.google.co/newspapers above – it could save me years of newspaper research if I knew how to work google’s newspaper archives – can you get most big city papers in the microfilm-type versions you put here?
Anyone from Washington who can answer this? I live in Pittsburgh. I just have always been into DC theaters since I read the Variety listings each week back when I was a kid in the 60s.
True. No more are we in the days when each different theater had its own personality. It’s the 12-24 screen multiplex or nothing, pretty much. But you are lucky in Washington, DC to still have the Uptown, which is one of the finest theaters in the US, and the Warner is still used for entertainment (albeit not films)and hasn’t been razed. And perhaps the Embassy may reopen again at some point.
I would imagine that it was – the theater was just opened in 1975, so it was fairly new and probably had the most modern amenities as far as projection was concerned.
Sorry, but I am more concerned with what films played in what theaters each week, and do not track things like the size of the prints.
I have just recently finished going through microfilms of The Washington Post for 1978 and 1979. “Superman – The Movie” opened first at Jenifer Cinema I in December 1978. It moved over to the Embassy Circle in the spring of 1979. It does seem like “Superman” would have been a natural for the Uptown, but it didn’t play there.
Films Which Played at the Stanley Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
1972 – 1978
01/01/72 Straw Dogs
02/23/72 Summer of ‘42/Klute
03/08/72 Mark of the Devil
03/29/72 The Ten Commandments
04/12/72 Cool Breeze
04/19/72 Blindman
04/26/72 Frogs
05/10/72 Georgia, Georgia
05/17/72 Love Camp 7/The Scavengers
05/24/72 The Legend of Nigger Charley
06/14/72 Hands of the Ripper/Twins of Evil
06/21/72 Ben
07/05/72 Shaft’s Big Score
07/26/72 Joe Kidd
08/09/72 Come Back, Charleston Blue
08/30/72 Slaughter
09/20/72 The Last House on the Left
10/04/72 Super Fly
11/01/72 Asylum
11/08/72 Tomb of the Blind Dead
11/15/72 Trouble Man
11/29/72 The Godfather
12/06/72 Born Black
12/20/72 The Getaway
02/14/73 Trick Baby
02/28/73 Prison Girls 3-D
03/21/73 Black Mama, White Mama
04/04/73 Free (Cine-A-Rock)
04/11/72 Hit Man
04/18/73 Soylent Green
05/02/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/23/73 The Soul of Nigger Charley
06/06/73 Coffy
06/20/73 Black Caesar
06/27/73 The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
07/11/73 Dillinger
07/25/73 Super Fly TNT
08/08/73 Cleopatra Jones
08/29/73 Shaft in Africa
09/12/73 I Escaped from Devil’s Island
09/19/73 Gordon’s War
10/03/73 The Stone Killer
10/24/73 The Spook Who Sat by the Door
11/07/73 Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off
11/14/73 Save the Children
11/21/73 The Don is Dead
12/05/73 The Slams
12/12/73 Coffy/The Mack
12/19/73 Magnum Force
03/06/74 Five on the Black Hand Side
03/20/74 Crazy Joe
03/27/74 Willie Dynamite
04/10/74 The Super Cops
05/01/74 Foxy Brown
05/15/74 That Man Bolt
05/22/74 The Spikes Gang
05/29/74 The Midnight Man
06/05/74 Black Eye
06/12/74 The Street Gangs of Hong Kong
06/19/74 Pink Floyd
06/26/74 Three the Hard Way
07/24/74 The Terminal Man
08/07/74 Amazing Grace (WORLD PREMIERE)
08/28/74 Uptown Saturday Night
10/02/74 The Education of Sonny Carson
10/23/74 The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
11/20/74 Black Samson
11/27/74 The Klansman
12/18/74 The Man With the Golden Gun
01/22/75 Rock and Roll Your Eyes
01/29/75 Mr. Ricco
02/05/74 The Phantom of the Paradise
02/12/75 Abby
03/05/75 Report to the Commissioner
03/12/75 The Dragon Dies Hard
03/19/75 Brannigan
04/02/75 Women of Cell Block 7
04/16/75 Tommy
07/09/75 Cooley High
08/20/75 Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold
09/03/75 Take a Hard Ride
09/17/75 Dolemite
09/24/75 Bucktown
10/15/75 Let’s Do It Again
12/24/75 The Hindenburg
02/04/76 DARK
02/11/76 A Jury of One
02/18/76 Funny Lady
02/25/75 Tommy
03/03/76 Nashville
03/24/76 Earthquake
03/31/76 Jesus Christ Superstar
04/07/76 Family Plot
05/19/76 The Missouri Breaks
06/23/76 Gator
07/21/76 St. Ives
08/04/76 Ode to Billy Joe
09/08/76 Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother/Mother, Jugs, and Speed
09/15/76 Lifeguard
09/22/76 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest/Last Tango in Paris
09/29/76 Norman, Is That You?
01/27/76 The Godfather, Part II
11/03/76 Papillon
11/10/76 Camelot
11/17/76 The Song Remains the Same
12/22/76 A Star is Born
02/16/77 (stage show)
02/23/77 A Star is Born
04/06/77 The Eagle Has Landed
05/04/77 The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
05/11/77 The Godfather/The Godfather, Part II
05/25/77 Cross of Iron
06/22/77 Sorcerer
97/27/77 Ruby
08/10/77 March or Die
08/31/77 Suspiria
09/21/77 DARK
10/12/77 The History of the Beatles
10/19/77 DARK
12/21/77 The Choirboys
01/25/78 DARK
02/08/78 Renaldo and Clara
02/15/78 DARK (as a First-Run Film House)
As one can see by these later bookings, the Stanley was Pittsburgh’s main downtown house for Blaxsploitation films, along with an occasional foray in the Kung Fu films whih were popular with urban audiences at the time. But it did manage to get a number of good action films from the major studios, and it always had a BIG release for the holiday season. The theater was bought by DiCesare-Engler in 1976 and after a few more films was turned into a rock concert hall, something that could have been guessed at what with the bookings of major “rock” films during the mid-1970s. It’s now the beautiful Benedum Hall for the Performing Arts, a true Pittsburgh tresaure now and for the future.
Although “Cleopatra” did play there, I do believe that the world premiere of the film was at the Rivoli Theater in New York City and/or the Pantages in Hollywood on June 19, 1963, one week before it opened in Washington and most other cities.
Adding to my previous posts above, here is another batch of films that played at Loew’s Palace theater. Like the others above, the dates are Wednesday dates, although in later years, films may have opened on Fridays. Research is from Variety and microfilms of The Washington Post. There were a number of weeks that the theater was used for live concerts…sorry, but I did not write down who the acts were, but many of them were soul/rhythm & blues groups or artists.
01/01/72 Dirty Harry
01/26/72 (stage show)
02/02/72 The School Girls
02/16/72 (stage show)
02/23/72 I Spit on Your Grave
03/01/72 (stage show)
03/08/72 Soul Soldier
03/22/72 (stage show)
03/29/72 The Ten Commandments
04/12/72 Georgia, Georgia
04/19/72 05/12/72 The Abductors
05/24/72 Malcolm X (documentary)
06/07/72 The Final Comedown
06/14/72 The Seduction of Inga
06/21/72 Ben
06/28/72 A Place Called Today
07/05/72 Top of the Heap
07/19/72 Come Back, Charleston Blue
08/16/72 (stage show)
08/23/72 Super Fly
10/25/72 (stage show)
11/15/72 Trouble Man
12/20/72 Black Gunn
01/17/73 Slaughter Hotel
01/31/73 (stage show)
02/07/73 Riot/The Legend of Nigger Charley
02/14/73 Trick Baby
03/21/73 Scream Bloody Murder
03/28/73 The Bus is Coming/Honky
04/04/73 (stage show)
04/11/73 The Mack
05/23/73 The Soul of Nigger Charley
06/06/73 Charley One-Eye
06/13/73 The Hammer of God
06/20/73 Super Fly TNT
07/11/73 Fox Style
07/25/73 Cleopatra Jones
09/12/73 Detroit 9000
09/26/73 Gordon’s War
10/17/73 Save the Children
10/31/73 Fearless Fighters
11/14/73 Isaac Hayes: The Black Moses of Soul
11/21/73 Blood of the Dragon
11/28/73 Queen Boxer
12/05/73 Black Belt
12/12/73 Triple Irons
12/19/73 The Chinese Professionals
01/09/74 Fists of the Double K
01/16/74 Black Belt Jones
02/06/74 Karate Killer
02/13/74 Deadly China Doll
02/20/74 The Godfathers of Hong Kong
02/27/74 The Bamboo Brotherhood
03/06/74 Man of Iron
03/13/74 From China, With Death
03/20/74 Three Tough Guys
04/03/74 Willie Dynamite
04/17/74 The Hong Kong Connection
04/24/74 Blood Fingers/The Hammer of God
05/01/74 Black Eye
05/15/74 The Chinese Godfather
05/29/74 The Black Connection/Run, Nigger, Run
06/05/74 The Take
06/19/74 Detroit 9000/Fox Style
06/26/74 Three the Hard Way
07/24/74 The Education of Sonny Carson
08/07/74 Johnny Tough!
09/04/74 Black Samson
09/18/74 Together Brothers
10/02/74 Lady Sings the Blues/The Education of Sonny Carson
10/09/74 Zebra Killer
10/23/74 Foxy Brown/Truck Turner
10/30/74 Hangup
11/13/74 The Street Fighter
11/27/74 The Black Hooker
12/11/74 Enter the Dragon/The Five Fingers of Death
12/18/74 Boss Nigger
One final post to be added later will detail the films that played there from January 1, 1975 until the closing of the Palace in April 1978.
Listed below are the final films to play at the Keith’s.
06/22/77 Tentacles/Food of the Gods
06/29/77 Silver Streak/Cooley High
07/06/77 The Last House on the Left, Part II
07/13/77 Orca
08/10/77 Big Time
08/31/77 Big Time/Pipe Dreams
09/07/77 The School That Couldn’t Scream
09/14/77 The Mack
10/05/77 The Mack/Bucktown
10/12/77 Axe/The Child
10/19/77 Damnation Alley
11/16/77 Coffy/J. D.’s Revenge
11/30/77 Saga of Dracula/Vengeance of the Zombies
12/07/77 Three the Hard Way/The Dragon Dies Hard
12/14/77 The Story of O
12/21/77 The Gauntlet
02/01/78 Mr. Mean
02/08/78 Mr. Mean/Candy Tangerine Man
02/15/78 Friday Foster/Foxy Brown/Sheba, Baby
This last triple bill of AIP-Pam Grier was the final booking at the Keith’s Theater. It played two weeks, and beginning the week of March 1, 1978, the theater was DARK.
It was on the end on Fifth Avenue, right across Washington Place where they are building the new arena. The old entrance appears to be cemented up now – I wonder if the auditorium, etc. is still in there?
Since Greensburg was a city for which I had an interest of the theaters and films they played for the mid-60s, I can tell you that I believe the Greensburg Public Library has from 1967 on. If you attempt to get the information from the Tribune-Review, they will make you pay for it. If you can’t find it there, you will have to go to Harrisburg (as I did) and use the microfilms at the Pennsylvania State Library.
I know that the Manos is now the Palace Theater, but I don’t know the location or eventual fate of the Cinema, which opened in 1965.
I have the films that played in PGH First-Run theaters from 11/26/1957 through 12/31/1981. My problem is finding the time to post it, plus I used the Friday editions of the Pittsburgh papers and looked at the listings which may or may not be totally accurate in the case of multiplex cinemas, such as the Bank Cinemas, Fulton, and Manor, etc.
Yes, enjoytheclassics, I did. At some point I will post the films that played there also. I went through the microfilms from January 1, 1960 through December 31, 1975 and marked down all first-run openings plus whatever the main theaters had, even reissues. So I have the Alabama, Tower, GCC Gulfgate-Meyerland-Northline-Galleria, Delman, Village, Windsor Cinerama, and a lot of others. Houston is one of the cities that embraced multiplex cinemas before others (like Pittsburgh, where I live, so there are also a lot of newer cinemas that opened in the early 70s that I have, as well.
I was not aware the P-G had Archives back that far. I’ve already been through all of the microfilms at CLP and Hillman from 01/58 through 12/81.
But I am also doing the same thing for 33 other large cities, using Variety and the out-of-town newspapers as well. I lived in NYC for a number of years and had access to most of them at the NY Public Library. For that one I’m only doing 01/60 through 12/75.
Thanks, 71dude. I now have more years for Pittsburgh first-run theaters up through 1981, but haven’t been able to find the time to type them in. You saved me a year!
I think that United Artists Theaters owned the Penn in its later years, not Loew’s. But if Loew’s sold it, I don’t know when. Check the Variety boxoffice listings – usually the theater owner is listed with the number of seats, plus a given week’s feature title(s), distributor(s) and gross.
Keep an eye out on the other Pittsburgh first-run theaters and I will add what I can at various times. My research only runs from 1958 to 1981, however. Plus, I will get 1972-1977 in here as well.
Addendum to my earlier posting above. (I completed more research while visiting Columbus last weekend.)
02/15/67 Grand Prix
09/13/67 Mediterranean Holiday
10/04/67 James Joyce’s “Ulysses"
11/01/67 The Comedians
12/06/67 Enter Laughing
12/13/67 The Love-Ins
12/20/67 Far from the Madding Crowd
02/07/68 Custer of the West
03/13/68 Sol Madrid
03/20/68 A Man Called Dagger
03/27/68 Samson and Delilah
04/03/68 Guns for San Sebastian
04/17/68 A Stranger in Town
05/01/68 Day of the Evil Gun
05/08/68 The Double Man
05/15/68 Doctor Zhivago
06/12/68 2001: A Space Odyssey
04/02/69 Ice Station Zebra
05/14/69 CLOSED PERMANENTLY
Loew’s opened both the Arlington and the Morse Road the week of 12/21/66. Below are the films which played at the theater from opening week in 1966 through 1969. Dates are the Wednesdays of the opening week. Research from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
12/21/66 After the Fox
01/25/67 The Blue Max
02/08/67 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
03/22/67 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
04/26/67 Hombre
05/17/67 Doctor Zhivago
06/14/67 The Honey Pot
06/28/67 A Guide for the Married Man
08/09/67 Barefoot in the Park
09/20/67 Luv
10/04/67 Bonnie and Clyde
11/08/67 Waterhole # 3
11/22/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Fitzwilly
01/10/68 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
02/07/68 The Graduate
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
07/24/68 Rosemary’s Baby
09/25/68 The Producers
10/16/68 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
11/13/68 Duffy
11/20/68 West Side Story
12/25/68 The Impossible Years
04/02/69 Support Your Local Sheriff
06/25/69 True Grit
08/13/69 Midnight Cowboy
11/26/69 Alice’s Restaurant
12/24/69 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Some big exclusive first-runs at the this theater. More years will be added as I am able to get the information.
This theater and the University City Cinema were opened the same week by General Cinema Corporation in 1966. Listed below are the films which played here from 1966-1969. The date listed is the Wednesday of the opening week. Research is from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
11/16/66 Texas Across the River
12/07/66 Rage
12/14/66 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
12/21/66 Gambit
01/11/67 Penelope
01/25/67 The Blue Max
02/08/67 Zorba the Greek/The Visit
02/15/67 Monkeys, Go Home!
03/01/67 Tobruk
03/15/67 Follow Me, Boys!
03/22/67 A Countess from Hong Kong
04/05/67 Deadlier than the Male
04/19/67 The Great Race
04/26/67 Hombre
05/17/67 Doctor Zhivago
06/14/67 Gunn
06/21/67 The Perils of Pauline/Tammy and the Millionaire
06/28/67 Snow Whie and the Seven Dwarfs
07/12/67 The War Wagon
07/26/67 The Gnome-Mobile
08/09/67 Barefoot in the Park
08/23/67 In Like Flint/The Professionals
08/30/67 The Absent-Minded Professor/The Shaggy Dog
09/06/67 The Russians are Coming/What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
09/13/67 Fathom
09/20/67 Luv
10/04/67 Bonnie and Clyde
10/18/67 The Dirty Dozen/The Glass-Bottom Boat
10/25/67 Murderers Row/The Silencers
11/01/67 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?/Sex and the Single Girl
11/08/67 Waterhole # 3
11/22/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Valley of the Dolls
03/06/68 Bonnie and the Clyde
04/03/68 Blackbeard’s Ghost
04/24/68 Firecreek
05/01/68 Sgt. Ryker
05/08/68 Far from the Madding Crowd
05/22/68 The Shakiest Gun in the West
05/29/68 Madigan
06/12/68 What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?
06/19/68 The One & Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
07/03/68 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
07/10/68 The Green Berets
07/31/68 Never a Dull Moment
08/21/68 King Kong Escapes
08/28/68 Prudence and the Pill
09/11/68 Rachel, Rachel
10/02/68 The Odd Couple
10/09/68 The Producers
10/16/68 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
10/30/68 The Sound of Music
11/13/68 Duffy
11/20/68 West Side Story
12/11/68 Anyone Can Play
12/18/68 The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit
01/08/69 Hellfighters
01/29/69 The Stalking Moon
02/19/69 The Wrecking Crew
03/05/69 The Brotherhood
03/12/69 Rachel, Rachel/The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
03/26/69 Oliver!
08/20/69 Rascal
08/27/69 Castle Keep
09/10/69 Finian’s Rainbow
09/17/69 Last Summer
10/08/69 Thank You All Very Much
10/15/69 On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who…
10/22/69 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
11/05/69 The Christmas Tree
11/12/69 True Grit/My Side of the Mountain
11/19/69 Bonnie and Clyde/Bullitt
11/26/69 Don’t Drink the Water
12/03/69 2001: A Space Odyssey/The Impossible Years
12/10/69 Madigan’s Millions/Fearless Frank
12/17/69 80 Steps to Jonah/Petulia
12/24/69 101 Dalmatians/Johnny Appleseed
Being at a major mall at the time, this theater played almost every Walt Disney picture released, as well as “roadshow” films when they were released as “no reserved seats-popular prices.”
The Eastland Theater first opened in 1968. Films which played at this theater in 1968-69 are listed below. The date is the Wednesday of the opening week. Research is from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
02/14/68 The Happiest Millionaire
03/27/68 No Way to Treat a Lady
04/17/68 In the Heat of the Night
05/08/68 Bonnie and Clyde
05/29/68 Half a Sixpence
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
07/24/68 How Sweet It Is!
08/07/68 Dark of the Sun
08/28/68 With Six You Get Eggroll
09/18/68 Interlude
10/02/68 A Lovely Way to Die
10/16/68 Barbarella
11/13/68 Coogan’s Bluff
12/11/68 Rachel, Rachel
12/18/68 Camelot
02/19/69 Funny Girl
08/20/69 3 into 2 Won’t Go
09/10/69 True Grit
09/24/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe…?
10/08/69 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
11/12/69 Paint Your Wagon
The Eastland Theater first opened in 1968. Films which played at this theater in 1968-69 are listed below. The date is the Wednesday of the opening week. Research is from microfilms of The Columbus Dispatch.
02/14/68 The Happiest Millionaire
03/27/68 No Way to Treat a Lady
04/17/68 In the Heat of the Night
05/08/68 Bonnie and Clyde
05/29/68 Half a Sixpence
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
07/24/68 How Sweet It Is!
08/07/68 Dark of the Sun
08/28/68 With Six You Get Eggroll
09/18/68 Interlude
10/02/68 A Lovely Way to Die
10/16/68 Barbarella
11/13/68 Coogan’s Bluff
12/11/68 Rachel, Rachel
12/18/68 Camelot
02/19/69 Funny Girl
08/20/69 3 into 2 Won’t Go
09/10/69 True Grit
09/24/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe…?
10/08/69 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
11/12/69 Paint Your Wagon
Listed below are the films that played at the Orpheum Theater in Seattle from 1959 through its closing in 1967. Research is from microfilms of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Variety. The date listed is the Wedensday of the opening week.
12/16/59 The House of the Seven Hawks/Libel
12/23/59 The Miracle
12/30/59 Elephant Gun/Sea Fury
01/06/60 Terror is a Man/The Scavengers
01/13/60 Happy Anniversary
01/27/60 The Beast from the Haunted Cave/The Wasp Woman
02/10/60 A Date With Death/The Hideous Sun Demon
02/17/60 The Last Voyage
03/09/60 The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond/It Happened in Rome
03/16/60 Guns of the Timberland/The Pusher
03/23/60 Sapphire/Wild and Innocent
04/06/60 Kidnapped
04/20/60 This Rebel Breed/The Threat
04/27/60 Nature’s Paradise/Too Soon to Love
05/04/60 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
06/08/60 Giant of Marathon/Davy
06/22/60 Head of a Tyrant/The Cossacks
06/29/60 Ice Palace
07/06/60 Dinosaurus/SOS Pacific
07/20/60 Stop! Look! and Laugh!/My Dog Buddy
07/27/60 The Time Machine/The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
08/24/60 College Confidential/Four Fast Guns
09/14/60 Expresso Bongo/Cage of Evil
09/28/60 The Angel Wore Red
10/05/60 For Members Only/The Mating Time
11/23/60 Sunrise at Campobello
11/30/60 Girl of the Night/Crooked Circle
12/28/60 The Sundowners
01/25/61 A Fever in the Blood
02/08/61 Gold of the Seven Saint/Tormented
02/22/61 Swiss Family Robinson
03/08/61 Question 7
03/22/61 The Great Imposter/Shakedown
04/12/61 Question 7
04/26/61 Gorgo/Trouble in the Sky
05/24/61 The Young Savages/A Matter of Morals
06/28/61 Morgan the Pirate/The Green Helmet
07/12/61 The Ladies Man/Love in a Goldfish Bowl
08/09/61 The Thief of Bagdad/Posse from Hell
08/16/61 Ada/The Pharoah’s Woman
08/23/61 Tammy Tell Me True/Wings of Chance
08/30/61 The World by Night/Blast of Silence
DARK FOR SEVERAL MONTHS
04/11/62 Rome Adventure/The Singer, Not the Song
04/25/62 Samar/House of Women
05/02/62 King of Kings
05/16/62 Ride the High Country/Malaga
05/23/62 Judgement at Nuremberg
DARK FOR SEVERAL MONTHS
11/14/62 Gay Purr-ee/The Valiant
12/19/62 In Search of the Castaways
01/23/63 If a Man Answers/Stagecoach to Dancer’s Rock
02/06/63 Term of Trial
02/13/63 The Hook/Cairo
02/20/63 The Days of Wine and Roses
04/03/63 It Happened at the World’s Fair
05/01/63 40 Pounds of Trouble/Mystery Submarine
05/08/63 Come Fly with Me/Rififi in Tokyo
05/15/63 The Ugly American
05/29/63 The List od Adrian Messenger/Showdown
06/05/63 Tammy and the Doctor/The Traitors
06/19/63 Spencer’s Mountain
06/26/63 A Gathering of Eagles
07/10/63 A Ticklish Affair/In the Cool of the Day
07/17/63 Summer Magic
07/31/63 PT 109/Black Gold
08/14/63 The Thrill of it All
10/16/63 Rampage/Wall of Noise
10/23/63 Twilight of Honor/The Young and the Brave
10/30/63 Mary, Mary
11/20/63 Palm Springs Weekend
12/11/63 Freud: The Secret Passion
12/18/63 Kiss of the Vampire/The Sword of Lancelot
12/25/63 Charade
01/29/64 Dead Ringer/With Their Eyes on the Stars
02/12/64 Man’s Favorite Sport
02/26/64 Children of the Damned/Gladiators 7
03/04/64 Sunday in New York
03/18/64 Captain Newman, M. D.
04/01/64 The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao/Cavalry Command
04/08/64 The Incredible Mr. Limpet/The Raiders
04/15/64 Kissin' Cousins/The Beauty and the Body
04/22/64 The Brass Bottle/Young and Willing
04/29/64 Advance to the Rear/Square of Violence
05/06/64 Mail Order Bride/Any Number Can Win
05/13/64 The Best Man
05/20/64 Tarzan’s 3 Challenges/Tamahine
05/27/64 A Distant Trumpet/FBI Code 98
06/03/64 The World of Henry Orient
06/10/64 Flipper’s New Adventure/Gold for the Caesars
06/17/64 Viva Las Vegas/The Great Armored Car Swindle
07/01/64 The Seventh Dawn
07/08/64 Robin and the Seven Hoods/Dr. Crippen
07/29/64 Looking for Love/Never Put it in Writing
08/05/64 Ensign Pulver
08/12/64 The Moon-Spinners
09/02/64 Honeymoon Hotel/Aliki, My Love
09/09/64 The Christine Keeler Affair/Tomorrow at Ten
09/16/64 Woman of Straw
09/23/64 MGM’s Big Parade of Comedy/The Golden Horseshoe Revue
10/07/64 Four Days in November
10/14/64 Kisses for My President
10/21/64 Of Human Bondage/The Naked Kiss
11/04/64 The Young Lovers/A Yank in Vietnam
11/11/64 Joy House/Racing Fever
11/18/64 Youngblood Hawke
12/23/64 Sex and the Single Girl
02/17/65 36 Hours/The Pink Panther
03/10/65 The Rounders/The Second Time Around
03/24/65 Ferry Cross the Mersey/A Hard Day’s Night
04/07/65 Girl Happy/The Young Racers
04/21/65 John Goldfarb, Please Come Home/The Notorious Landlady
05/12/65 The Black Torment/The Brain
05/19/65 Masquerade/A Shot in the Dark
05/26/65 Joy in the Morning/Lili
06/02/65 I’ll Take Sweden/Period of Adjustment
06/16/65 Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion/Hercules, Samson, and Ulysses
06/23/65 Seaside Swingers/The Bounty Killer
06/30/65 Operation Crossbow
07/14/65 The Monkey’s Uncle
07/28/65 Having a Wild Weekend/The Woman Who Wouldn’t Die
08/04/65 The Glory Guys/How to Murder Your Wife
08/11/65 Help!/Swingers' Paradise
09/15/65 Billie/Go Go Big Beat
09/22/65 Murieta/Cheyenne Autumn
09/29/65 She/Sandokan the Great
10/06/65 Never on Sunday/Topkapi
10/20/65 Old Yeller/Indian Paint
10/27/65 The Ipcress File/Dark Intruder
11/24/65 Harum Scarum/Your Cheatin' Heart
12/08/65 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
12/22/65 Thunderball
03/23/66 The Slender Thread/My Six Loves
04/27/66 Harper
05/25/66 Frankie and Johnny/Bye Bye Birdie
06/08/66 Around the World Under the Sea/Zebra in the Kitchen
06/15/66 A Big Hand for the Little Lady/Spencer’s Mountain
06/22/66 Hold On!/Get Yourself a College Girl
06/29/66 The Glass-Bottom Boat/Son of a Gunfighter
07/13/66 A Fine Madness
08/03/66 Maya
08/10/66 Batman/Don’t Worry, We’ll Think of a Title
08/17/66 What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
08/24/66 Up to His Ears
09/14/66 Ambush Bay
09/21/66 Chamber of Horrors/Hysteria
09/28/66 Goldfinger/Dr. No
10/19/66 Seconds/Waco
10/26/66 Kaleidoscope
11/02/66 Mister Buddwing/The Nanny
11/09/66 The Fighting Prince of Donegal
11/23/66 Spinout/Fireball 500
12/07/66 The Swinger/When the Boys Meet the Girls
12/21/66 Any Wednesday/Mozambique
01/18/67 Funeral in Berlin
02/08/67 A Fistful of Dollars
03/01/67 The Corrupt Ones
03/08/67 First to Fight
03/15/67 Easy Come, Easy Go
03/29/67 Hotel/The Wild Affair
04/19/67 Doctor, You’ve Got to Be Kidding!/Panic Button
04/26/67 The 25th Hour
05/03/67 Mondo Cane/Bad Girls Do Cry/Mau Mau
Listed below are the films which played at the Cinerama from its opening in 1963 through 1976. Research is from microfilms of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Variety. The dates are the Wednesday of the opening week.
01/23/63 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
04/10/63 How the West Was Won
04/22/64 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
03/24/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told
08/11/65 The Hallelujah Trail
11/03/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told
12/22/65 Battle of the Bulge
03/30/66 Russian Adventure
06/29/66 Khartoum
10/12/66 The Appaloosa
11/09/66 Texas Across the River
12/21/66 Gambit
02/01/67 Grand Prix
10/04/67 Thoroughly Modern Millie
05/29/68 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/19/69 Ice Station Zebra
02/25/70 Krakatoa, East of Java
04/29/70 Ben-Hur
05/13/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
06/17/70 A Boy Named Charlie Brown
07/01/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
07/29/70 Two Mules for Sister Sara
08/05/70 Catch-22
12/23/70 Song of Norway
05/05/71 Julius Caesar
05/19/71 They Might Be Giants
06/09/71 The Andromeda Strain
09/22/71 Two-Lane Blacktop
10/06/71 The Devils
11/03/71 Carry on Camping
11/10/71 Bless the Beasts and the Children
11/17/71 Ryan’s Daughter
12/22/71 Sometimes A Great Notion
02/09/72 A Clockwork Orange
06/14/72 Silent Running
07/19/72 Frenzy
08/16/72 The Man
08/23/72 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex…
11/08/72 Cancel My Reservation
11/15/72 Oh, Calcutta!
12/20/72 The Great Waltz
01/31/73 Innocent Bystanders
02/07/73 Up the Sandbox
03/14/73 Save the Tiger
04/11/73 Brother Sun, Sister Moon
05/02/73 Camelot
06/20/73 The Friends of Eddie Coyle
07/11/73 This is Cinerama
08/15/73 Romeo and Juliet
09/19/73 Blume in Love
10/17/73 Electra Glide in Blue
11/14/73 Executive Action
12/19/73 The Day of the Dolphin
02/27/74 The Exorcist
07/17/74 That’s Entertainment
11/13/74 The Gambler
12/25/74 Freebie and the Bean
03/12/75 Funny Lady
07/16/75 Rollerball
09/24/75 Undercovers Hero
10/15/75 Three Days of the Condor
12/24/75 Dog Day Afternoon
02/11/76 Barry Lyndon
03/31/76 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
06/23/76 Logan’s Run
08/25/76 The Return of A Man Called Horse
10/06/76 A Matter of Time
11/03/76 Shout at the Devil
12/22/76 A Star is Born
Thanks, Mike. I need St. Paul, MN, Milwaukee, WI, San Diego, CA, Buffalo, NY, Kansas City, MO, Indianapolis, IN, Tampa, FL, Columbus, OH, Phoenix, AZ, Portland, OR, Providence, RI, Charlotte, NC, and Toronto, ONT – various years for each from 1957-1975. I’m trying to document what played each week in the first-run theaters or the date and theater(s) that other b-type films opened. I’ve been having my library borrow microfilms through Inter-Library Loan, but can only get 6 reels at a time (roughly 2 or 3 months) and it takes forever for stuff to come. The one market for which I have no research is Tampa, FL. I’ll consider St. Pete as part of that metro area, but does the St. Petersburg paper also have listings for Tampa? And how do you get to where you can type in the various dates you want – the link above just has December 25, 1965. Thanks!
Mike Rivest – what newspapers can you find like the links you posted for http://news.google.co/newspapers above – it could save me years of newspaper research if I knew how to work google’s newspaper archives – can you get most big city papers in the microfilm-type versions you put here?
Anyone from Washington who can answer this? I live in Pittsburgh. I just have always been into DC theaters since I read the Variety listings each week back when I was a kid in the 60s.
True. No more are we in the days when each different theater had its own personality. It’s the 12-24 screen multiplex or nothing, pretty much. But you are lucky in Washington, DC to still have the Uptown, which is one of the finest theaters in the US, and the Warner is still used for entertainment (albeit not films)and hasn’t been razed. And perhaps the Embassy may reopen again at some point.
I would imagine that it was – the theater was just opened in 1975, so it was fairly new and probably had the most modern amenities as far as projection was concerned.
Sorry, but I am more concerned with what films played in what theaters each week, and do not track things like the size of the prints.
I have just recently finished going through microfilms of The Washington Post for 1978 and 1979. “Superman – The Movie” opened first at Jenifer Cinema I in December 1978. It moved over to the Embassy Circle in the spring of 1979. It does seem like “Superman” would have been a natural for the Uptown, but it didn’t play there.
Films Which Played at the Stanley Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
1972 – 1978
01/01/72 Straw Dogs
02/23/72 Summer of ‘42/Klute
03/08/72 Mark of the Devil
03/29/72 The Ten Commandments
04/12/72 Cool Breeze
04/19/72 Blindman
04/26/72 Frogs
05/10/72 Georgia, Georgia
05/17/72 Love Camp 7/The Scavengers
05/24/72 The Legend of Nigger Charley
06/14/72 Hands of the Ripper/Twins of Evil
06/21/72 Ben
07/05/72 Shaft’s Big Score
07/26/72 Joe Kidd
08/09/72 Come Back, Charleston Blue
08/30/72 Slaughter
09/20/72 The Last House on the Left
10/04/72 Super Fly
11/01/72 Asylum
11/08/72 Tomb of the Blind Dead
11/15/72 Trouble Man
11/29/72 The Godfather
12/06/72 Born Black
12/20/72 The Getaway
02/14/73 Trick Baby
02/28/73 Prison Girls 3-D
03/21/73 Black Mama, White Mama
04/04/73 Free (Cine-A-Rock)
04/11/72 Hit Man
04/18/73 Soylent Green
05/02/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/23/73 The Soul of Nigger Charley
06/06/73 Coffy
06/20/73 Black Caesar
06/27/73 The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
07/11/73 Dillinger
07/25/73 Super Fly TNT
08/08/73 Cleopatra Jones
08/29/73 Shaft in Africa
09/12/73 I Escaped from Devil’s Island
09/19/73 Gordon’s War
10/03/73 The Stone Killer
10/24/73 The Spook Who Sat by the Door
11/07/73 Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off
11/14/73 Save the Children
11/21/73 The Don is Dead
12/05/73 The Slams
12/12/73 Coffy/The Mack
12/19/73 Magnum Force
03/06/74 Five on the Black Hand Side
03/20/74 Crazy Joe
03/27/74 Willie Dynamite
04/10/74 The Super Cops
05/01/74 Foxy Brown
05/15/74 That Man Bolt
05/22/74 The Spikes Gang
05/29/74 The Midnight Man
06/05/74 Black Eye
06/12/74 The Street Gangs of Hong Kong
06/19/74 Pink Floyd
06/26/74 Three the Hard Way
07/24/74 The Terminal Man
08/07/74 Amazing Grace (WORLD PREMIERE)
08/28/74 Uptown Saturday Night
10/02/74 The Education of Sonny Carson
10/23/74 The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
11/20/74 Black Samson
11/27/74 The Klansman
12/18/74 The Man With the Golden Gun
01/22/75 Rock and Roll Your Eyes
01/29/75 Mr. Ricco
02/05/74 The Phantom of the Paradise
02/12/75 Abby
03/05/75 Report to the Commissioner
03/12/75 The Dragon Dies Hard
03/19/75 Brannigan
04/02/75 Women of Cell Block 7
04/16/75 Tommy
07/09/75 Cooley High
08/20/75 Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold
09/03/75 Take a Hard Ride
09/17/75 Dolemite
09/24/75 Bucktown
10/15/75 Let’s Do It Again
12/24/75 The Hindenburg
02/04/76 DARK
02/11/76 A Jury of One
02/18/76 Funny Lady
02/25/75 Tommy
03/03/76 Nashville
03/24/76 Earthquake
03/31/76 Jesus Christ Superstar
04/07/76 Family Plot
05/19/76 The Missouri Breaks
06/23/76 Gator
07/21/76 St. Ives
08/04/76 Ode to Billy Joe
09/08/76 Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother/Mother, Jugs, and Speed
09/15/76 Lifeguard
09/22/76 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest/Last Tango in Paris
09/29/76 Norman, Is That You?
01/27/76 The Godfather, Part II
11/03/76 Papillon
11/10/76 Camelot
11/17/76 The Song Remains the Same
12/22/76 A Star is Born
02/16/77 (stage show)
02/23/77 A Star is Born
04/06/77 The Eagle Has Landed
05/04/77 The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane
05/11/77 The Godfather/The Godfather, Part II
05/25/77 Cross of Iron
06/22/77 Sorcerer
97/27/77 Ruby
08/10/77 March or Die
08/31/77 Suspiria
09/21/77 DARK
10/12/77 The History of the Beatles
10/19/77 DARK
12/21/77 The Choirboys
01/25/78 DARK
02/08/78 Renaldo and Clara
02/15/78 DARK (as a First-Run Film House)
As one can see by these later bookings, the Stanley was Pittsburgh’s main downtown house for Blaxsploitation films, along with an occasional foray in the Kung Fu films whih were popular with urban audiences at the time. But it did manage to get a number of good action films from the major studios, and it always had a BIG release for the holiday season. The theater was bought by DiCesare-Engler in 1976 and after a few more films was turned into a rock concert hall, something that could have been guessed at what with the bookings of major “rock” films during the mid-1970s. It’s now the beautiful Benedum Hall for the Performing Arts, a true Pittsburgh tresaure now and for the future.
Although “Cleopatra” did play there, I do believe that the world premiere of the film was at the Rivoli Theater in New York City and/or the Pantages in Hollywood on June 19, 1963, one week before it opened in Washington and most other cities.
Adding to my previous posts above, here is another batch of films that played at Loew’s Palace theater. Like the others above, the dates are Wednesday dates, although in later years, films may have opened on Fridays. Research is from Variety and microfilms of The Washington Post. There were a number of weeks that the theater was used for live concerts…sorry, but I did not write down who the acts were, but many of them were soul/rhythm & blues groups or artists.
01/01/72 Dirty Harry
01/26/72 (stage show)
02/02/72 The School Girls
02/16/72 (stage show)
02/23/72 I Spit on Your Grave
03/01/72 (stage show)
03/08/72 Soul Soldier
03/22/72 (stage show)
03/29/72 The Ten Commandments
04/12/72 Georgia, Georgia
04/19/72 05/12/72 The Abductors
05/24/72 Malcolm X (documentary)
06/07/72 The Final Comedown
06/14/72 The Seduction of Inga
06/21/72 Ben
06/28/72 A Place Called Today
07/05/72 Top of the Heap
07/19/72 Come Back, Charleston Blue
08/16/72 (stage show)
08/23/72 Super Fly
10/25/72 (stage show)
11/15/72 Trouble Man
12/20/72 Black Gunn
01/17/73 Slaughter Hotel
01/31/73 (stage show)
02/07/73 Riot/The Legend of Nigger Charley
02/14/73 Trick Baby
03/21/73 Scream Bloody Murder
03/28/73 The Bus is Coming/Honky
04/04/73 (stage show)
04/11/73 The Mack
05/23/73 The Soul of Nigger Charley
06/06/73 Charley One-Eye
06/13/73 The Hammer of God
06/20/73 Super Fly TNT
07/11/73 Fox Style
07/25/73 Cleopatra Jones
09/12/73 Detroit 9000
09/26/73 Gordon’s War
10/17/73 Save the Children
10/31/73 Fearless Fighters
11/14/73 Isaac Hayes: The Black Moses of Soul
11/21/73 Blood of the Dragon
11/28/73 Queen Boxer
12/05/73 Black Belt
12/12/73 Triple Irons
12/19/73 The Chinese Professionals
01/09/74 Fists of the Double K
01/16/74 Black Belt Jones
02/06/74 Karate Killer
02/13/74 Deadly China Doll
02/20/74 The Godfathers of Hong Kong
02/27/74 The Bamboo Brotherhood
03/06/74 Man of Iron
03/13/74 From China, With Death
03/20/74 Three Tough Guys
04/03/74 Willie Dynamite
04/17/74 The Hong Kong Connection
04/24/74 Blood Fingers/The Hammer of God
05/01/74 Black Eye
05/15/74 The Chinese Godfather
05/29/74 The Black Connection/Run, Nigger, Run
06/05/74 The Take
06/19/74 Detroit 9000/Fox Style
06/26/74 Three the Hard Way
07/24/74 The Education of Sonny Carson
08/07/74 Johnny Tough!
09/04/74 Black Samson
09/18/74 Together Brothers
10/02/74 Lady Sings the Blues/The Education of Sonny Carson
10/09/74 Zebra Killer
10/23/74 Foxy Brown/Truck Turner
10/30/74 Hangup
11/13/74 The Street Fighter
11/27/74 The Black Hooker
12/11/74 Enter the Dragon/The Five Fingers of Death
12/18/74 Boss Nigger
One final post to be added later will detail the films that played there from January 1, 1975 until the closing of the Palace in April 1978.
Listed below are the final films to play at the Keith’s.
06/22/77 Tentacles/Food of the Gods
06/29/77 Silver Streak/Cooley High
07/06/77 The Last House on the Left, Part II
07/13/77 Orca
08/10/77 Big Time
08/31/77 Big Time/Pipe Dreams
09/07/77 The School That Couldn’t Scream
09/14/77 The Mack
10/05/77 The Mack/Bucktown
10/12/77 Axe/The Child
10/19/77 Damnation Alley
11/16/77 Coffy/J. D.’s Revenge
11/30/77 Saga of Dracula/Vengeance of the Zombies
12/07/77 Three the Hard Way/The Dragon Dies Hard
12/14/77 The Story of O
12/21/77 The Gauntlet
02/01/78 Mr. Mean
02/08/78 Mr. Mean/Candy Tangerine Man
02/15/78 Friday Foster/Foxy Brown/Sheba, Baby
This last triple bill of AIP-Pam Grier was the final booking at the Keith’s Theater. It played two weeks, and beginning the week of March 1, 1978, the theater was DARK.
It was on the end on Fifth Avenue, right across Washington Place where they are building the new arena. The old entrance appears to be cemented up now – I wonder if the auditorium, etc. is still in there?
Since Greensburg was a city for which I had an interest of the theaters and films they played for the mid-60s, I can tell you that I believe the Greensburg Public Library has from 1967 on. If you attempt to get the information from the Tribune-Review, they will make you pay for it. If you can’t find it there, you will have to go to Harrisburg (as I did) and use the microfilms at the Pennsylvania State Library.
I know that the Manos is now the Palace Theater, but I don’t know the location or eventual fate of the Cinema, which opened in 1965.
I have the films that played in PGH First-Run theaters from 11/26/1957 through 12/31/1981. My problem is finding the time to post it, plus I used the Friday editions of the Pittsburgh papers and looked at the listings which may or may not be totally accurate in the case of multiplex cinemas, such as the Bank Cinemas, Fulton, and Manor, etc.
Yes, enjoytheclassics, I did. At some point I will post the films that played there also. I went through the microfilms from January 1, 1960 through December 31, 1975 and marked down all first-run openings plus whatever the main theaters had, even reissues. So I have the Alabama, Tower, GCC Gulfgate-Meyerland-Northline-Galleria, Delman, Village, Windsor Cinerama, and a lot of others. Houston is one of the cities that embraced multiplex cinemas before others (like Pittsburgh, where I live, so there are also a lot of newer cinemas that opened in the early 70s that I have, as well.
I was not aware the P-G had Archives back that far. I’ve already been through all of the microfilms at CLP and Hillman from 01/58 through 12/81.
But I am also doing the same thing for 33 other large cities, using Variety and the out-of-town newspapers as well. I lived in NYC for a number of years and had access to most of them at the NY Public Library. For that one I’m only doing 01/60 through 12/75.
Thanks, 71dude. I now have more years for Pittsburgh first-run theaters up through 1981, but haven’t been able to find the time to type them in. You saved me a year!
We ahould compare research sometime.
I think that United Artists Theaters owned the Penn in its later years, not Loew’s. But if Loew’s sold it, I don’t know when. Check the Variety boxoffice listings – usually the theater owner is listed with the number of seats, plus a given week’s feature title(s), distributor(s) and gross.
Keep an eye out on the other Pittsburgh first-run theaters and I will add what I can at various times. My research only runs from 1958 to 1981, however. Plus, I will get 1972-1977 in here as well.