Part of the history of a classic theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films that played at Loew’s Embassy from its opening day in 1963 until 1976. Research is from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety. The dates listed are the Wednesday of the film’s opening week, as in those days, new films usually opened on a Wednesday instead of the Friday openings we have now.
08/28/63 Wives and Lovers
09/18/63 In the French Style
10/09/63 A New Kind of Love
11/13/63 Take Her, She’s Mine
12/11/63 Twilight of Honor
12/25/63 The Prize
02/12/64 The Victors
03/25/64 Mail Order Bride
04/01/64 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
06/24/64 Robin and the 7 Hoods
08/12/64 The New Interns
09/09/64 West Side Story
09/23/64 The Visit
10/21/64 Girl With Green Eyes
12/23/64 Marriage, Italian Style
03/10/65 Strange Bedfellows
04/21/65 The Truth About Spring
05/19/65 Divorce, Italian Style/Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
05/26/65 The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
06/23/65 Cat Ballou
09/01/65 Casanova ‘70
10/06/65 Darling
10/27/65 Mickey One
11/03/65 Dr. Strangelove/Fail-Safe
11/10/65 King Rat
12/08/65 Cat Ballou/The Collector
12/22/65 The 10th Victim
01/26/66 The Heroes of Telemark
02/16/66 The Chase
03/09/66 The Group
04/27/66 Dear John
07/06/66 This Property is Condemned
07/27/66 How to Steal a Million
10/12/66 Alfie
02/01/67 The Night of the Generals
03/15/67 Hurry Sundown
05/10/67 You’re a Big Boy Now
05/24/67 The Happening
05/31/67 The Caper of the Golden Bulls
06/14/67 Barefoot in the Park
08/23/67 The Bobo
09/06/67 Luv
09/23/67 Emily (The Americanization of Emily)
10/11/67 Reflections in a Golden Eye
12/20/67 Wait Until Dark
02/28/68 In Cold Blood
04/03/68 Benjamin
05/15/68 Blue
05/29/68 Carmen Baby
06/12/68 Cool Hand Luke/Wait Until Dark
06/26/68 Rosemary’s Baby
10/23/68 Barbarella
12/18/68 Bullitt
03/05/69 The Killing of Sister George
04/30/69 Before Winter Comes
05/07/69 Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell/The Night They Raided Minsky's
05/14/69 Cool Hand Luke/Harper
05/21/69 Doctor Zhivago
05/28/69 Hard Contract
06/11/69 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?/The Fox
06/18/69 True Grit
07/09/69 3 into 2 Won’t Go
07/30/69 Me, Natalie
08/13/69 Rosemary’s Baby/Barbarella
08/20/69 Easy Rider
12/17/69 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
03/25/70 Loving
04/15/70 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
04/29/70 Jenny
05/20/70 Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came
06/10/70 Candy/The Killing of Sister George
06/17/70 Getting Straight
08/05/70 Tell Me You Love Me, Junie Moon
08/19/70 Joe
10/28/70 Five Easy Pieces
12/23/70 The Owl and the Pussycat
03/31/71 A New Leaf
05/05/71 Derby
05/26/71 When 8 Bells Toll
06/16/71 Willard
07/28/71 The Panic in Needle Park
08/18/71 Billy Jack
08/25/71 Little Big Man
09/01/71 The Omega Man
09/22/71 Drive, He Said
10/06/71 The Skin Game
10/20/71 The Bus is Coming
11/17/71 T. R. Baskin
12/01/71 Goodbye Columbus/The Sterile Cuckoo
12/08/71 Cold Turkey/Bananas
12/15/71 The Curious Female/The Gay Deceivers
12/22/71 $
01/26/72 Dirty Harry
02/09/72 The Cowboys
03/01/72 Together
03/29/72 I Want What I Want
04/12/72 Fritz the Cat
06/28/72 The War Between Men and Women
07/12/72 Captain Milkshake
07/19/72 Libido
07/26/72 Prime Cut
08/16/72 Come Back, Charleston Blue
09/27/72 Teenage Sex Report
10/04/72 Ghetto Freaks
10/18/72 The Revengers/The Grasshopper
10/25/72 Super Fly
11/08/72 The Valachi Papers
12/20/72 Black Girl
01/24/73 Farewell, Uncle Tom
02/07/73 Slaughter Hotel
02/14/73 Shamus
03/14/73 The Swinging Pussycats/The Swinging Stewardesses
03/21/73 Walking Tall
04/04/73 Ginger/The Abductors
04/18/73 Au Pair Girls
05/02/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/16/73 Massage Parlor '73
05/23/73 A Warm December
06/20/73 The Great Battle
07/04/73 Chain Gang Women/Cindy & Donna
07/11/73 Together
07/25/73 Fox Style
08/01/73 Extreme Close-Up
08/08/73 Heavy Traffic
08/29/73 American Graffiti
12/19/73 The Day of the Dolphin
04/03/74 The Sugarland Express
05/15/74 Claudine
09/25/74 The Longest Yard
10/16/74 Pink Floyd
10/30/74 Flesh Gordon
12/18/74 The Godfather II
03/26/75 The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
05/21/75 The Eiger Sanction
06/25/75 Super Vixens
07/23/75 Beyond the Door
09/24/75 Give 'Em Hell, Harry
10/22/75 Mahogany
12/24/75 Hustle
02/11/76 Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman
03/10/76 Man Friday
03/24/76 Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman
04/07/76 Lipstick
05/19/76 The Missouri Breaks
06/30/76 Buffalo Bill and the Indians
07/14/76 The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars
09/22/76 The Brotherhood of Death
10/06/76 The Return of A Man Called Horse
10/20/76 Diary of a Rape
11/03/76 Norman, Is That You?
11/10/76 Two-Minute Warning
12/15/76 The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Throughout this period, the Embassy was one of Washington’s more elite first-run houses. Many of the pictures it showed were critically acclaimed and/or big box-office hits. In the late 1960s many of the big “youth” pictures were featured there. Only occasionally would the theater resort to bringing in a double bill of reissues or moving over a picture which had just finished playing at Loew’s Palace. Its location at Connecticut Avenue and Florida Avenue made it last a bit longer as a prestige house than the bigger movie palaces further downtown, but by the early ‘70s, the Embassy too began showing “blaxploitation” and soft-core X-rated pornography films. Beginning with its long showing of “American Graffiti,” the Embassy turned back to mostly showing mainstream studio fare, albeit, day-and-dating those films with other theaters in suburban malls.
Part of the history of a great theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films and opening dates which played the Capitol Theater in DC from 11/20/57 until its closing in August 1963. Research is from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety. The dates are the Wednesday of the week in which the film first opened as in those days, movies usually premiered on a Wednesday instead of Fridays as they do now.
11/20/57 Les Girls
12/18/57 Don’t Go Near the Water
01/22/58 Legend of the Lost
02/05/58 The Seven Hills of Rome
02/19/58 The Gift of Love
02/26/58 The Lady Takes a Flyer
03/05/58 Underwater Warrior
03/12/58 Saddle the Wind
03/26/58 Merry Andrew
04/16/58 Paris Holiday
04/30/58 The Long Hot Summer
05/21/58 The Sheepman
05/28/58 This Happy Feeling
06/04/58 High School Confidential
06/18/58 Thunder Road
06/25/58 The Bravados
07/09/58 King Creole
07/23/58 The Badlanders
08/06/58 Twilight of the Gods
08/20/58 The Hunters
09/03/58 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
10/22/58 Torpedo Run
11/05/58 Party Girl
11/19/58 Tunnel of Love
12/17/58 tom thumb
12/31/58 Some Came Running
02/11/59 These Thousand Hills
02/18/59 The Journey
03/04/59 The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
03/11/59 The Night of the Quarter Moon
03/18/59 Some Like it Hot
06/10/59 Warlock
06/17/59 The Mysterians
06/24/59 Ask Any Girl
07/08/59 Say One For Me
07/29/59 Last Train from Gun Hill
08/19/59 Holiday for Lovers
09/02/59 Blue Denim
09/16/59 The Blue Angel
09/23/59 A Private’s Affair
10/07/59 The Tingler
10/21/59 Tamango
10/28/59 Five Gates to Hell
11/04/59 The Best of Everything
11/25/59 Beloved Infidel
12/09/59 Duel in the Sun
12/16/59 Journey to the Center of the Earth
12/30/59 Never So Few
01/20/60 The Story on Page One
02/03/60 Pretty Boy Floyd
02/10/60 Toby Tyler
02/24/60 The Last Voyage
03/09/60 The Gazebo
03/23/60 Heller in Pink Tights
04/06/60 Anatomy of a Murder/Room at the Top
04/13/60 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
05/25/60 Giant of Marathon
06/01/60 Five Branded Women
06/08/60 Crack in the Mirror
06/15/60 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
06/29/60 Bells are Ringing
07/27/60 The Bellboy
08/17/60 Murder, Inc.
09/24/60 Let’s Make Love
09/21/60 High Time
10/12/60 (STAGE SHOW)
10/19/60 Ruby
10/26/60 September Storm
11/09/60 Where the Hot Wind Blows
11/16/60 North to Alaska
11/30/60 Esther and the King
12/14/60 The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
12/28/60 Where the Boys Are
01/25/61 Village of the Damned
02/15/61 Circle of Deception
02/22/61 Gorgo
03/01/61 Cry for Happy
03/15/61 The Crowning Experiment
03/22/61 The Millionairess
03/29/61 Gone With the Wind
05/10/61 Atlantis, the Lost Continent
05/24/61 The Big Show
05/31/61 Two Loves
06/07/61 Gidget Goes Hawaiian
06/14/61 Wild in the Country
06/21/61 Snow White and the Three Stooges
07/05/61 Homicidal
07/12/61 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
07/26/61 Francis of Assisi
08/09/61 The Honeymoon Machine
08/23/61 The Pit and the Pendulum
08/30/61 Ada
09/13/61 A Thunder of Drums
09/27/61 Scream of Fear
10/04/61 Bridge to the Sun
10/18/61 Imitation of Life/Operation Petticoat
10/25/61 Twenty Plus Two
11/08/61 Mr. Sardonicus
11/15/61 Bachelor in Paradise
12/13/61 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Gigi
12/20/61 Flower Drum Song
01/24/62 Sail a Crooked Ship
02/07/62 The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse
03/07/62 Colossus of Rhodes
03/14/62 Battleground/Go for Broke
03/21/62 Sweet Bird of Youth
04/18/62 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
05/09/62 Ride the High Country
05/16/62 All Fall Down
05/23/62 The Last of the Vikings
05/30/62 The Cabinet of Caligari
06/06/62 It Happened in Athens
06/13/62 The Magic Sword/The Mighty Ursus
06/20/62 Reprieve
06/27/62 Hatari
07/25/62 Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
08/08/62 The Notorious Landlady
08/29/62 Tarzan Goes to India
09/05/62 The 300 Spartans
09/19/62 Father of the Bride/Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
09/26/62 The Tartars
10/03/62 No Man is an Island
10/17/62 Almost Angels/Lady and the Tramp
10/31/62 Escape from East Berlin
11/07/62 Fancy Pants/The Seven Little Foys
11/14/62 (STAGE SHOW)
11/21/62 Period of Adjustment
12/12/62 King of Kings
12/19/62 It’s Only Money
12/26/62 The Lion
01/16/63 The Hook
01/30/63 Sodom and Gomorrah
02/13/63 Samson and the Seven Miracles
02/20/63 Follow the Boys
03/06/63 Show Boat/The Great Caruso
03/13/63 Papa’s Delicate Condition
03/20/63 The Swordsmen of Siena/Cairo
03/27/63 War and Peace
04/03/63 Madame
04/10/63 My Six Loves
04/24/63 Nine Hours to Rama
06/01/63 Ben-Hur
05/08/63 Corridors of Blood/Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory
05/15/63 Cattle King
05/22/63 In the Cool of the Day
05/29/63 Hud
06/19/63 The Nutty Professor
07/03/63 Jason and the Argonauts
07/17/63 A Gathering of Eagles
07/31/63 Flipper
08/14/63 Captain Sindbad
08/25/63 A Ticklish Affair
“A Ticklish Affair” was the last film to play a first-run engagement at the Capitol. The very same week Loew’s opened a brand-new theater, the Embassy as its replacement. The Embassy was located at 1907 Florida Avenue. The Capitol was dmeolished in 1964.
Ron3853
commented about
Cinemaon
Aug 19, 2004 at 1:31 pm
To the best of my knowledge, it was the KB chain which opened the Cinema in April 1965.
I am continually in the process of putting the film schedules for the great old movie palaces (1960-1975) on their respective listings here on the Cinema Treasures website. Check other theaters in NYC, PHL, DC, PGH and other big cities, as I hope to get around to all of them eventually. It is most interesting to see the similarities and differences in film scheduling in different cities. Thanks.
All 3 of thse films were roadshow films with reserved seats. After 1969 there were only a few more films shown that way, most of which played in New York City at the Criterion, Rivoli, or Warner.
I lived in NYC from 1985-1990 and from 1995-1997. The only time I got to see a film in Loew’s State was in the fall of 1986. The film was “Star Trek IV.” I think the theater closed soon afterwards.
Listed below are the first-run films and their opening dates which played Loew’s State 1 & 2 after it was “twinned” in 1968 up through December 1975. Research is from microfilms of The New York Times and Variety. Dates listed are the Wednesday of the week that the film first opened.
State 1
01/01/69 Oliver!
12/17/69 Gaily, Gaily
01/07/70 Without A Stitch
03/18/70 The Boys in the Band
06/17/70 On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
08/26/70 The People Next Door
09/16/70 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute)
11/11/70 Threesome
12/02/70 The Student Nurses/The Love Doctors
12/16/70 Love Story
06/23/71 Le Mans
07/28/71 Billy Jack
08/11/71 The Omega Man
09/29/71 The Skin Game
10/20/71 T. R. Baskin
11/24/71 Man in the Wilderness
12/15/71 $
01/19/72 Straw Dogs
03/15/72 The Godfather
06/14/72 The Burglars
06/28/72 Prime Cut
08/02/72 The New Centurions
10/18/72 Lady Sings the Blues
11/01/72 The Valachi Papers
12/20/72 The Getaway
03/14/73 Lost Horizon
05/23/73 Let the Good Times Roll
07/04/73 Oklahoma Crude
07/25/73 Badge 373
08/01/73 Maurie
08/15/73 Enter the Dragon
10/17/73 The Way We Were
12/12/73 Papillon
03/27/74 The Great Gatsby
06/19/74 Chinatown
08/21/74 The Longest Yard
10/16/74 The Odessa File
12/11/74 The Godfather II
03/12/75 Funny Lady
08/13/75 Farewell, My Lovely
10/15/75 Rooster Cogburn
12/24/75 The Hindenburg
State 2
01/01/69 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
05/07/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/28/69 Once Upon a Time in the West
06/18/69 Mackenna’s Gold
07/23/69 Castle Keep
10/01/69 Change of Mind
10/15/69 Paint Your Wagon
02/04/70 The Looking Glass War
03/18/70 The Liberation of L. B. Jones
04/22/70 Hi, Mom!
05/27/70 Beneath the Planet of the Apes
06/24/70 Kelly’s Heroes
07/22/70 You Can’t Win ‘Em All
08/12/70 Lovers and Other Strangers
10/07/70 Monte Walsh
10/28/70 The Owl and the Pussycat
02/03/71 Doctors’ Wives
03/10/71 THX 1138
03/31/71 Flight of the Doves
04/14/71 My Secret Life
05/12/71 10 Rillington Place
06/16/71 The Anderson Tapes
08/04/71 The Love Machine
09/15/71 The Steagle
10/06/71 The French Connection
12/22/71 Dirty Harry
01/26/72 X Y and Zee
03/15/72 The Godfather
08/02/72 Super Fly
12/20/72 Up the Sandbox
01/31/73 Shamus
02/28/73 The Thief Who Came to Dinner
03/21/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/16/73 The Day of the Jackal
07/25/73 The Mackintosh Man
08/16/72 Enter the Dragon
09/19/73 Hit!
10/17/73 Charley Varrick
11/21/73 Ash Wednesday
12/19/73 The Sting
02/13/74 Crazy Joe
02/27/74 Man on a Swing
03/27/74 The Great Gatsby
06/19/74 The Terminal Man
07/18/74 My Name is Nobody
10/16/74 Airport 1975
12/11/74 The Godfather II
02/12/75 The Stepford Wives
03/19/75 The Four Musketeers
04/16/75 Capone
05/21/75 Lepke
06/11/75 Night Moves
06/25/75 The Drowning Pool
07/23/75 W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings
08/07/75 The Devil’s Rain
09/17/75 Bang
10/01/75 Framed
10/08/75 Mahogany
12/25/75 Hustle
Unfortunately, I do not yet have a week-to-week listing for New York City for these years—only the first-run films with theaters and opening dates. The films listed above are only first-run bookings for State 1 & 2—they do not include reissues and what is probably many cases, moveovers from one auditorium to another. Even after being twinned, Loew’s State continued to get the Times Square booking for many big pictures, until 1975 when Loew’s opened its new Astor Plaza around the corner on 45th Street.
I’m from Pittsburgh, but it was the same in every big city in the mid-60s…the studios had more product than first-run theaters in which to show them (particularly when good product led to long runs in the downtown movie palaces), so they put together networks of second-run neighborhood houses to serve as first-run houses for a week or two for films that were more cheaply-made or of an exploitational type…good examples would be the Elvis Presley or Jerry Lewis vehicles which came out two or more times a year. Using names like “Showcase” “Red Carpet” and “Blue Ribbon,” they made it seem like it was something special that you didn’t have to go all the way downtown on the trolley to see a new release.
In my opinion, the greedy studios in conjunction with the nation’s largest theater chains have totally ruined the once pleasurable pastime of moviegoing. They can have their 24-screen multiplex with stadium seating and cup-holders in the seats! It was much better in the old days when downtown theaters showed first-run films exclusively and neighborhood theaters with balconies got them on second-run as part of a double feature. You could see virtually everything but art films at the local “Bijou” or “Orpheum” in your own neighborhood and even walk to the theater. A wonderful bygone era. Somebody invent a time machine so I can go back to the days of Ike and Mamie!
Below is a list of the motion pictures that played at the Fulton Theater from Jul. 2, 1958 to Decemnber 31, 1963. Films from 1964 to 1975 will be listed in later posts due to space consideration. Research is from microfilms of Variety and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Pittsburgh Press. The dates listed are the Wednesday of the week that the film opened, as in those days new films opened on Wednesdays, rather than the Friday openings we have today.
07/02/58 A Time to Love, A Time to Die
07/16/58 Kathy O
07/23/58 Twilight for the Gods
08/06/58 Sierra Baron
08/13/58 A Certain Smile
08/27/58 Raw Wind in Eden
09/03/58 The Law and Jake Wade
09/10/58 Dunkirk
09/17/58 A Tale of Two Cities
09/24/58 Harry Black and the Tiger
10/01/58 Villa
10/08/58 The Barbarian and the Geisha
10/22/58 Secret Conclave
10/29/58 The Blob/I Married a Monster from Outer Space
11/05/58 Tom Sawyer
11/12/58 Torpedo Run
11/19/58 Mardi Gras
12/10/58 The Restless Years
12/17/58 The World in His Arms/Bend of the River
12/24/58 The Roots of Heaven
01/07/59 The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
01/21/59 No Name on the Bullet
01/28/59 The Perfect Furlough
02/18/59 The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
02/25/59 Never Steal Anything Small
03/04/59 A Night to Remember
03/18/59 The Night of the Quarter Moon
03/25/59 Stranger in My Arms
04/01/59 Imitation of Life
05/27/59 Compulsion
06/10/59 A Woman Obsessed
06/17/59 The Man Who Could Cheat Death/Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure
06/24/59 This Earth is Mine
07/22/59 Holiday for Lovers
08/05/59 The Mummy
08/12/59 Go Johnny Go
08/19/59 Blue Denim
09/16/59 Tamango
09/30/59 Five Gates to Hell
10/14/59 Pillow Talk
11/25/59 Beloved Infidel
12/16/59 No Way Out
12/23/59 Operation Petticoat
02/17/60 Masters of the Congo Jungle
03/02/60 The Story on Page One
03/09/60 Dog of Flanders
03/23/60 The Glenn Miller Story
04/06/60 The Snow Queen/Circus Stars
04/20/60 Wake Me When It’s Over
05/04/60 Flame Over India
05/11/60 Crack in the Mirror
05/25/60 Wild River
06/01/60 The Cossacks
06/08/60 David and Bathsheba
06/15/60 Operation Amsterdam
06/22/60 Brides of Dracula
06/29/60 Portrait of Black
07/27/60 The Lost World
08/10/60 From the Terrace
09/14/60 Carousel
09/21/60 September Storm
10/05/60 Desire in the Dust
10/12/60 Key Witness/The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
10/19/60 The Secret of the Purple Reef
10/26/60 The Miracle Fatima
11/02/60 Midnight Lace
11/16/60 North to Alaska
12/07/60 Esther and the King
12/21/60 The Grass is Greener
02/01/61 Flaming Star
02/08/61 Circle of Deception
02/15/61 The Great Imposter
03/29/61 All Hands on Deck
04/12/61 Sanctuary
04/26/61 The Secret Ways
05/03/61 The Right Approach
05/10/61 Question 7
05/17/61 The Big Show
05/24/61 Five Golden Hours/Mad Dog Coll
06/07/61 The Last Sunset
06/28/61 Snow White and the 3 Stooges
07/05/61 Master of the World
07/19/61 Tammy Tell Me True
08/02/61 Spartacus
08/23/61 Come September
10/04/61 The Hustler
11/01/61 Back Street
12/06/61 Mr. Sardonicus
12/13/61 Mysterious Island
12/27/61 The Second Time Around
01/10/62 Sail A Crooked Ship
01/17/62 Bachelor Flat
02/06/62 CLOSED – REMODELING
02/28/62 El Cid
06/13/62 Lisa
06/20/62 Advise and Consent
07/04/62 Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
07/18/62 The Notorious Landlady
08/08/62 Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
08/22/62 The Interns
10/03/62 Marco Polo
10/10/62 Pressure Point
10/24/62 Requiem for a Heavyweight
11/14/62 The Manchurian Candidate
12/19/62 The Longest Day
03/20/63 Love is a Ball
04/03/63 The Miracle of the White Stallions
04/17/63 My Six Loves
04/24/63 I Could Go on Singing
05/01/63 Lawrence of Arabia
06/19/63 Bye Bye Birdie
07/24/63 The Great Escape
08/21/63 Irma La Douce
10/23/63 Twilight of Honor
11/06/63 Shock Corridor
11/13/63 Under the Yum Yum Tree
12/18/63 The Cardinal
Part of the history of a great theater is the films which played there. This is especially true of the Radio City Music Hall, the largest theater in New York City, and truly the “Showplace of the Nation.” I have enjoyed reading the comments posted wherein people remember visits to the Hall and the films that were showing there. Listed below are the films which played at Radio City Music Hall from late 1959 to 1975. Research is from microfilms of Variety and The New York Times. The date listed is the Wednesday of the week that the film opened. In those days, most new films opened on that day, not on Fridays as they do now. I believe in most cases, the RCMH opened its films and new stageshows on Thursdays, although there may be instances where this was not the case.
11/11/59 The Miracle
12/02/59 Operation Petticoat
01/20/60 Never So Few
02/10/60 Once More, With Feeling
03/02/60 Home From the Hill
03/30/60 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
05/18/60 Pollyanna
06/22/60 Bells are Ringing
08/10/60 Song Without End
09/21/60 The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
10/12/60 Midnight Lace
11/09/60 The World of Suzie Wong
12/07/60 The Sundowners
01/18/61 Where the Boys Are
02/15/61 Cimarron
03/15/61 The Absent-Minded Professor
05/03/61 Parrish
05/31/61 The Pleasure of His Company
07/05/61 Fanny
09/06/61 Come September
10/04/61 Breakfast at Tiffany's
11/08/61 Flower Drum Song
12/13/61 Babes in Toyland
01/10/62 A Majority of One
02/07/62 Lover Come Back
03/14/62 Rome Adventure
04/04/62 Moon Pilot
05/16/62 Bon Voyage
06/13/62 That Touch of Mink
08/22/62 The Music Man
09/26/62 Gigot
10/31/62 Gypsy
12/05/62 Billy Rose’s “Jumbo"
01/09/63 The Days of Wine and Roses
02/06/63 To Kill a Mockingbird
03/13/63 A Girl Named Tamiko
04/02/63 Bye Bye Birdie
05/15/63 Spencer’s Mountain
06/05/63 Come Blow Your Horn
07/31/63 The Thrill of it All
09/18/63 The VIPs
10/23/63 Mary, Mary
11/13/63 The Wheeler Dealers
12/04/63 Charade
01/22/64 The Prize
02/19/64 Captain Newman, MD
03/18/64 The World of Henry Orient
04/22/64 The Pink Panther
05/20/64 The Chalk Garden
07/15/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
09/23/64 Mary Poppins
11/11/64 Send Me No Flowers
12/09/64 Father Goose
01/27/65 36 Hours
03/03/65 Dear Heart
03/31/65 Operation Crossbow
05/12/65 The Yellow Rolls-Royce
07/14/65 The Sandpiper
09/15/65 The Great Race
11/03/65 Never Too Late
12/01/65 That Darn Cat
01/19/66 Judith
02/16/66 Inside Daisy Clover
03/16/66 The Singing Nun
05/04/66 Arabesque
06/08/66 The Glass-Bottom Boat
07/13/66 How to Steal a Million
09/21/66 Kaleidoscope
10/12/66 Any Wednesday
11/09/66 Penelope
11/30/66 Follow Me, Boys!
01/18/67 Hotel
02/15/67 The 25th Hour
03/08/67 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
04/26/67 Two for the Road
05/24/67 Barefoot in the Park
08/16/67 Up the down Staircase
09/27/67 The Bobo
10/25/67 Wait Until Dark
11/29/67 The Happiest Millionaire
01/17/68 How to Save a Marriage & Ruin Your Life
02/07/68 Sweet November
02/28/68 The Secret War of Harry Frigg
03/20/68 The One & Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
05/01/68 The Odd Couple
08/07/68 Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
09/18/68 Hot Millions
10/16/68 Bullitt
12/04/68 The Impossible Years
01/15/69 The Brotherhood
02/12/69 Mayerling
03/12/69 The Love Bug
04/23/69 If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
05/21/69 Winning
07/02/69 True Grit
08/27/69 The Gypsy Moths
09/24/69 The Christmas Tree
10/22/69 Hail, Hero!
11/12/69 The Brain
12/03/69 A Boy Named Charlie Brown
01/21/70 Viva, Max!
02/11/70 …tick…tick…tick…
03/04/70 Airport
05/27/70 The Out-of-Towners
07/22/70 Darling Lili
09/23/70 Sunflower
10/28/70 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
11/18/70 Scrooge
01/20/71 Promise at Dawn
02/17/71 Wuthering Heights
03/10/71 A New Leaf
05/12/71 Plaza Suite
06/30/71 Murphy’s War
07/28/71 The Red Tent
09/01/71 See No Evil
09/29/71 Kotch
10/27/71 The Railway Children
11/10/71 Bedknobs and Broomsticks
01/12/72 The Cowboys
02/02/72 Mary, Queen of Scots
03/08/72 What’s Up, Doc?
05/03/72 Play it Again, Sam
05/31/72 The War Between Men and Women
07/05/72 Butterflies are Free
08/16/72 The Last of the Red Hot Lovers
09/20/72 Cancel My Reservation
10/18/72 When the Legends Die
11/08/72 1776
01/31/73 The World’s Greatest Athlete
02/21/73 Charlotte’s Web
03/14/73 Tom Sawyer
05/16/73 Mary Poppins
06/27/73 40 Carats
08/08/73 Night Watch
09/26/73 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler
10/17/73 The Optimists
11/07/73 Robin Hood
01/31/74 Superdad
03/06/74 Mame
05/16/74 The Black Windmill
06/05/74 Herbie Rides Again
07/10/74 The Tamarind Seed
08/21/74 The Girl From Petrovka
From this point, my records only show first-run films that were reviewed in The New York Times. Certainly, the films below did not have such long runs, indicating that the Hall began to be used for other events or was dark.
11/06/74 The Little Prince
03/05/75 At Long Last Love
05/21/75 The Wind and the Lion
06/25/75 Bite the Bullet
07/30/75 Hennessy
11/04/75 The Sunshine Boys
As can be seen, during the period from 1959 to 1975, most of the films which played at Radio City Music Hall were indeed, family-friendly, which along with the accompanying stage shows were selected to draw in not only New York residents but the large tourist trade. There were only rare instances when RCMH featured a film with “adult” themes, such as “The Days of Wine & Roses,” “The World of Suzie Wong,” and “The Sandpiper.” Of course, many big films received their American and NYC premieres there. A number of films which played the Hall were those which were set in NYC. And special consideration was given to booking films from the Walt Disney studios, cute romantic comedies, and the film versions of successful plays and musicals from Broadway which in New York had built-in name recognition. Almost all of the films which were made from Neil Simon comedies got their NY premiere at the Hall. Finally, a big consideration was given to films which had the name box-office stars of the time such as Cary Grant, Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Sophia Loren, Julie Andrews, Goldie Hawn, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Debbie Reynolds, James Garner, Paul Newman, John Wayne.
(If I have made omissions or there are corrections, please post and let visitors to this fine website know. I realize from reading above that these films are listed in a book about the Hall, but not all of us have access to it, and so they are now on this site. My research and interest in films began in 1958 when I was only 5, so perhaps someone who has access to data about the films which played there in earlier decades will be kind enough to put it here. I am trying to get my research information on the Cinema Treasures website for all of the major theaters in the large cities around the country so it will be easy for future theater scholars to find it. Thank you.)
Listed below are the films which played Loew’s State from 12/16/59 to 12/31/68 when the theater opened up in it’s new “twin format.” Research is from microfilms of Variety and The New York Times. The dates listed are the Wednesdays of the film’s opening week, as most films in that era opened on that day, unlike the Friday openings that occur now.
12/16/59 Ben-Hur (6th week – eventually played 74 weeks!)
04/26/61 Gone With the Wind
08/23/61 The Honeymoon Machine
10/04/61 DARK
10/11/61 King of Kings
03/07/62 The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse
04/11/62 All Fall Down
05/09/62 The Horizontal Lieutenant
06/13/62 Lolita
09/26/62 A Very Private Affair
10/31/62 DARK
11/07/62 Mutiny on the Bounty
07/31/63 DARK
08/07/63 Jason and the Argonauts
08/28/63 Wives and Lovers
10/02/63 The Running Man
10/23/63 Lawrence of Arabia (pop prices)
11/20/63 Under the Yum Yum Tree
12/25/63 Love With the Proper Stranger
03/11/64 Becket
09/23/64 Of Human Bondage
10/07/64 Fail-Safe
10/28/64 The Americanization of Emily
12/23/64 The Pleasure Seekers
01/13/65 Baby, the Rain Must Fall
01/27/65 Dear Brigitte
02/10/65 Sylvia
02/24/65 Lord Jim
06/23/65 Von Ryan’s Express
08/25/65 Morituri
10/06/65 The Agony and the Ecstasy
03/02/66 The Oscar
05/18/66 Lady L
06/22/66 Born Free
07/27/66 Assault on a Queen
08/24/66 Walk, Don’t Run
09/07/66 Fantastic Voyage
09/28/66 The Bible
11/01/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Doctor Dolittle
08/21/68 The Legend of Lylah Clare
/ /68 CLOSED FOR TWINNING
12/11/68 Oliver -State I
12/18/68 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – State II
During this time the State exclusively played many of the various “roadshow” pictures that were released, with regular first-run releases sandwiched in between. In the early 60s, theaters which played big roadshow presentations would often go “DARK” for a week before the premiere for cleaning and installation of new projection equipment.
01/01/67 Penelope
01/04/67 Arrivederci, Baby
01/11/67 Any Wednesday
01/18/67 The Venetian Affair
01/25/67 Warning Shot
02/01/67 The Quiller Memorandum
02/15/67 The Night of the Generals
03/08/67 The Mikado (2 days)
03/10/67 A Covenant With Death
03/15/67 Hotel
04/05/67 In Like Flint
05/03/67 Hombre
05/31/67 Caprice
06/14/67 Hurry Sundown
06/28/67 The Dirty Dozen
08/09/67 The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
08/16/67 The Naked Runner
08/23/67 A Guide for the Married Man
10/04/67 Rough Night in Jericho
10/18/67 Bonnie and Clyde
11/01/67 Waterhole # 3
11/15/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Valley of the Dolls
02/28/68 Bonnie and Clyde
04/03/68 Planet of the Apes
05/08/68 Sweet November
05/15/68 A Stranger in Town
05/29/68 Madigan
06/05/68 Chubasco
06/12/68 The Double Man
06/19/68 Bandolero
07/03/68 The Green Berets
07/24/68 Five Card Stud
08/07/68 Rosemary’s Baby
09/25/68 The Stranger Returns
10/02/68 Pretty Poison
10/09/68 The Split
10/16/68 If He Hollers, Let Him Go
10/30/68 The Boston Strangler
11/27/68 The Lady in Cement
12/18/68 Candy
01/29/69 Up Tight
02/12/69 Hellfighters
02/26/69 The Sergeant
03/05/69 The Wrecking Crew
03/26/69 They Came to Rob Las Vegas
04/02/69 100 Rifles
04/23/69 Hell in the Pacific
04/30/69 Riot
05/07/69 Bullitt/Harper
05/14/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/21/69 A Fine Pair
05/28/69 Winning
06/18/69 Che!
07/02/69 The Wild Bunch
07/16/69 The Lost Man
07/30/69 The Chairman
08/06/69 Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?
08/20/69 The Great Bank Robbery
08/27/69 A Stranger in Town/The Stranger Returns
09/03/69 The Italian Job
09/10/69 On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who…
09/17/69 The Learning Tree
09/24/69 Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
10/01/69 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
11/05/69 The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
11/12/69 The Christmas Tree
11/19/69 Change of Mind
11/26/69 The Undefeated
12/10/69 The Detective/The Boston Strangler
12/17/69 Fanny Hill
12/24/69 The Reivers
01/28/70 The Arrangement
02/18/70 …tick…tick…tick…
03/04/70 The Last of the Mobile Hotshots
03/11/70 Fuego
03/18/70 The Sterile Cuckoo/True Grit
03/25/70 The Adventurers
04/29/70 Bloody Mama
05/13/70 The Last Grenade/To Commit a Murder
05/20/70 Without a Stitch
06/03/70 The Losers
06/17/70 Sleeping Beauty
07/01/70 Chisum
07/15/70 The Boatniks
07/22/70 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
08/19/70 Too Late the Hero
08/26/70 Soldier Blue
09/23/70 Whirlpool
10/07/70 House of Dark Shadows
10/14/70 Monte Walsh
10/21/70 Mondo Cane I & II
10/28/70 C.C. and Company
11/04/70 Beast of Blood/Curse of the Vampires
11/11/70 Son of Flubber
11/25/70 Dirty Dingus Magee
12/09/70 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner/To Sir, With Love
12/16/70 Gone With the Wind
12/23/70 The Aristocats
01/13/71 There Was a Crooked Man…
01/20/71 The Great White Hope
02/03/71 Cotton Comes to Harlem/They Call Me Mister Tibbs
02/10/71 The Last Valley
02/17/71 Get Carter
02/24/71 The Statue
03/03/71 Horror of Frankenstein/Scars of Dracula
03/10/71 Airport
03/17/71 Sudden Terror
03/24/71 Midnight Cowboy/In the Heat of the Night
03/31/71 Equinox
04/07/71 Waterloo
04/14/71 Patton/MASH
05/12/71 The Stewardesses
06/23/71 Escape from the Planet of the Apes
06/30/71 Fools' Parade
07/07/71 Klute
07/14/71 Willard
08/25/71 Murphy’s War
09/01/71 Soul to Soul
09/15/71 Daughters of Darkness
09/22/71 The Grissom Gang
09/29/71 Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
10/13/71 See No Evil
10/27/71 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/03/71 Ryan’s Daughter
11/17/71 They Call Me Trinity
11/24/71 Black Jesus
12/01/71 Born to Win
12/08/71 Cold Turkey/Bananas
12/15/71 A Fisful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More/Hang ‘Em High
12/22/71 Straw Dogs
Over this period, the Stanley’s bill of fare began to change, as for as films were concerned. Although there was still the occasional Disney premiere, the big downtown houses began to feature films that were more action-oriented, as well as films for black audiences and the occasional soft-core pornography film. Many weeks a bill or reissues was thrown in until the next big action picture such as war films or westerns was available.
Films Which Played the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh – 1964-1966
01/01/64 Four for Texas
01/08/64 Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed?
01/15/64 The Incredible Journey
01/29/64 Dead Ringer
02/12/64 Love With the Proper Stranger
02/26/64 Seven Days in May
03/18/64 The Incredible Mr. Limpet
03/25/64 A Tiger Walks
04/01/64 Can-Can/Oklahoma
04/08/64 A Tiger Walks
04/15/64 Advance to the Rear
04/22/64 El Cid
04/29/64 Comedy of Terrors
05/06/64 PT 109/Spencer’s Mountain
05/13/64 The Thin Red Line
05/20/64 Muscle Beach Party
05/27/64 The Bridge on the River Kwai
06/10/64 Flipper’s New Adventure
06/17/64 The Three Lives of Thomasina
06/24/64 Robin and the Seven Hoods
07/08/64 The Moon-Spinners
07/22/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
08/26/64 A House is Not a Home
09/09/64 Station Six-Sahara
09/23/64 Hamlet (2 days)
09/25/64 The Visit
09/30/64 Quo Vadis
10/14/64 The Young Lovers
10/21/64 Kisses for My President
10/28/64 Fate is the Hunter
11/04/64 Rio Conchos
11/18/64 Youngblood Hawke
11/25/64 Goodbye, Charlie
12/16/64 Curse of Frankenstein/Horror of Dracula
12/23/64 Emil and the Detectives
12/30/64 Sex and the Single Girl
01/20/65 Quick, Before It Melts!
01/27/64 The Night Walker/The Finest Hours
02/10/65 36 Hours
02/24/65 None But the Brave
03/10/65 Hush, Hush…Sweet Charlotte
03/31/65 John Goldfarb, Please Come Home
04/14/65 Cheyenne Autumn
05/05/65 Malamondo
05/12/65 Masquerade
05/19/65 Mister Moses
05/26/65 The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
06/02/65 A High Wind in Jamaica
06/09/65 The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
06/16/65 Up From the Beach
06/23/65 In Harm’s Way
07/07/65 The Sons of Katie Elder
07/21/65 The Sandpiper
08/18/65 Harlow
09/01/65 Morituri
09/15/65 Breakfast at Tiffany’s/Sabrina
09/22/65 Once a Thief
09/29/65 Paris Secret
10/06/65 Old Yeller
10/20/65 La Boheme (2 days)
10/22/65 Bunny Lake is Missing
11/03/65 Brigadoon/The Student Prince
11/10/65 Sands of the Kalahari
11/17/65 Red Line 7000
11/24/65 The Cincinnati Kid
12/22/65 That Darn Cat
01/12/66 Do Not Disturb
02/02/66 Our Man Flint
03/02/66 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
03/16/66 The Silencers
04/13/66 The Singing Nun
04/27/66 Harper
05/18/66 The Last of the Secret Agents
05/25/66 The Ten Commandments
06/22/66 Nevada Smith
07/06/66 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
08/24/66 How to Steal a Million
09/21/66 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Butterfield 8
10/05/66 Fantastic Voyage
11/02/66 Kaleidoscope
11/09/66 The Liquidator
11/23/66 Not With My Wife, You Don't
12/07/66 The Great Race/Never Too Late
12/14/66 Our Man Flint/Von Ryan’s Express
12/21/66 Penelope
Part of the history of a theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films that played the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh from June 25, 1958 through December 31, 1977, when it basically ceased operation as a first-run downtown movie palace and became a concert hall for rock bands. Film listings are obtained from microfilms of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Press, and Variety. The dates listed are all Wednesdays, as in those years, new films opened on Wednesdays, unlike the Friday/weekend openings that occur today. Because the Stanley frequently changed its films weekly and putting all of the data into one post would be too lengthy, it will be concentrated into several posts, each containing a number of years.
06/25/58 No Time for Sergeants
07/16/58 The Light in the Forest
07/23/58 King Creole
07/30/58 Indiscreet
08/27/58 The Naked and the Dead
09/10/58 Wind Across the Everglades
09/17/58 Never Love a Stranger
09/24/58 Damn Yankees
10/08/58 La Parisienne
10/15/58 Onionhead
10/22/58 At War With the Army
10/29/58 Man of the West
11/05/58 Gigi
11/19/58 From the Earth to the Moon
11/26/58 Home Before Dark
12/03/58 Party Girl
12/10/58 The Spider
12/17/58 The Geisha Boy
12/31/58 Auntie Mame
03/04/59 The Hanging Tree
03/11/59 The House on Haunted Hill
03/18/59 Rio Bravo
04/08/59 The Tempest
04/15/59 The Shaggy Dog
05/13/59 Al Capone
05/27/59 Tonka
06/03/59 The Young Philadelphians
06/10/59 Thunder in the Sun
06/17/59 Don’t Give Up the Ship
07/01/59 Hercules
07/15/59 Last Train from Gun Hill
07/29/59 The Big Circus
08/12/59 Yellowstone Kelly
08/19/59 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
09/09/59 John Paul Jones
09/16/59 The Bat
09/23/59 That Kind of Woman
09/30/59 Look Back in Anger
10/07/59 The FBI Story
10/21/59 Room 43
10/28/59 Samson and Delilah
11/04/59 -30-
11/11/59 Sign of the Gladiator
11/18/59 A Summer Place
12/16/59 Li'l Abner
12/30/59 The Miracle
01/13/60 Never So Few
01/27/60 Cash McCall
02/03/60 Goliath and the Barbarians
02/17/60 Jack the Ripper
02/24/60 The Bramble Bush
03/09/60 The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
03/16/60 Toby Tyler
03/30/60 The Gene Krupa Story
04/06/60 Anatomy of a Murder/The Nun’s Story
04/13/60 Tall Story
04/20/60 This Rebel Breed
04/27/60 The Angry Red Planet
05/04/60 Kidnapped/Dumbo
05/11/60 The Greatest Show on Earth
05/18/60 Five Branded Women
05/25/60 Sergeant Rutledge
06/01/60 The Sword and the Cross
06/08/60 Circus of Horrors
06/15/60 Hannibal
06/22/60 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
06/29/60 Ice Palace
07/06/60 Why Must I Die?
07/13/60 Pollyanna
07/27/60 The Bellboy
08/10/60 Hercules Unchained
08/17/60 It Started in Naples
08/31/60 Oceans 11
09/21/60 The Crowded Sky
09/28/60 The Fall of the House of Usher
10/05/60 Under 10 Flags
10/12/60 The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
10/19/60 Girl of the Night
11/02/60 Sunrise at Campobello
11/09/60 Journey to the Lost City
11/16/60 A Breath of Scandal
11/23/60 G. I. Blues
12/07/60 Goliath and the Dragon
12/14/60 Cinderfella
12/28/60 The Sundowners
01/18/61 Swiss Family Robinson
02/15/61 The World of Suzie Wong
03/22/61 101 Dalmatians
04/19/61 The Sins of Rachel Cade
04/26/61 The Absent-Minded Professor
05/24/61 One-Eyed Jacks
06/07/61 On the Double
06/21/61 The Ladies Man
07/05/61 The Parent Trap
08/02/61 Parrish
08/16/61 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
08/23/61 Nikki – Wild Dog of the North
08/30/61 Claudelle Inglish
09/06/61 Deadly Companions
09/13/61 Marines, Let’s Go!
09/20/61 The Pit and the Pendulum
10/04/61 Greyfriar’s Bobby
10/11/61 Splendor in the Grass
11/01/61 Breakfast at Tiffany's
11/15/61 Susan Slade
11/22/61 Blue Hawaii
12/06/61 The Mark
12/13/61 Houseboat/Teacher’s Pet
12/20/61 Babes in Toyland
01/17/62 The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
01/24/62 The Errand Boy
01/31/62 Knights of the Round Table/Ivanhoe
02/07/62 A Majority of One
02/21/62 Journey to the 7th Planet
02/28/62 Summer and Smoke
03/07/62 Pinocchio
03/28/62 The Outsider
04/04/62 Splendor in the Grass/Fanny
04/11/62 Moon Pilot
04/25/62 Rome Adventure
05/02/62 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
05/09/62 Last of the Vikings
05/16/62 The Day the Earth Caught Fire
05/23/62 Premature Burial
05/30/62 Escape from Zahrain
06/06/62 Hell is for Heroes
06/13/62 Merrill’s Marauders
06/20/62 Big Red
06/27/62 Bon Voyage
07/18/62 The Music Man
08/29/62 Hatari
09/12/62 The Sky Above, the Mud Below
09/19/62 Rear Window
09/26/62 The Scarface Mob
10/03/62 Almost Angels/Lady and the Tramp
10/17/62 The Chapman Report
10/31/62 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
11/21/62 Girls! Girls! Girls!
11/28/62 Boccaccio ‘70
12/05/62 The Legend of Lobo
12/12/62 Gay Purr-ee/Sayonara
12/19/62 Gypsy
01/30/63 It’s Only Money
02/06/63 Term of Trial
02/13/63 The Hook
02/20/63 Son of Flubber
03/13/63 The Days of Wine and Roses
04/10/63 The Birds
05/01/63 Come Fly With Me
05/08/63 The Yellow Canary
05/15/63 David and Lisa
05/22/63 In the Cool of the Day
05/29/63 The List of Adrian Messenger
06/05/63 The Stripper
06/12/63 It Happened at the World’s Fair
06/19/63 Savage Sam
06/26/63 Donovan’s Reef
07/10/63 Spencer’s Mountain
07/24/63 PT 109
08/07/63 Summer Magic
09/04/63 A Ticklish Affair
09/11/63 Hootenanny Hoot
09/18/63 Women of the World
09/25/63 The VIPs
10/16/63 A New Kind of Love
10/30/63 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
11/13/63 Mary, Mary
11/27/63 Palm Springs Weekend
12/11/63 Wuthering Heights
12/18/63 4 for Texas
As you can see, the Stanley during these years of the early 1960s was Pittsburgh’s primary first-run house for Warner Brothers, Disney, and Paramount Releases, with the occasional American International horror film and beginning in 1963, a major house for MGM, whose films had previously opened at the Penn (now Heinz Hall), but which in 1963 was tied up with the long roadshow run of 20th Century Fox’s “Cleopatra.”
Part of the history of a theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films that played at the Warner Theater from June 25, 1958 to December 31, 1977. Resarch was taken from microfilms of Variety and The Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
06/25/58 Gigi
09/10/58 Windjammer
11/12/58 The Old Man and the Sea
12/10/58 DARK
12/24/58 South Seas Adventure
05/13/59 Seven Wonders of the World
06/03/59 DARK
06/17/59 Sleeping Beauty
07/01/59 The Nun’s Story
08/12/59 The Five Pennies
09/16/59 DARK
10/17/59 The Big Fisherman
12/23/59 Happy Anniversary
01/06/60 The Third Man on the Mountain
01/20/60 Ben-Hur
12/21/60 The Alamo
03/08/61 Exodus
06/28/61 Fanny
08/09/61 The Pleasure of His Company
09/13/61 The King and I
09/20/61 Carousel
09/27/61 Gigi
10/04/61 Never on Sunday
10/11/61 Rocco and His Brothers
10/18/61 The Young Lions/Anastasia
10/25/61 White Christmas
11/08/61 King of Kings
02/14/62 Judgement at Nuremberg
05/02/62 Oklahoma
06/20/62 DARK
06/27/62 The Counterfeit Traitor
07/18/62 My Geisha
08/01/62 DARK
08/08/62 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
12/19/62 In Search of the Castaways
01/23/63 Sodom and Gomorrah
02/13/63 The Best of Cinerama
03/20/63 How the West Was Won
11/06/63 Fantasia
11/20/63 Take Her, She’s Mine
12/18/64 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
07/01/64 Circus World
08/26/64 The Night of the Iguana
10/14/64 Three Penny Opera
10/21/64 Of Human Bondage
11/18/64 The Outrage
12/09/64 Peyton Place/Return to Peyton Place
12/16/64 The Hustler/The Stripper
12/23/64 The Americanization of Emily
01/20/65 The Pleasure Seekers
02/03/65 Dear Brigitte
02/17/65 Sylvia
02/24/65 Those Calloways
03/10/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told
07/21/65 The Hallelujah Trail
10/13/65 The Great Race
01/12/66 The Battle of the Bulge
04/27/66 Russian Adventure
06/08/66 A Big Hand for the Little Lady
06/22/66 Assault on a Queen
07/13/66 Khartoum
08/31/66 A Fine Madness
09/28/66 JFK: Years of Lightning, Days of Drums
10/19/66 The Bible
06/14/67 Grand Prix
10/25/67 Gone With the Wind
06/12/68 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/13/68 Ice Station Zebra
02/12/69 The Shoes of the Fisherman
05/21/69 War and Peace
06/04/69 Slaves
06/25/69 The Love Bug
08/06/69 Ben-Hur
10/08/69 Alfred the Great
10/22/69 deSade
11/19/69 Fanny Hill
12/17/69 Hello, Dolly!
07/01/70 The Sicilian Clan
07/08/70 Myra Breckinridge
08/12/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
09/23/70 The People Next Door
10/07/70 The Seducers
10/14/70 Diary of a Mad Housewife
11/25/70 WUSA
12/23/70 Love Story
05/26/71 The Andromeda Strain
07/14/71 The Anderson Tapes
09/01/71 The Red Tent
09/15/71 Gone With the Wind
10/13/71 Doctor Zhivago
11/17/71 T. R. Baskin
12/08/71 Carry on Camping
12/15/71 Around the World in 80 Days/West Side Story
12/22/71 Star-Spangled Girl
01/12/72 The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
02/02/72 Such Good Friends
02/16/72 The Hot Rock
03/22/72 The Godfather
08/02/72 The Last of the Red Hot Lovers
08/16/72 The New Centurions
10/11/72 Doctor Zhivago
10/18/72 Ryan’s Daughter
10/25/72 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/01/72 Gone With the Wind
11/08/72 Lady Sings the Blues
12/20/72 Pete ‘n’ Tillie
02/07/73 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
02/28/73 Sleuth
04/18/73 Class of ‘44
05/23/73 Hitler: The Last 10 Days
06/27/73 Jesus Christ Superstar
10/31/73 The Way We Were
12/26/73 The Exorcist
06/26/74 Go Ape: Five “Planet of the Apes” Pix
07/03/74 For Pete’s Sake
08/21/74 California Split
09/25/74 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/13/74 Earthquake
03/12/75 Funny Lady
06/25/75 Once is Not Enough
07/23/75 Nashville
10/01/75 A Clockwork Orange/Deliverance
10/15/75 Rooster Cogburn
11/19/75 The Return of the Pink Panther/Love and Death
12/24/75 Hustle
02/18/76 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
03/10/76 Man Friday
03/24/76 The Sunshine Boys
04/07/76 The Bad News Bears
06/23/76 Logan’s Run
08/11/76 Drum
09/15/76 Mahogany/Lady Sings the Blues
10/13/76 Burnt Offerings
11/03/76 Fantastic Invasion
11/17/76 Carrie
12/22/76 Nickelodeon
02/07/77 The Cassandra Crossing
03/23/77 Airport '77
06/01/77 Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger
06/15/77 The Exorcist II: The Heretic
07/27/77 Breaking Training
08/24/77 The Other Side of Midnight
09/14/77 DARK
09/21/77 You Light Up My Life
10/12/77 Black Sunday
10/19/77 Barbarella
10/26/77 Bobby Deerfield
12/07/77 DARK
12/14/77 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
All dates listed are the Wedenesday of the opening week. Films from 1978 to 1983 when the Warner closed will be listed in a later post.
Part of the history of a great movie theater is the films that played there. Listed below are most films which played at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon from 1960-1970. The dates listed are all Wedenesdays of the week the film opened, as in those days, most new films started on a Wednesday instead of Fridays as they do now. Research is from microfilms of The Portland Oregonian (1964-68) and Variety (1960-70).
12/16/59 L'il Abner/Counterplot
01/06/60 Happy Anniversary/Timbuktu
01/13/60 The Wreck of the Mary Deare/Libel
01/20/60 The Amazing Transparent Man/Get Outta Town
01/27/60 Samson and Delilah/Ulysses
02/10/60 On the Beach
03/30/60 Heller in Pink Tights/A Touch of Larceny
04/06/60 Visit to a Small Planet/Circus Stars
04/20/60 The Bridges of Toko-Ri/The Country Girl
04/27/60 House of Intrigue/Web of Evidence
05/04/60 The Fugitive Kind/The Music Box Kid
05/18/60 Kidnapped/In the Money
05/25/60 The Gallant Hours/The Boy and the Pirates
06/01/60 Five Branded Women/Walk Like a Dragon
06/08/60 The Angry Red Planet/The Plunderers of Painted Flats
06/15/60 Macumba Love/Take a Giant Step
06/22/60 Circus of Horrors/The Fighting Wildcats
06/29/60 The Apartment/Gunfighters of Abilene
07/13/60 The Bellboy/Tarzan the Magnificent
07/27/60 The Rat Race/Chance Meeting
08/10/60 STAGE SHOW
08/17/60 Elmer Gantry/Cage of Evil
08/31/60 It Started in Naples/Prisoner of the Volga
09/07/60 All the Fine Young Cannibals/Davy
09/14/60 Private Property/A Question of Infidelity
09/21/60 JOHNNY MATHIS/VICTOR BORGE CONCERTS
09/28/60 Under 10 Flags/The Boy Who Stole a Million
10/05/60 For Members Only/Mating Time
10/19/60 Heroes Die Young/Sex Kittens Go to College
10/26/60 Dial M for Murder/Strangers on a Train
11/02/60 Ten Who Dared/The Hong Kong Affair
11/16/60 A Breath of Scandal/New Orleans After Dark
11/23/60 G. I. Blues/Legion of the Doomed
12/14/60 Cinderfella/Police Dog Story
12/28/60 The Facts of Life/Operation Bottleneck
01/18/61 Swiss Family Robinson/Mysteries of the Deep
02/22/61 The Misfits/Frontier Uprising
03/08/61 The World of Suzie Wong
04/05/61 All in a Night’s Work/Blueprint for Robbery
04/12/61 The Absent-Minded Professor
05/31/61 Vera Cruz/Apache
06/07/61 Look in Any Window/Unwed Mother
06/14/61 One-Eyed Jacks/Foxhole in Cairo
06/28/61 By Love Possessed/The Cat Burglar
07/12/61 The Ladies Man//Night Ambush
07/26/61 STAGE SHOW
08/09/61 Nikki—Wild Dog of the North/Dondi
08/16/61 On the Double/Deadly Companions
08/23/61 Not Tonight, Henry/Next to No Time
09/20/61 Armored Command/The Serengeti Shall Not Die
09/27/61 Question 7
10/04/61 The Lovers/Not Tonight, Henry/Blond Blackmailer seized by the law
10/11/61 Paris Blues/The Flight That Disappeared
10/18/61 Greyfriar’s Bobby/The Boy Who Caught a Crook
10/25/61 The Lovers (returned after winning legal challenge)
11/22/61 Blue Hawaii/It Takes a Thief
12/06/61 STAGE SHOW
12/13/61 The Train/Blonde Sinner
12/20/61 Pocketful of Miracles
01/17/62 The Happy Thieves/Deadly Duo
01/24/62 Siege of Syracuse/Hey, Let’s Twist!
01/31/62 Flight of the Lost Balloon/The Day the Sky Exploded
02/07/62 Qustion 7
02/14/62 Too Late Blues/Lost Battalion
02/21/62 Sergeants 3/Hell Drivers
03/07/62 Pinocchio
03/28/62 Knights of the Round Table/Ivanhoe
04/04/62 The Outsider/Blast of Silence
04/11/62 Splendor in the Grass/Fanny
04/18/62 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence/Brushfire
05/09/62 King of Kings (popscale)
05/23/62 The Rose Tattoo/The Proud & the Profane
05/30/62 Escape from Zahrain/The Matchmaker
06/13/62 Big Red/The Living Desert
06/27/62 The Road to Hong Kong/The Nun and the Sergeant
07/18/62 My Geisha/Air Patrol
07/25/62 The Delicate Delinquent/The Sad Sack
08/01/62 STAGE SHOW
08/15/62 Hatari/Safe at Home
09/05/62 Tales of Terror/The Dead One
09/12/62 Tarzan Goes to India/The Tartars
09/19/62 Karamoija/Ritual of Love
09/26/62 Convicts 4/The Frightened City
10/03/62 Pressure Point/Summer of the 17th Doll (Season of Passion)
10/10/62 Almost Angels/Lady and the Tramp
10/31/62 The Manchurian Candidate/The Valiant
11/21/62 Girls! Girls! Girls!/Story of the Count of Monte Cristo
12/05/62 Portrait of a Sinner/Playgirl After Dark
12/19/62 In Search of the Castaways
01/23/63 The Longest Day
04/10/63 The Miracle of the White Stallions/The Brave One
04/24/63 I Could Go on Singing/Mary Had a Little
05/01/63 The Hook/Escape from East Berlin
05/08/63 Hercules and the Captive Women/Battle Beyond the Sun
05/15/63 Mondo Cane/Stark Fear
05/22/63 In the Cool of the Day/Rififi in Tokyo
05/29/63 Dr. No/Five Miles to Midnight
06/05/63 Poor White Trash/Cash McCall
06/12/63 Call Me Bwana/Hero’s Island
06/26/63 Cleopatra
03/18/64 Wuthering Heights/Our Very Own
03/25/64 The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao/Flipper
04/01/64 God’s Little Acre/I Want to Live
04/08/64 Mail Order Bride
04/15/64 Voodoo Village/Girls of the Night
04/22/64 Night Must Fall/Murder at the Gallop
04/29/64 Act One/Gypsy
05/06/64 Advance to the Rear/The Defiant Ones
05/13/64 The Best Man/The Bramble Bush
05/20/64 The Horror of Party Beach/Curse of the Living Corpse
05/27/64 Rhino!/The Golden Arrow
06/03/64 Witches' Curse/The Flesh-Eaters
06/10/64 The Three Lives of Thomasina
07/01/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
09/16/64 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
11/11/64 STAGE SHOW
11/18/64 My Fair Lady
10/06/65 Mary Poppins (why did this take so long to open in
Portland?)
02/09/66 The Great Race
03/02/66 Made in Paris/The Hill
03/23/66 The Spy With My Face/To Trap a Spy
04/06/66 Doctor Zhivago
02/15/67 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (another film that opened
way late in Portland – why?)
03/15/67 The Mikado (3/15-16 only)
05/10/67 Hawaii
11/15/67 Camelot
06/05/68 War and Peace
06/12/68 Speedway/Day of the Evil Gun
07/03/68 The Odd Couple
11/20/68 Funny Girl
05/28/69 A Fine Pair/Twisted Nerve
06/04/69 Baby Love/A Bullet for the General
06/11/69 Fraulein Doktor/Waterhole #3
06/18/69 My Side of the Mountain/Hello, Down There
06/25/69 True Grit/Where’s Jack?
08/27/69 Stiletto/Woman Times Seven
09/17/69 Sweden, Heaven, and Hell/Deadly Sweet
10/01/69 The Italian Job/Ace High
10/08/69 Blow-Up/Lolita
10/22/69 Mondo Hollywood/The Devil’s Mistress
10/29/69 Paint Your Wagon
05/27/70 The Adventurers
07/08/70 The Out-of-Towners/Norwood
09/16/70 Cherry, Harry, and Raquel
09/30/70 The ABCs of Marriage
10/14/70 Diary of a Mad Housewife
Films from 1971-1975 will be posted as soon as research has been completed.
Actually Bill, believe or not…I’ve never lived in DC, although I have lived in NYC, Chicago, but mostly Pittsburgh. I’ve made it a hobby to research first-run theaters in various cities to see what movies they played each week. I always liked the DC movie theaters ever since I visited the city wih my family on a vacation when I was 11. That’s why I chose to put DC on this website first. Check out other cities and theaters in Washington for more lists as I can add them.
I still have more researching to do, as so far I’ve been trying to get 34 cities from the period 1960-1975. Trying to borrow microfilms of other cities' old newspapers is a process that is slower than molasses in January and they will only lend you 6 reels at a time.
I hope to eventually get all research on this website for posterity from 1957-1981 for all 34 cities that I have been researching…and NYC will be my biggest challenge.
I know that “Star Wars” in its first release at the Uptown did play over a year. Watch for another posting at some time and I’ll take the theater up to December 31, 1981.
Part of the history of a motion picture theater is the movies that were shown there. Listed below are the films which played at the Keith’s Theater in Washington, DC from 1957-1971. Due to the extreme number of bookings, the films from 1972 through the end of the theater’s days will be provided in a second posting. Research is from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety.
11/27/57 My Man Godfrey (2nd week)
12/04/57 Monolith Monster/Love Slave
12/11/57 Land Unknown/Slim Carter
12/18/57 The Sad Sack
01/01/58 The Tarnished Angels
01/15/58 All Mine to Give
01/22/58 Old Yeller
02/26/58 Paths of Glory
03/19/58 Missouri Traveler
03/26/58 Day of the Bad Man/Damn Citizen!
04/02/58 Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
04/16/58 Run Silent, Run Deep
05/21/58 God’s Little Acre
06/11/58 Peter Pan
06/25/58 Horror of Dracula/The Thing That Couldn’t Die
07/02/58 The Vikings
08/27/58 Raw Wind in Eden
09/03/58 Adam and Eve
09/10/58 Me and the Colonel
10/08/58 The Defiant Ones
10/29/58 Man of the West
11/12/58 Gigi
12/17/58 The Buccaneer
01/14/59 The Geisha Boy
01/28/59 The Perfect Furlough
02/11/59 I Want to Live!
03/18/59 Tempest
04/01/59 Imitation of Life
05/13/59 Thunder in the Sun
05/27/59 Pork Chop Hill
06/10/59 Shake Hands With the Devil
06/24/59 The Horse Soldiers
08/05/59 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
09/02/59 The Devil’s Disciple
09/30/59 Ten Seconds to Hell
10/07/59 The Wonderful Country
10/14/59 But Not for Me
10/28/59 Samson and Delilah
11/11/59 Odds Against Tomorrow
11/25/59 Third Man on the Mountain/Dumbo
12/16/59 On the Beach
02/17/60 Who Was That Lady?
04/06/60 The Unforgiven
05/11/60 The Gallant Hours
06/01/60 Sergeant Rutledge
06/08/60 Battle Cry/Sayonara
06/15/60 The Apartment
08/17/60 Elmer Gantry
09/28/60 Night Fighters
10/05/60 Studs Lonigan
10/12/60 The Magnificent Seven
11/09/60 Inherit the Wind
12/21/60 The Facts of Life
02/01/61 The Misfits
03/15/61 Operation Eichmann
03/29/61 The Hoodlum Priest
04/19/61 The Secret Ways
04/26/61 Portrait of a Mobster
05/03/61 Indiscreet/Mister Roberts
05/10/61 Curse of the Werewolf/Shadow of the Cat
05/17/61 Revolt of the Slaves
05/24/61 The Young Savages
06/14/61 The Last Time I Saw Archie
07/12/61 By Love Possessed
08/09/61 Goodbye Again
09/13/61 The Young Doctors
09/27/61 Paris Blues
10/11/61 The Great War
10/18/61 On the Beach
10/25/61 Town Without Pity
11/15/61 Bend of the River/The World in Arms
11/22/61 X-15
12/06/61 The Big Country/A Hole in the Head
12/13/61 Written on the Wind/The Perfect Furlough
12/20/61 Pocketful of Miracles
01/17/62 The Happy Thieves
01/31/62 The Misfits/The Megnificent Seven
02/07/62 Sergeants 3
03/14/62 The Children’s Hour
04/18/62 Cape Fear
05/16/62 Follow That Dream
06/06/62 Geronimo
06/20/62 The Road to Hong Kong
07/11/62 Birdman of Alcatraz
08/08/62 Jack the Giant Killer
08/15/62 Kid Galahad
08/29/62 The Scarface Mob
09/12/62 The Valiant
09/19/62 War Hunt/Sword of the Conqueror
09/26/62 Pressure Point
10/10/62 The Horror Camber of Dr. Faustus/The Manster
10/17/62 Hero’s Island/Something Wild
10/24/62 Tower of London/The Vampire & the Ballerina
10/31/62 The Manchurian Candidate
12/19/62 Taras Bulba
01/30/63 The Raven
02/13/63 No Exit
02/20/63 Five Miles to Midnight
03/13/63 Love is a Ball
03/27/63 Come September/Lover Come Back
04/03/63 I Could Go on Singing
04/17/63 Diary of a Madman/Amazons of Rome
04/24/63 The Apartment/The Misfits
05/01/63 Judgement at Nuremberg
05/08/63 The Mind Benders
05/22/63 Dr. No
06/19/63 Call Me Bwana
07/03/63 The Great Escape
08/21/63 Toys in the Attic
09/11/63 The Caretakers
10/02/63 Johnny Cool
10/16/63 Stolen Hours
10/30/63 Lilies of the Field
11/20/63 McLintock!
12/18/63 Kings of the Sun
01/22/64 Soldier in the Rain
02/12/64 Man in the Middle
02/26/64 One Man’s Way
03/11/64 West Side Story
03/18/64 The Pink Panther
05/20/64 From Russia, With Love
07/01/64 633 Squadron
07/22/64 For Those Who Think Young
08/05/64 Flight From Ashiya
08/12/64 A Hard Day’s Night
08/26/64 The Seventh Dawn
09/09/64 Woman of Straw
10/07/64 Four Days in November
10/14/64 The Secret Invasion
10/28/64 Invitation to a Gunfighter
11/11/64 Tom Jones
11/25/64 Kitten With a Whip
12/23/64 Goldfinger
04/07/65 The Train
06/30/65 I’ll Take Sweden
07/14/65 Masquerade
07/28/65 The Glory Guys
08/11/65 Help!
09/01/65 Billie
09/15/65 Never on Sunday/Topkapi
10/06/65 A Rage to Live
10/20/65 The World of Henry Orient/The Facts of Life
10/27/65 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
11/03/65 Return From the Ashes
11/24/65 The Hallelujah Trail
12/08/65 A Hard Day’s Night/Help!
12/22/65 Thunderball
05/18/66 Duel at Diablo
07/06/66 Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number
08/24/66 What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
09/28/66 Ambush Bay
10/05/66 Goldfinger/Dr. No
10/26/66 Return of the Seven
11/16/66 The Fortune Cookie
12/07/66 A Man Called Adam
12/21/66 After the Fox
01/25/67 A Fistful of Dollars
03/08/67 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
04/26/67 The Alamo
05/10/67 For a Few Dollars More
05/31/67 8 on the Lam
06/21/67 You Only Live Twice
08/30/67 In the Heat of the Night
11/01/67 Beach Red
11/15/67 Hour of the Gun
11/22/67 Operation Kid Brother
11/29/67 Kill a Dragon/Navajo Joe
12/06/67 The Magnificent Seven/Return of the Seven
12/20/67 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
02/14/68 The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
02/21/68 The Billion Dollar Brain
03/06/08 Attack on the Iron Coast/Danger Route
03/13/68 Guns for San Sebastian
04/03/68 The Scalphunters
05/01/68 Yours, Mine, and Ours
05/29/68 The Devil’s Brigade
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
08/28/68 Hang ‘Em High
10/02/68 Salt and Pepper
10/23/68 The Ugly Ones
10/30/68 From Russia, With Love/Thunderball
11/20/68 West Side Story
12/18/68 The Night They Raided Minsky's
01/15/69 Play Dirty
02/05/69 Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
02/19/69 They Came to Rob Las Vegas
03/05/69 Rachel, Rachel/The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
03/19/69 Sam Whiskey
03/26/69 Goldfinger/Dr. No
04/02/69 Support Your Local Sheriff
05/07/69 A Fistful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More
05/28/69 Where It’s At
06/04/69 Guns of the Magnificent Seven
06/18/69 Uncle Tom’s Cabin
07/02/69 The Bridge at Remagen
07/16/69 Death Rides a Horse
07/30/69 Midnight Cowboy
11/12/69 Hang 'Em High/The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
11/26/69 The Battle of Britain
12/17/69 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
02/11/70 Female Animal
03/04/70 What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?
03/25/70 Halls of Anger
04/15/70 The Mercenary
04/22/70 Skullduggery
04/29/70 Midnight Cowboy/Alice’s Restaurant
05/13/70 A Long Ride from Hell/The Last Grenade
05/20/70 Barquero
06/03/70 One More Time
06/10/70 Cotton Comes to Harlem
08/12/70 They Call Me Mister Tibbs
09/16/70 (4) Clint Eastwood Westerns
09/23/70 Hornet’s Nest
09/30/70 Underground
10/07/70 Sabata
10/21/70 Cannon for Cordoba
10/28/70 West Side Story
11/04/70 a. k. a. Cassius Clay/In the Heat of the Night
11/18/70 Witchcraft '70
11/25/70 The McKenzie Break
12/09/70 Kama Sutra
12/23/70 You Only Live Twice/Thunderball
01/27/71 Burn!
02/17/71 Dorian Gray
02/24/71 Midnight Cowboy
03/03/71 Airport
03/10/71 Frazier vs. Ali
03/24/71 Raid on Rommel
05/05/71 The Beguiled
05/19/71 Cotton Comes to Harlem/They Call Me Mister Tibbs
06/09/71 What’s the Matter With Helen?
06/23/71 Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die
06/30/71 The Grissom Gang
07/14/71 Lawman
08/11/71 Von Richthofen and Brown
08/18/71 Adios, Sabata
09/15/71 Doc
10/06/71 Black Jesus
10/13/71 They Call Me Trinity
10/27/71 Play Misty for Me
11/10/71 The Organization
12/22/71 Diamonds are Forever
For most of this period the Keith’s was the premiere showcase for United Artists' new releases, back in an era when new films premiered at one theater. In 1968, after the rioting following the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Washington’s downtown theaters began to lose their hold on the first-run openings, and United Artists began to split its films between the Keith’s and the Avalon, with the Keith’s getting the obviously action-oriented films (war films and westerns) and those dealing with black themes.
Ron3853
commented about
Cinemaon
Mar 27, 2004 at 2:26 pm
Films which played at the Cinema from 1965-1976 Research from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety. Theater opened 4/1/65.
04/01/65 White Voices
04/07/65 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
05/19/65 Nobody Waved Goodbye
06/09/65 All These Women
06/16/65 The Yellow Rolls-Royce
09/29/65 The Ipcress File
12/22/65 Bunny Lake is Missing
02/02/66 Where the Spies Are
03/02/66 Lord Love a Duck
03/16/66 The Sleeping Car Murders
04/27/66 Cast a Giant Shadow
05/25/66 The Guns of Navarone
06/29/66 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
11/09/66 La Dolce Vita
11/23/66 10:30 PM Summer
12/21/66 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
03/15/67 Hotel
04/12/67 The Deadly Affair
05/24/67 The Honey Pot
07/12/67 The Family Way
09/20/67 The Flim-Flam Man
10/18/67 Point Blank
11/22/67 More Than a Miracle
12/20/67 The Graduate
01/29/69 The Subject Was Roses
03/05/69 Funny Girl
10/15/69 Take the Money and Run
12/17/69 John and Mary
02/25/70 The Magic Christian
03/25/70 Woodstock
06/24/70 Catch-22
12/23/70 Love Story
07/07/71 McCabe and Mrs. Miller
08/25/71 The Hellstrom Chronicle
10/06/71 The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
10/20/71 The Steagle
11/10/71 Bless the Beasts and Children
12/01/71 Glen and Randa
12/22/71 Straw Dogs
02/09/72 A Clockwork Orange
06/28/72 Portnoy’s Complaint
08/16/72 The New Centurions
10/04/72 Deliverance
12/20/72 The Getaway
02/14/73 Steelyard Blues
03/07/73 Billy Jack
03/28/73 Fantasia
04/11/73 Scarecrow
06/27/73 The Last of Sheila
07/18/73 O Lucky Man
09/19/73 Bang the Drum Slowly
10/24/73 The Paper Chase
12/26/73 The Exorcist
06/12/74 Buster and Billie
07/10/74 Our Time
08/14/74 The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
10/16/74 The Gambler
11/20/74 Ladies and Gentlemen…The Rolling Stones
12/18/74 The Night Porter
01/29/75 Murder on the Orient Express
03/26/75 Tommy
07/02/75 Nashville
10/08/75 Three Days of the Condor
12/24/75 Barry Lyndon
02/18/76 (repertory film festival showings)
02/25/76 Taxi Driver
04/07/76 All the President’s Men
06/30/76 The Big Bus
09/15/76 The Tenant
10/13/76 Marathon Man
12/22/76 The Last Tycoon
The Cinema was one of the most desired theaters in the Washington DC area during the late 1960s and 1970s for film studios to exhibit their product, as witness the many popular films that played first-run engagements there as well as the length of those engagements. Yes, “The Graduate” played there over a year and most of the other films were youth-oriented hits and box-office smashes of their year.
All of the listings above were either first-run bookings or official studio reissues such as “The Guns of Navarone” and “La Dolce Vita.”
Part of a theater’s history are the films that played there. Listed below are the films which played the Warner Theater in Washington, DC from 1957-71. Research was gathered from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety.
11/27/57 Seven Wonders of the World (49th week)
01/15/58 Search for Paradise
10/15/58 Windjammer
12/17/58 South Seas Adventure
10/07/59 The Big Fisherman
12/16/59 House of Intrigue
12/23/59 Operation Petticoat
03/09/60 DARK
03/16/60 Ben-Hur
01/18/61 Spartacus
06/28/61 Two Rode Together
07/12/61 Fanny
09/13/61 Come September
10/25/61 DARK
11/01/61 King of Kings
02/14/62 Judgement at Nuremberg
06/13/62 El Cid
08/29/62 The Spiral Road
09/12/62 West Side Story
11/21/62 Mutiny on the Bounty
04/24/63 DARK
05/01/63 The Ugly American
05/29/63 55 Days at Peking
06/26/63 Cleopatra
04/01/64 The Fall of the Roman Empire
06/24/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
08/26/64 The Night of the Iguana
10/07/64 A House is Not a Home
11/25/64 My Fair Lady
10/27/65 The Great Race
02/02/66 Doctor Zhivago
02/15/67 Hawaii
07/19/67 Ulysses
11/08/67 Camelot
06/12/68 Doctor Dolittle
09/18/68 Helga
10/23/68 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
11/06/68 Star!
02/05/69 Riot
02/19/69 Inga
03/26/69 Hell in the Pacific
04/09/69 Michael and Helga
04/23/69 A Bullet for the General
04/30/69 The Oldest Profession
05/14/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/21/69 Slaves
06/25/69 The Lost Man
07/30/69 Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?
08/27/69 Paranoia
09/17/69 The Man from Nowhere
09/24/69 Planet of the Apes/Valley of the Dolls
10/08/69 Change of Mind
10/22/69 Fanny Hill
12/17/69 Hello, Dolly!
05/27/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
06/24/70 Too Late the Hero
07/08/70 The Christine Jorgensen Story
07/22/70 Fanny Hill/The Man from O.R.G.Y.
07/29/70 Night of Bloody Horror
08/26/70 Soldier Blue
09/16/70 Whirlpool
10/07/70 Cherry, Harry, and Raquel
11/04/70 Pattern of Evil
12/23/70 He and She
01/27/71 Interplay
02/03/71 The Minx/The Female
02/10/71 The Brazen Women of Balzac
02/24/71 The ABCs of Marriage
03/10/71 Beyond Love and Evil
03/24/71 Naked and Free
03/31/71 Enjoy
04/21/71 Zodiac Couples
04/28/71 Censorship USA
05/12/71 Kama Sutra ‘71
07/21/71 Soldier Blue/C.C. and Company
07/28/71 Patton/MASH
08/11/71 Dr. No/From Russia, With Love
As noted above, the theater began as the Earle, although it was originally to have been called the Cosmopolitan. In 1947 Harry Warner was in Washington and saw the name Earle on the marquee. “I own that theater. Put my name up there,” he said, which is the origin of the theater’s name being changed to the Warner Theater.
As happened with many other downtown Washington theaters, the Warner fell victim to changes in the wind, particularly after the rioting following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. Film studios were by this time premiering their new releases in newer first-run thaters in suburban shopping centers, forcing many downtown palaces to play second run films and X-rated sexploitation films. This happened to the Warner in its last two years. At least the final regular booking was that good old standby, 007.
In August 1971 the theater was sold by RKO-Stanley Warner Theaters, virtually ending it’s days as a downtown picture palace, although thankfully, this beautiful ediface is still standing and operating with concerts (The Rolling Stones performed there in 1978), stage productions, and the occasional movie. I first saw the theater in August 1964 while with my family on a vacation to the nation’s capitol. “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” with Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell, was playing and when I wanted to see it, I was told that we would wait until it played at a theater back home. We did see it, three weeks later, but it would have been nice to see it at the Warner.
As you can see there were occasional spells where no appropriate new first-run films were available to be released, such as 1960, 1961, and the mid-70s, so the Uptown occasionally resorted to second-run rilms or rereleases played there to fill in until the next big box-office spectacular worthy of the theater was ready for release. This accounts for the double features as well as the foreign films.
In the first half of the 1970s, MGM trotted out “Gone With the Wind,” “2001,” and “Doctor Zhivago” every year as a part of what it called “MGM’s Big 3.” In some cities it was “MGM’s Big 4” with “Ryan’s Daughter” added. Usually this package played at one of the theaters in each city which had formerly shown “roadshow” films.
For excellent reading regarding motion picture theaters in Washington, D.C., try MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITION IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF PARLORS, PALACES AND MULTIPLEXES IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA, 1894-1997, by Robert K. Headley, published by McFarland & Company, Publishers in 1999.
Part of the history of a classic theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films that played at Loew’s Embassy from its opening day in 1963 until 1976. Research is from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety. The dates listed are the Wednesday of the film’s opening week, as in those days, new films usually opened on a Wednesday instead of the Friday openings we have now.
08/28/63 Wives and Lovers
09/18/63 In the French Style
10/09/63 A New Kind of Love
11/13/63 Take Her, She’s Mine
12/11/63 Twilight of Honor
12/25/63 The Prize
02/12/64 The Victors
03/25/64 Mail Order Bride
04/01/64 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
06/24/64 Robin and the 7 Hoods
08/12/64 The New Interns
09/09/64 West Side Story
09/23/64 The Visit
10/21/64 Girl With Green Eyes
12/23/64 Marriage, Italian Style
03/10/65 Strange Bedfellows
04/21/65 The Truth About Spring
05/19/65 Divorce, Italian Style/Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
05/26/65 The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
06/23/65 Cat Ballou
09/01/65 Casanova ‘70
10/06/65 Darling
10/27/65 Mickey One
11/03/65 Dr. Strangelove/Fail-Safe
11/10/65 King Rat
12/08/65 Cat Ballou/The Collector
12/22/65 The 10th Victim
01/26/66 The Heroes of Telemark
02/16/66 The Chase
03/09/66 The Group
04/27/66 Dear John
07/06/66 This Property is Condemned
07/27/66 How to Steal a Million
10/12/66 Alfie
02/01/67 The Night of the Generals
03/15/67 Hurry Sundown
05/10/67 You’re a Big Boy Now
05/24/67 The Happening
05/31/67 The Caper of the Golden Bulls
06/14/67 Barefoot in the Park
08/23/67 The Bobo
09/06/67 Luv
09/23/67 Emily (The Americanization of Emily)
10/11/67 Reflections in a Golden Eye
12/20/67 Wait Until Dark
02/28/68 In Cold Blood
04/03/68 Benjamin
05/15/68 Blue
05/29/68 Carmen Baby
06/12/68 Cool Hand Luke/Wait Until Dark
06/26/68 Rosemary’s Baby
10/23/68 Barbarella
12/18/68 Bullitt
03/05/69 The Killing of Sister George
04/30/69 Before Winter Comes
05/07/69 Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell/The Night They Raided Minsky's
05/14/69 Cool Hand Luke/Harper
05/21/69 Doctor Zhivago
05/28/69 Hard Contract
06/11/69 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?/The Fox
06/18/69 True Grit
07/09/69 3 into 2 Won’t Go
07/30/69 Me, Natalie
08/13/69 Rosemary’s Baby/Barbarella
08/20/69 Easy Rider
12/17/69 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
03/25/70 Loving
04/15/70 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
04/29/70 Jenny
05/20/70 Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came
06/10/70 Candy/The Killing of Sister George
06/17/70 Getting Straight
08/05/70 Tell Me You Love Me, Junie Moon
08/19/70 Joe
10/28/70 Five Easy Pieces
12/23/70 The Owl and the Pussycat
03/31/71 A New Leaf
05/05/71 Derby
05/26/71 When 8 Bells Toll
06/16/71 Willard
07/28/71 The Panic in Needle Park
08/18/71 Billy Jack
08/25/71 Little Big Man
09/01/71 The Omega Man
09/22/71 Drive, He Said
10/06/71 The Skin Game
10/20/71 The Bus is Coming
11/17/71 T. R. Baskin
12/01/71 Goodbye Columbus/The Sterile Cuckoo
12/08/71 Cold Turkey/Bananas
12/15/71 The Curious Female/The Gay Deceivers
12/22/71 $
01/26/72 Dirty Harry
02/09/72 The Cowboys
03/01/72 Together
03/29/72 I Want What I Want
04/12/72 Fritz the Cat
06/28/72 The War Between Men and Women
07/12/72 Captain Milkshake
07/19/72 Libido
07/26/72 Prime Cut
08/16/72 Come Back, Charleston Blue
09/27/72 Teenage Sex Report
10/04/72 Ghetto Freaks
10/18/72 The Revengers/The Grasshopper
10/25/72 Super Fly
11/08/72 The Valachi Papers
12/20/72 Black Girl
01/24/73 Farewell, Uncle Tom
02/07/73 Slaughter Hotel
02/14/73 Shamus
03/14/73 The Swinging Pussycats/The Swinging Stewardesses
03/21/73 Walking Tall
04/04/73 Ginger/The Abductors
04/18/73 Au Pair Girls
05/02/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/16/73 Massage Parlor '73
05/23/73 A Warm December
06/20/73 The Great Battle
07/04/73 Chain Gang Women/Cindy & Donna
07/11/73 Together
07/25/73 Fox Style
08/01/73 Extreme Close-Up
08/08/73 Heavy Traffic
08/29/73 American Graffiti
12/19/73 The Day of the Dolphin
04/03/74 The Sugarland Express
05/15/74 Claudine
09/25/74 The Longest Yard
10/16/74 Pink Floyd
10/30/74 Flesh Gordon
12/18/74 The Godfather II
03/26/75 The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
05/21/75 The Eiger Sanction
06/25/75 Super Vixens
07/23/75 Beyond the Door
09/24/75 Give 'Em Hell, Harry
10/22/75 Mahogany
12/24/75 Hustle
02/11/76 Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman
03/10/76 Man Friday
03/24/76 Emmanuelle: The Joys of a Woman
04/07/76 Lipstick
05/19/76 The Missouri Breaks
06/30/76 Buffalo Bill and the Indians
07/14/76 The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars
09/22/76 The Brotherhood of Death
10/06/76 The Return of A Man Called Horse
10/20/76 Diary of a Rape
11/03/76 Norman, Is That You?
11/10/76 Two-Minute Warning
12/15/76 The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Throughout this period, the Embassy was one of Washington’s more elite first-run houses. Many of the pictures it showed were critically acclaimed and/or big box-office hits. In the late 1960s many of the big “youth” pictures were featured there. Only occasionally would the theater resort to bringing in a double bill of reissues or moving over a picture which had just finished playing at Loew’s Palace. Its location at Connecticut Avenue and Florida Avenue made it last a bit longer as a prestige house than the bigger movie palaces further downtown, but by the early ‘70s, the Embassy too began showing “blaxploitation” and soft-core X-rated pornography films. Beginning with its long showing of “American Graffiti,” the Embassy turned back to mostly showing mainstream studio fare, albeit, day-and-dating those films with other theaters in suburban malls.
Part of the history of a great theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films and opening dates which played the Capitol Theater in DC from 11/20/57 until its closing in August 1963. Research is from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety. The dates are the Wednesday of the week in which the film first opened as in those days, movies usually premiered on a Wednesday instead of Fridays as they do now.
11/20/57 Les Girls
12/18/57 Don’t Go Near the Water
01/22/58 Legend of the Lost
02/05/58 The Seven Hills of Rome
02/19/58 The Gift of Love
02/26/58 The Lady Takes a Flyer
03/05/58 Underwater Warrior
03/12/58 Saddle the Wind
03/26/58 Merry Andrew
04/16/58 Paris Holiday
04/30/58 The Long Hot Summer
05/21/58 The Sheepman
05/28/58 This Happy Feeling
06/04/58 High School Confidential
06/18/58 Thunder Road
06/25/58 The Bravados
07/09/58 King Creole
07/23/58 The Badlanders
08/06/58 Twilight of the Gods
08/20/58 The Hunters
09/03/58 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
10/22/58 Torpedo Run
11/05/58 Party Girl
11/19/58 Tunnel of Love
12/17/58 tom thumb
12/31/58 Some Came Running
02/11/59 These Thousand Hills
02/18/59 The Journey
03/04/59 The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
03/11/59 The Night of the Quarter Moon
03/18/59 Some Like it Hot
06/10/59 Warlock
06/17/59 The Mysterians
06/24/59 Ask Any Girl
07/08/59 Say One For Me
07/29/59 Last Train from Gun Hill
08/19/59 Holiday for Lovers
09/02/59 Blue Denim
09/16/59 The Blue Angel
09/23/59 A Private’s Affair
10/07/59 The Tingler
10/21/59 Tamango
10/28/59 Five Gates to Hell
11/04/59 The Best of Everything
11/25/59 Beloved Infidel
12/09/59 Duel in the Sun
12/16/59 Journey to the Center of the Earth
12/30/59 Never So Few
01/20/60 The Story on Page One
02/03/60 Pretty Boy Floyd
02/10/60 Toby Tyler
02/24/60 The Last Voyage
03/09/60 The Gazebo
03/23/60 Heller in Pink Tights
04/06/60 Anatomy of a Murder/Room at the Top
04/13/60 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
05/25/60 Giant of Marathon
06/01/60 Five Branded Women
06/08/60 Crack in the Mirror
06/15/60 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
06/29/60 Bells are Ringing
07/27/60 The Bellboy
08/17/60 Murder, Inc.
09/24/60 Let’s Make Love
09/21/60 High Time
10/12/60 (STAGE SHOW)
10/19/60 Ruby
10/26/60 September Storm
11/09/60 Where the Hot Wind Blows
11/16/60 North to Alaska
11/30/60 Esther and the King
12/14/60 The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
12/28/60 Where the Boys Are
01/25/61 Village of the Damned
02/15/61 Circle of Deception
02/22/61 Gorgo
03/01/61 Cry for Happy
03/15/61 The Crowning Experiment
03/22/61 The Millionairess
03/29/61 Gone With the Wind
05/10/61 Atlantis, the Lost Continent
05/24/61 The Big Show
05/31/61 Two Loves
06/07/61 Gidget Goes Hawaiian
06/14/61 Wild in the Country
06/21/61 Snow White and the Three Stooges
07/05/61 Homicidal
07/12/61 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
07/26/61 Francis of Assisi
08/09/61 The Honeymoon Machine
08/23/61 The Pit and the Pendulum
08/30/61 Ada
09/13/61 A Thunder of Drums
09/27/61 Scream of Fear
10/04/61 Bridge to the Sun
10/18/61 Imitation of Life/Operation Petticoat
10/25/61 Twenty Plus Two
11/08/61 Mr. Sardonicus
11/15/61 Bachelor in Paradise
12/13/61 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Gigi
12/20/61 Flower Drum Song
01/24/62 Sail a Crooked Ship
02/07/62 The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse
03/07/62 Colossus of Rhodes
03/14/62 Battleground/Go for Broke
03/21/62 Sweet Bird of Youth
04/18/62 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
05/09/62 Ride the High Country
05/16/62 All Fall Down
05/23/62 The Last of the Vikings
05/30/62 The Cabinet of Caligari
06/06/62 It Happened in Athens
06/13/62 The Magic Sword/The Mighty Ursus
06/20/62 Reprieve
06/27/62 Hatari
07/25/62 Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
08/08/62 The Notorious Landlady
08/29/62 Tarzan Goes to India
09/05/62 The 300 Spartans
09/19/62 Father of the Bride/Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
09/26/62 The Tartars
10/03/62 No Man is an Island
10/17/62 Almost Angels/Lady and the Tramp
10/31/62 Escape from East Berlin
11/07/62 Fancy Pants/The Seven Little Foys
11/14/62 (STAGE SHOW)
11/21/62 Period of Adjustment
12/12/62 King of Kings
12/19/62 It’s Only Money
12/26/62 The Lion
01/16/63 The Hook
01/30/63 Sodom and Gomorrah
02/13/63 Samson and the Seven Miracles
02/20/63 Follow the Boys
03/06/63 Show Boat/The Great Caruso
03/13/63 Papa’s Delicate Condition
03/20/63 The Swordsmen of Siena/Cairo
03/27/63 War and Peace
04/03/63 Madame
04/10/63 My Six Loves
04/24/63 Nine Hours to Rama
06/01/63 Ben-Hur
05/08/63 Corridors of Blood/Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory
05/15/63 Cattle King
05/22/63 In the Cool of the Day
05/29/63 Hud
06/19/63 The Nutty Professor
07/03/63 Jason and the Argonauts
07/17/63 A Gathering of Eagles
07/31/63 Flipper
08/14/63 Captain Sindbad
08/25/63 A Ticklish Affair
“A Ticklish Affair” was the last film to play a first-run engagement at the Capitol. The very same week Loew’s opened a brand-new theater, the Embassy as its replacement. The Embassy was located at 1907 Florida Avenue. The Capitol was dmeolished in 1964.
To the best of my knowledge, it was the KB chain which opened the Cinema in April 1965.
I am continually in the process of putting the film schedules for the great old movie palaces (1960-1975) on their respective listings here on the Cinema Treasures website. Check other theaters in NYC, PHL, DC, PGH and other big cities, as I hope to get around to all of them eventually. It is most interesting to see the similarities and differences in film scheduling in different cities. Thanks.
I believe that the very last film to be shown in a roadshow “Reserved Seat” manner was “Last Tango in Paris” beginning in April 1973.
All 3 of thse films were roadshow films with reserved seats. After 1969 there were only a few more films shown that way, most of which played in New York City at the Criterion, Rivoli, or Warner.
Audrey Hepburn and Dame Edith Evans are still turning in their graves over that one!
I lived in NYC from 1985-1990 and from 1995-1997. The only time I got to see a film in Loew’s State was in the fall of 1986. The film was “Star Trek IV.” I think the theater closed soon afterwards.
Listed below are the first-run films and their opening dates which played Loew’s State 1 & 2 after it was “twinned” in 1968 up through December 1975. Research is from microfilms of The New York Times and Variety. Dates listed are the Wednesday of the week that the film first opened.
State 1
01/01/69 Oliver!
12/17/69 Gaily, Gaily
01/07/70 Without A Stitch
03/18/70 The Boys in the Band
06/17/70 On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
08/26/70 The People Next Door
09/16/70 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute)
11/11/70 Threesome
12/02/70 The Student Nurses/The Love Doctors
12/16/70 Love Story
06/23/71 Le Mans
07/28/71 Billy Jack
08/11/71 The Omega Man
09/29/71 The Skin Game
10/20/71 T. R. Baskin
11/24/71 Man in the Wilderness
12/15/71 $
01/19/72 Straw Dogs
03/15/72 The Godfather
06/14/72 The Burglars
06/28/72 Prime Cut
08/02/72 The New Centurions
10/18/72 Lady Sings the Blues
11/01/72 The Valachi Papers
12/20/72 The Getaway
03/14/73 Lost Horizon
05/23/73 Let the Good Times Roll
07/04/73 Oklahoma Crude
07/25/73 Badge 373
08/01/73 Maurie
08/15/73 Enter the Dragon
10/17/73 The Way We Were
12/12/73 Papillon
03/27/74 The Great Gatsby
06/19/74 Chinatown
08/21/74 The Longest Yard
10/16/74 The Odessa File
12/11/74 The Godfather II
03/12/75 Funny Lady
08/13/75 Farewell, My Lovely
10/15/75 Rooster Cogburn
12/24/75 The Hindenburg
State 2
01/01/69 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
05/07/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/28/69 Once Upon a Time in the West
06/18/69 Mackenna’s Gold
07/23/69 Castle Keep
10/01/69 Change of Mind
10/15/69 Paint Your Wagon
02/04/70 The Looking Glass War
03/18/70 The Liberation of L. B. Jones
04/22/70 Hi, Mom!
05/27/70 Beneath the Planet of the Apes
06/24/70 Kelly’s Heroes
07/22/70 You Can’t Win ‘Em All
08/12/70 Lovers and Other Strangers
10/07/70 Monte Walsh
10/28/70 The Owl and the Pussycat
02/03/71 Doctors’ Wives
03/10/71 THX 1138
03/31/71 Flight of the Doves
04/14/71 My Secret Life
05/12/71 10 Rillington Place
06/16/71 The Anderson Tapes
08/04/71 The Love Machine
09/15/71 The Steagle
10/06/71 The French Connection
12/22/71 Dirty Harry
01/26/72 X Y and Zee
03/15/72 The Godfather
08/02/72 Super Fly
12/20/72 Up the Sandbox
01/31/73 Shamus
02/28/73 The Thief Who Came to Dinner
03/21/73 The Five Fingers of Death
05/16/73 The Day of the Jackal
07/25/73 The Mackintosh Man
08/16/72 Enter the Dragon
09/19/73 Hit!
10/17/73 Charley Varrick
11/21/73 Ash Wednesday
12/19/73 The Sting
02/13/74 Crazy Joe
02/27/74 Man on a Swing
03/27/74 The Great Gatsby
06/19/74 The Terminal Man
07/18/74 My Name is Nobody
10/16/74 Airport 1975
12/11/74 The Godfather II
02/12/75 The Stepford Wives
03/19/75 The Four Musketeers
04/16/75 Capone
05/21/75 Lepke
06/11/75 Night Moves
06/25/75 The Drowning Pool
07/23/75 W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings
08/07/75 The Devil’s Rain
09/17/75 Bang
10/01/75 Framed
10/08/75 Mahogany
12/25/75 Hustle
Unfortunately, I do not yet have a week-to-week listing for New York City for these years—only the first-run films with theaters and opening dates. The films listed above are only first-run bookings for State 1 & 2—they do not include reissues and what is probably many cases, moveovers from one auditorium to another. Even after being twinned, Loew’s State continued to get the Times Square booking for many big pictures, until 1975 when Loew’s opened its new Astor Plaza around the corner on 45th Street.
Re: Seth’s question on Premiere Showcases
I’m from Pittsburgh, but it was the same in every big city in the mid-60s…the studios had more product than first-run theaters in which to show them (particularly when good product led to long runs in the downtown movie palaces), so they put together networks of second-run neighborhood houses to serve as first-run houses for a week or two for films that were more cheaply-made or of an exploitational type…good examples would be the Elvis Presley or Jerry Lewis vehicles which came out two or more times a year. Using names like “Showcase” “Red Carpet” and “Blue Ribbon,” they made it seem like it was something special that you didn’t have to go all the way downtown on the trolley to see a new release.
In my opinion, the greedy studios in conjunction with the nation’s largest theater chains have totally ruined the once pleasurable pastime of moviegoing. They can have their 24-screen multiplex with stadium seating and cup-holders in the seats! It was much better in the old days when downtown theaters showed first-run films exclusively and neighborhood theaters with balconies got them on second-run as part of a double feature. You could see virtually everything but art films at the local “Bijou” or “Orpheum” in your own neighborhood and even walk to the theater. A wonderful bygone era. Somebody invent a time machine so I can go back to the days of Ike and Mamie!
Below is a list of the motion pictures that played at the Fulton Theater from Jul. 2, 1958 to Decemnber 31, 1963. Films from 1964 to 1975 will be listed in later posts due to space consideration. Research is from microfilms of Variety and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Pittsburgh Press. The dates listed are the Wednesday of the week that the film opened, as in those days new films opened on Wednesdays, rather than the Friday openings we have today.
07/02/58 A Time to Love, A Time to Die
07/16/58 Kathy O
07/23/58 Twilight for the Gods
08/06/58 Sierra Baron
08/13/58 A Certain Smile
08/27/58 Raw Wind in Eden
09/03/58 The Law and Jake Wade
09/10/58 Dunkirk
09/17/58 A Tale of Two Cities
09/24/58 Harry Black and the Tiger
10/01/58 Villa
10/08/58 The Barbarian and the Geisha
10/22/58 Secret Conclave
10/29/58 The Blob/I Married a Monster from Outer Space
11/05/58 Tom Sawyer
11/12/58 Torpedo Run
11/19/58 Mardi Gras
12/10/58 The Restless Years
12/17/58 The World in His Arms/Bend of the River
12/24/58 The Roots of Heaven
01/07/59 The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
01/21/59 No Name on the Bullet
01/28/59 The Perfect Furlough
02/18/59 The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
02/25/59 Never Steal Anything Small
03/04/59 A Night to Remember
03/18/59 The Night of the Quarter Moon
03/25/59 Stranger in My Arms
04/01/59 Imitation of Life
05/27/59 Compulsion
06/10/59 A Woman Obsessed
06/17/59 The Man Who Could Cheat Death/Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure
06/24/59 This Earth is Mine
07/22/59 Holiday for Lovers
08/05/59 The Mummy
08/12/59 Go Johnny Go
08/19/59 Blue Denim
09/16/59 Tamango
09/30/59 Five Gates to Hell
10/14/59 Pillow Talk
11/25/59 Beloved Infidel
12/16/59 No Way Out
12/23/59 Operation Petticoat
02/17/60 Masters of the Congo Jungle
03/02/60 The Story on Page One
03/09/60 Dog of Flanders
03/23/60 The Glenn Miller Story
04/06/60 The Snow Queen/Circus Stars
04/20/60 Wake Me When It’s Over
05/04/60 Flame Over India
05/11/60 Crack in the Mirror
05/25/60 Wild River
06/01/60 The Cossacks
06/08/60 David and Bathsheba
06/15/60 Operation Amsterdam
06/22/60 Brides of Dracula
06/29/60 Portrait of Black
07/27/60 The Lost World
08/10/60 From the Terrace
09/14/60 Carousel
09/21/60 September Storm
10/05/60 Desire in the Dust
10/12/60 Key Witness/The Day They Robbed the Bank of England
10/19/60 The Secret of the Purple Reef
10/26/60 The Miracle Fatima
11/02/60 Midnight Lace
11/16/60 North to Alaska
12/07/60 Esther and the King
12/21/60 The Grass is Greener
02/01/61 Flaming Star
02/08/61 Circle of Deception
02/15/61 The Great Imposter
03/29/61 All Hands on Deck
04/12/61 Sanctuary
04/26/61 The Secret Ways
05/03/61 The Right Approach
05/10/61 Question 7
05/17/61 The Big Show
05/24/61 Five Golden Hours/Mad Dog Coll
06/07/61 The Last Sunset
06/28/61 Snow White and the 3 Stooges
07/05/61 Master of the World
07/19/61 Tammy Tell Me True
08/02/61 Spartacus
08/23/61 Come September
10/04/61 The Hustler
11/01/61 Back Street
12/06/61 Mr. Sardonicus
12/13/61 Mysterious Island
12/27/61 The Second Time Around
01/10/62 Sail A Crooked Ship
01/17/62 Bachelor Flat
02/06/62 CLOSED – REMODELING
02/28/62 El Cid
06/13/62 Lisa
06/20/62 Advise and Consent
07/04/62 Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
07/18/62 The Notorious Landlady
08/08/62 Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
08/22/62 The Interns
10/03/62 Marco Polo
10/10/62 Pressure Point
10/24/62 Requiem for a Heavyweight
11/14/62 The Manchurian Candidate
12/19/62 The Longest Day
03/20/63 Love is a Ball
04/03/63 The Miracle of the White Stallions
04/17/63 My Six Loves
04/24/63 I Could Go on Singing
05/01/63 Lawrence of Arabia
06/19/63 Bye Bye Birdie
07/24/63 The Great Escape
08/21/63 Irma La Douce
10/23/63 Twilight of Honor
11/06/63 Shock Corridor
11/13/63 Under the Yum Yum Tree
12/18/63 The Cardinal
Part of the history of a great theater is the films which played there. This is especially true of the Radio City Music Hall, the largest theater in New York City, and truly the “Showplace of the Nation.” I have enjoyed reading the comments posted wherein people remember visits to the Hall and the films that were showing there. Listed below are the films which played at Radio City Music Hall from late 1959 to 1975. Research is from microfilms of Variety and The New York Times. The date listed is the Wednesday of the week that the film opened. In those days, most new films opened on that day, not on Fridays as they do now. I believe in most cases, the RCMH opened its films and new stageshows on Thursdays, although there may be instances where this was not the case.
11/11/59 The Miracle
12/02/59 Operation Petticoat
01/20/60 Never So Few
02/10/60 Once More, With Feeling
03/02/60 Home From the Hill
03/30/60 Please Don’t Eat the Daisies
05/18/60 Pollyanna
06/22/60 Bells are Ringing
08/10/60 Song Without End
09/21/60 The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
10/12/60 Midnight Lace
11/09/60 The World of Suzie Wong
12/07/60 The Sundowners
01/18/61 Where the Boys Are
02/15/61 Cimarron
03/15/61 The Absent-Minded Professor
05/03/61 Parrish
05/31/61 The Pleasure of His Company
07/05/61 Fanny
09/06/61 Come September
10/04/61 Breakfast at Tiffany's
11/08/61 Flower Drum Song
12/13/61 Babes in Toyland
01/10/62 A Majority of One
02/07/62 Lover Come Back
03/14/62 Rome Adventure
04/04/62 Moon Pilot
05/16/62 Bon Voyage
06/13/62 That Touch of Mink
08/22/62 The Music Man
09/26/62 Gigot
10/31/62 Gypsy
12/05/62 Billy Rose’s “Jumbo"
01/09/63 The Days of Wine and Roses
02/06/63 To Kill a Mockingbird
03/13/63 A Girl Named Tamiko
04/02/63 Bye Bye Birdie
05/15/63 Spencer’s Mountain
06/05/63 Come Blow Your Horn
07/31/63 The Thrill of it All
09/18/63 The VIPs
10/23/63 Mary, Mary
11/13/63 The Wheeler Dealers
12/04/63 Charade
01/22/64 The Prize
02/19/64 Captain Newman, MD
03/18/64 The World of Henry Orient
04/22/64 The Pink Panther
05/20/64 The Chalk Garden
07/15/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
09/23/64 Mary Poppins
11/11/64 Send Me No Flowers
12/09/64 Father Goose
01/27/65 36 Hours
03/03/65 Dear Heart
03/31/65 Operation Crossbow
05/12/65 The Yellow Rolls-Royce
07/14/65 The Sandpiper
09/15/65 The Great Race
11/03/65 Never Too Late
12/01/65 That Darn Cat
01/19/66 Judith
02/16/66 Inside Daisy Clover
03/16/66 The Singing Nun
05/04/66 Arabesque
06/08/66 The Glass-Bottom Boat
07/13/66 How to Steal a Million
09/21/66 Kaleidoscope
10/12/66 Any Wednesday
11/09/66 Penelope
11/30/66 Follow Me, Boys!
01/18/67 Hotel
02/15/67 The 25th Hour
03/08/67 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
04/26/67 Two for the Road
05/24/67 Barefoot in the Park
08/16/67 Up the down Staircase
09/27/67 The Bobo
10/25/67 Wait Until Dark
11/29/67 The Happiest Millionaire
01/17/68 How to Save a Marriage & Ruin Your Life
02/07/68 Sweet November
02/28/68 The Secret War of Harry Frigg
03/20/68 The One & Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
05/01/68 The Odd Couple
08/07/68 Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
09/18/68 Hot Millions
10/16/68 Bullitt
12/04/68 The Impossible Years
01/15/69 The Brotherhood
02/12/69 Mayerling
03/12/69 The Love Bug
04/23/69 If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium
05/21/69 Winning
07/02/69 True Grit
08/27/69 The Gypsy Moths
09/24/69 The Christmas Tree
10/22/69 Hail, Hero!
11/12/69 The Brain
12/03/69 A Boy Named Charlie Brown
01/21/70 Viva, Max!
02/11/70 …tick…tick…tick…
03/04/70 Airport
05/27/70 The Out-of-Towners
07/22/70 Darling Lili
09/23/70 Sunflower
10/28/70 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
11/18/70 Scrooge
01/20/71 Promise at Dawn
02/17/71 Wuthering Heights
03/10/71 A New Leaf
05/12/71 Plaza Suite
06/30/71 Murphy’s War
07/28/71 The Red Tent
09/01/71 See No Evil
09/29/71 Kotch
10/27/71 The Railway Children
11/10/71 Bedknobs and Broomsticks
01/12/72 The Cowboys
02/02/72 Mary, Queen of Scots
03/08/72 What’s Up, Doc?
05/03/72 Play it Again, Sam
05/31/72 The War Between Men and Women
07/05/72 Butterflies are Free
08/16/72 The Last of the Red Hot Lovers
09/20/72 Cancel My Reservation
10/18/72 When the Legends Die
11/08/72 1776
01/31/73 The World’s Greatest Athlete
02/21/73 Charlotte’s Web
03/14/73 Tom Sawyer
05/16/73 Mary Poppins
06/27/73 40 Carats
08/08/73 Night Watch
09/26/73 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler
10/17/73 The Optimists
11/07/73 Robin Hood
01/31/74 Superdad
03/06/74 Mame
05/16/74 The Black Windmill
06/05/74 Herbie Rides Again
07/10/74 The Tamarind Seed
08/21/74 The Girl From Petrovka
From this point, my records only show first-run films that were reviewed in The New York Times. Certainly, the films below did not have such long runs, indicating that the Hall began to be used for other events or was dark.
11/06/74 The Little Prince
03/05/75 At Long Last Love
05/21/75 The Wind and the Lion
06/25/75 Bite the Bullet
07/30/75 Hennessy
11/04/75 The Sunshine Boys
As can be seen, during the period from 1959 to 1975, most of the films which played at Radio City Music Hall were indeed, family-friendly, which along with the accompanying stage shows were selected to draw in not only New York residents but the large tourist trade. There were only rare instances when RCMH featured a film with “adult” themes, such as “The Days of Wine & Roses,” “The World of Suzie Wong,” and “The Sandpiper.” Of course, many big films received their American and NYC premieres there. A number of films which played the Hall were those which were set in NYC. And special consideration was given to booking films from the Walt Disney studios, cute romantic comedies, and the film versions of successful plays and musicals from Broadway which in New York had built-in name recognition. Almost all of the films which were made from Neil Simon comedies got their NY premiere at the Hall. Finally, a big consideration was given to films which had the name box-office stars of the time such as Cary Grant, Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Sophia Loren, Julie Andrews, Goldie Hawn, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Debbie Reynolds, James Garner, Paul Newman, John Wayne.
(If I have made omissions or there are corrections, please post and let visitors to this fine website know. I realize from reading above that these films are listed in a book about the Hall, but not all of us have access to it, and so they are now on this site. My research and interest in films began in 1958 when I was only 5, so perhaps someone who has access to data about the films which played there in earlier decades will be kind enough to put it here. I am trying to get my research information on the Cinema Treasures website for all of the major theaters in the large cities around the country so it will be easy for future theater scholars to find it. Thank you.)
Are you thinking of the Guild?
Listed below are the films which played Loew’s State from 12/16/59 to 12/31/68 when the theater opened up in it’s new “twin format.” Research is from microfilms of Variety and The New York Times. The dates listed are the Wednesdays of the film’s opening week, as most films in that era opened on that day, unlike the Friday openings that occur now.
12/16/59 Ben-Hur (6th week – eventually played 74 weeks!)
04/26/61 Gone With the Wind
08/23/61 The Honeymoon Machine
10/04/61 DARK
10/11/61 King of Kings
03/07/62 The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse
04/11/62 All Fall Down
05/09/62 The Horizontal Lieutenant
06/13/62 Lolita
09/26/62 A Very Private Affair
10/31/62 DARK
11/07/62 Mutiny on the Bounty
07/31/63 DARK
08/07/63 Jason and the Argonauts
08/28/63 Wives and Lovers
10/02/63 The Running Man
10/23/63 Lawrence of Arabia (pop prices)
11/20/63 Under the Yum Yum Tree
12/25/63 Love With the Proper Stranger
03/11/64 Becket
09/23/64 Of Human Bondage
10/07/64 Fail-Safe
10/28/64 The Americanization of Emily
12/23/64 The Pleasure Seekers
01/13/65 Baby, the Rain Must Fall
01/27/65 Dear Brigitte
02/10/65 Sylvia
02/24/65 Lord Jim
06/23/65 Von Ryan’s Express
08/25/65 Morituri
10/06/65 The Agony and the Ecstasy
03/02/66 The Oscar
05/18/66 Lady L
06/22/66 Born Free
07/27/66 Assault on a Queen
08/24/66 Walk, Don’t Run
09/07/66 Fantastic Voyage
09/28/66 The Bible
11/01/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Doctor Dolittle
08/21/68 The Legend of Lylah Clare
/ /68 CLOSED FOR TWINNING
12/11/68 Oliver -State I
12/18/68 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – State II
During this time the State exclusively played many of the various “roadshow” pictures that were released, with regular first-run releases sandwiched in between. In the early 60s, theaters which played big roadshow presentations would often go “DARK” for a week before the premiere for cleaning and installation of new projection equipment.
Films Which Played the Stanley Theater 1967-1971
01/01/67 Penelope
01/04/67 Arrivederci, Baby
01/11/67 Any Wednesday
01/18/67 The Venetian Affair
01/25/67 Warning Shot
02/01/67 The Quiller Memorandum
02/15/67 The Night of the Generals
03/08/67 The Mikado (2 days)
03/10/67 A Covenant With Death
03/15/67 Hotel
04/05/67 In Like Flint
05/03/67 Hombre
05/31/67 Caprice
06/14/67 Hurry Sundown
06/28/67 The Dirty Dozen
08/09/67 The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
08/16/67 The Naked Runner
08/23/67 A Guide for the Married Man
10/04/67 Rough Night in Jericho
10/18/67 Bonnie and Clyde
11/01/67 Waterhole # 3
11/15/67 Cool Hand Luke
12/20/67 Valley of the Dolls
02/28/68 Bonnie and Clyde
04/03/68 Planet of the Apes
05/08/68 Sweet November
05/15/68 A Stranger in Town
05/29/68 Madigan
06/05/68 Chubasco
06/12/68 The Double Man
06/19/68 Bandolero
07/03/68 The Green Berets
07/24/68 Five Card Stud
08/07/68 Rosemary’s Baby
09/25/68 The Stranger Returns
10/02/68 Pretty Poison
10/09/68 The Split
10/16/68 If He Hollers, Let Him Go
10/30/68 The Boston Strangler
11/27/68 The Lady in Cement
12/18/68 Candy
01/29/69 Up Tight
02/12/69 Hellfighters
02/26/69 The Sergeant
03/05/69 The Wrecking Crew
03/26/69 They Came to Rob Las Vegas
04/02/69 100 Rifles
04/23/69 Hell in the Pacific
04/30/69 Riot
05/07/69 Bullitt/Harper
05/14/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/21/69 A Fine Pair
05/28/69 Winning
06/18/69 Che!
07/02/69 The Wild Bunch
07/16/69 The Lost Man
07/30/69 The Chairman
08/06/69 Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?
08/20/69 The Great Bank Robbery
08/27/69 A Stranger in Town/The Stranger Returns
09/03/69 The Italian Job
09/10/69 On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who…
09/17/69 The Learning Tree
09/24/69 Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
10/01/69 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
11/05/69 The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
11/12/69 The Christmas Tree
11/19/69 Change of Mind
11/26/69 The Undefeated
12/10/69 The Detective/The Boston Strangler
12/17/69 Fanny Hill
12/24/69 The Reivers
01/28/70 The Arrangement
02/18/70 …tick…tick…tick…
03/04/70 The Last of the Mobile Hotshots
03/11/70 Fuego
03/18/70 The Sterile Cuckoo/True Grit
03/25/70 The Adventurers
04/29/70 Bloody Mama
05/13/70 The Last Grenade/To Commit a Murder
05/20/70 Without a Stitch
06/03/70 The Losers
06/17/70 Sleeping Beauty
07/01/70 Chisum
07/15/70 The Boatniks
07/22/70 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
08/19/70 Too Late the Hero
08/26/70 Soldier Blue
09/23/70 Whirlpool
10/07/70 House of Dark Shadows
10/14/70 Monte Walsh
10/21/70 Mondo Cane I & II
10/28/70 C.C. and Company
11/04/70 Beast of Blood/Curse of the Vampires
11/11/70 Son of Flubber
11/25/70 Dirty Dingus Magee
12/09/70 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner/To Sir, With Love
12/16/70 Gone With the Wind
12/23/70 The Aristocats
01/13/71 There Was a Crooked Man…
01/20/71 The Great White Hope
02/03/71 Cotton Comes to Harlem/They Call Me Mister Tibbs
02/10/71 The Last Valley
02/17/71 Get Carter
02/24/71 The Statue
03/03/71 Horror of Frankenstein/Scars of Dracula
03/10/71 Airport
03/17/71 Sudden Terror
03/24/71 Midnight Cowboy/In the Heat of the Night
03/31/71 Equinox
04/07/71 Waterloo
04/14/71 Patton/MASH
05/12/71 The Stewardesses
06/23/71 Escape from the Planet of the Apes
06/30/71 Fools' Parade
07/07/71 Klute
07/14/71 Willard
08/25/71 Murphy’s War
09/01/71 Soul to Soul
09/15/71 Daughters of Darkness
09/22/71 The Grissom Gang
09/29/71 Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
10/13/71 See No Evil
10/27/71 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/03/71 Ryan’s Daughter
11/17/71 They Call Me Trinity
11/24/71 Black Jesus
12/01/71 Born to Win
12/08/71 Cold Turkey/Bananas
12/15/71 A Fisful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More/Hang ‘Em High
12/22/71 Straw Dogs
Over this period, the Stanley’s bill of fare began to change, as for as films were concerned. Although there was still the occasional Disney premiere, the big downtown houses began to feature films that were more action-oriented, as well as films for black audiences and the occasional soft-core pornography film. Many weeks a bill or reissues was thrown in until the next big action picture such as war films or westerns was available.
Films Which Played the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh – 1964-1966
01/01/64 Four for Texas
01/08/64 Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed?
01/15/64 The Incredible Journey
01/29/64 Dead Ringer
02/12/64 Love With the Proper Stranger
02/26/64 Seven Days in May
03/18/64 The Incredible Mr. Limpet
03/25/64 A Tiger Walks
04/01/64 Can-Can/Oklahoma
04/08/64 A Tiger Walks
04/15/64 Advance to the Rear
04/22/64 El Cid
04/29/64 Comedy of Terrors
05/06/64 PT 109/Spencer’s Mountain
05/13/64 The Thin Red Line
05/20/64 Muscle Beach Party
05/27/64 The Bridge on the River Kwai
06/10/64 Flipper’s New Adventure
06/17/64 The Three Lives of Thomasina
06/24/64 Robin and the Seven Hoods
07/08/64 The Moon-Spinners
07/22/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
08/26/64 A House is Not a Home
09/09/64 Station Six-Sahara
09/23/64 Hamlet (2 days)
09/25/64 The Visit
09/30/64 Quo Vadis
10/14/64 The Young Lovers
10/21/64 Kisses for My President
10/28/64 Fate is the Hunter
11/04/64 Rio Conchos
11/18/64 Youngblood Hawke
11/25/64 Goodbye, Charlie
12/16/64 Curse of Frankenstein/Horror of Dracula
12/23/64 Emil and the Detectives
12/30/64 Sex and the Single Girl
01/20/65 Quick, Before It Melts!
01/27/64 The Night Walker/The Finest Hours
02/10/65 36 Hours
02/24/65 None But the Brave
03/10/65 Hush, Hush…Sweet Charlotte
03/31/65 John Goldfarb, Please Come Home
04/14/65 Cheyenne Autumn
05/05/65 Malamondo
05/12/65 Masquerade
05/19/65 Mister Moses
05/26/65 The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
06/02/65 A High Wind in Jamaica
06/09/65 The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
06/16/65 Up From the Beach
06/23/65 In Harm’s Way
07/07/65 The Sons of Katie Elder
07/21/65 The Sandpiper
08/18/65 Harlow
09/01/65 Morituri
09/15/65 Breakfast at Tiffany’s/Sabrina
09/22/65 Once a Thief
09/29/65 Paris Secret
10/06/65 Old Yeller
10/20/65 La Boheme (2 days)
10/22/65 Bunny Lake is Missing
11/03/65 Brigadoon/The Student Prince
11/10/65 Sands of the Kalahari
11/17/65 Red Line 7000
11/24/65 The Cincinnati Kid
12/22/65 That Darn Cat
01/12/66 Do Not Disturb
02/02/66 Our Man Flint
03/02/66 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
03/16/66 The Silencers
04/13/66 The Singing Nun
04/27/66 Harper
05/18/66 The Last of the Secret Agents
05/25/66 The Ten Commandments
06/22/66 Nevada Smith
07/06/66 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
08/24/66 How to Steal a Million
09/21/66 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof/Butterfield 8
10/05/66 Fantastic Voyage
11/02/66 Kaleidoscope
11/09/66 The Liquidator
11/23/66 Not With My Wife, You Don't
12/07/66 The Great Race/Never Too Late
12/14/66 Our Man Flint/Von Ryan’s Express
12/21/66 Penelope
Part of the history of a theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films that played the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh from June 25, 1958 through December 31, 1977, when it basically ceased operation as a first-run downtown movie palace and became a concert hall for rock bands. Film listings are obtained from microfilms of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Pittsburgh Press, and Variety. The dates listed are all Wednesdays, as in those years, new films opened on Wednesdays, unlike the Friday/weekend openings that occur today. Because the Stanley frequently changed its films weekly and putting all of the data into one post would be too lengthy, it will be concentrated into several posts, each containing a number of years.
06/25/58 No Time for Sergeants
07/16/58 The Light in the Forest
07/23/58 King Creole
07/30/58 Indiscreet
08/27/58 The Naked and the Dead
09/10/58 Wind Across the Everglades
09/17/58 Never Love a Stranger
09/24/58 Damn Yankees
10/08/58 La Parisienne
10/15/58 Onionhead
10/22/58 At War With the Army
10/29/58 Man of the West
11/05/58 Gigi
11/19/58 From the Earth to the Moon
11/26/58 Home Before Dark
12/03/58 Party Girl
12/10/58 The Spider
12/17/58 The Geisha Boy
12/31/58 Auntie Mame
03/04/59 The Hanging Tree
03/11/59 The House on Haunted Hill
03/18/59 Rio Bravo
04/08/59 The Tempest
04/15/59 The Shaggy Dog
05/13/59 Al Capone
05/27/59 Tonka
06/03/59 The Young Philadelphians
06/10/59 Thunder in the Sun
06/17/59 Don’t Give Up the Ship
07/01/59 Hercules
07/15/59 Last Train from Gun Hill
07/29/59 The Big Circus
08/12/59 Yellowstone Kelly
08/19/59 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
09/09/59 John Paul Jones
09/16/59 The Bat
09/23/59 That Kind of Woman
09/30/59 Look Back in Anger
10/07/59 The FBI Story
10/21/59 Room 43
10/28/59 Samson and Delilah
11/04/59 -30-
11/11/59 Sign of the Gladiator
11/18/59 A Summer Place
12/16/59 Li'l Abner
12/30/59 The Miracle
01/13/60 Never So Few
01/27/60 Cash McCall
02/03/60 Goliath and the Barbarians
02/17/60 Jack the Ripper
02/24/60 The Bramble Bush
03/09/60 The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
03/16/60 Toby Tyler
03/30/60 The Gene Krupa Story
04/06/60 Anatomy of a Murder/The Nun’s Story
04/13/60 Tall Story
04/20/60 This Rebel Breed
04/27/60 The Angry Red Planet
05/04/60 Kidnapped/Dumbo
05/11/60 The Greatest Show on Earth
05/18/60 Five Branded Women
05/25/60 Sergeant Rutledge
06/01/60 The Sword and the Cross
06/08/60 Circus of Horrors
06/15/60 Hannibal
06/22/60 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
06/29/60 Ice Palace
07/06/60 Why Must I Die?
07/13/60 Pollyanna
07/27/60 The Bellboy
08/10/60 Hercules Unchained
08/17/60 It Started in Naples
08/31/60 Oceans 11
09/21/60 The Crowded Sky
09/28/60 The Fall of the House of Usher
10/05/60 Under 10 Flags
10/12/60 The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
10/19/60 Girl of the Night
11/02/60 Sunrise at Campobello
11/09/60 Journey to the Lost City
11/16/60 A Breath of Scandal
11/23/60 G. I. Blues
12/07/60 Goliath and the Dragon
12/14/60 Cinderfella
12/28/60 The Sundowners
01/18/61 Swiss Family Robinson
02/15/61 The World of Suzie Wong
03/22/61 101 Dalmatians
04/19/61 The Sins of Rachel Cade
04/26/61 The Absent-Minded Professor
05/24/61 One-Eyed Jacks
06/07/61 On the Double
06/21/61 The Ladies Man
07/05/61 The Parent Trap
08/02/61 Parrish
08/16/61 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
08/23/61 Nikki – Wild Dog of the North
08/30/61 Claudelle Inglish
09/06/61 Deadly Companions
09/13/61 Marines, Let’s Go!
09/20/61 The Pit and the Pendulum
10/04/61 Greyfriar’s Bobby
10/11/61 Splendor in the Grass
11/01/61 Breakfast at Tiffany's
11/15/61 Susan Slade
11/22/61 Blue Hawaii
12/06/61 The Mark
12/13/61 Houseboat/Teacher’s Pet
12/20/61 Babes in Toyland
01/17/62 The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
01/24/62 The Errand Boy
01/31/62 Knights of the Round Table/Ivanhoe
02/07/62 A Majority of One
02/21/62 Journey to the 7th Planet
02/28/62 Summer and Smoke
03/07/62 Pinocchio
03/28/62 The Outsider
04/04/62 Splendor in the Grass/Fanny
04/11/62 Moon Pilot
04/25/62 Rome Adventure
05/02/62 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
05/09/62 Last of the Vikings
05/16/62 The Day the Earth Caught Fire
05/23/62 Premature Burial
05/30/62 Escape from Zahrain
06/06/62 Hell is for Heroes
06/13/62 Merrill’s Marauders
06/20/62 Big Red
06/27/62 Bon Voyage
07/18/62 The Music Man
08/29/62 Hatari
09/12/62 The Sky Above, the Mud Below
09/19/62 Rear Window
09/26/62 The Scarface Mob
10/03/62 Almost Angels/Lady and the Tramp
10/17/62 The Chapman Report
10/31/62 Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
11/21/62 Girls! Girls! Girls!
11/28/62 Boccaccio ‘70
12/05/62 The Legend of Lobo
12/12/62 Gay Purr-ee/Sayonara
12/19/62 Gypsy
01/30/63 It’s Only Money
02/06/63 Term of Trial
02/13/63 The Hook
02/20/63 Son of Flubber
03/13/63 The Days of Wine and Roses
04/10/63 The Birds
05/01/63 Come Fly With Me
05/08/63 The Yellow Canary
05/15/63 David and Lisa
05/22/63 In the Cool of the Day
05/29/63 The List of Adrian Messenger
06/05/63 The Stripper
06/12/63 It Happened at the World’s Fair
06/19/63 Savage Sam
06/26/63 Donovan’s Reef
07/10/63 Spencer’s Mountain
07/24/63 PT 109
08/07/63 Summer Magic
09/04/63 A Ticklish Affair
09/11/63 Hootenanny Hoot
09/18/63 Women of the World
09/25/63 The VIPs
10/16/63 A New Kind of Love
10/30/63 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
11/13/63 Mary, Mary
11/27/63 Palm Springs Weekend
12/11/63 Wuthering Heights
12/18/63 4 for Texas
As you can see, the Stanley during these years of the early 1960s was Pittsburgh’s primary first-run house for Warner Brothers, Disney, and Paramount Releases, with the occasional American International horror film and beginning in 1963, a major house for MGM, whose films had previously opened at the Penn (now Heinz Hall), but which in 1963 was tied up with the long roadshow run of 20th Century Fox’s “Cleopatra.”
Part of the history of a theater is the films that played there. Listed below are the films that played at the Warner Theater from June 25, 1958 to December 31, 1977. Resarch was taken from microfilms of Variety and The Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
06/25/58 Gigi
09/10/58 Windjammer
11/12/58 The Old Man and the Sea
12/10/58 DARK
12/24/58 South Seas Adventure
05/13/59 Seven Wonders of the World
06/03/59 DARK
06/17/59 Sleeping Beauty
07/01/59 The Nun’s Story
08/12/59 The Five Pennies
09/16/59 DARK
10/17/59 The Big Fisherman
12/23/59 Happy Anniversary
01/06/60 The Third Man on the Mountain
01/20/60 Ben-Hur
12/21/60 The Alamo
03/08/61 Exodus
06/28/61 Fanny
08/09/61 The Pleasure of His Company
09/13/61 The King and I
09/20/61 Carousel
09/27/61 Gigi
10/04/61 Never on Sunday
10/11/61 Rocco and His Brothers
10/18/61 The Young Lions/Anastasia
10/25/61 White Christmas
11/08/61 King of Kings
02/14/62 Judgement at Nuremberg
05/02/62 Oklahoma
06/20/62 DARK
06/27/62 The Counterfeit Traitor
07/18/62 My Geisha
08/01/62 DARK
08/08/62 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
12/19/62 In Search of the Castaways
01/23/63 Sodom and Gomorrah
02/13/63 The Best of Cinerama
03/20/63 How the West Was Won
11/06/63 Fantasia
11/20/63 Take Her, She’s Mine
12/18/64 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
07/01/64 Circus World
08/26/64 The Night of the Iguana
10/14/64 Three Penny Opera
10/21/64 Of Human Bondage
11/18/64 The Outrage
12/09/64 Peyton Place/Return to Peyton Place
12/16/64 The Hustler/The Stripper
12/23/64 The Americanization of Emily
01/20/65 The Pleasure Seekers
02/03/65 Dear Brigitte
02/17/65 Sylvia
02/24/65 Those Calloways
03/10/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told
07/21/65 The Hallelujah Trail
10/13/65 The Great Race
01/12/66 The Battle of the Bulge
04/27/66 Russian Adventure
06/08/66 A Big Hand for the Little Lady
06/22/66 Assault on a Queen
07/13/66 Khartoum
08/31/66 A Fine Madness
09/28/66 JFK: Years of Lightning, Days of Drums
10/19/66 The Bible
06/14/67 Grand Prix
10/25/67 Gone With the Wind
06/12/68 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/13/68 Ice Station Zebra
02/12/69 The Shoes of the Fisherman
05/21/69 War and Peace
06/04/69 Slaves
06/25/69 The Love Bug
08/06/69 Ben-Hur
10/08/69 Alfred the Great
10/22/69 deSade
11/19/69 Fanny Hill
12/17/69 Hello, Dolly!
07/01/70 The Sicilian Clan
07/08/70 Myra Breckinridge
08/12/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
09/23/70 The People Next Door
10/07/70 The Seducers
10/14/70 Diary of a Mad Housewife
11/25/70 WUSA
12/23/70 Love Story
05/26/71 The Andromeda Strain
07/14/71 The Anderson Tapes
09/01/71 The Red Tent
09/15/71 Gone With the Wind
10/13/71 Doctor Zhivago
11/17/71 T. R. Baskin
12/08/71 Carry on Camping
12/15/71 Around the World in 80 Days/West Side Story
12/22/71 Star-Spangled Girl
01/12/72 The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
02/02/72 Such Good Friends
02/16/72 The Hot Rock
03/22/72 The Godfather
08/02/72 The Last of the Red Hot Lovers
08/16/72 The New Centurions
10/11/72 Doctor Zhivago
10/18/72 Ryan’s Daughter
10/25/72 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/01/72 Gone With the Wind
11/08/72 Lady Sings the Blues
12/20/72 Pete ‘n’ Tillie
02/07/73 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
02/28/73 Sleuth
04/18/73 Class of ‘44
05/23/73 Hitler: The Last 10 Days
06/27/73 Jesus Christ Superstar
10/31/73 The Way We Were
12/26/73 The Exorcist
06/26/74 Go Ape: Five “Planet of the Apes” Pix
07/03/74 For Pete’s Sake
08/21/74 California Split
09/25/74 2001: A Space Odyssey
11/13/74 Earthquake
03/12/75 Funny Lady
06/25/75 Once is Not Enough
07/23/75 Nashville
10/01/75 A Clockwork Orange/Deliverance
10/15/75 Rooster Cogburn
11/19/75 The Return of the Pink Panther/Love and Death
12/24/75 Hustle
02/18/76 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
03/10/76 Man Friday
03/24/76 The Sunshine Boys
04/07/76 The Bad News Bears
06/23/76 Logan’s Run
08/11/76 Drum
09/15/76 Mahogany/Lady Sings the Blues
10/13/76 Burnt Offerings
11/03/76 Fantastic Invasion
11/17/76 Carrie
12/22/76 Nickelodeon
02/07/77 The Cassandra Crossing
03/23/77 Airport '77
06/01/77 Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger
06/15/77 The Exorcist II: The Heretic
07/27/77 Breaking Training
08/24/77 The Other Side of Midnight
09/14/77 DARK
09/21/77 You Light Up My Life
10/12/77 Black Sunday
10/19/77 Barbarella
10/26/77 Bobby Deerfield
12/07/77 DARK
12/14/77 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
All dates listed are the Wedenesday of the opening week. Films from 1978 to 1983 when the Warner closed will be listed in a later post.
Part of the history of a great movie theater is the films that played there. Listed below are most films which played at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon from 1960-1970. The dates listed are all Wedenesdays of the week the film opened, as in those days, most new films started on a Wednesday instead of Fridays as they do now. Research is from microfilms of The Portland Oregonian (1964-68) and Variety (1960-70).
12/16/59 L'il Abner/Counterplot
01/06/60 Happy Anniversary/Timbuktu
01/13/60 The Wreck of the Mary Deare/Libel
01/20/60 The Amazing Transparent Man/Get Outta Town
01/27/60 Samson and Delilah/Ulysses
02/10/60 On the Beach
03/30/60 Heller in Pink Tights/A Touch of Larceny
04/06/60 Visit to a Small Planet/Circus Stars
04/20/60 The Bridges of Toko-Ri/The Country Girl
04/27/60 House of Intrigue/Web of Evidence
05/04/60 The Fugitive Kind/The Music Box Kid
05/18/60 Kidnapped/In the Money
05/25/60 The Gallant Hours/The Boy and the Pirates
06/01/60 Five Branded Women/Walk Like a Dragon
06/08/60 The Angry Red Planet/The Plunderers of Painted Flats
06/15/60 Macumba Love/Take a Giant Step
06/22/60 Circus of Horrors/The Fighting Wildcats
06/29/60 The Apartment/Gunfighters of Abilene
07/13/60 The Bellboy/Tarzan the Magnificent
07/27/60 The Rat Race/Chance Meeting
08/10/60 STAGE SHOW
08/17/60 Elmer Gantry/Cage of Evil
08/31/60 It Started in Naples/Prisoner of the Volga
09/07/60 All the Fine Young Cannibals/Davy
09/14/60 Private Property/A Question of Infidelity
09/21/60 JOHNNY MATHIS/VICTOR BORGE CONCERTS
09/28/60 Under 10 Flags/The Boy Who Stole a Million
10/05/60 For Members Only/Mating Time
10/19/60 Heroes Die Young/Sex Kittens Go to College
10/26/60 Dial M for Murder/Strangers on a Train
11/02/60 Ten Who Dared/The Hong Kong Affair
11/16/60 A Breath of Scandal/New Orleans After Dark
11/23/60 G. I. Blues/Legion of the Doomed
12/14/60 Cinderfella/Police Dog Story
12/28/60 The Facts of Life/Operation Bottleneck
01/18/61 Swiss Family Robinson/Mysteries of the Deep
02/22/61 The Misfits/Frontier Uprising
03/08/61 The World of Suzie Wong
04/05/61 All in a Night’s Work/Blueprint for Robbery
04/12/61 The Absent-Minded Professor
05/31/61 Vera Cruz/Apache
06/07/61 Look in Any Window/Unwed Mother
06/14/61 One-Eyed Jacks/Foxhole in Cairo
06/28/61 By Love Possessed/The Cat Burglar
07/12/61 The Ladies Man//Night Ambush
07/26/61 STAGE SHOW
08/09/61 Nikki—Wild Dog of the North/Dondi
08/16/61 On the Double/Deadly Companions
08/23/61 Not Tonight, Henry/Next to No Time
09/20/61 Armored Command/The Serengeti Shall Not Die
09/27/61 Question 7
10/04/61 The Lovers/Not Tonight, Henry/Blond Blackmailer
seized by the law
10/11/61 Paris Blues/The Flight That Disappeared
10/18/61 Greyfriar’s Bobby/The Boy Who Caught a Crook
10/25/61 The Lovers (returned after winning legal challenge)
11/22/61 Blue Hawaii/It Takes a Thief
12/06/61 STAGE SHOW
12/13/61 The Train/Blonde Sinner
12/20/61 Pocketful of Miracles
01/17/62 The Happy Thieves/Deadly Duo
01/24/62 Siege of Syracuse/Hey, Let’s Twist!
01/31/62 Flight of the Lost Balloon/The Day the Sky Exploded
02/07/62 Qustion 7
02/14/62 Too Late Blues/Lost Battalion
02/21/62 Sergeants 3/Hell Drivers
03/07/62 Pinocchio
03/28/62 Knights of the Round Table/Ivanhoe
04/04/62 The Outsider/Blast of Silence
04/11/62 Splendor in the Grass/Fanny
04/18/62 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence/Brushfire
05/09/62 King of Kings (popscale)
05/23/62 The Rose Tattoo/The Proud & the Profane
05/30/62 Escape from Zahrain/The Matchmaker
06/13/62 Big Red/The Living Desert
06/27/62 The Road to Hong Kong/The Nun and the Sergeant
07/18/62 My Geisha/Air Patrol
07/25/62 The Delicate Delinquent/The Sad Sack
08/01/62 STAGE SHOW
08/15/62 Hatari/Safe at Home
09/05/62 Tales of Terror/The Dead One
09/12/62 Tarzan Goes to India/The Tartars
09/19/62 Karamoija/Ritual of Love
09/26/62 Convicts 4/The Frightened City
10/03/62 Pressure Point/Summer of the 17th Doll (Season of Passion)
10/10/62 Almost Angels/Lady and the Tramp
10/31/62 The Manchurian Candidate/The Valiant
11/21/62 Girls! Girls! Girls!/Story of the Count of Monte Cristo
12/05/62 Portrait of a Sinner/Playgirl After Dark
12/19/62 In Search of the Castaways
01/23/63 The Longest Day
04/10/63 The Miracle of the White Stallions/The Brave One
04/24/63 I Could Go on Singing/Mary Had a Little
05/01/63 The Hook/Escape from East Berlin
05/08/63 Hercules and the Captive Women/Battle Beyond the Sun
05/15/63 Mondo Cane/Stark Fear
05/22/63 In the Cool of the Day/Rififi in Tokyo
05/29/63 Dr. No/Five Miles to Midnight
06/05/63 Poor White Trash/Cash McCall
06/12/63 Call Me Bwana/Hero’s Island
06/26/63 Cleopatra
03/18/64 Wuthering Heights/Our Very Own
03/25/64 The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao/Flipper
04/01/64 God’s Little Acre/I Want to Live
04/08/64 Mail Order Bride
04/15/64 Voodoo Village/Girls of the Night
04/22/64 Night Must Fall/Murder at the Gallop
04/29/64 Act One/Gypsy
05/06/64 Advance to the Rear/The Defiant Ones
05/13/64 The Best Man/The Bramble Bush
05/20/64 The Horror of Party Beach/Curse of the Living Corpse
05/27/64 Rhino!/The Golden Arrow
06/03/64 Witches' Curse/The Flesh-Eaters
06/10/64 The Three Lives of Thomasina
07/01/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
09/16/64 Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
11/11/64 STAGE SHOW
11/18/64 My Fair Lady
10/06/65 Mary Poppins (why did this take so long to open in
Portland?)
02/09/66 The Great Race
03/02/66 Made in Paris/The Hill
03/23/66 The Spy With My Face/To Trap a Spy
04/06/66 Doctor Zhivago
02/15/67 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (another film that opened
way late in Portland – why?)
03/15/67 The Mikado (3/15-16 only)
05/10/67 Hawaii
11/15/67 Camelot
06/05/68 War and Peace
06/12/68 Speedway/Day of the Evil Gun
07/03/68 The Odd Couple
11/20/68 Funny Girl
05/28/69 A Fine Pair/Twisted Nerve
06/04/69 Baby Love/A Bullet for the General
06/11/69 Fraulein Doktor/Waterhole #3
06/18/69 My Side of the Mountain/Hello, Down There
06/25/69 True Grit/Where’s Jack?
08/27/69 Stiletto/Woman Times Seven
09/17/69 Sweden, Heaven, and Hell/Deadly Sweet
10/01/69 The Italian Job/Ace High
10/08/69 Blow-Up/Lolita
10/22/69 Mondo Hollywood/The Devil’s Mistress
10/29/69 Paint Your Wagon
05/27/70 The Adventurers
07/08/70 The Out-of-Towners/Norwood
09/16/70 Cherry, Harry, and Raquel
09/30/70 The ABCs of Marriage
10/14/70 Diary of a Mad Housewife
Films from 1971-1975 will be posted as soon as research has been completed.
Actually Bill, believe or not…I’ve never lived in DC, although I have lived in NYC, Chicago, but mostly Pittsburgh. I’ve made it a hobby to research first-run theaters in various cities to see what movies they played each week. I always liked the DC movie theaters ever since I visited the city wih my family on a vacation when I was 11. That’s why I chose to put DC on this website first. Check out other cities and theaters in Washington for more lists as I can add them.
I still have more researching to do, as so far I’ve been trying to get 34 cities from the period 1960-1975. Trying to borrow microfilms of other cities' old newspapers is a process that is slower than molasses in January and they will only lend you 6 reels at a time.
I hope to eventually get all research on this website for posterity from 1957-1981 for all 34 cities that I have been researching…and NYC will be my biggest challenge.
I know that “Star Wars” in its first release at the Uptown did play over a year. Watch for another posting at some time and I’ll take the theater up to December 31, 1981.
Part of the history of a motion picture theater is the movies that were shown there. Listed below are the films which played at the Keith’s Theater in Washington, DC from 1957-1971. Due to the extreme number of bookings, the films from 1972 through the end of the theater’s days will be provided in a second posting. Research is from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety.
11/27/57 My Man Godfrey (2nd week)
12/04/57 Monolith Monster/Love Slave
12/11/57 Land Unknown/Slim Carter
12/18/57 The Sad Sack
01/01/58 The Tarnished Angels
01/15/58 All Mine to Give
01/22/58 Old Yeller
02/26/58 Paths of Glory
03/19/58 Missouri Traveler
03/26/58 Day of the Bad Man/Damn Citizen!
04/02/58 Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
04/16/58 Run Silent, Run Deep
05/21/58 God’s Little Acre
06/11/58 Peter Pan
06/25/58 Horror of Dracula/The Thing That Couldn’t Die
07/02/58 The Vikings
08/27/58 Raw Wind in Eden
09/03/58 Adam and Eve
09/10/58 Me and the Colonel
10/08/58 The Defiant Ones
10/29/58 Man of the West
11/12/58 Gigi
12/17/58 The Buccaneer
01/14/59 The Geisha Boy
01/28/59 The Perfect Furlough
02/11/59 I Want to Live!
03/18/59 Tempest
04/01/59 Imitation of Life
05/13/59 Thunder in the Sun
05/27/59 Pork Chop Hill
06/10/59 Shake Hands With the Devil
06/24/59 The Horse Soldiers
08/05/59 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
09/02/59 The Devil’s Disciple
09/30/59 Ten Seconds to Hell
10/07/59 The Wonderful Country
10/14/59 But Not for Me
10/28/59 Samson and Delilah
11/11/59 Odds Against Tomorrow
11/25/59 Third Man on the Mountain/Dumbo
12/16/59 On the Beach
02/17/60 Who Was That Lady?
04/06/60 The Unforgiven
05/11/60 The Gallant Hours
06/01/60 Sergeant Rutledge
06/08/60 Battle Cry/Sayonara
06/15/60 The Apartment
08/17/60 Elmer Gantry
09/28/60 Night Fighters
10/05/60 Studs Lonigan
10/12/60 The Magnificent Seven
11/09/60 Inherit the Wind
12/21/60 The Facts of Life
02/01/61 The Misfits
03/15/61 Operation Eichmann
03/29/61 The Hoodlum Priest
04/19/61 The Secret Ways
04/26/61 Portrait of a Mobster
05/03/61 Indiscreet/Mister Roberts
05/10/61 Curse of the Werewolf/Shadow of the Cat
05/17/61 Revolt of the Slaves
05/24/61 The Young Savages
06/14/61 The Last Time I Saw Archie
07/12/61 By Love Possessed
08/09/61 Goodbye Again
09/13/61 The Young Doctors
09/27/61 Paris Blues
10/11/61 The Great War
10/18/61 On the Beach
10/25/61 Town Without Pity
11/15/61 Bend of the River/The World in Arms
11/22/61 X-15
12/06/61 The Big Country/A Hole in the Head
12/13/61 Written on the Wind/The Perfect Furlough
12/20/61 Pocketful of Miracles
01/17/62 The Happy Thieves
01/31/62 The Misfits/The Megnificent Seven
02/07/62 Sergeants 3
03/14/62 The Children’s Hour
04/18/62 Cape Fear
05/16/62 Follow That Dream
06/06/62 Geronimo
06/20/62 The Road to Hong Kong
07/11/62 Birdman of Alcatraz
08/08/62 Jack the Giant Killer
08/15/62 Kid Galahad
08/29/62 The Scarface Mob
09/12/62 The Valiant
09/19/62 War Hunt/Sword of the Conqueror
09/26/62 Pressure Point
10/10/62 The Horror Camber of Dr. Faustus/The Manster
10/17/62 Hero’s Island/Something Wild
10/24/62 Tower of London/The Vampire & the Ballerina
10/31/62 The Manchurian Candidate
12/19/62 Taras Bulba
01/30/63 The Raven
02/13/63 No Exit
02/20/63 Five Miles to Midnight
03/13/63 Love is a Ball
03/27/63 Come September/Lover Come Back
04/03/63 I Could Go on Singing
04/17/63 Diary of a Madman/Amazons of Rome
04/24/63 The Apartment/The Misfits
05/01/63 Judgement at Nuremberg
05/08/63 The Mind Benders
05/22/63 Dr. No
06/19/63 Call Me Bwana
07/03/63 The Great Escape
08/21/63 Toys in the Attic
09/11/63 The Caretakers
10/02/63 Johnny Cool
10/16/63 Stolen Hours
10/30/63 Lilies of the Field
11/20/63 McLintock!
12/18/63 Kings of the Sun
01/22/64 Soldier in the Rain
02/12/64 Man in the Middle
02/26/64 One Man’s Way
03/11/64 West Side Story
03/18/64 The Pink Panther
05/20/64 From Russia, With Love
07/01/64 633 Squadron
07/22/64 For Those Who Think Young
08/05/64 Flight From Ashiya
08/12/64 A Hard Day’s Night
08/26/64 The Seventh Dawn
09/09/64 Woman of Straw
10/07/64 Four Days in November
10/14/64 The Secret Invasion
10/28/64 Invitation to a Gunfighter
11/11/64 Tom Jones
11/25/64 Kitten With a Whip
12/23/64 Goldfinger
04/07/65 The Train
06/30/65 I’ll Take Sweden
07/14/65 Masquerade
07/28/65 The Glory Guys
08/11/65 Help!
09/01/65 Billie
09/15/65 Never on Sunday/Topkapi
10/06/65 A Rage to Live
10/20/65 The World of Henry Orient/The Facts of Life
10/27/65 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
11/03/65 Return From the Ashes
11/24/65 The Hallelujah Trail
12/08/65 A Hard Day’s Night/Help!
12/22/65 Thunderball
05/18/66 Duel at Diablo
07/06/66 Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number
08/24/66 What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
09/28/66 Ambush Bay
10/05/66 Goldfinger/Dr. No
10/26/66 Return of the Seven
11/16/66 The Fortune Cookie
12/07/66 A Man Called Adam
12/21/66 After the Fox
01/25/67 A Fistful of Dollars
03/08/67 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
04/26/67 The Alamo
05/10/67 For a Few Dollars More
05/31/67 8 on the Lam
06/21/67 You Only Live Twice
08/30/67 In the Heat of the Night
11/01/67 Beach Red
11/15/67 Hour of the Gun
11/22/67 Operation Kid Brother
11/29/67 Kill a Dragon/Navajo Joe
12/06/67 The Magnificent Seven/Return of the Seven
12/20/67 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
02/14/68 The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
02/21/68 The Billion Dollar Brain
03/06/08 Attack on the Iron Coast/Danger Route
03/13/68 Guns for San Sebastian
04/03/68 The Scalphunters
05/01/68 Yours, Mine, and Ours
05/29/68 The Devil’s Brigade
06/26/68 The Thomas Crown Affair
08/28/68 Hang ‘Em High
10/02/68 Salt and Pepper
10/23/68 The Ugly Ones
10/30/68 From Russia, With Love/Thunderball
11/20/68 West Side Story
12/18/68 The Night They Raided Minsky's
01/15/69 Play Dirty
02/05/69 Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
02/19/69 They Came to Rob Las Vegas
03/05/69 Rachel, Rachel/The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
03/19/69 Sam Whiskey
03/26/69 Goldfinger/Dr. No
04/02/69 Support Your Local Sheriff
05/07/69 A Fistful of Dollars/For a Few Dollars More
05/28/69 Where It’s At
06/04/69 Guns of the Magnificent Seven
06/18/69 Uncle Tom’s Cabin
07/02/69 The Bridge at Remagen
07/16/69 Death Rides a Horse
07/30/69 Midnight Cowboy
11/12/69 Hang 'Em High/The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
11/26/69 The Battle of Britain
12/17/69 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
02/11/70 Female Animal
03/04/70 What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?
03/25/70 Halls of Anger
04/15/70 The Mercenary
04/22/70 Skullduggery
04/29/70 Midnight Cowboy/Alice’s Restaurant
05/13/70 A Long Ride from Hell/The Last Grenade
05/20/70 Barquero
06/03/70 One More Time
06/10/70 Cotton Comes to Harlem
08/12/70 They Call Me Mister Tibbs
09/16/70 (4) Clint Eastwood Westerns
09/23/70 Hornet’s Nest
09/30/70 Underground
10/07/70 Sabata
10/21/70 Cannon for Cordoba
10/28/70 West Side Story
11/04/70 a. k. a. Cassius Clay/In the Heat of the Night
11/18/70 Witchcraft '70
11/25/70 The McKenzie Break
12/09/70 Kama Sutra
12/23/70 You Only Live Twice/Thunderball
01/27/71 Burn!
02/17/71 Dorian Gray
02/24/71 Midnight Cowboy
03/03/71 Airport
03/10/71 Frazier vs. Ali
03/24/71 Raid on Rommel
05/05/71 The Beguiled
05/19/71 Cotton Comes to Harlem/They Call Me Mister Tibbs
06/09/71 What’s the Matter With Helen?
06/23/71 Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die
06/30/71 The Grissom Gang
07/14/71 Lawman
08/11/71 Von Richthofen and Brown
08/18/71 Adios, Sabata
09/15/71 Doc
10/06/71 Black Jesus
10/13/71 They Call Me Trinity
10/27/71 Play Misty for Me
11/10/71 The Organization
12/22/71 Diamonds are Forever
For most of this period the Keith’s was the premiere showcase for United Artists' new releases, back in an era when new films premiered at one theater. In 1968, after the rioting following the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Washington’s downtown theaters began to lose their hold on the first-run openings, and United Artists began to split its films between the Keith’s and the Avalon, with the Keith’s getting the obviously action-oriented films (war films and westerns) and those dealing with black themes.
Films which played at the Cinema from 1965-1976 Research from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety. Theater opened 4/1/65.
04/01/65 White Voices
04/07/65 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
05/19/65 Nobody Waved Goodbye
06/09/65 All These Women
06/16/65 The Yellow Rolls-Royce
09/29/65 The Ipcress File
12/22/65 Bunny Lake is Missing
02/02/66 Where the Spies Are
03/02/66 Lord Love a Duck
03/16/66 The Sleeping Car Murders
04/27/66 Cast a Giant Shadow
05/25/66 The Guns of Navarone
06/29/66 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
11/09/66 La Dolce Vita
11/23/66 10:30 PM Summer
12/21/66 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
03/15/67 Hotel
04/12/67 The Deadly Affair
05/24/67 The Honey Pot
07/12/67 The Family Way
09/20/67 The Flim-Flam Man
10/18/67 Point Blank
11/22/67 More Than a Miracle
12/20/67 The Graduate
01/29/69 The Subject Was Roses
03/05/69 Funny Girl
10/15/69 Take the Money and Run
12/17/69 John and Mary
02/25/70 The Magic Christian
03/25/70 Woodstock
06/24/70 Catch-22
12/23/70 Love Story
07/07/71 McCabe and Mrs. Miller
08/25/71 The Hellstrom Chronicle
10/06/71 The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
10/20/71 The Steagle
11/10/71 Bless the Beasts and Children
12/01/71 Glen and Randa
12/22/71 Straw Dogs
02/09/72 A Clockwork Orange
06/28/72 Portnoy’s Complaint
08/16/72 The New Centurions
10/04/72 Deliverance
12/20/72 The Getaway
02/14/73 Steelyard Blues
03/07/73 Billy Jack
03/28/73 Fantasia
04/11/73 Scarecrow
06/27/73 The Last of Sheila
07/18/73 O Lucky Man
09/19/73 Bang the Drum Slowly
10/24/73 The Paper Chase
12/26/73 The Exorcist
06/12/74 Buster and Billie
07/10/74 Our Time
08/14/74 The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
10/16/74 The Gambler
11/20/74 Ladies and Gentlemen…The Rolling Stones
12/18/74 The Night Porter
01/29/75 Murder on the Orient Express
03/26/75 Tommy
07/02/75 Nashville
10/08/75 Three Days of the Condor
12/24/75 Barry Lyndon
02/18/76 (repertory film festival showings)
02/25/76 Taxi Driver
04/07/76 All the President’s Men
06/30/76 The Big Bus
09/15/76 The Tenant
10/13/76 Marathon Man
12/22/76 The Last Tycoon
The Cinema was one of the most desired theaters in the Washington DC area during the late 1960s and 1970s for film studios to exhibit their product, as witness the many popular films that played first-run engagements there as well as the length of those engagements. Yes, “The Graduate” played there over a year and most of the other films were youth-oriented hits and box-office smashes of their year.
All of the listings above were either first-run bookings or official studio reissues such as “The Guns of Navarone” and “La Dolce Vita.”
Part of a theater’s history are the films that played there. Listed below are the films which played the Warner Theater in Washington, DC from 1957-71. Research was gathered from microfilms of The Washington Post and Variety.
11/27/57 Seven Wonders of the World (49th week)
01/15/58 Search for Paradise
10/15/58 Windjammer
12/17/58 South Seas Adventure
10/07/59 The Big Fisherman
12/16/59 House of Intrigue
12/23/59 Operation Petticoat
03/09/60 DARK
03/16/60 Ben-Hur
01/18/61 Spartacus
06/28/61 Two Rode Together
07/12/61 Fanny
09/13/61 Come September
10/25/61 DARK
11/01/61 King of Kings
02/14/62 Judgement at Nuremberg
06/13/62 El Cid
08/29/62 The Spiral Road
09/12/62 West Side Story
11/21/62 Mutiny on the Bounty
04/24/63 DARK
05/01/63 The Ugly American
05/29/63 55 Days at Peking
06/26/63 Cleopatra
04/01/64 The Fall of the Roman Empire
06/24/64 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
08/26/64 The Night of the Iguana
10/07/64 A House is Not a Home
11/25/64 My Fair Lady
10/27/65 The Great Race
02/02/66 Doctor Zhivago
02/15/67 Hawaii
07/19/67 Ulysses
11/08/67 Camelot
06/12/68 Doctor Dolittle
09/18/68 Helga
10/23/68 The Unsinkable Molly Brown
11/06/68 Star!
02/05/69 Riot
02/19/69 Inga
03/26/69 Hell in the Pacific
04/09/69 Michael and Helga
04/23/69 A Bullet for the General
04/30/69 The Oldest Profession
05/14/69 Death of a Gunfighter
05/21/69 Slaves
06/25/69 The Lost Man
07/30/69 Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?
08/27/69 Paranoia
09/17/69 The Man from Nowhere
09/24/69 Planet of the Apes/Valley of the Dolls
10/08/69 Change of Mind
10/22/69 Fanny Hill
12/17/69 Hello, Dolly!
05/27/70 2001: A Space Odyssey
06/24/70 Too Late the Hero
07/08/70 The Christine Jorgensen Story
07/22/70 Fanny Hill/The Man from O.R.G.Y.
07/29/70 Night of Bloody Horror
08/26/70 Soldier Blue
09/16/70 Whirlpool
10/07/70 Cherry, Harry, and Raquel
11/04/70 Pattern of Evil
12/23/70 He and She
01/27/71 Interplay
02/03/71 The Minx/The Female
02/10/71 The Brazen Women of Balzac
02/24/71 The ABCs of Marriage
03/10/71 Beyond Love and Evil
03/24/71 Naked and Free
03/31/71 Enjoy
04/21/71 Zodiac Couples
04/28/71 Censorship USA
05/12/71 Kama Sutra ‘71
07/21/71 Soldier Blue/C.C. and Company
07/28/71 Patton/MASH
08/11/71 Dr. No/From Russia, With Love
As noted above, the theater began as the Earle, although it was originally to have been called the Cosmopolitan. In 1947 Harry Warner was in Washington and saw the name Earle on the marquee. “I own that theater. Put my name up there,” he said, which is the origin of the theater’s name being changed to the Warner Theater.
As happened with many other downtown Washington theaters, the Warner fell victim to changes in the wind, particularly after the rioting following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968. Film studios were by this time premiering their new releases in newer first-run thaters in suburban shopping centers, forcing many downtown palaces to play second run films and X-rated sexploitation films. This happened to the Warner in its last two years. At least the final regular booking was that good old standby, 007.
In August 1971 the theater was sold by RKO-Stanley Warner Theaters, virtually ending it’s days as a downtown picture palace, although thankfully, this beautiful ediface is still standing and operating with concerts (The Rolling Stones performed there in 1978), stage productions, and the occasional movie. I first saw the theater in August 1964 while with my family on a vacation to the nation’s capitol. “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” with Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell, was playing and when I wanted to see it, I was told that we would wait until it played at a theater back home. We did see it, three weeks later, but it would have been nice to see it at the Warner.
As you can see there were occasional spells where no appropriate new first-run films were available to be released, such as 1960, 1961, and the mid-70s, so the Uptown occasionally resorted to second-run rilms or rereleases played there to fill in until the next big box-office spectacular worthy of the theater was ready for release. This accounts for the double features as well as the foreign films.
In the first half of the 1970s, MGM trotted out “Gone With the Wind,” “2001,” and “Doctor Zhivago” every year as a part of what it called “MGM’s Big 3.” In some cities it was “MGM’s Big 4” with “Ryan’s Daughter” added. Usually this package played at one of the theaters in each city which had formerly shown “roadshow” films.
For excellent reading regarding motion picture theaters in Washington, D.C., try MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITION IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF PARLORS, PALACES AND MULTIPLEXES IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA, 1894-1997, by Robert K. Headley, published by McFarland & Company, Publishers in 1999.