The Michigan Theatre

[Gistok]

I think we've been mucking up the United Artists Thread too much with info on it's next door neighbor, the Michigan Building/Theatre. [[I'm just as much at fault!)

So I thought I would start another one on the former 4,050 seat Michigan Theatre. Lots of stuff has already been said about it in other DYES threads over the years, but I've got a lot of interesting things that haven't been posted before. Busy week, so I'll start this thread with this.... [[I have no clue who put this together)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ-dw5izGVQ

... P.S. The theatre was gutted by previous owners starting in March of 1977.

Yes it seems depressing... but if you think that all the depressing stuff only happens here in Detroit, then check out what happened in 1963 to the former 4,651 seat San Francisco Fox, one of the five 1928-29 leviathan Fox Theatres built around the country [[with the Detroit Fox being the largest). Watch the whole video [[beyond the organ pipe info). The San Francisco Fox was considered America's finest movie palace in the "Palace" style, while the Detroit Fox wins in the "Temple" style movie palace category. [[NOTE: the SF Fox organ is a Wurlitzer 4/36 twin of that of the Detroit Fox, and today is located today in the much smaller 1,800 seat El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8o90jvKRec&NR=1

Hard to believe people were so ambivalent back in the pre-preservation days of 1963, isn't it? Especially when checking out these color images...

http://www.historigraphics.com/fox/s...llection.shtml

While the Michigan was one of the half dozen finest movie palaces in the country in the "palace" style, the San Francisco Fox was at the top of this list [[with the Chicago Theatre, and NYC Paramount also on the list).

At least 50% of the Michigan survives... but nothing but the organ survives of the SF Fox. Ironically it almost makes one glad that we have so much left of the Michigan....

And getting back on thread... here are 2 pics [[had to split the image in half to get a decent image for posting)... of the ceiling of the former auditorium around the Procenium arch. Usually this area is bathed in perpetual twilight, and the true surviving colors of the ceiling are difficult for the human eye to make out...