The Rosslyn Plaza was originally a KB theater. It opened on 8/2/67 with the film BLOW UP which had just completed a 27 week run at the Trans-Lux in downtown D.C. in mid-July.
The Americana was a Roth’s theater. It opened on 5/30/67 with firs-run engagement of A POPPY IS ALSO A FLOWER which was based on a story by Ian Fleming, and starred an international cast that featured Stephen Boyd, Trevor Howard, Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, and Rita Hayworth. The film opened at several other local theaterson this date, and did not play in downtown D.C.
Loew’s Fairfax Circle opened on 12/23/65. It’s initial attaction was the first-run engagement of THAT DARN CAT with Hayley Mills. The film also opened at several other D.C. area theaters. Like almost all Disney films released in the mid-to-late 1960’s, it did not play in downtown D.C. The most notable exceptions to that were A TIGER WALKS, MARY POPPINS, and THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE.
The Bradlick opened on 5/1/64, and its first attraction was THE BRASS BOTTLE with Tony Randall, Burl Ives, and Barbara Eden! Ives played the genie in this one. The film opened at several local D.C. theaters on this date. It did not open any of the downtown theaters.
The opening attractions were FRANKIE AND JOHNNY with Elvis Presley in its first-run engagement along with several other D.C. area theaters, and THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL which had already played in D.C. theaters in its second-run engagement.
The Oxon Hill opened on 4/6/66 with the film THE TROUBLE WITH ANGLES which opened at several other theaters on that date a first-run engagement. It played there for three weeks.
The Hiser-Bethesda formally changed its name to the Baronet on 10/28/60. It’s first attraction under the new name was the first-run engagement of THE CAPTAIN’S BOAT.
The Cerberus 1-2-3 coplex opened on 1/21/70 with Z playing at all three theaters. At Number 1 it played for 23 weeks, at Number 2 for 22 weeks, and at Number 3 for 16 weeks.
These are the longest running films at the complex for the years 1970-1971: WOODSTOCK opened at Number 2 on 6/24/70, immediately after it closed at the Cinema theater. One week later it was moved to Number 1 where it played for 15 weeks. On 12/25/70 FIVE EASY PIECES moved into Number 1 from the Embassy theater, where it had played for 8 weeks, and stayed for 17 weeks. LITTLE BIG MAN opened at Numbers 2 and 3 on 2/25/71 and played there for 14 weeks.
The Key opened on 4/9/69 with the film CHANGES starring Kent Lane and Michele Carey. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID opened there, and at three other local theaters, on 10/1/69 and played in a first- run engagement there for 12 weeks.
Here are the films that played at the Town from the time of its opening in 1959, until the time that I left D.C. in January of 1972.
03/28/59 Never Steal Anything Small
04/03/59 Never Steal Anything Small/ Stranger In My Arms
04/10/59 The Devil Strikes At Dawn
04/17/59 Naughty Girl
05/06/59 Tank Battalion/Hell Squad
05/14/59 Shane/Desert Fury
06/04/59 The Last Mile/The Fearmakers
06/11/59 The Hangman/City Of Fear
06/18/59 I, Mobster/ California
06/25/59 The Man Inside
07/02/59 The Angry Hills
07/10/59 Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure/
——— The Man Who Could Cheat Death
07/16/59 The Wild Women Of Wongo/The Sins Of Lola Montes
07/23/59 Flesh And The Woman/The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful
07/30/59 The Mummy/THe Curse Of The Undead
08/05/59 The Beat Generation
08/20/59 The Hound Of The Baskervilles
08/27/59 Monika, The Story Of A Bad Girl
09/03/59 It Started With A Kiss
10/15/59 No Name On The Bullet/Floods Of Fear
10/22/59 Female And The Flesh
11/04/59 Bend Of The River/The World In His Arms
11/11/59 The Mating Urge/You Know What Sailors Are
11/18/59 Room At The Top/The Ladykillers
11/25/59 Tarzan, The Ape Man (1959/ The Oregon Trail
12/02/59 Wild Strawberries/Three Strange Loves
12/17/59 Li'l Abner
01/29/60 A Woman Like Satan
03/03/60 Breakout
03/17/60 The Wind Cannot Read
03/31/60 Cell 2455, Death Row /Edge Of Eternity
04/08/60 The Rape Of Mayala (aka A Town Like Alice)/
——— The Beasts Of Marseilles (aka Seven Thunders)
04/14/60 Around The World In 80 Days
04/28/60 The Bridges At Toko Ri /The Country Girl
05/05/60 The Greatest Show On Earth
05/20/60 Walk Like A Dragon/
——— The Prisoner Of The Volga
05/27/60 Killers Of Kilamanjaro/Battle Of The Coral Sea
06/03/60 The Warrior And The Slave Girl
06/10/60 Head Of A Tyrant/Too Soon To Love
06/17/60 The Wicked Go To Hell
06/22/60 The Brides Of Dracula/Leech Woman
07/08/60 The 39 Steps (1960 version )
07/27/60 Psycho
11/04/60 Hiroshima, Mon Amour (French)
12/02/60 Hiroshima, Mon Amour (English)
12/23/60 The World Of Suzy Wong
03/31/61 One-Eyed Jacks
05/24/61 On The Double
06/23/61 Love In A Goldfish Bowl
07/07/61 La Dolce Vida
11/10/61 Rocco And His Brothers
11/23/61 Beware Of Children
12/06/61 Everything’s Ducky
12/15/61 Mysterious Island
12/27/61 The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone
02/07/62 The Mark
02/16/62 Lover Come Back
06/08/62 Spartacus)
06/22/62 That Touch Of Mink
09/20/62 Damn The Defiant
10/11/62 The Pigeon That Took Room
11/08/62 Requiem For A Heavyweight
12/07/62 A Streetcar Named Desire/Tobacco Road
12/21/62 Two For The Seesaw
02/14/63 To Kill A Mockingbird
06/21/63 Irma La Douce
10/11/63 For Love Or Money
11/01/63 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
11/28/63 Li'l Abner/To Kill A Mockingbird
12/06/63 My Little Chickadee/The Bank Dick
12/13/63 The Secret Passion (aka Freud)
12/25/63 Charade
03/25/64 Captain Newman, M.D.
05/29/64 The Chalk Garden
07/31/64 A Shot In The Dark
10/30/64 Send Me No Flowers
12/25/64 Kiss Me, Stupid
02/10/65 How To Murder Your Wife
05/26/65 The Satan Bug
06/09/65 Mister Moses
06/30/65 What’s New Pussycat?
11/11/65 The War Lord
12/24/65 Never Too Late
01/20/66 That Man In Istanbul
03/02/66 The Silencers
05/25/66 Blindfold
07/06/66 Arabesque
09/28/66 Fantastic Voyage
11/16/66 What’s Up Tiger Lily?
12/23/66 Gambit
02/17/67 Deadlier Than The Male
03/17/67 The Countess From Hong Kong
04/12/67 Hombre
06/28/67 The Dirty Dozen
11/15/67 Tony Rome
12/20/67 The President’s Analyst
03/06/68 Around The World In 80 Days
04/17/68 The Secret War Of Harry Frigg
05/29/68 Wild In The Streets
06/26/68 The Green Berets
08/07/68 Boom
08/21/68 The Wild Angels/Born Losers
09/02/68 CLOSED FOR REPAIRS/REFURBISHING
12/19/68 Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang
02/19/69 Three In The Attic
03/19/69 Where Eagles Dare
06/04/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin…
07/02/69 The Maltese Bippy
07/16/69 Cleopatra
08/06/69 Spirits Of The Dead
08/27/69 Justine
09/07/69 Medium Cool
10/22/69 The Christmas Tree
11/07/69 The Gypsy Moths
11/26/69 All The Loving Couples
12/17/69 Topaz
02/04/70 tick…tick…tick…
03/20/70 Airport
07/23/70 Two Mules For Sister Sara
09/02/70 It’s Your Thing (Music Doc.)
09/16/70 The Mcmasters
09/30/70 I Am Curious (Yellow) (English Version)
10/14/70 Quiet Days In Clichy
10/28/70 Black Angels
11/04/70 Myra Breckenridge/
——— Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls
11/11/70 The Stewardess 3-D
04/17/71 Pretty Maids In A Row
04/21/71 Grimms Fairy Tales For Adults Only
05/19/71 Secret Places, Secret Things
05/26/71 The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant/
——— The House That Screamed
06/02/71 Portrait Of Women
06/09/71 The Body
06/16/71 Flesh/Lonesome Cowboys
06/23/71 Shaft
12/01/71 Daughters Of Darkness
12/17/71 99 Women/House Of A Thousand Dolls
12/22/71 Honky
01/19/72 House Of Wax
Other long running films not listed above that played at the Town between 1959 and 1972. inclued in the order of their release: “Lover Come Back” (16 weeks), “That Touch of Mink” (12 weeks), “Irma La Douce” (16 weeks), “Charade” (13 weeks), “A Shot in the Dark” (13 weeks), “How to Murder Your Wife” (15 weeks, “What’s New Pussycat”(16 weeks), “The Silencers” (12 weeks), “Arabesque” (12 weeks), “Hombre” (11 weeks), “The Dirty Dozen” (20 weeks), “The President’s Analyst” (11 weeks), “Where Eagles Dare” (10 weeks), “Airport” (17 weeks), “The Stewardess 3-D” (22 weeks), and the champ, “Shaft” (23 weeks).
A couple of side notes: “Hiroshima, Mon Amour” played for 4 weeks in French, then 3 weeks in English. “Lover Come Back” and “That Touch of Mink” both starred Doris Day, and they played almost back to back in 1962. The last week that “The Green Berets” played at the Town, the film opened wide at a number of local theaters, something that had never happened before. At “Around the World in 80 Days”, the theater played the National Anthem before the screening started. Some of didn’t know whether to stand or not. In the end we did. Finally the original four-hour version of “Cleopatra” played at the Town in July of 1969.
The Calvert closed 5/30/67 with a double bill of “Alfie” and “Funeral in Berlin”.
The Calvert began an on-again/off-again first-fun policy with “The Small World of Sammy Lee” on 9/20/63.
Among its more notable first-runs were “Knife In The Water” (1/64), “Bedtime Story” (6/64), “Marnie” (8/64), “The Slender Thread” (1/65), “Viva Maria” (2/66), “Shout Louder…” (12/66), and its last first-run “Night Games” (3/67).
“Marnie” which opened in multiple theaters that included the Calvert
was the first Alfred Hitcock film not to be shown in a downtown theater.
Most of the films ran from one to three weeks. ‘The Slender Thread" and “Viva Maria” both ran for four weeks. “The Easy Life” ran for six weeks.
The theater opened on 11/14/68. The following films were shown there in its brief run.
11/14/68 The Shoes Of The Fisherman
04/02/69 Ben-Hur
06/04/69 South Pacific
06/26/69 Krakatoa, East Of Java
08/13/69 The Gay Deceivers
10/01/69 De Sade
11/26/69 All Neat In Black Stockings
12/05/69 Charly)/For Love Of Ivy
The L'efant was closed on 12/14/69 due to lack of business. The AFI took it over in 1970.
The original theater opened on 7/25/62 as The Wheaton Plaza Playhouse. It’s opening attraction was “Jessica” starring Maurice Chevalier and Angie Dickinson.
The Tyson’s 1&2 opened on 10/16/68. Number 1 showed DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, and Number 2 showed THE PARENT TRAP (1961), which had just been re-released.
The Rosslyn Plaza was originally a KB theater. It opened on 8/2/67 with the film BLOW UP which had just completed a 27 week run at the Trans-Lux in downtown D.C. in mid-July.
The Americana was a Roth’s theater. It opened on 5/30/67 with firs-run engagement of A POPPY IS ALSO A FLOWER which was based on a story by Ian Fleming, and starred an international cast that featured Stephen Boyd, Trevor Howard, Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, and Rita Hayworth. The film opened at several other local theaterson this date, and did not play in downtown D.C.
Loew’s Fairfax Circle opened on 12/23/65. It’s initial attaction was the first-run engagement of THAT DARN CAT with Hayley Mills. The film also opened at several other D.C. area theaters. Like almost all Disney films released in the mid-to-late 1960’s, it did not play in downtown D.C. The most notable exceptions to that were A TIGER WALKS, MARY POPPINS, and THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE.
The Cinema 7 opened on 12/22/65 with MY FAIR LADY which was just opening locally after playing for almost a year at the Warner in downtown D.C.
The Bradlick opened on 5/1/64, and its first attraction was THE BRASS BOTTLE with Tony Randall, Burl Ives, and Barbara Eden! Ives played the genie in this one. The film opened at several local D.C. theaters on this date. It did not open any of the downtown theaters.
The Biograph opened on 9/30/67 with the films A DAY IN THE COUNTRY (1946) and MASCULINE-FEMINE (1966).
Roth’s Montgomery #2 opened on 6/24/70. Its first attraction was OLIVER.
The Aspen Hill opened on 4/22/70. Theater #1 showed BOB AND CAROL AND TED AND ALICE, Theater #2 showed TRUE GRIT.
The opening attractions were FRANKIE AND JOHNNY with Elvis Presley in its first-run engagement along with several other D.C. area theaters, and THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL which had already played in D.C. theaters in its second-run engagement.
The Oxon Hill opened on 4/6/66 with the film THE TROUBLE WITH ANGLES which opened at several other theaters on that date a first-run engagement. It played there for three weeks.
The Hiser-Bethesda formally changed its name to the Baronet on 10/28/60. It’s first attraction under the new name was the first-run engagement of THE CAPTAIN’S BOAT.
The 1970 version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, starring Timothy Dalton and Anne Calder-Marshall, opened at Roth’s on 2/24/71 and played there for 8 weeks.
The Cerberus 1-2-3 coplex opened on 1/21/70 with Z playing at all three theaters. At Number 1 it played for 23 weeks, at Number 2 for 22 weeks, and at Number 3 for 16 weeks.
These are the longest running films at the complex for the years 1970-1971: WOODSTOCK opened at Number 2 on 6/24/70, immediately after it closed at the Cinema theater. One week later it was moved to Number 1 where it played for 15 weeks. On 12/25/70 FIVE EASY PIECES moved into Number 1 from the Embassy theater, where it had played for 8 weeks, and stayed for 17 weeks. LITTLE BIG MAN opened at Numbers 2 and 3 on 2/25/71 and played there for 14 weeks.
The Key opened on 4/9/69 with the film CHANGES starring Kent Lane and Michele Carey. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID opened there, and at three other local theaters, on 10/1/69 and played in a first- run engagement there for 12 weeks.
“The Slender Thread opened in 1/66. Sorry about the typo
Here are the films that played at the Town from the time of its opening in 1959, until the time that I left D.C. in January of 1972.
03/28/59 Never Steal Anything Small
04/03/59 Never Steal Anything Small/ Stranger In My Arms
04/10/59 The Devil Strikes At Dawn
04/17/59 Naughty Girl
05/06/59 Tank Battalion/Hell Squad
05/14/59 Shane/Desert Fury
06/04/59 The Last Mile/The Fearmakers
06/11/59 The Hangman/City Of Fear
06/18/59 I, Mobster/ California
06/25/59 The Man Inside
07/02/59 The Angry Hills
07/10/59 Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure/
——— The Man Who Could Cheat Death
07/16/59 The Wild Women Of Wongo/The Sins Of Lola Montes
07/23/59 Flesh And The Woman/The Bride Is Much Too Beautiful
07/30/59 The Mummy/THe Curse Of The Undead
08/05/59 The Beat Generation
08/20/59 The Hound Of The Baskervilles
08/27/59 Monika, The Story Of A Bad Girl
09/03/59 It Started With A Kiss
10/15/59 No Name On The Bullet/Floods Of Fear
10/22/59 Female And The Flesh
11/04/59 Bend Of The River/The World In His Arms
11/11/59 The Mating Urge/You Know What Sailors Are
11/18/59 Room At The Top/The Ladykillers
11/25/59 Tarzan, The Ape Man (1959/ The Oregon Trail
12/02/59 Wild Strawberries/Three Strange Loves
12/17/59 Li'l Abner
01/29/60 A Woman Like Satan
03/03/60 Breakout
03/17/60 The Wind Cannot Read
03/31/60 Cell 2455, Death Row /Edge Of Eternity
04/08/60 The Rape Of Mayala (aka A Town Like Alice)/
——— The Beasts Of Marseilles (aka Seven Thunders)
04/14/60 Around The World In 80 Days
04/28/60 The Bridges At Toko Ri /The Country Girl
05/05/60 The Greatest Show On Earth
05/20/60 Walk Like A Dragon/
——— The Prisoner Of The Volga
05/27/60 Killers Of Kilamanjaro/Battle Of The Coral Sea
06/03/60 The Warrior And The Slave Girl
06/10/60 Head Of A Tyrant/Too Soon To Love
06/17/60 The Wicked Go To Hell
06/22/60 The Brides Of Dracula/Leech Woman
07/08/60 The 39 Steps (1960 version )
07/27/60 Psycho
11/04/60 Hiroshima, Mon Amour (French)
12/02/60 Hiroshima, Mon Amour (English)
12/23/60 The World Of Suzy Wong
03/31/61 One-Eyed Jacks
05/24/61 On The Double
06/23/61 Love In A Goldfish Bowl
07/07/61 La Dolce Vida
11/10/61 Rocco And His Brothers
11/23/61 Beware Of Children
12/06/61 Everything’s Ducky
12/15/61 Mysterious Island
12/27/61 The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone
02/07/62 The Mark
02/16/62 Lover Come Back
06/08/62 Spartacus)
06/22/62 That Touch Of Mink
09/20/62 Damn The Defiant
10/11/62 The Pigeon That Took Room
11/08/62 Requiem For A Heavyweight
12/07/62 A Streetcar Named Desire/Tobacco Road
12/21/62 Two For The Seesaw
02/14/63 To Kill A Mockingbird
06/21/63 Irma La Douce
10/11/63 For Love Or Money
11/01/63 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
11/28/63 Li'l Abner/To Kill A Mockingbird
12/06/63 My Little Chickadee/The Bank Dick
12/13/63 The Secret Passion (aka Freud)
12/25/63 Charade
03/25/64 Captain Newman, M.D.
05/29/64 The Chalk Garden
07/31/64 A Shot In The Dark
10/30/64 Send Me No Flowers
12/25/64 Kiss Me, Stupid
02/10/65 How To Murder Your Wife
05/26/65 The Satan Bug
06/09/65 Mister Moses
06/30/65 What’s New Pussycat?
11/11/65 The War Lord
12/24/65 Never Too Late
01/20/66 That Man In Istanbul
03/02/66 The Silencers
05/25/66 Blindfold
07/06/66 Arabesque
09/28/66 Fantastic Voyage
11/16/66 What’s Up Tiger Lily?
12/23/66 Gambit
02/17/67 Deadlier Than The Male
03/17/67 The Countess From Hong Kong
04/12/67 Hombre
06/28/67 The Dirty Dozen
11/15/67 Tony Rome
12/20/67 The President’s Analyst
03/06/68 Around The World In 80 Days
04/17/68 The Secret War Of Harry Frigg
05/29/68 Wild In The Streets
06/26/68 The Green Berets
08/07/68 Boom
08/21/68 The Wild Angels/Born Losers
09/02/68 CLOSED FOR REPAIRS/REFURBISHING
12/19/68 Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang
02/19/69 Three In The Attic
03/19/69 Where Eagles Dare
06/04/69 Can Hieronymus Merkin…
07/02/69 The Maltese Bippy
07/16/69 Cleopatra
08/06/69 Spirits Of The Dead
08/27/69 Justine
09/07/69 Medium Cool
10/22/69 The Christmas Tree
11/07/69 The Gypsy Moths
11/26/69 All The Loving Couples
12/17/69 Topaz
02/04/70 tick…tick…tick…
03/20/70 Airport
07/23/70 Two Mules For Sister Sara
09/02/70 It’s Your Thing (Music Doc.)
09/16/70 The Mcmasters
09/30/70 I Am Curious (Yellow) (English Version)
10/14/70 Quiet Days In Clichy
10/28/70 Black Angels
11/04/70 Myra Breckenridge/
——— Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls
11/11/70 The Stewardess 3-D
04/17/71 Pretty Maids In A Row
04/21/71 Grimms Fairy Tales For Adults Only
05/19/71 Secret Places, Secret Things
05/26/71 The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant/
——— The House That Screamed
06/02/71 Portrait Of Women
06/09/71 The Body
06/16/71 Flesh/Lonesome Cowboys
06/23/71 Shaft
12/01/71 Daughters Of Darkness
12/17/71 99 Women/House Of A Thousand Dolls
12/22/71 Honky
01/19/72 House Of Wax
Other long running films not listed above that played at the Town between 1959 and 1972. inclued in the order of their release: “Lover Come Back” (16 weeks), “That Touch of Mink” (12 weeks), “Irma La Douce” (16 weeks), “Charade” (13 weeks), “A Shot in the Dark” (13 weeks), “How to Murder Your Wife” (15 weeks, “What’s New Pussycat”(16 weeks), “The Silencers” (12 weeks), “Arabesque” (12 weeks), “Hombre” (11 weeks), “The Dirty Dozen” (20 weeks), “The President’s Analyst” (11 weeks), “Where Eagles Dare” (10 weeks), “Airport” (17 weeks), “The Stewardess 3-D” (22 weeks), and the champ, “Shaft” (23 weeks).
A couple of side notes: “Hiroshima, Mon Amour” played for 4 weeks in French, then 3 weeks in English. “Lover Come Back” and “That Touch of Mink” both starred Doris Day, and they played almost back to back in 1962. The last week that “The Green Berets” played at the Town, the film opened wide at a number of local theaters, something that had never happened before. At “Around the World in 80 Days”, the theater played the National Anthem before the screening started. Some of didn’t know whether to stand or not. In the end we did. Finally the original four-hour version of “Cleopatra” played at the Town in July of 1969.
The Calvert closed 5/30/67 with a double bill of “Alfie” and “Funeral in Berlin”.
The Calvert began an on-again/off-again first-fun policy with “The Small World of Sammy Lee” on 9/20/63.
Among its more notable first-runs were “Knife In The Water” (1/64), “Bedtime Story” (6/64), “Marnie” (8/64), “The Slender Thread” (1/65), “Viva Maria” (2/66), “Shout Louder…” (12/66), and its last first-run “Night Games” (3/67).
“Marnie” which opened in multiple theaters that included the Calvert
was the first Alfred Hitcock film not to be shown in a downtown theater.
Most of the films ran from one to three weeks. ‘The Slender Thread" and “Viva Maria” both ran for four weeks. “The Easy Life” ran for six weeks.
The theater opened on 11/14/68. The following films were shown there in its brief run.
11/14/68 The Shoes Of The Fisherman
04/02/69 Ben-Hur
06/04/69 South Pacific
06/26/69 Krakatoa, East Of Java
08/13/69 The Gay Deceivers
10/01/69 De Sade
11/26/69 All Neat In Black Stockings
12/05/69 Charly)/For Love Of Ivy
The L'efant was closed on 12/14/69 due to lack of business. The AFI took it over in 1970.
The theater opened on 12/14/66. Its opening attraction was “How to Steal a Million”.
The original theater opened on 7/25/62 as The Wheaton Plaza Playhouse. It’s opening attraction was “Jessica” starring Maurice Chevalier and Angie Dickinson.
The theater opened on 11/17/69 with “A Walk With Love and Death”.