Playhouse Cinema - Southfield MI

Address: 8-Mile Rd
City: Southfield
State: MI
Zip: 48033
County: Oakland
Open: 1972
Capacity: 360
Owner History:
Theater Type: Shopping Center - Early Multiplex
Number of visits to this page: 3414
Disclaimer:

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General Information:

After reading some articles and viewing some ads on this theater, I now remember it. I grew up in Southfield at the time this place was operating. It was a geodesic dome structure (at least in its first iteration). It was basically on the premises of what was then the early version of Northland Center. I remember attending a demonstration of jet airline travel there with my mother when I was a kid. The idea was to show a film and imagine you were on the jet. I assume this was being done to reassure the public it was safe.

The theater goes back to 1958 and operated into the 1970's. In 1973, it ran into trouble with L. Brooks Patterson, who was probably the most "known" prosecutor in Oakland County. He objected to the showing of the early porn film "Deep Throat" and convinced the theater managers to stop showing it. Southfield was a fairly middle to upper middle class area in those days and it doesn't surprise me he objected given his constituency at that time.

Info Updates:
No Updates Found
 Photos:7
Playhouse Cinema - Old Photo From Michigan Rock And Roll Legends
Old Photo From Michigan Rock And Roll Legends
Playhouse Cinema - 1958 Ads
1958 Ads
Playhouse Cinema - 1958 Article
1958 Article
Playhouse Cinema - 1960 Ad For James Garner
1960 Ad For James Garner
Playhouse Cinema - April 1973 Ad
April 1973 Ad
Playhouse Cinema - Jan 1973 Closed Down For Showing Of Deep Throat
Jan 1973 Closed Down For Showing Of Deep Throat
Playhouse Cinema - June 1973 Ad
June 1973 Ad
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