Film Flashback January 3, 1958

We're beginning the year off with a look back at the movies that were playing or about to be playing in Murfreesboro, Tennessee 62 years ago. There's no Martin or Cinema, and no Marbro Drive-In (though there is a drive in theatre at the Marbro's location). Movies ran for fewer days in those days, often playing only for a couple of nights. There was the Princess Theatre on College Street, Starlite Drive-In out on Highway 231 Shelbyville Road, and the 4-Lane Drive-In which was located in the same spot on Highway 41 the Marbro would occupy beginning in 1966.

Let's head out south of town first to see what is playing at the Starlite on Friday January 3, 1958. On this night there's a couple of films: There's The Last Frontier with Victor Mature and there's also the sultry Jane Russell in Hot Blood directed by Nicholas Ray who had directed James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. Another James Dean classic, Giant, was coming to the Starlite soon.

If The Last Frontier or Hot Blood wasn't something you wished to see on January 3, 1958, but you still wanted to enjoy the drive-in you could visit the north side of town and see what was playing at the 4-Lane Drive-In. 

Bing Crosby was a Man On Fire which is a drama about divorce and child custody. Streets of Laredo is the second part of the double feature. Gunsight Ridge would begin on January 5, 1958. 

  

If you didn't want to spend the evening in your car you could go into town and see what the Princess Theatre was offering. The last showing was today if you wanted to see Cary Grant and Jayne Mansfield in Kiss Them For Me. I'm a huge Cary Grant fan and how can you not like Jayne so if I had been alive back then I would have definitely gone to see this Stanley Donen directed movie. Saturday night you can catch a double feature with The Brass Legend and be able to answer the question "are mental patients turned loose too soon" after seeing The Night Runner. Kim Novak stars in Jeanne Eagels which is coming on Sunday and playing through Thursday. It's a bio pic on the Jeanne Eagels who was a Broadway and film star of the 20's.


    Jeanne Eagels                                                                                  

That's all for this week's Film Flashback. I will continue to do these every Friday for most of this year. I doubt I will go this far back next time, but who knows what year I will end up in next.