GC44NNC (DCH) The Mercury Theatre (Traditional Cache) in Michigan, United States created by RayQix

GC44NNC ▼

A cache by RayQix Message this owner

Hidden : 1/20/2013

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Geocache Description:

The Detroit Cinema History (DCH) caches are dedicated to the local creation, viewing,
or enjoyment of movie and cinema-related items in the local area.

This can include, and is not limited to, people, places, and things of Cinema or both past-and-present.

(This series is a companion to the Michigan Cinema History (MCH) and Ontario Cinema History (OCH) series.)

The Mercury Theatre
(Later known as Metro Mercury I & II)
Open: 1941 | Closed: 1990's (Demolished 1997) | Capacity: 2000

The front of the Mercury Theatre, 1960

The Mercury's lobby had brass plaques on its walls with autographs of Hollywood stars etched in them. Both the lobby and the auditorium walls contained Art Deco visions of views of the universe that literally glowed in the dark with black-light illumination.

Ceiling Mural from the Mercury

The murals were majestic and exquisite, the lobby was grand and the actual theatre was magnificent and left most movie-goers amazed at the details. It also had a stage which many people don't remember.

One Wall Mural

This provided a positively stunning moviegoing experience where the walls were sometimes more interesting than the film.

Another Wall Mural

There were a couple changes in the late 1950's that would come to the Mercury. One would be the installation of the 70mm projection equipment. This would allow the Mercury to be the first theatre outside of Downtown Detroit to show 70mm films, beginning with "Porgy and Bess" in 1959. A huge curved screen was also installed at this time so the Mercury could show first-run films exclusively from that point on.

Another mural with a couple female patrons (1990's)

Another unusual feature was the push-back seats, allowing patrons to move into the row without requiring those already seated to rise. Later, these seats became common at General Cinemas Theatres built in the Detroit area from the 1960s-on.

Another interior view.

The word spread that the prestigious films of the day would play at the Mercury first and with that the downtown theaters would not be the only first-run venues in town. Without a doubt, the Mercury was the most unusual theater in the Detroit area and many folks would also say it was the most beautiful.

1967 ticket stubs

In 1985, the large auditorium was twinned into a set of 600-seat auditoriums and this remodeling of the theater left the original Streamline Moderne decor relatively intact as it had been since it opened. The old 70mm equipment was removed and sold (possibly to the Redford Theatre) around this time as well.

According to theater records, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Mercury started showing double features on one bill (until the late showing) for one admission ticket. This was a unique feature of the Mercury in its later years as few (if any) other indoor cinema showed double bills.

1979 view of the Mercury

After the "twinning" in 1985, it was renamed the Metro Mercury I & II, and began screening second-run features.

The Theatre front, 1993

With the advent of home-entertainment sources like VCR's, DVD's, and the Home Computer, attendance declined at the Mercury. That and the competition from newer, more high-tech movie-houses, led to the slowing of business and the eventual closing of this magestic palace known as the Mercury. The decision was made to eventually demolish the building and reuse it for some smaller retail shops that currently occupy the site today.

IF you have any more information or details on this theatre,
please email me and i will include it in the description.

Thank you.