Centennial Movie Trivia

On February 27, 1923, the Chevy Chase Theatre showed The Prince and the Pauper, a silent adventure film based on Mark Twain's 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper about a poor boy who switches places with Edward, Prince of Wales in Tudor England.

Miriam Hopkins, Frances Dee and Cedric Hardwicke starred in Becky Sharp, a film set against the backdrop of Napoleon's Waterloo campaign, and the first full technicolor film shown on August 18, 1935.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz first met on the set of Too Many Girls, and married six months after filming the movie.

Mickey Mouse debuted publicly in the short film Steamboat Willie (1928), one of the first sound cartoons, but he didn’t appear in a feature film until Fantasia in 1940 (shown at the Avalon in November 1947 and again in May 1985).

1958’s Vertigo, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak, was the first film that used computer graphics on an opening title sequence.

West Side Story, which played at the Avalon in November 1963, received 10 wins at the 34th Academy Awards:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor : George Chakiri
Best Supporting Actress: Rita Moreno
Best Art Direction – Color
Best Cinematography – Color
Best Costume Design – Color
Best Film Editing
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture
Best Sound

Hailed as one of the most offbeat funny movies of all time, Harold and Maude has amassed a loyal following since its release. It premiered at the Avalon on December 21, 1971.

AFI hosted the premier of the restored version of Lawrence of Arabia on February 2, 1988, at the Avalon, along with LA’s Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza and Ziegfeld Theater in New York City.

The Secretary of State (and a full protective detail) were delighted by Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes in the year’s Best Picture, Shakespeare in Love.

You Can Count on Me and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were shown in March 2001, before it was closed by then-owner Loews Theatres, which was in danger of bankruptcy.