Movie Ads for January 19th, 1976!

January 18th, 1976. The Steelers had won Super Bowl ten (X) against the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17. This is significant to this blog post because that was the main news story on the front page of an old newspaper I found the other day. I do love old newspapers, but they depress me. When I read a newspaper from the 1970s, I realize how sad our country, our world, has become. Not because things were better back then, no. Things were just as messed up but in different ways. It's because I read a newspaper from then and realize how far journalism has sunk. The difference between a newspaper from then and now is dramatic. Then it was THE NEWS. It was well written and to the point. Today, it's all tabloid and sensationalism with virtually no integrity to be seen. I had to get that off of my chest. It has no bearing on what I'm really going to blog about tonight.

What I TRULY love about old newspapers are the entertainment sections. I love reading the comics and the TV listings but above all else, I love pages with the movie ads. There is nothing more exciting to me to find a section of an old newspaper with the movie listings intact. My eyes actually light up and my adrenaline pumps a bit. I once had a Pittsburgh Press from the Friday after Nixon resigned. It had huge ads for Andy Warhol's Frankenstein in 3D, Amazing Grace starring Moms Mabley and the Harry Nilsson / Ringo Starr Son Of Dracula. I was heartbroken when I found out about 10 years ago that my Mother had given the paper away. You guys out there with stories about your Mother throwing away your Baseball Cards and Comic Books... I feel ya. It was a heart breaker. I'd love to get it back to scan those ads. Damn.

Well, I must digress about my losses. I'm glad to say that I was able to scan the entertainment ads from the Monday, January 19th 1976 Pittsburgh Press (a newspaper that is, sadly, no more). The ads here aren't as exciting as the ones I'd lost, but they're a great deal of fun and they go back to a time when the world was made for adults, not families.

Here we go (click on the images to enlarge).

First off, we have the Prestige Theaters. These were the high profile theaters in town. Since the Steelers won the night before, the newspaper was full of ads congratulating the Steelers on their victory (as shown at the top of this blog entry). You could catch a Super Bowl bargain matinee for $1.00. A dollar. Ya can't even get a popcorn for that these days. Note that the Fulton Mini was playing the X rated The Story of 'O'. It was a time when adult films could play high profile theaters. Good days.

The Cinemette Theaters were the main theater chain in Western Pennsylvania. This was the beginning of the multiplex age with some theaters having as much as 4 screens! As time went on, a lot of the single screen theaters split into twins just to keep up. The Blockbuster Jaws was just ending it's run in Pittsburgh theaters and the Amicus production From Beyond The Grave, originally from 1973 was just making it's debut. Note the Strand was playing adult features while the Sheridan Square was showing Blaxploitation features. The re-release of Mel Brooks' 1974 Blazing Saddles was enjoying success that week also.

The Neighborhood Cinemas were the third tier of theaters; playing mostly second run features after the Prestige and chain theaters were done with them. Note the South Hills had a 50¢ matinee of Michael Ritchie's Smile. The Carnegie was playing adult features and the Roxian was playing Blaxploitation. The only family friendly show that week was Walt Disney's The Strongest Man In The World paired with The Best of Disney's True Life Adventures. I was all of 6 years old that week, so it's highly possible I saw that double bill.

Then there were the theaters who ran their own ads. The Chatham was playing Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express.

The Guild was playing cultish fare with King Of Hearts and the "Loyal Short Subjects" Bambi Meets Godzilla and Lenny Bruce's Thank You, Masked Man. Now, if memory serves, this bill had played for years at the Guild.

Not satisfied with traditional fare? How about some more... um... adult fare?

There's no doubt Pittsburgh men love women. Well, they enjoy watching them at least. These were four of the big adult houses. In the summertime, there was plenty of adult fare in drive-ins, but in the winter, ya went inside if ya wanted to get it on with yer bad self. Speaking of Drive ins...

Believe it or not, in the dead of an ice cold Pittsburgh winter, there were still 4 drive ins operating. I'm not certain if AM transmitters were in use at this time, so it might have been a speaker on the window with an in-a-car heater to keep you warm during the show. The Dependable didn't have in-a-car heaters apparently. With the X rated features they were playing, I suppose one was to make his/her own heat. Note that the Dependable was playing 2 X features with an R. Drive-ins were required to play at least one non X feature on their bill, so as to remain a legitimate theater.

But there was more than just movies going on that week. If you wanted live entertainment, there was that, too.


Tonight at the La Stella was the rocking ZERO. Personally, I would have waited until Thursday. That's when WILD CHERRY was playing. Yep, the same Wild Cherry that became immortal with their huge hit, "Play That Funky Music White Boy". But wait! Pittsburgh has Burlesque too! Now, it wasn't your Grandfather's Burlesque. I would imagine there were no singers or baggy pants comedians, but there probably weren't any stripper poles either. The Penthouse also had movies. Most likely 8mm or 16mm loops, but who knows?



And if Burlesque wasn't your thing, there was always Buddy Rich but you'd have to wait for March.

So, that's it. I'm hoping to do more of this type of thing in the future. If you have any old newspapers on hand, please let me know. I'd love to uncover some treasures!