Cathay Theater

lostmemory on February 7, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Here is a 2008 photo.

lostmemory on January 7, 2008 at 7:08 pm

A more recent photo can be seen here.

lostmemory on June 18, 2007 at 9:23 am

Here is another recent night view of the Cathay Theater.

KenRoe on January 17, 2006 at 11:33 am

Another exterior night shot:
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RobertBurger on December 11, 2005 at 2:06 am

The Cathay cinema was built during 1930 and 1931, and opened on January 1, 1932, with an american movie called ‘Free Soul’. Until 1949 it played mainly English and American Films, using Chinese subtitles and earphones for spoken translation to Chinese. The original technical outfit from the US (‘Simplex’?) was used until 1964.

Originally the Cathay had 1080 seats, placed in ca. 30 rows in a flat, rectangle hall without balcony. Ceiling structure and lights were squares – I don’t remember to spot anything round in that room. In the early ninetees it looked as if nothing had changed for 60 years; only seating had been reduced to 978.

In 1986, 1997 and 1999 there was an upgrade of the speaker system, the last one adding surround sound and DTS, earning the Cathay an official ‘four star’ cinema status.

A remarkable oddity of the Cathay is the entrance opening to the center of the intersection of Huai Hai Lu and Mao Ming Lu – it made some headlines in architectural magazines of the thirties. Maybe this contributed to its municipal preservation status in the early nineties – which apparently only applied to the outside of the building, as its protected status did not prevent the splitting of the screening hall: The original one was cut into three smaller rooms, which reopened on June 28, 2005, with 225, 236 and 123 seats. The new floor plans look quite unattractive, with long and narrow screening tubes. No trace of the original decoration remains visible.

KenRoe on October 25, 2005 at 3:59 am

Here is an exterior photograph (June 2005) of the Cathay Theater, Shanghai:
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