Thanks Raymond. Lee has been one of my favourite cinemas in Hong Kong and I visited the cinema often in the late 80s till it closed its door. It has been the venue for the Miss Hong Kong event every year in the 70s and 80s. “Dead Poets Society” was the last film I saw there, and also my favourite film. One of the finest cinemas in Hong Kong history, no doubt.
Astor used to be a landmark on Nathan Road as the hotel building (Chung Hing Hotel?) had a giant vertical orange neon light billboard for National electrical appliances. It could be seen from miles along Nathan Road from the north. In the 80s, when it was paired up with Pearl in Causeway Bay, Astor has shown many Hollywood films, many from Fox. I watched Octopussy there. At the time Astor closes, it was the forth largest cinema in Hong Kong, behind Paris, Sunbeam and Ruby. It has always been in the top 10 ticket sales in the 80s.
The rename to GH Washington was triggered by the closure/redevelopment of Empress and Royal in Mongkok. The Royal chain took Empire, in Mong Kok, back from the Newport chain to replace Royal as the leading cinema. In turn, Newport chain took Golden Harvest, in Jordan, from the Golden Harvest chain, renamed it as Newport, which became the leading cinema in their chain. Golden Harvest therefore moved to GH Washington, under Ecko chain and paired with Lee at that point, and it’s only a block away from the original GH. It was a bit of a waste because Washington was equiped with one the best audio systems (THX) for Hollywood blockbusters in late 1980s while GH only showed Cantonese movies.
The history of State Theatre was amazing. My memory can only be traced back to the early 80s when State, together with Queen’s in Central and Tai Ping in Western District, was under Golden Harvest Circuit. It seems that GH had many of the important cinemas in Hong Kong at the time.
The lobby of Capital was so small (at the time of opening) that the patrons had to wait at a covered ally just outside. As Raymond pointed out, it was the first multi-storey triplex and it also started to end the era of large cinemas in Hong Kong.
I remember Columbia Classic was one of the few had student discounted tickets for the 12:30 shows. We used to get down there from the University after the morning lectures and watched a movie. It was around 18-20 HKD at the time, which was around 3 USD or 2 GBP. Very good value.
an image of London Threatre before rebuilt as London Classic. View link
The current image (bottom) was built in the 90s with London Classic at the 2nd Floor.
Thanks Raymond. Lee has been one of my favourite cinemas in Hong Kong and I visited the cinema often in the late 80s till it closed its door. It has been the venue for the Miss Hong Kong event every year in the 70s and 80s. “Dead Poets Society” was the last film I saw there, and also my favourite film. One of the finest cinemas in Hong Kong history, no doubt.
Astor used to be a landmark on Nathan Road as the hotel building (Chung Hing Hotel?) had a giant vertical orange neon light billboard for National electrical appliances. It could be seen from miles along Nathan Road from the north. In the 80s, when it was paired up with Pearl in Causeway Bay, Astor has shown many Hollywood films, many from Fox. I watched Octopussy there. At the time Astor closes, it was the forth largest cinema in Hong Kong, behind Paris, Sunbeam and Ruby. It has always been in the top 10 ticket sales in the 80s.
The rename to GH Washington was triggered by the closure/redevelopment of Empress and Royal in Mongkok. The Royal chain took Empire, in Mong Kok, back from the Newport chain to replace Royal as the leading cinema. In turn, Newport chain took Golden Harvest, in Jordan, from the Golden Harvest chain, renamed it as Newport, which became the leading cinema in their chain. Golden Harvest therefore moved to GH Washington, under Ecko chain and paired with Lee at that point, and it’s only a block away from the original GH. It was a bit of a waste because Washington was equiped with one the best audio systems (THX) for Hollywood blockbusters in late 1980s while GH only showed Cantonese movies.
The history of State Theatre was amazing. My memory can only be traced back to the early 80s when State, together with Queen’s in Central and Tai Ping in Western District, was under Golden Harvest Circuit. It seems that GH had many of the important cinemas in Hong Kong at the time.
the building on the right hand side of this photo could be World in an very early time.
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Sorry Raymond, it was next door. Got the wrong picture. this should be correct: View link
Raymond, is it now the largest cinema per screen in Hong Kong?
The lobby of Capital was so small (at the time of opening) that the patrons had to wait at a covered ally just outside. As Raymond pointed out, it was the first multi-storey triplex and it also started to end the era of large cinemas in Hong Kong.
Raymond, I thought August Moon has closed it doors in the 80s.
Was it rebuilt as the Hopewell Centre, once the tallest building in Hong Kong in the 80s?
I remember Columbia Classic was one of the few had student discounted tickets for the 12:30 shows. We used to get down there from the University after the morning lectures and watched a movie. It was around 18-20 HKD at the time, which was around 3 USD or 2 GBP. Very good value.
a very old picture when State was still Empire:
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and a better one:
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a black and with picture of Oriental:
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and this is a better/older one:
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Another old pic:
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Another pic of Hoover showing Ben Hur.
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Another pic:
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Another old picture of Kwong Chee:
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Here’s another old picture of Alhambra.
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A picture of Washington, possibly in 80s.
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An old picture of Victoria in 1974:
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an image of Empress, possibly in the 80s:
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an image of London Threatre before rebuilt as London Classic. View link
The current image (bottom) was built in the 90s with London Classic at the 2nd Floor.
an picture of Universal:
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