re ‘It re-opened after the war, and showed selected films until its closure in 1957 or 1958.’
This is not the case. The Tai Po couldn’t have closed in 1957, or even 1958 for that matter. I can remember going to watch movies in both the Golden Palace and Tai Po Cinemas on the same day. Since the Golden Palace was only opened in 1957, the Tai Po Cinema couldn’t have closed in 1957, or even 1958. Some days I remember seeing 4 different movies in one day (maybe during my school holidays). I remember one cinema had a different morning movie (早場), and the other cinema had an ‘after work movie’ (工餘場), which was different to the main feature.
The other fact I know is that the Tai Po cinema was only knocked down around 1963 or 64 to make way for a block of flats called the Moon House. This is because the property developer was a family relation of ours.
The location of this cinema was on the intersection of KwongFuk Road and On Fu Road. The picture link from Google maps seems to show Wan Tau Street which is about 300 yards further to the south.
Does anyone know the theatre’s name in Cantonese?
I remember seeing Trapeze there (Burt Lancaster/Tony Curtis/Gina Lollobrigida)
Picture of the Star theatre: http://www.flickr.com/photos/old-hk/3007315707/
Yes I do. The site of the theatre was at the corner of Sui On Street and Hey Yuen Street (Hey Yuen = Cantonese for theatre)
The site is now a block of apartments named Moon House. The property developers were actually family relations and I remember it was built around 1964. The year when I left Hong Kong.
Google maps: <http://maps.google.es/maps?hl=es&ie=UTF8&ll=22.448597,114.163755&spn=0.002231,0.004801&t=h&z=18>
I can also remember something extremely unusual about this theatre.
In front of the screen on the right corner, not far from the front row, was a well!! This could be the only theatre in the whole world with a watering hole inside it. When we were kids we used to wander inside when the cinema was empty during the day and look around or play about. There were no gates or locked doors to stop people going in. One day we lifted the concrete lid and found that it was a well. I think we only found that out when we dropped a small stone into it and heard the sound of water (it was quite dark inside the cinema even during the day). Talk about health and safety! But then we are talking about a small market town in 1950’s rural area of Hong Kong, the New Territories.
I remember going there to see Hitchcock’s Psycho. The hype then was that nobody would be admitted into the theatre after the film starts.
Didn’t know what the fuss was all about, and a bit disappointed to see a black and white film when 99% of the new releases were in colour.
There is an old picture of the theatre in Flickr: View link
Now I remember how my youth was spent. There were no television in the early to mid-fifties. I was seeing up to 4 different English speaking talkies a day (2 cinemas in Taipo with 2 main feature films and also each with an “afternoon leisure film show”. The earliest subtitles (interpreted from English) were hand written and projected by slides onto a small space on the side of the main screen! So you had to flip from one to the other just to get a gist of what was happening with the plot! I remember seeing Disney’s Pinocchio there.
re ‘It re-opened after the war, and showed selected films until its closure in 1957 or 1958.’ This is not the case. The Tai Po couldn’t have closed in 1957, or even 1958 for that matter. I can remember going to watch movies in both the Golden Palace and Tai Po Cinemas on the same day. Since the Golden Palace was only opened in 1957, the Tai Po Cinema couldn’t have closed in 1957, or even 1958. Some days I remember seeing 4 different movies in one day (maybe during my school holidays). I remember one cinema had a different morning movie (早場), and the other cinema had an ‘after work movie’ (工餘場), which was different to the main feature. The other fact I know is that the Tai Po cinema was only knocked down around 1963 or 64 to make way for a block of flats called the Moon House. This is because the property developer was a family relation of ours.
The location of this cinema was on the intersection of KwongFuk Road and On Fu Road. The picture link from Google maps seems to show Wan Tau Street which is about 300 yards further to the south.
Ritz was on the junction of Nathan Road and Shantung Street (山東街)
Picture of the Broadway showing The Magnificent Seven (1960)
http://gwulo.com/node/1310
Does anyone know the theatre’s name in Cantonese?
I remember seeing Trapeze there (Burt Lancaster/Tony Curtis/Gina Lollobrigida)
Picture of the Star theatre:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/old-hk/3007315707/
The larger building on the bottom left was the Tai Po Cinema, seen from the side and back.
View link
Yes I do. The site of the theatre was at the corner of Sui On Street and Hey Yuen Street (Hey Yuen = Cantonese for theatre)
The site is now a block of apartments named Moon House. The property developers were actually family relations and I remember it was built around 1964. The year when I left Hong Kong.
Google maps: <http://maps.google.es/maps?hl=es&ie=UTF8&ll=22.448597,114.163755&spn=0.002231,0.004801&t=h&z=18>
I can also remember something extremely unusual about this theatre.
In front of the screen on the right corner, not far from the front row, was a well!! This could be the only theatre in the whole world with a watering hole inside it. When we were kids we used to wander inside when the cinema was empty during the day and look around or play about. There were no gates or locked doors to stop people going in. One day we lifted the concrete lid and found that it was a well. I think we only found that out when we dropped a small stone into it and heard the sound of water (it was quite dark inside the cinema even during the day). Talk about health and safety! But then we are talking about a small market town in 1950’s rural area of Hong Kong, the New Territories.
There is a photo of the Majestic in Flickr:
View link
Photo of the Royal:
View link
The theatre from a different angle:
View link
Photo of the Liberty theatre in Flickr:
View link
There is a photo of the theatre in Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/old-hk/3807952536/
I remember going there to see Hitchcock’s Psycho. The hype then was that nobody would be admitted into the theatre after the film starts.
Didn’t know what the fuss was all about, and a bit disappointed to see a black and white film when 99% of the new releases were in colour.
There is an old picture of the theatre in Flickr:
View link
Now I remember how my youth was spent. There were no television in the early to mid-fifties. I was seeing up to 4 different English speaking talkies a day (2 cinemas in Taipo with 2 main feature films and also each with an “afternoon leisure film show”. The earliest subtitles (interpreted from English) were hand written and projected by slides onto a small space on the side of the main screen! So you had to flip from one to the other just to get a gist of what was happening with the plot! I remember seeing Disney’s Pinocchio there.
I was working in an office nearby and I remember getting free tickets to see Vanishing Point (Barry Newman). How prophetic it turned out!
There is an old photo of the theatre in Flickr:
View link
There is an old photo of the Ritz theatre in Gwulo Hong Kong (meaning antiquated Hong Kong) web site:
http://gwulo.com/node/1219
The first film shown on the opening day was “Alexander the Great” (MGM 1956) starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom.