Cinemas Colisee
Rue du Pont Neuf 68,
Brussels
1000
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Commodor Cinema, Cinephone Cinema, Cine Colisee
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Located in the Rue du Pont Neuf, between Rue Neuve and Boulevard Adolphe Max. Built in the 1920’s on the site of the Madrid dance hall, it was first named Commodor Cinema, from 1932 to 1938. It was re-named Cinephone in 1938 showing Harold Lloyd in “Doctor Beware”. It continued with the Cinephone name until 1954, when it was renovated and became the Cine Colisee.
“The Wild One” with Marlon Brando was shown here second run after the Agora Cinema and Plaza Cinema. Some German films were also shown in the late-1950’s. In 1962 it became a duplex, the second cinema in Brussels to be twinned after the Avenue Cinema.
In 1970 it became a triplex, the third screen was built on the site of the adjacent Parisiane dance hall. The opening film was “Charly” with Cliff Robertson. The Cinemas Colisee was closed in 1983 and was demolished. Today a retail shop H&M is on the site.
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
My family owned and operated this theater for many years. I have fond memories of spending time in the theaters, seeing the expansion from two to three theaters in the 70s and staying in the penthouse apartment. My great aunt and uncle Stan and Lucia Heiber were the owners.
I didn’t quite get it as a kid, but at least one of the screens seemed to be dedicated to sex films. Ilsa, the She Wolf of the SS played one summer. The impressionable teen, who was me, found it intriguing and discussing. I remember trying to understand how my Jewish family could run this crap, but never got a satisfactory answer. Ultimately, my family, survivors of Nazi abuse, pragmatic. They probably figured that sadisdic pervert money was as good as any other.
I used to come from the age of 6 every Saturday lunch time to see the operator doing the test run of the new films while my father was speaking with his friend the owner……
Stan was a great raconteur and had many good friends. Many were Jews who’d survived the camps. He, himself, drove for a German officer during the war. Unfortunately, my grade school French wasn’t up to the task and one of the few languages he didn’t speak was English. I was allowed to wander into the projection booths where nice operators taught me how to load and run the projectors. That technology is no longer used, so it was a wonderful thing for us to have seen it. I was also taken to some screenings, but the most interesting was the sign painting shop where the large publicity flats were painted.
I went to a few football games with him,I was a regular to the cinema from the year 1954 , I remember the first cinema with the beautiful drapes coming down and up and then the second cinema and the third…. The films were on big spools with the frames those were the days. Where are you from and what is your email? Mine is henrizimand@ gmail.com would love to hear from you.
Oh yes and at night next to the cinema was the nightclub where they would go after 10 pm and it was the most exclusive one and I even met the owner they were friends.
In the 50' the best films were run in the Colisee and also in the 60' same for the 70' then also the industry went down . I remember also their apartment in kikar hamedinah……