Grand Theatre (first generation)/香港大戲院 [1923-1956]

Submitted by Klaus on Wed, 08/09/2017 - 03:22
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
Date closed / demolished
(Day & Month are approximate.)

Grand Theatre was located at 183 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai (current Hopewell Centre)

It opened on 4 June 1923. It's predecessor on the same site was the Eastern Theatre which opened in the 1910s and closed probably in 1922.  (See all comments below).

According to Cinema Treasures, the building existed from the 1910s till 1956 until the second generation theatre was built on the same site. It looks as if the existence of the Eastern Theatre was included in this time span.

Previous place(s) at this location
Eastern Theatre [c.1910-1922]
Later place(s) at this location
Hong Kong Grand Theatre (Wan Chai) / 香港大舞台 [1958-1976]

Tags

Photos that show this Place

Grand Theatre advert from 4 June 1932
1923
1937

Comments

The Grand, Wanchai

The Grand has been erected on the site formerly occupied by the old Eastern Theatre. It is a fine structure and is stated to be the largest picture theatre in Hong Kong, seating some 650 persons. There is a balcony, with 170 tip-up seats also being the feature of the first class accommodation downstairs. There are two large lobbies, downstairs and upstairs. The interior is well-decorated, the scheme being white with frosted lights, which, with the plentiful supply of fans dotted about the building, makes it a cool theatre even in the hottest weather. The jazz orchestra consists of six pieces. A feature of the Grand is that the operating box is level with the screen. This is the only theatre so equipped. The Grand opened on 2 June 1923.  Hong Kong Telegraph 4 June 1923 refers.

It looks as if the cinema that opened in the 1910s was the Eastern Theatre. Do you think I should create a new place for this cinema and set the opening date for the Grand to 1923? 

Found info on the Grand by accident. Looks like the Eastern Theatre pre-dated the Grand. Suggest to amend the opening date and create a new place. Seen the Eastern Theatre mentioned in HKPL in the early 1920s but the site is currently sluggish. Will check on it later.

A quick search on Google gave "A History of Film Exhibition and Reception in Colonial Hong Kong from 1897 to 1925" by the Lingnan University. Amongst many other theatres a couple of entries for the Eastern Theatre from 1920 are shown here. First entry for the Grand Theatre is from 1923-06-04 which fits with the newspaper article.

I'll create the place with the dates c. 1910 to c. 1922.