Recently, I purchased a DVD of a very old classic movie
by Disney, “Mary Poppins”. Why buy a DVD of such an old classic? You see, “Mary
Poppins” was one of the first movies that I watched in a cinema. The cinema
that I went to was an old one in Sitiawan. There was a local live band that
performed a few songs before the show started. That old cinema, unfortunately,
was destroyed in a fire. My dad drove me and my brother to watch. We saw
fire-fighters were still dowsing the smoldering ruined building with water. It
could have been in 1968 but I could not remember exactly.
During the 1960s, when we were staying at the medical
staff quarters at the Taiping Prisons Department Housing compound, we used to
watch movies at the Prison Officers Club badminton court. I am sure many of the
older generation still remember the experience of watching movies at the padang
at the kampungs or government quarters. For many of us in the old days, going
to the cinema was not that very common. The only other movie that I watched in
a cinema was James Bond’s Thunderball. It was at the Lido cinema in Taiping.
The olden days cinemas back then had no air-conditioning,
only ceiling fans for comfort. The seats were separated into four classes – 3rd
Class (the few rows nearest to the screen), 2nd class (middle), 1st
Class (back rows) and the Reserved Class (balcony above the 1st
class).
The 3rd and 2nd Class seats were
made of wood while the 1st and Reserved Class were cushioned seats.
What about the price of the tickets? The 3rd
Class was 65 cents, 2nd class was 85 cents, 1st Class was
at 1.50 and the Reserved Class was at $2.50.
Back then, while TV shows were in “black and white”,
movies in the cinemas were in “techni-color”. Color TVs entered Malaysia in
1979 and they were big expensive TV sets.
The old cinemas in Taiping were fitted with
air-conditioning only in the end of 1970s. Cathay Taiping was the first to be
air-conditioned, followed by the Lido. The seats were all cushioned and the
ticket prices were increased. The Cathay was also the first in Taiping to be
fitted with Dolby stereo and “Sensurround Sound”. I remember I watched the
movie “Battle of Midway”, the cinema seemed to shake with the sound of the
aeroplanes and the rumble of battle.
Cinemas in Taiping faced the decline of movie goers when
the age of VCR came. By the time VCDs came into being, all the cinemas in
Taiping were closed. Some were converted to game centers while the Lido became
a furniture store. Others were torn down to make way for new shopping centers.
With the new age cinematic technology of today, to watch
movies in cinemas is very exhilarating experience compared to the yesteryears.
I still enjoy watching movies in the cinemas today,
especially of the action movies genre. However, I would still remember what it
was like to watch movies in the old days.
