Cinemas In the 1960s and 1970s

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 – 3^rd Class (the few rows nearest to the screen), 2^nd class (middle), 1^st Class (back rows) and the Reserved Class (balcony above the 1^st class).

The 3^rd and 2^nd Class seats were made of wood while the 1^st and Reserved Class were cushioned seats.

What about the price of the tickets? The 3^rd Class was 65 cents, 2^nd class was 85 cents, 1^st 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.