This booklet published for the use of military personnel only in May 1967 contains movies that will be screened in numerous military cinemas for example The Leowen in Terendak Camp, New Globe, and Globe. This booklet also has all the information on the day and the time of the movie and the British Forces Broadcasting […]
Some of you may already recognise this at the Rex Cinema, in Kampar. We thank Chee Ong Ngai for sharing this picture with us.
The month of August is usually known as “bulan Merdeka” (Merdeka/Independence Month). But did you also know that the earliest cinematograph first came to Ipoh in August 1906? Initially the cinematograph market was monopolized by one company, the Matsuo Japanese Cinematograph Company, who used to hold nightly shows in a tent for 7-weeks running, moving […]
We’ve heard of Elvis impersonators. Some of them sound almost like the late King of Rock and Roll….almost. Here is a Yul Brynner impersonator.
In keeping up with the Halloween theme, here’s a familiar landmark that may have had its fair share of spooky tales… Somewhat triangular in shape the Odeon is adjacent to St Michael’s Catholic graveyard and like the post-war Rex Theatre, rumours that it is haunted abound. One popular rumour is that if you ever take off your shoes […]
Lieutenant Benson’s platoon finds itself isolated in enemy-held territory after a retreat. Soon they are joined by Sergeant Montana, whose overriding concern is caring for his catatonic colonel. Benson and Montana can’t stand each other, but together they must get the survivors to Hill 465, where they hope the division is waiting. It’s a long, […]
This page was taken from the souvenir programme for the opening of the Ruby Theatre. As shown, the advertisement promotes a movie from Paramount Productions. Were you one of those who watched romantic movies on Valentine’s Day, preferably with your significant other? Perhaps you still do…?
…when Lido Theatre had its grand opening. Thanks to Hong Soon Keong, we have here a photograph taken outside the cinema before the opening. It shows the Band of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment of Taiping by the kind permission of the Commanding Officer, Lt Col S G Doulson performing outside the Lido […]
On this date, in 1948, the movie “The Boy with Green Hair” played at Ruby in Ipoh. Anyone watched this movie? Did Peter’s hair turn back to its original colour? UPDATE: The year is in fact 1949, not 1948 as stated. 13th May back in 1948 was a Thursday, not a Friday; hence, with reference […]
This is a souvenir programme from 1938 – the year Ruby Theatre was opened. What’s so special about the Ruby Theatre? Well besides being built by Lau Ek Ching, it was also known as Ipoh’s Ultra Modern Talkie Palace! What’s a ‘talkie’ ? A film with sound, of course 😉 As Wikipedia states: “The primary […]
Well….not quite. But forget the circus for a while; do you remember the days when advertising was done via vehicles? Like this photograph below (from Hong Soon Kheong): Do you remember those decorated vans, which advertised movies at the local cinemas?
Continuing our ‘Then & Now’ series, here we have a comparison of two movie posters. Both were action/adventure films from different years. On the left (courtesy of Edwin Seibel) is a 1957 poster for Moby Dick; on the right is none other then the poster for Avengers Assemble. Anyone know how movie posters were made […]
On the left (courtesy of Ruth Iversen Rollitt) is a 1st Class ticket stub from Sun Cinema, from 1958. On the right is a Google image of a Gold Class ticket stub (2015). How times (and ticket prices) have changed….
“16 mm refers to the width of the film; other common film gauges include 8 and 35mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educational) film-making, or for low-budget motion pictures. It also existed as a popular amateur or home movie-making format for several decades, alongside 8mm film and later Super 8 film.” – Wikipedia […]
This play opened in 1938. Some of you may be too young to recall this…or were not even born yet. Then, there was a 1952 film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. A similar production came out in 2017 (titled “The Greatest Showman”), which also revolved around the famed duo Barnum & Bailey. For […]
Some of you may be able to guess WHERE this place is. So don’t keep those guesses to yourselves. On another note, what did YOU do during your younger days…when you had a Boys/Girls Night Out?
Many of you managed to ‘solve’ our Monday puzzle. Let’s see how many of your can guess THIS one. Ruth, if you are reading this…don’t give up the answer too soon 😉
Yes, there was once a cinema hall named Princess Theatre. No, not in Ipoh…but in Kampar. Remember what it looked like? Here’s a picture (courtesy of Charlie Choong) to jog your memory 🙂
Does anyone remember these lovely ladies and their hula hoops? Well, I’m sure some of you do. These ladies performed at the Lido Theatre; at one time, it was common to see such performances at cinemas.
Today, if you want to know the schedule at your local cinema all you need is the Internet 😉 Yes, everything is available online now – you can even buy your tickets online too! What about back then in the 1930s? Here we have a flyer from 1938, advertising movies showing at the Sun Cinema […]
Familiar? Yes, we did have a Capitol Cinema in Ipoh once. But not anymore. However, the cinema shown in this picture does not look like the one in Ipoh. But I could be wrong. Where do you think this cinema is? Is it still there?
picture courtesy of: Ruth Iversen Rollitt Some time back, our Readers mentioned the Lido Cinema in Taiping. We have here a 1937 picture of the aforementioned cinema. For those of you who spotted it, YES..this is indeed another Iversen building!
This is the inside of the projection room of Glory Cinema. The boys in ‘action’ are Bakar and Sangiva. I’m sure many of our local cinemas had similar projection rooms. Now that they’ve closed, I do wonder what happened to all the equipment…anyone know a thing or two about this?
This is not an “artist’s impression”…it is the real thing 😉 This is indeed the Ruby Cinema – all done up for a recent advertisement by Petronas. For those of you who didn’t know, this is what the Ruby Cinema used to look like once upon a time. Also take note of the old movie […]
Remember these seats? All you movie buffs out there, especially those who visited the old cinemas (not the modern cineplexes), I’m sure you’ll recall sitting on similar chairs.
…that there once was a cinema in Buntong? Don’t believe me, then take a good look at the picture below 😉 Does this bring back any memories? Can anyone guess the year this was taken? I do wonder what’s become of this place…
We thank John McAuley – who was once part of the British Military serving in Malaya, back in the 1950s – for this photograph. Yes, folks it’s none other than the Majestic Cinema :). Although it doesn’t show up clearly, but if you zoom in you can actually see some vendors just outside the entrance […]
We’ve had posts where we’ve asked you to guess the street/event/person/ etc. This time, we’d like you to guess the movie 😉 Yes, take a good look at the advertisement on the outside of the cinema – do YOU know this movie? If you do, don’t be shy about leaving us a comment or two. […]
This is none other than the Grand Theater & Jubilee Park – before the Shaw Brothers renovated it. From the clues in the picture, some of you may be able to roughly guess the year this was taken. What was YOUR early memory of this famous landmark? Were you a patron of the Cabaret? Did […]
We thank Edwin Seibel for this rare picture of the former Sun Cinema. Can anyone make a rough guess as to which year this picture was taken?
…what the Isis Theatre looked like? My generation have most likely never heard of this cinema hall. We’re more familiar with it’s ‘new’ name – Rex! Yes, for those of you who don’t already know, Isis was renamed Rex when the Shaw Brothers renovated it 😉
We received this from Stephanie Keenan. She thinks this was taken around 1962/63. She also pointed out the banner hung across the street (where the words appear in reverse). Apparently, the banner is said to be advertising a film. Can anyone tell us what’s written on the banner? Does anyone recognise the street? Could this […]
Here’s a Christmas wish, printed on a movie poster, from Rex Cinema in Ipoh. Any fans of Jane Russell and/or Jeanne Crain out there? Did the songs in this movie make you want to get up and dance/sing along [like Saturday Night Fever or Sound of Music]?
Before the present wonder of CGI of today’s movies, there was the ‘Anamorphic Camera Lens’. The first movie shot with this lens is said to be Broken Lance (see poster above). Anyone seen the movie? While is was no Lord of the Rings or Avatar, I’m sure it had its special features which left the […]
“A Countess from Hong Kong” – a story about Natascha, a White Russian countess, who stows away on a luxury liner at Hong Kong, determined to seek a new life in America – is showing at the Lido and in competition, “The Blue Max” is showing at the Cathay. Which one did you see?
Keith Nelson, an ex British National serviceman stationed in Ipoh (1959-1960), sent us some pictures of Ipoh recently. Today, we’re featuring the Star Cinema. For those who don’t know, this cinema was built below the road access (and in an ex graveyard!) sometime in the late 50s. The Star Cinema was a single-screen cinema and […]
This is Mano, with part of the cast from the movie ‘Anna and the King’. (Mano played ‘Moonshi’ in the movie) This picture was taken on location, back in 1999, and we were wondering: WHERE are the ‘Royal Children’ now? Recognise any of them? Or maybe you recognise yourself here? We’d love to hear from you!
In a previous blog about the Rex Cinema, our fans talked about dragons. Thanks to the helpful staff at the former cinema, we managed to take these pictures (see below). These were taken from the balcony (now full of mattresses) of the former Rex Cinema. As you can see, the right hand dragon is ‘suffering’ due […]
We thank IpohBornKid for the above picture. In his email to us, he mentioned that this picture was from Brian Cole of Bath Spa (UK). The picture belonged to the Cole family patriarch who served as a British Army personnel (in Ipoh) in the early 1950s. The movie being advertised (see the board outside the […]
While we’re still on the topic of movie theatres/cinema halls, do you recognise the building in the background? Can also guess what year this picture was taken? If YOU are the guy posing in front of the cinema, we’d really love to hear from you! 🙂
As part of the promotion for the movie ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, the Lido Cinema featured “Maggie the Cat” 😉 I wonder how many of our followers out there saw “Maggie” (picture above)! Does anyone know WHO’s the lady in the white dress?
Y K Choong sent us this photo in October last year and it went on the the pile called “Must do site visit”. Well this morning I actually got out to Jalan Theatre in Pasir Pinji to find that nobody 25 years old or less appeared to have ever heard of the place. However an […]
…seen the inside of the Projector-Room? Perhaps someone out there knows which cinema this is? If YOU are the gentleman in this picture, DO tell us about your experience! We thank Shuen Huey Foo of Ipoh for this picture.
We’ve had comments about the (sadly) forgotten cinema at Kampong Simee….here’s a recent picture of the building (see picture below). Anyone know WHEN this place closed down? What is it used as now? Perhaps some of you out there could share with us some of the better memories of this place……
Yes, it was WAY BACK in 1957…..when we saw Gregory Peck play the role of Captain Ahab! They don’t make movie posters like they used to…..same can be said for the ‘cinema-experience’ that made cinema halls like Rex, Ruby, Lido, etc. favourite haunts. The poster we have here is from Edwin Siebel.
