Grand Theatre
216 Nanjing XiLu,
Shanghai
216 Nanjing XiLu,
Shanghai
3 people
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Additional Info
Architects: Ladislav Edvard Hudec
Functions: Movies
Styles: Art Deco
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Originally built in 1928, on what was then called Park Road (today’s Nanjing XiLu), the Grand Theatre operated for less than three years, before going bankrupt and closing. In 1932, a joint Chinese-British-American venture totally rebuilt the Grand Theatre, hiring Czech-Hungarian Shanghai architect Ladislaus Hudec to design the new cinema, which he did in striking Art Deco style.
The Grand Theatre seated 1,913, and screened first-run American films in its elegant auditorium. The one drawback of the Grand Theatre was that it was not air-conditioned and often became unbearably hot, which deterred patrons. It wasn’t until 1941 that an air-conditioning system was installed, and business increased by large numbers.
After the 1949 Revolution, the Shanghai Cultural Bureau took over the Grand Theatre. The theater still operates today, and still occasionally screens Hollywood blockbusters.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
The Chinese name of this theatre is “大光明戲院"。
The[new]Grand Theatre opened on 14th June,1933,and the opening film was “My Weakness”.Earphone[Sinophone] system was inaugurated on 4th November,1939 for the benefit of those who could not understand English.Patrons who hired an earphone could heard simultaneous Mandarin translation of the English dialogue.
Recently,the theatre underwent massive redorcation.
The[old]Grand Theatre opened on 23rd December,1928 and closed in November 1928.It was situated on Bubbling Well Road.
The ‘Grand Çinema’ has been noted for being the first in Shanghai in several aspects:
– the first big luxury cinema in Shanghai
– the first one to introduce wide screen projection
– the first one to introduce surround tone
– the first one to officially achieve ‘4 star'status, according to the municipal cinema ranking system
After the renovation in 1992, it now has 1554 seats in the categories single, double and VIP double.
Here is photo I took recently of the Grand Theatre.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7r9g5/grandtheatre/
Cinemascope screen was installed in 1957, and modified projectors were bought from the then East Germany.