Empress Theater

The Empress Theatre was opened December 12, 1964. One of my favorite theaters as a kid. The Liberty Theater was right across the street where a parking lot is, and Empress Theater parking lot was in front of what was the Golden Harvest.

When I became a frequent visitor in the early-1980’s, my dad would bring my sister and I to see a kung fu movie on the weekends. To the best of my memory, the carpet and seats were red or maroon, and there was a balcony section as well. One could walk up the stairs from the left or right, and watch movies from there. I had made it to the balcony once, and every other time I visited, the balcony section had been roped off.

One could walk on the sidewalk and see what kung fu movies were playing at the time and what will/may be coming soon. I’ll forever know this theater as the place where I saw my all time favorite kung fu film, “The Shaolin Prince”.

The Empress Theater, and the other theaters in that block, was close to a manapua (char sui bao) place called Char Hun Sut, right next door to the Golden Harvest, and it remains there to this day.

The Empress Theater stopped showing movies in 1988, and it would be vacated by Calvary Chapel Honolulu. They moved to Aiea, and is now the home of New Life Church. The windows in the front are definitely “new” to the theater, as they weren’t there when it was the Empress Theater.

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rivest266 on March 12, 2017 at 10:21 pm

• This opened on December 12th, 1964 by the Daiei studios from Japan and closed down in 1973. It reopened on February 1st, 1974 and closed in 1988. It is now a church. 1964 and 1974 grand opening ads can be found in the photo section for this theatre.

• これは1964年12月12日に日本のダイエースタジオによって開館され、1973年に閉鎖されました。1974年2月1日に再開し、1988年に閉鎖されました。現在は教会です。 1964年と1974年のグランドオープニング広告は、この劇場の写真セクションにあります。 Google翻訳者

• 1964年12月12日由日本的Daiei工作室開業，1973年關閉。它於1974年2月1日重新開放，1988年關閉。現在是一座教堂。 1964年和1974年盛大開幕廣告可以在這個劇院的照片部分找到。 由Google翻譯

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