Before you ask, yes…we’ve checked on Google maps, and this shop doesn’t seem to exist now. Perhaps it has been replaced by another business….or maybe it now goes by another name. If so, do you know what happened to Heng Kee Paper Merchants?
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.
Yes, this is indeed a Malay Funeral procession. This was taken, with kind permission, from the Imperial War Museum London. The photo was taken from a colour transparency, back in the 1950s. If you look closely you can see the Ipoh East Post Office in the background – that should give you a clue about the location.
We thank Mario Francis Armadass for giving us the link.
According to Nick Band (our donor), the caption for this 1957 photograph reads as Post Office, Brewster Road, from the Eastern. If you zoom in on the ‘Pejabat Pos’ signage, the smaller street sign (left) reads as Cockman Street. THIS is what’s confused us 😉
Ipoh-experts out there, can you help us? Is this really the junction of Brewster Road and Cockman Street?
This was Jubilee Park then….when they first started business. Later, the Shaw Brothers gave it a ‘facelift’ (see picture below).
Today, a night club has opened at the corner of Brewster Road and Cowan Street. But this side of Jubilee Park still remains. Anyone knows what’s going on inside? Are the stalls still there?
We thank Ruth Rollitt for these two photographs.
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. Better yet, if you’ve seen it do tell us about your favourite scene in the movie.
A special thanks going out to John McAuley – the donor of this photograph.
For those not familiar with this building, this is the Pasar Besar (Main Market) along Cockman Street. And yes, the top floor is where Super Kinta used to be. It’s now the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC)…
Yes folks! This IS another B M Iversen creation. This one ‘resides’ at Cockman Street….and it’s still standing proud today 🙂
I do wonder when the extension/new block of this building was done….(perhaps, Ruth could tell us…if she’s reading this)
We pick up where we left off in our previous post – regarding the Lido Cinema – where we were told that the the top two pictures were in fact the Rex Cinema and NOT Lido. Today, we present to you MORE pictures of the inside of Lido. 🙂 We thank Ruth Rollitt for her contribution.
This was taken by Ruth back in 2009 (see below). It is said to be the inside of the former ticket booth.
And now – the Lido Floor Plans as requested.
Remember what Lido Cinema used to look like back then?
the foyer
the ticket booth
A special thanks going out to Ruth Rollitt for sending us these lovely gems! 🙂
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?
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Here’s a Day and Night shot of Cathay Theatre (when it was STILL a cinema) – notice that the mall behind Cathay was Ocean (now, it’s The Store). We thank Valerie for these pictures who has now provided the following additional information:
“The dayshot was taken in the morning of October 1998 when the street was not busy.
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 The building was just freshly repainted with new color shemes that combine the
 best of traditional art deco and modern day glitziness. The “C” on the right hand
 side of the marquee is the Cathay logo that was not yet put back up after the paint job
 but was up for the night shot.
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The nightshot was taken that same day right after Ocean turned off their lights
to close up for the night. The timing of the nightshot was perfect as it made the glittering lights of Cathay stand out elegantly without the distractionof Ocean in the background.”
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Thank you Valerie.
This picture was sent to us by Ruth Rollit, the daughter of the Danish architect B M Iversen.
Familiar? No? This is what the interior of the Lido Cinema looks like today – as you can see, it’s not longer a cinema. Lido has now been converted into Florex Restaurant.
In this picture, the raised level shown was where the bar used to be. Has much of the interior changed? I noticed that the original floor tiles are still there. What about the rest of the place?
At that time, this $ 600,000 cinema was considered luxurious. It was declared open by His Highness Raja Sir Izzudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Jalil (the Sultan of Perak), on the eve of Chinese New Year. Designed by B M Iversen, this fully air-conditioned cinema (with its ‘colossal 75-foot tower of jade tiles’), stood proud along Cockman Street – the same area which was once ‘home’ to rubber trees!
This picture was taken on the opening night; after the grand ceremony, the patrons were treated to Darryl F Zanuck’s ‘CinemaScope 55’ production of – you guessed it – The King and I. How many of you out there were at the opening ceremony? How many of you ‘fell in love’ with the movie?
We’d like to thank Ruth Rollit (the daugther of B M Iversen) for sending us this precious photograph.
Those were the days: when the traffic in Ipoh was rather scarce, and riding around the town on a bicycle was SAFE! Here we have some youngsters riding past the Lido Cinema. This Iversen building is no longer a cinema now; if I’m not mistaken it’s been turned into Florex Restaurant.
Playing in the cinema at that time (1958) was ‘Rock, Pretty Baby’. This movie starred Sal Mineo, John Saxon Shelley Fabares, Luana Patten and Edward Platt. It was a simple story about a teenager who, despite his father’s objections, formed a rock and roll band with his friends. He later tried his best to obtain bookings.
Did anyone out there watch this movie? Did the movie start a trend among the younger generation – as in starting their own band? Or, perhaps it started a fashion trend?
Back in the 1950s, cinemas were a popular (probably the only) source of entertainment – television sets were not common and not everyone had a radio either! Hence, the cinema-experience was a real treat – especially for the little ones!
We received an interesting e-mail from Ignatius Chiew, regarding the ‘soft’ opening of Ipoh’s Cathay Cinema.
From the picture, we see the Lucky Patron (patron No. 500 000) receiving her double pass (for 1 month) as she arrives at the booking office. According to Ignatius, Cathay opened its doors to the public on 30th January 1957 – the eve of Chinese New Year – which was considered an auspicious day for business. Incidentally, Ignatius’ father was then the (first) manager of Cathay cinema.
Does anyone know WHEN exactly the half million patron mark was reached? We would like to know the date, and probably any other extra bit that you may know…..maybe someone might even know WHO the pretty lady in the picture is!
This road block was at the junction of Brewster Road and Cockman Street. Judging from the uniforms, we think this happened in 1975 – if we’re wrong, let us know!
In the picture, there is the famous United Optical Company and the Ipoh branch of Straits Echo.
We’re looking forward to your comments…..
This is Ipoh’s Cathay Theatre which still stands to day, but no longer as a cinema having been overtaken by Metroplexes and the like. It was once a beautiful single-screen theatre, built in Cockman Street in late 1956 and opened on August 31, 1957 with the movie, ‘The King and I’, telling the fictitious romantic story of Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam. At that time the 3rd Class seats (front rows downstairs) cost 60cents per ticket, while 2nd Class further back cost around $1.20. 1st Class upstairs (mainly for Europeans or VIPs) cost $2.
However, this picture above is a little strange for there is still waste ground opposite the theatre, but the posters are all torn, yet it must still have been a working theatre as it is advertising Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in the Paramount Picture “Pardners” which dates it as not long after the opening in 1957/58. Does anyone have any ideas as to when the buildings opposite were built?
