KUALA PILAH CINEMA THEATRES STORY
There is no life today without film, video, cinema or entertainment . Over a century ago it was much the same and thousands of years ago plays, theatre acting and drama took the place of today's video and film. Its a trillion dollar industry. Acting is an integral part of life and hero worshipping of those who act is part of human nature.
KUALA PILA'S CINEMAS started at least a hundred years ago. The building on 128 Jalan Yam Tuan is clearly dated 1916 (picture 1 below ) and visible to all who love KP marking 98 years of the first purpose built cinema hall in Kuala Pilah. There may have been less permanent tented structures housing movies or talkies for entertainment before that - perhaps in the padang opposite Kanthaswamy temple that is now a set of shops and the town council It started as Sun cinema or probably Talkies . The term Movies was invented to denote pictures that moved al-be it in a robotic fashion as seen in the classic Charlie Chaplin movies of the 1920s, but soon talkies or movies where one actually heard the actors moving and talk were a big breakthrough in the story of cinematography
Picture of the Pearl Theatre tower with Pangung Wayang 1916 on it
No1926-28 Jalan Yam Tuan buildings that was the Pearl Theatre of the 1950s (1990 picture) with Jalan Seremban by the side . The KP Rest House being built in 1891 the Seremban Road was clearly in existence in the late 1800s so that the Pangung Wayang was a good site for the expanding town The rest of Jalan Yam Tuan took a further 10-11 years to develop with the palatial Tan Puan Houses being dated 1027, next to the future Bus stand on Jalan Ulu Muar
A Tuanku Muhammad School Annual School Magazine advertisement for Pearl Theatre
This bock of shop houses facing the temple and the nearby town council offices between Jalan seremban and Jalan Melang was a large Padang or football and muli purpose field in the 1950s. Cinemas especially by the information Department were screened there fairly regularly and it is possible even before the 1916 Sun (later Pearl) theatre started travelling film shows were screened on this padang.
Kuala Pilah's more modern Cinema Theatre was built in 1951 or so as seen in this 1953 TMS School magazine advertisement. Unlike the Pearl Theatre of 1916 located in two shop lots the Majestic was built on a vacant land a stone's throw away on Jalan Tung Yen on land occupied by the wartime Japanese Mokusai saw mill and lumber yard. It was a much larger structure with spacious rows of seats and no pillars that might block the view of patrons. It even had a small parking lot and the latest projection equipment
The MajesticKP, after many years changed hands and became the REX of KP as seen in this 1990 picture when it was taken over by ?? Shaw Brothers who also had many REX theatres in the country
The advent of TV in 1964 in Malay spelled the death knell of cinemas throughout the country and indeed overseas. The advent of Video tapes, CDc DVDs nailed their fate even further. Today movies can be bought over satellite TV, Astro, on the I-phone and - pad and seen on planes so that some cineplexes are the only "cinemas" that are left of the heydays of cinema of old . How times have changed !
And what became of the once centres of entertainment in KP ?
They became shopping centres . Both Pearl and Majestic became shopping centres as did large buildings that were cinemas in the 1950s and sixties all over the country.
More to Come !
