02.12.2023

Yubileiny in Qaraghandy / Kazakhstan

 

In 1967, the city Qaraghandy / Karaganda received a new wide-format cinema with 840 seats. The opening was in the same year with the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution and hence the name Yubileiny - Anniversary.

The first premiere was the film Свадьба в Малиновке / Wedding in Malinovka - the first Soviet color, wide-screen film, directed by Andrei Tutyshkin in 1967. The musical comedy is about a Ukrainian village during the time of the Russian Civil War. With power alternating almost daily between Soviet and Ukrainian nationalist forces, the villagers of Malinovka are never sure who is in charge, so they modify their behaviour and dress accordingly.

In July 2013, in the village of Malinovka (Kharkov region) a monument to the hero of the film, Adjutant Popandopulo, was erected. I love film monuments (and postcards with this items).

In 1997, the Munira company bought the Yubileiny cinema. During the period of the crisis of film distribution, which coincided with the general economic crisis, when the city’s cinemas were sold and converted into nightclubs and casinos, the Yubileiny cinema not only did not stop working, but was one of the first in Kazakhstan to engage in the revival of cinema screening. 

From 2012 to 2015 the cinema was completely rebuilt. A modern cinema complex with 7 screens was built around the old cinema. The Yubileiny cinema became one of the best cinemas in the country, meeting high international standards.

The postcard was printed in 1972. On the left you can see  poster for the 1965 US-American film The Sound of MusicЗвуки музыки and for the 1970 Lithuanian Vyrų vasara / Мужское лето (Men's Summer).

Andreas Praefcke writes on his Carthalia-Website about this cinema: "This standard design by M. P. Bubnov, V. V. Lazarev, I. V. Semeikin, E. B. Ter-Stepanov and V. G. Nemirovsky was used for many cinemas in the Soviet Union, among them Kinoteatr Soyuz in Aleksin, Kinoteatr Gorizont in Chaikovsky, Kinoteatr Ural in Chelyabisnk, Kinoteatr Udokan in Chita, Kinoteatr Donetsk in Donetsk, Kinoteatr Rossiya in Dzerzhinsk, Kinoteatr Burevestnik in Gelendzhik, Kinoteatr Yubileiny in Grozny, Kinoteatr Sovremennik in Ivanovo, Kinoteatr Kosmos in Kaluga, Kinoteatr im. O. Dovzhenka in Kharkov, Kinoteatr Salyut in Kharkov, Kinoteatr Nivki in Kiev, Kinoteatr Komsomolets in Mariupol, Kinoteatr Murmansk in Murmansk, Kinoteatr Ekran in Novotroitske, Kinoteatr Orsk in Orsk, Kinoteatr Shipka in Samara, Kinoteatr Parma in Syktyvkar, Kinoteatr Druzhba in Sumy, Kinoteatr im. Valikhanova in Taraz, Kinoteatr Iskra in Ufa, Kinoteatr Rossiya in Vinnytsia, Kinoteatr Yubileiny in Volgograd, Kinoteatr Volga in Yaroslavl."

20.11.2023

Crișana in in Oradea / Romania

Cinema Crisana in Oradea postcard

Crișana (Hungarian: Körösvidék, German: Kreischgebiet) is a geographical and historical region in north-western Romania, named after the Criș (Körös) River. And it also the name of a cinema in Oradea, one of most important Romanian cities in this area.

The cinema Crișana was built according to a project-type for cinema with 400 seats (architect: Mariana Bucur, engineer: Sergiu Cîrlan). It started playing in 1962 with 450 seats in one hall. It was demolished in 2017, after it had been unused for a long time.

Look here at last pictures outside and inside.

Here you can learn more about cinemas in Oradea.

15.11.2023

Vörös Csillag Filmszinhás in Túrkeve / Hungary

 

Cinema Vörös Csillag Türkeve postcard

Cinema Vörös Csillag ("Red Star") in Túrkeve opened its doors at July 9, 1964. It was a widescreen-cinema with 440 seats. Look here a short film about opening in 1964.

From September 17, 1989 the cinema has named Korda Sándor Filmszínházra.

Korda Sándor was born in Pusztaturpásztó, now a part of the town Túrkeve, on September 16, 1893. He became famous as Alexander Korda as a British film director, producer and screenwriter. One of his most famous film as a producer is The Thief of Bagdad (1940), one of those timeless classics for the whole family. (Look at the postcard with cinema Marmorhaus in Berlin!)

Alexander Korda died in 1956 in London. The Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year is given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. But the biggest award is a cinema with the own name ...

Alexander Korda had two younger brothers, Zoltán (1895-1961) and Vincent (1897-1979), who also had careers in the film industry, often working with Alexander. The writer and nephew Michael Korda published in 1972 the book Charmed Life about his family. When will the book come to the screen?

I think, the cinema closed around 2018.

If you want to know more about cinemas / mozik in Hungary look here.

Köszönöm Zoltán a képeslapokat és a tájékoztatást!

13.09.2023

Ufa-Palast in Hamburg / Germany

 

Hamburg Ufa-Palast Deutschlandhaus postcard

The Ufa-Palast was a part of the Deutschlandhaus in the middle of the picture. The eight-story building was built in steel frame construction between 1928 and 1929 based on designs by Fritz Block and Ernst Hochfeld

The cinema was opened on December 21, 1929. First shown movie was Die weiße Hölle vom Piz PalüThe White Hell of Pitz Palu (Germany 1929, directed by Arnold Fanck and Georg Wilhelm Pabst). At that time it was the largest cinema in Europe with 2,665 seats. The Ufa Palace was used until 1944, when a fire caused by an aerial bomb destroyed the building.

From 1946 to 1949, the English occupying forces rebuilt the confiscated house and making structural changes. The destroyed cinema was not restored. The Deutschlandhaus was used as an office building in a modified form and was demolished in 2019.

12.09.2023

Capitol in Parchim / Germany

Parchim Capitol postcard 1953

This postcard is from 1953. Parchim is a small town in northern Germany. The cinema at the old market opened in 1929. At that time it was called U.T., later Capitol.

Even later it was given the name Theater der Freundschaft / Theater of Friendship

Look at this photo: 

Parchim Theater der Freundschaft

Friendship in this context meant, above all, friendship with the USSR. Until the early 1990s, Parchim was the largest Soviet military airfield in the GDR.

What happened to the airport later can be seen in the documentary film Parchim International.

Today there is the Movie Star cinema in Parchim.

The building is still standing and now there is an Indian shop.


My grandparents lived in Parchim for a few years when I was little. I don't think we went to the cinema together.

11.09.2023

City Theater in Steenwijk / Netherlands

Steenwijk City Theater postcard


The City Theater in Steenwijk opened in 1959. The owner was Johan Miedema Sr. His Frisian cinema exploitation company came to Steenwijk in 1945 and converted the concert hall into the Roxy Cinema
When Johan Miedema Sr. was given the opportunity to build a completely new theater on the Goeman Borgesiusstraat, he grabbed it with both hands. In 1958 the Roxy was closed and the new City Theater was opened in 1959 in collaboration with Ger and Jantje Vos. The City Theater  had one auditorium, but the cinema was renovated in 2000. The theater now has 3 modern cinema rooms with large screens, digital sound and plenty of legroom.
Ludie Vos, the son of Ger and Jantje Vos, tells: 'Because my father was already showing films in Lumiére (Wapen van Steenwijk), he was not happy with the arrival of a new cinema. But due to the good relationship my father had with the municipality, a proposal was reached that both parties agreed with. The requirement that the municipality made of Miedema was that my father would become manager of this cinema. Both parties agreed to this and the cinema could be built.'

The cinema is still working and belongs now to Luxor Cinemas. 

11.03.2023

Pathé Palace in Bruxelles / Belgium

 I got this postcard with the view of the cinema Pathé Palace in Bruxelles from my sister. It is an old view on a new postcard.

The cinema Pathé Palace opened in 1913. The house was built as an auction house in 1881 by Albert Dumont (1853-1920). In 1913 the house was converted into a cinema in the trendy Italian style. The pioneer of Cinematography and now owner of the building, Pathé Frères, commissioned Paul Hamesse

The result was the largest cinema in Brussels with a capacity of 2,500 seats and space for an orchestra. It is the oldest surviving cinema in Belgium. On the roof of the house you can see the well-known symbol of Pathé - the rooster.

In 1950, architect Rie Haan undertook a thorough renovation to match the narrower tastes of the time. The dome disappeared under a false ceiling. The cinema disappeared total in 1973 and a home appliance store was built in its place.

In 1999, the cinema came back with the arrival of Kladaradatch (Yiddish for "big spectacle"). The new owners reassembled the different parts of the building and connected them through the PPCafé. Despite adequate public participation, bankruptcy followed after only a year and a half. Later the Théâtre National found a new home there. 

In February 2018, the cinema Pathé Palace reopened its doors after fourteen years of vacancy. More than 600 seats are available in the four rooms (373, 140, 80 and 60). The program consists mainly of art house films. 

15.02.2023

Wendelstein-Lichtspiele in Degerndorf am Inn / Germany

 

Wendelstein-Lichtspiele Degerndorf postcard

Wendelstein is a 1,838-metre-high (6,030 ft) mountain in the Bavarian Alps in South Germany - the mountain in the middle of the photo.

In 1936, Josef Reheis built the Filmtheater Degerndorf-Brannenburg, a 295-seat cinema hall. The movie theater had such a large audience that a second cinema hall was added in 1955. After enlargement the cinema was called Wendelstein-Lichtspiele. The cinema closed in 1969.

I think, the owner Josef Reheis was a relative of Max Reheis (1869-1936). Max Reheis was a famous cyclist in his youth, later he had a bike shop. He opened the cinema Stadt-Kinematograph in Rosenheim in 1909 and the Central-Kinematographen-Theater in Salzburg in 1912.

The postcard was sent in 1963.

13.02.2023

Lichtspiele in Anklam / Germany

Anklam Lichtspiele postcard

Anklam is a small town in north-eastern Germany, today with 12,000 inhabitants. In 1989, here lived approximately 19,000 inhabitants. At this time, there were a cinema and a theatre. The theater is still being used under the name Vorpommersche Landesbühne.

The 1992 feature film Stilles Land tells about a theater in the north German provinces in the autumn of 1989 in the dying GDR. The ensemble of an (unnamed) small town theater is rehearsing the play Waiting for Godot. The film is Andreas Dresen's first feature film. Today he is one of the best-known German directors

The feature film about a cinema in the GDR has not yet been shot.

The cinema Lichtspiele was opened in 1914 with 450 seats and closed in 1990 (or later). The building no longer appears to be standing. I like the figures on the building.

The 1959 sent postcard was printed in the 1950s.  At that time, the street was called Stalin-Strasse. Today the street's name is Pasewalker Strasse, it was the Stettiner Strasse in 1914.


22.01.2023

Panorama in Berlin-Britz / Germany

 Berlin-Britz FIlmtheater Panorama postcard 1961

The Panorama Filmtheater was built in 1958/1959 in Berlin-Britz, planned by the architect Gerhard Fritsche. From 1951 to 1961 he was involved in 17 cinema projects, above all in West-Berlin.

The free-standing building had a futuristic shape, the outer wall caught the eye with its bluish-white block stripes. At that time there was a row of shops in this cinema building.

The cinema had 893 seats with high-upholstered armchairs from Schröder & Henzelmann. With a Zeiss Ikon and Ernemann X projection apparatus and Zeiss Ikon amplifiers and loudspeakers, widescreen films could be shown in 1:2.35 and 1:2.55 in CinemaScope with one-channel optical sound and four-channel magnetic sound. 

In 1980 the cinema was closed and a supermarket opened and is still in use. The building is a listed monument.

The photo was taken in 1961/62, the postcard was sent in 1968. The cinema advertises the movie Die Irrfahrten des Herkules / Goliath contro i giganti / Goliath against the Giants (Italy / Spain 1961, directed by Guido Malatesta. The movie came to West German cinemas on December 8, 1961. The German version was 8 minutes shorter than the original and the hero's name was Hercules and not Goliath.