Opening night at the Cathay

The evening of 3 October 1939 was a special one for Singapore. Hard times were around the corner, but on that particular night, all the talk was about the opening night of the Cathay Cinema. Not that cinema was new to the island. The first theatre, the Paris Cinematograph, opened in 1904, at 320 Victoria Street (now Bugis Junction). It was the brainchild of a French entrepreneur named Paul Picard, who had the backing of a rich local jeweller. While the Paris Cinematograph featured electric fans, the Cathay took things to the next level, becoming the island’s first air-conditioned cinema. This was such a big deal that it led to the slogan “Cathay for Comfort”. Opening night was a gala event. The 1,300-seat cinema was decked out in Art Deco style with modern pillars, box seats for dignitaries, gold features on the ceiling and lots of fancy marble. According to HistorySG (eresources.nlb.gov.sg), a band from the 2nd battalion of the Royal Regiment (North Lancashire) played at the event, prior to the 9.15pm screening. And the film shown? It was the premiere of The Four Feathers, an adventure epic directed by Zoltan Korda. It had previously been banned in Singapore, which likely made things even more exciting for the audience. (Heath Ledger later starred in a 2002 adaptation of the same story.) Did you know? The 14-storey Cathay Building that opened behind the cinema in 1941 was Singapore’s first “skyscraper”, and the tallest building in all of Southeast Asia at the time. While it no longer stands, the façade of the old cinema remains as part of the modern Cathay Cineplex.