In the early 1920s, though still in its rudimentary development stage, Shanghai had already become an "Eden" for foreign adventurers. The intrusion of these early expatriates also brought exotic entertainments such as movies and ballroom dances to the growing city.
In the winter of 1928, a new building was launched and soon fused into the hustle and bustle on Park Road (now Nanjing Donglu). This was the original Grand Theatre, which was formally opened to the public on December 23 in the same year with a grand opening ceremony attended by Mei Lanfang and Bao Tianxiao, the most famous Chinese actors of the time. The first movie was an American film called, "The Man Who Laughs".
The cinema later provoked severe rejection by local citizens after showing a humiliating film on the alleged personality of the Chinese. Together with unwise management by the owner Gao Yongqing, its business went from bad to worse and it was forced into bankruptcy in November 1931.
In 1932, a Cantonese named Lu Geng, along with a British national, set up a joint venture with the manager of an American-based mortgage company. The new operation was called the United Film Company. Backed by a huge investment, he pulled down all the old buildings and undertook a total renovation.
Designed by the renowned local German architect L.E Hudec, the construction embodied imaginative originality and a creative modern style. The butter-maize colored outer facade looked like a huge sail blowing against a high wave, the smooth arc curve encompassed the whole theater from the hall to the glittering folded water-lily shaped three-tiered roof.
The non-figurative patterns built out of Italian marble bestowed on the auditorium a sense of luxury and gave the capacious lobby an elegant artistic flavor.
Covering an area of more than 4,000 square meters, the cinema shifted to a new location on Bubbling Well Road (now Nanjing Xilu). It claimed to be the most advanced cinema anywhere in the world, with a simultaneous translation system installed on all of its 1,913 seats.
The biggest problem it faced at that time was the sweltering summer heat in Shanghai. Although the audience was able to enjoy attractive films from top American film companies, the cinema, lacking an appropriate cooling system, was still unbearable to most audiences. Later, in 1941, with the installation of the Carrier central air-conditioning system in the Grand Theatre, business took a huge jump.
Before 1949, the ownership of the cinema changed frequently. In 1953, the Shanghai Culture Bureau took over the management rights and renamed the venue the Shanghai Grand Cinema, standing at No. 216 Nanjing XiLu.
It was now ranked as a four-star cinema with an international standard Dolby Stereo system. It still enjoys its old fame and prosperity, with an annual income that has now reached 1.2 million yuan (US$150,000).
(Shanghai Star February 28, 2003)
