The once glamorous movie theaters of downtown Manila

The Manila of old is often remembered as a place of grandeur, merrymaking, and possibilities. Banks and commercial offices were in Escolta, while shops, restaurants and movie theaters lined Rizal Avenue (Avenida), and what was then downtown Azcarraga Street, now known as Claro M. Recto.

 

Norma Pangilinan, a 72-year-old vendor, fondly recalled how at movie premieres decades ago, stars like Gloria Romero and Susan Roces would arrive in an air-conditioned Sampaguita Pictures bus and alight in front of Jennet Theater in Sta. Cruz.  

“Dati itong lugar na ito, maganda... Mga artista ang gumagala dito. Pero ngayon wala na, delikado na,” sighed Pangilinan.  

Several theaters built within the city of Manila were designed by prominent Philippine architects, including National Artists Juan Nakpil and Pablo Antonio. Nakpil conceived  Capitol, Ever, and Avenue theaters while Pablo Antonio created Galaxy, Ideal, Scala and Lyric theaters. Unfortunately, most of these movie theaters have since closed, and several of them have been demolished.  

The deterioration of the theater business in Manila can be traced to the construction of the Light Rail Transit system in the early 1980s which was originally conceived to ease traffic. But due to the extensive delay in finishing the LRT, regular movie patrons shunned the area and opted to go to newly-opened air-conditioned malls with fashionable cinemas. Thus, Manila cinema owners had no choice but to resort to showing double feature B-movies and soft porn.   

“'Pag bastos ang palabas, malakas ang kita,” said Manny Soriano, a security guard in Atlantic for 23 years now. “Dati, pila-pila diyan ang manonood,” he added, referring to Capitol Theater in Escolta. The malls now draw nearly everyone wants to watch first-run movies.  

The proliferation of cheap pirated DVDs also contributed to the downfall of old and iconic movie houses in Manila. Needless to say, the economic conditions of the “bakya” crowd greatly affected the movie theater industry.  

Lords, Roben, Vista, and Dilson are among the only remaining cinemas today in Manila. Most of them are now dilapidated and have acquired a dubious reputation for being alleged fronts for prostitution dens.   

Exasperated with declining ticket sales and rising operating costs, many theater owners unable to justify remaining in business transformed movie theaters into hotels, motels, schools. Most of them eventually closed its doors for good. —KG/HS, GMA News