CY@CY Says Welcome to my dreamscape. Where a Lim is also a Ling.
Masuk bilek, tutup pintu, tutup lampu, buka kain, main main.
If you can answer the above riddle easily, it means you are most likely in your 50s or 60s now. Yes, I am talking about watching movies at the cinemas. What were you thinking about?
Growing up in Binatang, I often tagged along with my parents or my friends to watch movies at Eastern Theatre. Being a small size kid, I could get into the theatre without having to pay for a ticket as long as someone with a ticket was willing to “sponsor” me. In those days, film stars like Cheng Pei Pei, Wang Yu, Li Ching, Ling Po, Lily Ho, Ti Lung, David Chiang, Chen Kuan Tai were the rage. Then came along Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia, Joan Lin Fengjiao, Charlie Chin and Chin Han who eventually became known as the “Two Lins, Two Chins”, the icons of 1970s Chinese romance films.
Brigitte Lin Chin Hsia and Chin Han in Outside the Window (窗外)
The cheapest ticket then was 50 cents. Because this was the most affordable, a lot of people would try to get the tickets if there was a good show on. There was no queuing system in those days. People just crowded around the small window waiting for the window to open. As soon as the window opened, people just forced their hands through the small windows with the money held tightly in their fists. Probably 6 persons could force their hands through the small window at one time. You could end up with slight abrasions on your hand if your hand happened to be wedged against the wooden frame of the window and there was pushing going on. You did not have the luxury to choose your seats in such a situation.
If you could afford it, you could go for the $1.20 or $1.50 (or was it $1.80?) seats. For these seats, you could choose your seats. The seat layout printed on paper was spread out in front of the cashier. Seats that had been sold were crossed out with a red pencil.
If you only managed to get a seat in the front rows of the 50-cent section of the theatre, a very tiresome neck-craning experience awaited you. By the end of the movie, you could end up with a sore neck!
Cinema patrons liked to bring along snacks like peanuts and kua chee (melon seeds). You could hear the sounds of people cracking open peanuts or kua chee as you watched the movie. Once the movie was over, the floor was littered with all sorts of rubbish and the cinema workers had to sweep clean the rubbish before the next show began.
Once you entered the theatre, you made your way to your seat. Once the movie was about to start, the curtain in front of the screen opened slowly. The lights were dimmed. The doors of the theatre were partially closed and the curtains were drawn. If you came at this time, the cinema usher would approach you and showed you the way to your seat with a torch light. The movie would only start after some advertisements and trailers had been shown.
The floor of the theatre was cement with no carpeting. The seats were wooden ones that could get a bit uncomfortable as the movie progressed. And if you need to go to the toilets, you had to make your way in the darkened theatre towards the lighted signs that showed where the toilets were. A curtain veiled the entrance to the toilet so when you pushed aside the curtain to go into the toilet, a shaft of light from the toilet beamed into the darkened theatre.
The sound system in those days was mediocre. It was a far cry from the sound system of modern days cineplex. And in the enclosed cinema hall, the sounds of people snacking were magnified. It could become irritating to hear the continuous sounds of people splitting melon seeds or peanuts. But you would never hear the ringing sounds of mobile phones in those days, haha!