Seeing a movie at the Daguang Cinema today is not a big fashion for Shanghainese. But in the past, the Great Bright Cinema was the first widescreen cinema in Asia and the first stereo cinema in Asia.
Big Bright Cinema
The Great Bright Cinema, known as the "First Cinema in the Far East", was founded in 1928 as a joint venture between Chinese Teochew businessman Gao Yongqing and American Albert Warner (founder of Warner Bros., the world's largest film company).
The Great Bright Cinema of the 20s
The cinema is provided by Warner Universal Pictures Equipment Company with a full set of projection equipment and technical support, and the Great Bright Cinema was a huge hit in Shanghai Beach at the beginning of its establishment. In the 1920s and 1930s, almost half of the films screened by "Big Light" were Warner films. "BOY", dressed in overalls and wearing a cylindrical flat hat, will pull open the door and respectfully invite the audience into the hall. The ticket gate is the instruction manual of the movie screened on the day, the instructions are in Chinese and English, the printing, arrangement and content are very exquisite and beautiful, in addition to printing the film content, but also printed with the film company name, credits, posters, stills, etc., full of poetic promotional words are very popular with fans, the audience can read for free.
Film instruction manual of Shanghai Daguang Cinema during the Republic of China period
Opened on December 31, 1928, it was unveiled by Mei Lanfang's master of art, which was praised as the pioneering work of "Mei Kai Guangming".
Mei Lanfang
During the business period, due to the broadcast of the American movie "Not Afraid of Death" with an insulting nature, it was boycotted by the public and public opinion, and since then the business has plummeted and has been forced to close its doors.
What are the insulting scenes in "Not Afraid of Death"? The film tells the story of Harold. Lloyd plays the story of a botanist who hunts drugs in San Francisco's Chinatown. The film is full of Chinese engaged in opium trafficking, theft, ticket kidnapping and other criminal activities, and the behavior is rude, greedy and afraid of death, and dressed obscenely, women wrapped in small feet, men with long pigtails. Harold. Lloyd threw the money on the ground while buying flowers, and the Chinese rushed up to grab the money.
After hiring Hudak to design, the reconstruction of the Great Bright Cinema was completed in 1933.
Hungarian architect László Hudak
The Great Bright Cinema was the first work of Hudak's transformation into a modernist architectural style. The chimney in the middle of the roof resembles the chimney of a ship, the creamy façade resembles a sail traveling in the waves, the smooth arc curve surrounds the entire hall, and the three-tiered roof in the shape of a lotus flower and the abstract patterns of Italian marble are pleasing to the eye. The indoor ceiling and wall line feet are natural and simple, and the cumbersomeness of the ancient style is repeated.
The façade of the building is shaped in the Modern American style, with the style of the American Modern Art School. The building's façade is crisscrossed with crisscrossing panels, with thick and straight lines and large areas of gold glass for strong contrast, forming an asymmetrical center of gravity with a square translucent lighthouse. In front of the gate, there is a large opalescent glass canopy, and a rectangular translucent milky white glass giant light box stands in the west of the upper floor, which has become the iconic sign of the great light. Most striking is the 16-metre-high square glass lighthouse that stands on the outside, which houses three large 500-watt emitting lights, and the lighthouse with the English name "Grand Theatre" of the Great Light, which is visible all night and can be seen from miles away, making it one of the most conspicuous symbols of the Great Light.
On November 4, 1939, the Great Bright Theater applied the "YiyiFeng" equipment for the first time, becoming the first theater in Shanghai to use the "Yiyifeng".
Originally known as Ear Phone, "Yi Yi Feng" was originally translated as "Yi Er Feng" and finally named "Yi Yi Feng". It works on the principle that behind the seats of the theater is a small square box with wires attached to the pronunciation machine. When the audience gives you a "Yi Yi Feng Coupon" to the receptionist, he will hand you a pair of earpieces that can be worn on your head, and insert the plug on the earpiece into the square box, and when the "Miss Yi Yi Feng" begins to translate, you can hear a crisp and pleasant Chinese in your ears.
As long as the audience pays an extra dime, they can rent the translation style. Since only a few seats have a transponder device, Daguang specially reminds the audience, "Those who do not want to rent yifeng are not allowed to sit in the seat of yifeng." The translation style has played a bridging role in popularizing foreign films such as Hollywood and promoting Shanghainese to understand the world's customs. Daguang uses the customized translation wind equipment of the International Business Machines Corporation of the United States, claiming that it is "the first person in the world to adopt the translation of the italian wind". With the promotion of yifeng, the emerging profession of "Miss Yifeng" has also become popular rapidly in Shanghai Beach. Miss Yifeng is well paid, but the conditions are very harsh, not only requiring proficiency in English, fluent Chinese, but also high comprehension, quick response, clear and pleasant voice, and most of the applicants are highly educated female students.
At that time, the ticket price of "Great Light" was generally between 6 jiao and 2 yuan and 5 jiao, which was equivalent to 5 times the monthly living expenses of ordinary people. Therefore, going to the "great light" to watch movies is a symbol of quality life and a very "face-saving" thing. The audience of the Great Bright Movie must wear suits or long shirts for men, and the qipao for women, and for the audience who are not neatly dressed, they refuse to enter the cinema to watch movies. The box office of The Great Bright is always enviable, and there has been a glory of being the first in the country for 11 consecutive years.
Daguang has carried the movie-watching memories of a generation of Shanghainese, witnessed the development and changes of Shanghai's urban culture, and added a glorious color to the prosperity and development of Shanghai culture.