1957 Hong Kong, China

Simon Chan
1952
Hong Kong, China
Interviewed on February 7, 2024
by Cleo Guerrero

The first movie I watched in the theaters was “Around the World in 80 Days.” I think I was about 5 or 6 years old at the time. I don’t remember much from the movie, and I don’t recall any specific characters, but I remember the imagery of one of the characters drinking champagne in a hot air balloon, and someone rescuing a woman from a funeral pyre. It’s possible that I may be biased and remembering another time I watched the film, because I watched the movie again after that initial viewing.

The experience was an adventure for me – my first time going to the movies, and I was extremely excited. We went to the matinee show, and my mom accompanied me, and we walked to a closeby theater – we lived in the North Point district of Hong Kong Island. I don’t remember the name of the theater, but it was in Hong Kong around 1957 or 1958.

I don’t remember there being ushers in the theater, but I think there were concessions because I remember my mom getting me something to eat, although I don’t remember what my favorite candy was at the time. After getting some food from the concessions, we sat in the theater and waited for the movie to start, and I remember seeing some newsreels before the movie started. The movie was in English, but I didn’t know how to speak or understand English yet at age 5. I believe there were Chinese subtitles in the movie theater, although I couldn’t read them at that age!

I have seven siblings, and after my first time at the movies, we often went to the theaters again to watch cartoons together. We enjoyed cartoons like The Three Stooges and Bugs Bunny. At that time, we didn’t have a TV at home, but my grandma did have one at her house. Watching TV was a rare occasion for me; I mostly listened to the radio. However, when I was at my grandma’s house, I remember watching a TV series called “The Untouchables,” about crime in Chicago, gangsters, and machine guns. Even though I couldn’t understand English, I liked the show because it was packed with action and machine gun excitement. The TV was in black and white, and I recall the station being Rediffusion.

I remember having a great time at my first time at the theaters, and it was definitely a new and exciting experience. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve going to the theaters or watching TV with my siblings.

My interviewee is my mother’s friend.