Roxy Cinema

By Thulaja, Naidu Ratnala written on 2002-05-23
National Library Board Singapore

Comments on article: InfopediaTalk

Roxy cinema, a.k.a Roxy theatre, now demolished, used to be located at the junction of East Coast Road and Brooke Road. Owned by the legendary Shaw brothers, it was a landmark institution screening Chinese, English, Malay and Hindustani movies in the early and mid-20th century. 

Early History
Roxy theatre, established in the pre-World War II years, once stood opposite the popular Red House Bakery. The cinema was popular with Katong residents during weekends, the highlight being the Saturday night screenings. The weekend morning shows were equally popular with people rushing to tie handkerchiefs on the wooden chairs' armrests to reserve seats after paying 50 cents. Their fervour was not dimmed by the fact that ventilation relied only on ceiling fans and that black outs were common. Whenever there was a black out, the doors of the theatre would be thrown open to let fresh air in. Being the first cinema in the East, it was a haunt for teenagers. Eurasian teenagers especially thronged to the cinema after their Sunday mass. Apparently, the boys who were mostly from St Patrick's School, would book tickets for their girlfriends while the latter attended church with their families.

Description
The theatre was taken over by the famous cinema shakers, the Shaw brothers. The Shaw brothers' dynamic business skills had them owning 19 cinema halls by 1965. They also contracted 30 independent halls all over the island to play only Shaw distributed films. The name Roxy remained unchanged when the Shaw brothers took over and the theatre continued to screen English and non-English movies. Tickets for English movies were charged at $3 dollars for circle seats. Circle tickets for non-English movies cost $2 before the price hike on movie tickets in the mid-seventies. A popular eating place after watching a movie at the Roxy was the La Paloma Chinese restaurant next door.

The land on which the cinema sat was sold away by the Shaw brothers in 1978. In its place now stands Roxy Square, a $77 million dollar shopping complex which was completed in 1984. The second phase of the Roxy Square development was delayed due to the mid-80s' recession and slump in the hotel industry. Currently, The Roxy Century Park Hotel, a four-star hotel, is part of the estate that replaced the Roxy theatre.



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Kong, L. (2001). Joo Chiat: A living legacy (p. 113). Singapore: National Archives of Singapore.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 KON)

Yeoh, B. S. A., & Kong, L. (Eds.). (1995). Portraits of places: History, community and identity in Singapore (pp. 117-139). Singapore: Times Editions.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 POR)

Jafri Mohamed. (1993, January). A Katong story. Marie Claire, pp. 20-22.

Phuan, W. (1997, December 29). 2 landmarks being redeveloped. The Straits Times, p. 21.

The Shaw Organization. (2001). The Shaw Story. Retrieved September 11, 2003, from www.shaw.com.sg/shawstory/shawstory.htm

The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.


Subject
Arts>>Performing Arts>>Theatre
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Commercial Buildings
Recreation>>Places of Interest
Motion picture theaters--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Business, finance and industry>>Industry>>Leisure and entertainment

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