Metro Theatre / 美麗宮戲院 [1963-1974]
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Seating capacity:1,491
Address: The theatre was located in Shek Kip Mei, a public housing estate in Kowloon. Several slightly different locations are found in the sources: Tai Hang Tung Road; "now 仁寶大廈"; 大坑東-窩仔街 intersection; and 九龍仔 石硤尾 大坑東 4390地段. (No street number is available) Based on these, Google has confirmed it at the Ample Building, at the southwest corner of the intersection made by Tai Hang Tung Road-Woh Chai Street and Tong Yam Street.
Notice where the location marker appears on the street map dated 1956. Then, the theatre was known to be located on Tai Hang Tung Road. I believe that subsequent road re-alignment has resulted in the current building having a Woh Chai Street address. http://gwulo.com/taxonomy/term/478/places-map#17/22.33029/114.17047/Map_...
Metro Theatre operated during the period May 27, 1963 - November 1, 1974.
Sources:
- Cinema Treasures: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/24581
- Hong Kong Theatres Association Limited: http://hktaorg.com/en/cinemahistory.php
Comments
Metro Theatre location
The location shown on the map above is dead on.
That section of Wo Chai St. and Tai Hang Sai St. did not yet exist in 1956. They were part of Wo Chai Hill (Bishop Hill). The theatre opened at about the same time as a new secondary school - the infamous Matteo Ricci 利瑪竇 Secondary School behind it where billionaire "feng-shui master" CHAN Chun Chung honed his craft.
Wo Chai St. was levelled first, followed a few years later by the rest of the hill to Tai Hang Sai St.