Last week when I got a hold of the really old Cinescape movie theaters I also got a hold of pictures of the old Cinema Salmiya before it got demolished. That’s the second movie theater I had ever been to (Octupussy at a dodgy cinema in Lebanon was my first) and I remember the movie I had watched was Steven Seagal’s “Under Siege“. I also remember the video store outside the theater where I picked up “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” from. Good days.
11 replies on “The Old Cinema Salmiya”
In the first place, there really was no need to knock down that fine movie theatre in Salmiya. It was as good as they come. By far, it was among the best cinemas we had in town with ample parking provided too. It was most convenient for a lot of people living in Ras Salmiya and Salwa. Remember watching Independence Day, Free Willy and Casper there. Casper was bit of a phenomenon in Kuwait back then.
If I remember correctly, even segregation between the genders used to be relatively lax at Salmiya cinema which was a star draw for many.
Are they thinking to put up a cineplex in its place?
Well this large movie theater I think had just really large movie theater inside. There’s no way you can fill up that space nowadays and most theaters have more than one screen inside playing multiple movies at the same time. It’s not practical having just one movie playing anymore. They also already built a Geant Supermarket in its place.
I used to love the 15 minute breaks (not really for the break from the movie) but more for the quick 2 cheese lovers slices from DOMINOS PIZZA + COKE
The 15 minute breaks were classic – INTERMISSION… and Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a brilliant film.
when I met with the guy at KNCC he told me when he watched Gone in the Wind (I think in Ahmadi), the intermission was 40 minutes long. He actually went home and came back to the theater to finish watching the movie.
I remember going to a lot of movies s in that theater, my first being Aladdin i think i was 3 or 4.
Salmiya was a grand old theatre fashioned in the classic
tradition. It could almost pass off for an opera house. In more ways than one, it resembled MGM’s Metro cinema in downtown Mumbai during its heyday in the 50s and 60s. I remember it getting a lot of traffic from merchant families in Kuwait who would come down for their summer vacations to Mumbai which to my mind, was what Cairo and Beirut are today for Kuwaiti families.
Too bad there are no plans for a grand Opera House in Kuwait like the one they have in Muscat- the Royal Opera House Muscat (www.rohmuscat.org.om).
Me and my friends are thinking to go there for the winter season this year. Hopefully, it should re-kindle memories of MGM’s Metro Cinema and a sideways deja vu of
Salmiyah cinema. Also, I am thinking the Chedi Muscat should be equally delightful.
Batman and Robin!
It was the first time I’d been to a cinema and the first movie I ever saw, I owe you Salmiya :’)
I sat on the farthest left and munhced on all the stuff my mother packed inside a bag.
AAAAA!!! Thank you sooo much!! I used to go there a lot and i wanted to see the photos so much, just to remember how did it look like! Cool, you made my daaaaay hohoho
In the 80s and 90s all road and places where described by landmark’s. (pre google maps and road numbers) The Cinema was a landmark and the roundabout, called
“Cinema Roundabout”
Map’s drawn, to find my place in Ras Salmiya had always that Cinema included.
I guess that I’m one of the few people in Kuwait, which own a 35 mm / 1600 feet /shift lens / Cinema Projector with Tube amplifier with about 100 kg weight. It is called a portable unit !? from the 1960s Kuwait.
Thank’s for sharing the Salmiya Cinema Images Mark.
That’s where I saw the first Rush Hour when it came out. Great memories.