End of an era… Astor Cinema to officially close June 30 -- after 70 years in operation
Written by Telesha Ramnarine, Sunday, 23 June 2013 00:17, Source
THE Astor Cinema, proverbially the “Last of the Mohaicans” and representative of the halcyon days of a glorious bygone era when owning a cinema was engaging in big business in Guyana, has announced that, come next Sunday, June 30, its doors would be closed to the public for the very last time.
Members of the public visit this poster area in Astor’s lobby on a daily basis
This ‘tragic’ announcement comes after the Astor has faithfully served the entertainment needs of the Guyanese public for some 70 years.
Standing on Lot 189, at the corner of Waterloo and Church Streets in Cummingsburg, Georgetown, the sad news of the closure was initially announced via a ‘For Sale or Rent’ sign tacked on the building since last April; and there was nothing more than a contact email address for interested persons to follow up.
The rumour mill had churned out that the cinema was to cease operating in the last week of May, but confirmed reports have indicated that the edifice will have its final commercial showing of a movie on June 30. Staff members have each received official notification in this respect via a letter that also thanked them for their years of hard work and dedicated service.
The historic Astor Cinema
Most cinemas in Guyana had chosen to terminate their activities several years ago, but the Astor Cinema had persevered, perhaps in a valiant fight against impossible odds. It stood its ground, and had managed to last very much longer than skeptics had anticipated.
Remember when it was truly a unique experience being in the Astor Cinema with its full stereo surround sound and its convenient little canteen that always featured a hot puri and egg ball with sour? A diligent effort was also made to keep the surroundings clean and tidy.
Veteran entertainer Cyril Shaw, in an article published in this newspaper back in 2000, made a few observations about the Astor. Among the things he had mentioned were that this cinema had always carried ‘full houses’ on opening nights,
One of the stairways in the lobby leading up to the auditorium of the cinema
and had managed to attract diverse audiences.
Astor opened its doors with the premiere boxing movie ‘Golden Boy’, starring William Holden and Barbara Stanwyck, which ran with a full house for four days!
This cinema not only provided the best in movie entertainment, but also carried news from foreign countries as well as local news on film clips.
It gave us vaudeville shows wherein some of the world’s top artistes made their early performances, among whom were the Mighty Sparrow, Madame O’Lindy, Lord Kitchener, and Small Island Pride. The first known Broadway star to come to Guyana, Lawrence Winters, performed at the Astor in the last 1940s.
“Whenever you go to a video store and rent a pirated movie, stop and think about the booming cinema industry in other countries, and the good old days when you lined up for hours to purchase a ticket to see ‘Jaws’ or ‘Saturday Night Fever’ at the same time as the rest of the world,” Shaw advised in the article.
Other popular cinemas in Guyana, all closed now, included the Star Cinema, formerly located at La Penitence Street in Albuoystown; The Globe, formerly located directly opposite the Astor on Church Street; Metropole, formerly located at Wellington and Robb Streets; Plaza, formerly on Camp Street between New Market and Middle Streets; Strand, formerly at Charlotte and Wellington Streets; and the once most popular Liberty, located at Vlissengen Road and Garnett Street in Newtown, Georgetown.
