File
The State (left) and Regal Cinemas in Crossroads.Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
I am making my way to work by bus. As the vehicle makes its way through Half Way-Tree, for some reason I look across at the old Odeon building, which I have passed for many years. Additionally, the old theatre has been looking progressively decrepit. Today it looks even more so.
The theatre, which was closed in 1999, seems to have gathered speed on its journey to ruin. It is easy to picture how the bold red sign had once glittered red, welcoming all who wanted to watch a movie under the open sky.
That is no more. The 'O' and the 'D' are now missing and dirty brown spots clearly mark where they used to be. All that is left of the sign is 'EON', seemingly trying to bravely outstare the truth that theatres of its kind are no more. In fact, they belong to a past of seemingly eons ago.
Odeon is by no means unique. A drive through Downtown will also reveal signs on now dilapidated buildings which clearly, if not brightly, state that they were once movie houses. However, not all the old theatre buildings bear reminders of what they once were. It has probably begun to slip from memory that there were actually four cinemas in Cross Roads not too long ago (a perspective which may vary, depending on your age).
Sharing space with Carib was the Regal theatre. It used to be housed in the building which Azan's now occupies. The more recent closing was that of the State theatre. Up to last year it was home to the Kingston Church of Christ and, at the end of last year, the seats were up for sale. Its days as a theatre are long over and there is no sign that they will return.
The other, almost directly across from Courts, now also hosts a church.
Movie buff extraordinaire, Orville Clarke, reflects on the days when there were cinemas in every parish. An avid moviegoer since the 1950s, he names several theatres which existed throughout Kingston. Among them is the very famous Rialto (also of The Harder They Come fame), along with Kings, Gaiety, Queens, Majestic, Ritz, Tropical, Globe and Deluxe. The names of the cinemas seem to reek of the glitz and glamour which they used to hold.
Outside Kingston , The Del Mar (Port Antonio), Empire (Morant Bay) and Capri (May Pen) all added to what helped to create the movie culture in Jamaica. The second city, Montego Bay, had four cinemas strand, The Roxy, Palladium and Coral.
It appears that only Carib is left from that golden era. The grand white building still stands boldly defiant in the middle of Cross Roads. Now Carib 5, the cinema has changed from the single screen set-up that could hold well over 1,000 people at once. Devoured by fire in September of 1996, the cinema managed to arise phoenix-like from the flames. It was also able to do what so many others were unable to do. Change.
Ms. Melanie Graham, marketing manager for Palace Amusement Company, attempted to explain why she believes none of these cinemas were able to last. "They all closed because they were the old type of movie cinemas. Not air-conditioned, very sparse seat, and I think with the advent of video... that added to their demise," she said. She went on to explain that in order to continue to thrive, cinemas needed a lot of investment. "I don't think at the time they were willing to spend to upgrade," she stated, also noting that the admission rates were not very profitable.
However, it is not only large theatres that have closed down. During the cinematic heyday in Jamaica, there also existed the phenomena of the mobile theatre. Milton Savage shares his memory of these. "A likkle man would jus' buy a projector an set up 'im screen," he said, explaining how the mobile theatres worked. He notes that without these mobile theatres, which paid weekend visits to his village, he would have missed many of the movies he watched in his youth. "A special occasion we can go a Carib an dem place deh," he explained.
Mr. Savage noted that the first movie he watched at Carib was The Sound of Music, while he was on a school outing. The tradition of school outings to the cinemas continued well into the 1980s.
However, the advent of first the VCR and then cable have greatly affected the importance of the cinema. Ms. Graham notes that with the coming of cable, Palace Amusement has had to restructure the how they schedule movies. She noted that the coming of cable, Jamaicans no longer had to come to the theatre to see old movies. "We found that we had to get current and release at the same time as the US or shortly after," she explained. Ms. Graham also pointed out that this is one of the reasons Carib stopped showing triple and double bills. She also argued that this is not as profitable with the smaller cinemas which have replaced the large movie houses.
It must be noted, however that Carib represents more than a lost era. Wrapped up in this, is the relationship which Jamaicans have developed with movies over the years. In its prime, Carib was wonderful evidence that for Jamaicans, at least in large part, going to the movies is more of a social event than simply watching a movie. The audience often gets rather involved with the movie, especially the action flicks. This is evident in The Harder They Come, which shows persons reacting to the film more like live theatre than cinema. It is a phenomena with which almost any Jamaican who has been to an action film is familiar.
Additionally, it also appears that Jamaicans prefer action movies, comedies and movies about Jamaica. The Palace Amusement website lists
the following as the Top 10 grossing films in Jamaica:
1. Titanic
2. Third World Cop
3. Dance Hall Queen
4. The Mummy Returns
5. Mission Impossible 2
6. Big Momma's House
7. Nutty Professor
8. How Stella Got Her Groove Back
9. Charlie's Angels
10. Amistad
Interestingly, of these, only three appear on the list of the 50 top grossing movies in the United States, according to Movieweb.com. On that list only Titanic (also holding the number 1 position), The Mummy Returns (number 39) and Mission Impossible 2 (number 33) appear. Ms. Graham attributes this pattern to the preference for action and comedy. "Most of the time if it's thought-provoking it won't do too well here," she stated. "There are patrons that will want to see it, but it's a smaller market."
Of course, if there is any doubt that Jamaicans are very serious about their movies, a look at some of the names adopted by popular deejays should quickly put that to rest. To name a few, Charlie Chaplin, Josey Wales and Silver Fox represent three very popular eras in movie history.
Charlie Chaplin ruled the silent era of film. On the other hand, Josey Wales represents one of the most popular characters played by Clint Eastwood. Mr. Clarke notes that Clint Eastwood westerns were very popular locally, among them The Good The Bad and The Ugly. Mr. Clarke says he had to "fight fi go eena Carib" when that movie being played there. He also noted that the 'dollar shows' (these included Fistful of Dollars, A River Full of Dollars and For a Few Dollars) were extremely popular westerns as well. The adoption of the name similarly reflects the popularity.
In the 1980s, the karate movie took over in popularity from the western, and of course, the character 'Silver Fox' is the ultimate karate champion. As a result of the love of 'kickers', which gained popularity in the early 80s, a number of 'ninjas' rose up in dance hall, among them the Don Gorgon himself, Ninja Man.
As multiplexes continue to dominate, it is hard to gauge whether Jamaican movie tastes will shift. Based on the Palace Amusement figures, it appears that it has not begun to happen just yet.
