I’ve been polishing and proofreading my memoir and just finished a part in which I stayed in Shanghai 15 years ago. Although I don’t write about the Cathay Cinema, I haven’t forgotten it.
The Cathay is an Art Deco beauty, built in 1932. (I recently read that Shanghai is home to more Art Deco buildings than anywhere else in the world.)
During that summer, I braved torrential rains one night and headed out to the Cathay to see Red Rose White Rose, a sensuous Hong Kong film that takes place in 1930s Shanghai. How a propos.
At one time, the Cathay Cinema was owned by Victor Sassoon, an Iraqi Jew who built the Cathay Hotel, now the Peace Hotel. A couple years before I visited the Cathay Cinema, it had received historic preservation status.
Although the building can’t be destroyed, the theater was converted into a triplex in 2003.
The interior no longer reveals any of its original decor.
Thank you so much! I’ll be sure to post you a copy if it’s ever published. I don’t have a publisher or literary agent yet, so I’m trying to whip it into shape before sending it out. But I definitely understand where you’re coming from. When I worked in publishing at the Open U of Hong Kong (in Homantin!), you should have seen some of the stuff I received. And the worst of it came from native English speakers!
the building is spectacular. pardon my french but isn’t the editor supposed to fine-tune the manuscript? maybe different for elt publications then – looking forward to reading it 🙂