* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
The Cine Colón, located at Calle del Arco del Teatro 58, had a life of 23 years. It was designed by Josep Plantada i Artigas, a prolific architect in his time.
His was the now-defunct Casino del Parque de la Ciudadela y del Cine Ideal, built in 1911 on Calle Cortes (now Gran Vía), a construction that won, in 1913, the Extraordinary Award from the City Council for its artistic quality. And, in 1924, he signed the primitive building of the Hospital del Mar.
Plantada, already aware of the problems that venues had to evacuate spectators in the event of incidents, designed an emergency exit at Calle del Olmo 16.
The large building was divided into stalls and amphitheatre, with a total capacity of 1,500 spectators. At the back of the room, where the screen was, there were located on both sides the men’s and women’s toilets. This solution allowed that, if the spectators wanted to go to the toilet during the projection, they would be visible at all times due to the light emanating from the projection screen.
The cinema was inaugurated on December 24, 1923. That day it did not appear on the billboards because the newspapers were not published. The next day, La Vanguardia, on a billboard of the time, inserted it along with other disappeared cinemas, programming La dame de Monsoreau, by Alexandre Dumas; The bravest of the village, The mystery of the four days and Pamplinas businessman.
On Thursday, October 28, 1926, it began to program the same films as the Splendid cinema. They presented a program of four silent films: Who am I talking to?, You don’t come around here, A man with no name and The Child Prodigy. The Splendid cinema presented a variety program with the performance of a Musical Trio.
On October 12, 1928, he changed travel companions to join the programming of the first Barcelona cinema (on Unión street). He subsequently went solo programming in the mid-1930s.
But, before, it disappeared from the billboard. The silence was due to some improvement works in the room to adapt it to the incipient programming of the imminent talkies, which was inaugurated on December 18 with the projection of El precio de un beso, interpreted by José Mojica (Mexican film heartthrob , who later, following the death of his mother, became a Franciscan friar.However, he continued to work in the cinema, playing some roles as a priest, including the Spanish film El Pórtico de la Gloría, shot in Santiago de Compostela).
On December 26, 1931, it changed its name, announcing itself since then as Gran Cine Colón. Screening: The Scapaflow Tragedy, The Hunchback of Our Lady of Paris. And it announced for Sunday night The Loves of the Grand Duke.
In 1932 its owner Joan Martí, also owner of the Talía and Iris cinemas, replaced the old sound equipment with new generation ones, reopening them on May 16 with the projection of Esclavas de la moda, completely spoken in Spanish; Rin-tin-tin on the border, with fragments in Spanish; Losing my temper, Magazine of drawings and varieties.
For Saturday, July 18, 1936, he had scheduled a program of four films: The Dance of the Rich, in Spanish, by George Rali and Joan Bennet; A human tragedy; The captain dislocated; and The accused woman; Newsreel and Drawings.
With the coup d’état and the events that took place in the city between the forces of the two sides, the entertainment venues remained closed. Once collectivized by the CNT, it began to appear again on the billboards on Thursday, August 27 with El día que me quieras, Nuestra hijita, Imitation of life and Drawings.
After the civil war ended, after carrying out a long and important remodeling, it opened its doors again, on December 31, 1939, as the Colón cinema, with the films of Morena Clara and Guerra sin cuartel.
The deterioration of the area began to drive viewers away from outside the neighborhood, which caused the quality of the films that had been offered until then to be lost and a change of ownership took place.
The new owners made new changes to revalue the premises, with the celebration of different citizen acts dedicated to the residents of the neighborhood (collective baptisms, spiritual exercises, etc.), which involved the civil governor Antonio Federico de Correa Véglison.
La Vanguardia of Tuesday, March 11, 1941, offered on its cover the photograph of the moment of the baptism of 34 children, with a bucket and a metal tray and a ladle for serving soup, all the children were sponsored by Governor Correa Véglison himself.
On March 29, the cinema changed ownership again. Francesc Pons Boronat sold it to José Single Sola, who leased it to Francesc Xicota Cabré, who in turn later ceded it to Luis M. Aparicio Riera, on November 1, 1943.
The poverty and degradation of Chinatown did the rest. The last announcement of its programming as a cinema took place with the screening of La usurpadora, Siete bofetadas y un noticiario,
Its numerous owners resisted its disappearance, organizing popular events, which destroyed the decoration, the seats and the services, which finally caused its definitive closure in 1946.
For a long time the building was claimed by the neighborhood movement to restore it and to house public facilities.
The final solution came in 2007 to turn it into the Hotel Acta Mimic, with a project by the architect Xavier Claramunt that preserved the primitive façade of the Colón cinema.
