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Cine Cinelin (later, Sala Parthenon and Sala Partenón) was a venue located at Calle Balmes 137-139 which, due to its location, had more of a public history than one unrelated to the world of cinema. It was located in front of the now-defunct Frontón Condal and was inaugurated on December 23, 1909.
The day before, La Vanguardia, on its page 10, published the note about the opening for the following day. As was customary at the time, they did not give any details of the program to be carried out, they only said great attractions and movie premieres.
Despite the place where it was located, it never became a cinema that had a clientele addicted to its programming, because it was not well directed nor was the programming very adequate.
The premises were acquired by Catholic Action under the name of Centro Católico Obrero de San Vicente de Paul. At this stage it functioned during the week as a school and on Sunday afternoons it used the old cinema to stage plays, performed by the students themselves. They were chosen works, since they were carried out exclusively by people of the male gender.
On September 15, 1921, La Vanguardia published an article in which it disclosed the intentions of the board of directors of the Board of Trustees. Little by little, it gained prominence in the neighborhood, becoming the Partenón Social Charity Center, in which important social work was carried out, educating young people from families without any type of resources.
On Sunday, January 29, 1922, at 11 in the morning, a distribution of savings bank passbooks was held in the auditorium, in favor of the students of the free classes who had obtained outstanding and notable grades in the exams. The rest of the students were given a prize, according to their aptitudes.
The act could be attended by the families of the students, the partners and many people who sympathized with the social work carried out by the entity.
The Albéniz Company took over the programming, converting the assembly hall into the Partenón Hall, which was taking its first steps as a professional theatre.
On Sunday, February 28, 1926, he programmed a concert by the pianist María Pujal with pieces by Hender, Beethoven, Chapín and other great composers.
Subsequently, on Saturday, March 20, an extraordinary function organized by the Board and Board of Trustees of the schools and the center’s free dispensary was held, staging the work of Pedro Muñoz Seca El ruse. And the subsequent performance by Pilar Rufi, who was accompanied by maestro Silverio Fábregas, and who performed popular songs.
The managers of the premises, seeing the progression of spectators, inaugurated on Thursday, March 25, in the afternoon, a children’s program, which would continue to be carried out every Thursday, in which gifts were distributed to all the children in attendance.
The success of the sessions was such that they had to expand to two performances in order to meet the demand for tickets.
The decisive step took place on Sunday, November 7, when it was inaugurated as Teatro Partenón, with the presentation of the Carmen Iglesias Comedy Company, with the representation of El sombrero de copa by Vital Aza and the one-act play Los corridos.
In the evening, a vocal concert was announced by the opera singers, Julia Cervera, the tenor Roldos, the baritone Burguès and the bass Martí, accompanied by the maestro Vidal Nunell.
During the Civil War, like all performance venues, it was collectivized by the CNT, representing classical plays by the Catalan actor Enrique Guitart.
The premises also used for holding assemblies in the upper area of ??the city. On Thursday, October 30, 1936, the Department of Supplies held an act whose main theme would be the regulation of the supply system for the whole of Catalonia, since it so happened that there were surplus products in some regions while they were scarce in others.
After the war ended, on Tuesday, May 16, 1939, on page 8 of La Vanguardia, an advertisement for the familiar Parthenon Theater was inserted, informing its supporters of the opening of the Parthenon Cinema the following day.
Screened Musical Sanitarium, The Sinister City and Captain Blood, by Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. For a few days, apart from the advertisement on the billboard, she published an advertisement in which she said: “Go once to the familiar Parthenon Cinema and you will not regret it, on the contrary, you will return.”
On Sunday the 28th, he published an announcement in which he communicated that. Overcoming some deficiencies in the Orpheo Sincronic company equipment due to not having the appropriate screen, and once resolved, from that day on it was possible to view the projections with an immaculate vision, programming Hitler’s Trip to Italy and El chico Cantor.
From that moment on, the programming offers changed continuously, so viewers had to check the day’s programming, since three types of sessions were established: Theatre, Cinema and Children’s Cinema.
This was also the point of phobia on the part of General Franco’s regime of all names that were not Spanish, so the Parthenon cinema had to follow Franco’s guidelines and make the name change to continue having the premises open.
On Sunday, June 23, 1940, it held its last session as Parthenon Cinema showing: Drawings, sports tape, documentary and Leap into the Abyss and a session of Polichinelas Ransell and, the next day, Monday 24, it appeared already converted into Parthenon Cinema.
In May 1941, on the billboards it advertised only children’s films. In June it appeared as a commercial cinema but without announcing any film.
It disappeared on Sunday, June 29, 1941, announcing the projection of four films and the performance of the magician Gran Fregolino.
