* The author is part of the community of La Vanguardia readers
The Monterrey cinema, located at 429 – 431 Castillejos Street, was built to be inaugurated as the Guinardó cinema, since it was the first entertainment venue to be built in that neighborhood area.
A place then full of open fields, so they only thought about building it on a single floor, since the land was large and would entail fewer problems and fewer personnel if they only had to control a single room.
Its owners were the brothers Óscar and Vicente Martí, who, upon seeing the great performance of this hall, decided to build a new cinema next to Plaza Sanllehy.
For its construction they chose one of the best architects of the moment, Buenaventura Bassegoda Nonell. It was designed with a simple design for its time with a façade with four 2.20 doors to enter the lobby as the ordinances required at that time.
The lobby housed the ticket office and a room for the first aid kit, something that has been lost over time, at least at first glance. The enclosure was completed by a cafeteria and a staircase to go up to the engine room and a room used as a warehouse.
In the stalls, with a capacity of 1,360 spectators distributed, there were three rows of seats separated by four aisles along the length and a central one along the width, following the ordinances established by the city council regulations of May 3, 1936. For access They had planned six entrance doors and three exit doors in order to avoid a sudden collapse on the part of the spectators at all times.
The toilets were located differently, since the ladies’ toilets were on the left side of the screen and the men’s toilets were in an upper space, which had to be reached via a staircase and consisted of 16 urinals. , 6 toilet compartments and six sinks.
Equipped with the latest possible technological innovations, the Monterrey cinema was inaugurated on Sunday, June 6, 1965 with this name and not as the Guinardó cinema, as was originally planned (the reason for the last-minute name change is unknown). It premiered with the screening of Molly Brown Always Afloat, by Debbie Reynolds and Harve Prefnell, and Find Me That Girl, featuring Marisol, the Dynamic Duo and Isabel Garcés.
During the short career that the venue had as a cinema, it earned the loyalty of the neighborhood’s residents for its comfort, which began with anatomical seats and perfect air conditioning in accordance with the season, a cafeteria with very good service and a program that It became one of the places in the neighborhood where first-run movies arrived first.
With the urbanization of Guinardóel, the venue began to have logistical problems due to its location, since with the massive construction of buildings, new venues opened in the neighborhood with a more comfortable location for spectators.
Spectators had to reach the Monterrey cinema through a steep climb up Calle Castillejos or through an area under ongoing construction above Ronda del Guinardó.
Of course, its programming was always in the front row, an example of this were the films programmed at that time: Single and Mother in Life, The Jungle Book, A Girl for Two, The Post of Sighs or Two on the Guillotine .
The land where the theater was located was overpriced and the Martín brothers closed the Monterrey cinema on Sunday, March 5, 1970 with the screening of Spies Kill in Silence, featuring actor José Bódalo and Sister San Sulpicio, played by Carmen Sevilla and Jorge Mistral.
On the site, the company Martín S. A. built a large building with homes, commercial premises and parking lots.
