What happened to the old cinemas of Haifa? • Chapter 5 • "Coliseum" - the first movie

Note and thanks

Key parts of the article before you are based on materials collected from the following sources:
• "Hiya Haifa" and "Love from rape" - Yaakov Davidon.
Davidon was a colorful Haifa character, and his name will appear again and again in this series of articles. In the early 20s, Davidon was a member of the first group of builders in Haifa, who lived in the "Nachla" neighborhood (in today's Michael Street area). Davidon, who is also gifted with abundant writing talent, describes in his book "Hiya Ha Haifa" the "Coliseum" movie and the life around it, and a large part of the details in this article is based on his descriptions
(At the end of the article I will address a request to anyone who knows anything about Jacob Davidon and his works).
• "Ilan planted in his soil" - Ami Yuval (grandson of Baruch Tolcinsky)

These are recommended reading materials for every Haifai, but they are out of print and very hard to come by.
• Special thanks to Itamar Roteloi, who contributed a lot of information to me, and enlightened my eyes on several points.

The first show in Haifa

The official history of cinema in Haifa began in 1919. In the same year, Baruch Tolcinski moved with his family from Tel Aviv to Haifa.

Tolchinsky was a serial entrepreneur, who dealt in fuel, wines and chocolate products, but during the Great War the commercial connections he had in Europe were cut off and his livelihood was damaged.

During his days in Tel Aviv, Tolchinsky got to know the "Eden" (Tel Avivi) radio station and its founder, and since there is no radio station in Haifa, he immediately recognized the potential. In collaboration with Yosef ben Hanania (Khoromchenko) they rented a hall together and purchased two of the technological wonders of the time: a hand-held projector from the surplus of the British army, and a diesel generator. For the purpose of operating the projector, a skilled Greek worker was hired, who undertook to train the sons of the owners of the projector in operating the projector.

Ami Yuval tells about the generator in his book "A tree planted in its soil":
"The generator was started by pulling a rope that turned the engine and ignited the fuel. In order to start it, 3 people were needed. One said "one, two, three" and then they all pulled on the rope, and hurried to let go of it, so that it wouldn't drag them into the engine when it started spinning."

All that was left was to hire a pianist, and the project was launched, and thus, on Passover 1919, Haifa won its first spectacle, with the international name - "Coliseum". The name reflected Haifa's being a mixed city, with an audience made up of Jews, Muslims and Christians.

The movie opened in Shipoli and Adi Nisnas, at today's 26 Allenby Street.

Until recently, it was still possible to recognize the front of the building, whose entrance was designed (intentionally?) in the form of a celluloid film, but recently, the front of this historic building was hidden under a modern facade of a joy hall. Whoever examines the new facade closely, will be able to notice behind it, here and there, the stone facade that was hidden behind.

The show was not the only source of income for Tulchinsky and Ben Hanania, and they also traded in gasoline. For this purpose, a room was built under the engine room of the rocket, between wooden columns, which would house hundreds of cans of gasoline. It is highly doubtful whether today's fire department would approve such an arrangement.

In the back of the hall, a grandstand was built, where sitting was expensive and became a status symbol.

In the yard, beyond the back wall, four wooden beams were driven into the ground, and on them was placed a small machine room made of wood, where the aging projector was placed, which projected the film on the screen opposite through a hole in the wall.

taking off

Before the opening, and then before every movie, there would be a "Dalal" (announcer) walking through the market and the streets, loudly announcing the "film" that was going to be screened at the "Cinema Coliseum", recounting its wonders, and mentioning the names of the stars. In front of the announcer walked a human bulletin board carrying a large ad with the details of the show.

Very quickly "Coliseum" became the modern entertainment center of Jewish Haifa, and also served the Arabs of Haifa.

Two shows were shown each evening, but the second show tended to be shorter, as the projector operator tended to get tired at these late hours, and in order to finish his work as soon as possible, occasionally ran the machine at a higher speed. And so horses galloped at them at an unreasonable speed, actors appeared and disappeared in a flash, and the film ended leaving the viewers wondering what actually happened there.

"Coliseum" screened silent films accompanied by music. From time to time, texts were projected on slides embedded in the body of the film, and the entire film was accompanied by the playing of the pianist sitting in the hall.

In Raino Coliseum, this evening

Every week ads were published about one amazing movie or another (the movies were short and usually three movies were shown in one show), and occasionally a huge sensation was also added: "the commentary in Hebrew".

The lame flute

The campaign's advertising system was, as mentioned, also based on the dalal (announcer), aka Khalil the lame flute, and his ad theme.

The advertising procession consisted of the bearer of the billboards walking at the head, followed by a flute player, ringing the bell he carried in his right hand, and announcing in Arabic in a loud voice words along the lines of: "Listen! Listen! We're going to the Coliseum tonight... every night... Charlie... and Chaplin... and Eddie... And Polo… And Elmo… And Lincoln… And Stingray. . . And Barabs… Wow, everyone… everyone… tonight… every night… listen up!”

The impressive procession was completed by dozens of children from all denominations, who marched after Khalil.

The heroes of the canvas of those days were the gentleman robber Stingray, the first "Tarzan". elmo lincoln, The comedy star "Patty" Roscoe, and sensual stars like the Queen of the Cloth Francisca Bertini, AndMia May The beautiful thick flesh.

The audience

In 1919, most of Haifa's Jews lived in "Ard El Yehud" (in the area of ​​the streets: Yehuda Halevi, Eben Gvirol, Bilo and Yarmuch). The "Technicum" neighborhood, in the area of ​​Herzl Street, was established in 1920 and numbered dozens of families, and the neighborhood of " Nachala" (south of Herzl Street, in the area of ​​Michael Streets, Bar-Kochva Street and the beginning of Arlozorov Street) was mainly a tent neighborhood that had just been established, where young members of a construction cooperative lived.

The Jewish residents of Haifa used to go down the Burj (today's Mount of Liberation and Return to Zion), in order to win a visit to Raynoa.

Davidon number:

"We, members of the first group of builders in Nachala, would go down to this modern and sophisticated hall, which served the needs of artistic Haifa regardless of religion and caste. We would just walk down Herzl Street and down the Burj, singing in our mouths."

The silent films used to be accompanied by a pianist on an old piano that was missing several keys. Davidon testifies that the talented pianist mainly played two tunes, one loud and cheerful - for comedies and cheerful films, and one sad and sentimental - for tear-jerking films.

The continuous screening time usually lasted about eight minutes, after which the viewers went for a fifteen-minute break, in order to relax and change a wheel. After the break, there could be a second reel of the same film, or a reel of a new film. After about three or four wheels, the show ended and the spectators dispersed to their homes.

the being

Davidon describes the end of such an evening:

"Noisily, we get up from our seats, go back to Allenby Street and walk again all the way through Haifa to our tents in the 'Nachla' neighborhood. One plays the harmonica here... the other found a rusty tin and drums it impeccably.... the third whistles to his pleasure, and the rest just make noises in the world... we wake up the All fifty families. Residents of Hadar Carmel..."

Indeed, the mood is stormy and lively.

"Coliseum" as a cultural center

However, "Coliseum" was not content only with screening films, and was also used as a stage for cultural events of various kinds, even in the short period between the cessation of its activity as a movie theater and its final closure. The hall hosted the Hebrew Theater from Jaffa, and provided a stage for lectures and concerts.

"Coliseum" - the end

When the Coliseum stopped showing movies in 1925, the hall continued to function for several months as a stage for other shows and finally closed in 1926. At the same time as its closure, the owners opened the "Aviv" open air show at 54 Jaffa Street.

To the readers

We start by reviewing all the theaters/cinemas that operated in Haifa until the 70s. We searched archives, books and networks but we still lack materials.

The cinemas for which the documentation (photos from the Zohar period and written material) is most lacking: "Orli", "Galor", "Domino", "Ziv", "Haifa", "Chen", "Mayon", "Miron", "Maxim" , "Nof", "Ron", "Shavit", "Blue", "Tamar".

Our requests from you, the readers:

1. Despite long and intensive searches, we still haven't located the exact location of the "Eden" and "Empire" theaters, which were located on Jaffa Street in the 20s and 30s. Those of you who know, or have information about these playhouses, please get in touch.
2. If any of you have materials (photos from a personal album or just stories) about the cinemas from the list above (and others), or you know someone like that (families of the owners or photographers, for example) - please let us know.
3. "May" cinema - Yaakov Davidon, one of the founders of the cinema, and a fascinating personality in his own right, deserves a separate article that will review his work. If any of his descendants are reading these lines, we would appreciate it if they would contact us as soon as possible.
4. "Carmel Ganim" cinema - if anyone from the Ovitch family, who founded the cinema, reads these lines, we would appreciate it if they would contact us as soon as possible.
5. Regarding the posters and photos we published, if you have information about the creators of the posters and the photographers of the photos, we would appreciate it if you would share with us what you know, if only so that we can give credit to the creators.

Write to us in the comments below, or by email [email protected] This is an important service for the city and the community. Time passes, and there may not be any more opportunities like this.