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This time — Edison Cinema, in a photo from 1950.
Edison Cinema opened in 1932 and was the third cinema in Jerusalem. It was preceded by Zion Cinema and Eden Cinema.
The building is located on Yeshayahu Street, at the corner of Racha in Lilios, north of the city center and the Ixim intersection, in the heart of Geula and the Mea Shearim neighborhood.
The magnificent hall was built in a modern style by M.Y. Mizrahi and his sons, who also founded Orion Cinema.
The hall with 1,200 seats, was an architectural splendor in those days, with high ceilings, and huge burgundy curtains, which gave the place a sense of grandeur and the feeling you could escape for a moment from the dullness of Jerusalem and its tiringly crowded streets.
The building, among others, was built, by a group of pioneers from the Third Aliyah who lived in a commune in the Beit HaKerem neighborhood and drew knowledge and inspiration from the Arab architecture of that time.
The hall was also the first in Jerusalem to boast an air conditioning system, which was a luxury in those days.
The cinema was named after Thomas Edison, the inventor of the movie camera and the electric light bulb.
Edison cinema opened with great pomp on January 5, 1932, in the presence of the officials of the British Mandate government, the dignitaries of the national institutions of the country that was yet a mere dream. The opening speech was delivered by Itamar ben Avi, the son of Mahia, in Hebrew, followed by a classical music concert by Mendelssohn that delighted the dignitaries.
Besides movies, the cinema was used as a hall for plays and concerts. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra performed there the first concert to be broadcasted live on the radio station Kol Jerusalem.
In 1937, a celebratory concert was held there on the occasion of the coronation of King George VI. Moreover, as previously mentioned, the place was also used for performances. The Chamber Theater, the Cheesetron, and many artists performed there.
The proximity to the city’s ultra-Orthodox settlement in the Geula neighborhood and Mea Shearim caused tensions regarding Shabbat.
In January 1933, a “non-desecration of Shabbat” agreement was signed after pressure from Agudath Israel. Whoever violated the agreement undertook to pay a fine of 300 Israeli pounds to the Diskin Orphanage, and the other cinemas that remained closed.
In light of the success of the cinema, the management began selling tickets during Shabbat for evening shows, to the chagrin of the ultra-orthodox public.
In August 1933, the owner announced that Eden Cinema would start functioning on Saturdays and holidays as he did not consider himself obligated to observe the Sabbath rule.
Edison Cinema was set on fire twice, in 1965 and 1975, and it suffered heavy damage.
In 1971, The Hair starring the late Zvika Pick was played there and the musical’s sound was covered by the shouts of the Neturi Karta demonstrators who were protesting outside the cinema against the abomination taking place inside.
In 1982, the hall was rented by our acquaintance Moshe Dadash, the businessman and owner of the Beitar Jerusalem group, who signed contracts with the stars on napkins in cafés.
In 1993, Dadash purchased the cinema for $2 million.
In September 1994, he sold the cinema for $5.8 million.
Dadash, who did not study business administration at university, proved that signing a napkin in a café is a more successful business model than the economics thought at university, back in those days when the dollar was strong.
The hall was purchased by the businessman Eyal Rotem. He wanted to demolish it, and build a 12-story commercial and office building, and a large parking lot.
At the end of 2001, the company that recruited investors for the project submitted a liquidation request due to the inability to meet the project’s financial obligations.
In April 2004, the cinema was sold to Satmar followers for $4.6 million. The building was meant to serve as a gathering place for Satmar followers while preserving its unique facade.
After many delays, the building was occupied only in 2014.
The royal atmosphere of the magnificent hall was replaced by the Yiddish of Satmar students, the tights, make-up, and glitter of Zvika Pick were replaced by the tights of the Avrachs and the Indian films played there, would no longer be seen.
I remember that when I was a child the cinema’s atmosphere was truly special. That is where I saw IT take off for the first time into the sky with a bicycle and a box of Tnuva, and Superman in red tights spinning the world backward counterclockwise, and Chuck Norris defeating 400 people, blowing them away like dust, tucking in his shirt, and walking away as if nothing had happened.
When the film projectionist was not paying attention and forgot to change the wheel, the spectators whistled to remind him it was time to do it, and Motzesh’s venoms would throw empty Tempo bottles from the top boxes to the stage.
This is our Jerusalem — The sounds of an orchestra for the coronation of King George mixed with Yiddish and an American accent, contracts that are signed on napkins in cafés, ambitious entrepreneurship attempts that collapse, magnificence and velvet curtains, Indian films and theater performances, a cinema hall as a testimony to history and revival that you will never forget.
It seems that the cinema was built on the wrong side of Jaffa Street.
Shabbat of peace far and near Jerusalem
Photo by Beno Rothenberg.
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