Leopoldville 1923 – The Apollo Palace cinema

The Apollo Palace in Kinshasa

In 2011 I posted this photo of the Apollo Palace Cinema in a piece about Kinshasa’s lost architectural heritage (Mar. 24, 2011). These were images of buildings which I could not situate in Congo’s contemporary capital. The following year, I referred to it again (Feb. 12, 2012), speculating it might have been opened by the French firm Georges Fabre & Co, which operated a soda water plant and cinema in Kinshasa (Leopoldville-Est) in 1920. Since, I have learned a little more about the Apollo Palace, but many questions remain.

In July 1920, Sylvain Danse, an agent of the Banque du Congo Belge, reported the existence of a cinema serving both black and white communities. This could have been the Fabre operation, but as that company was dissolved in April 1921, its disappearance from Leopoldville limits any opportunity for further confirmation. At the beginning of September 1923, Joseph Wauters, the Belgian Socialist Minister of Labor, visited Leopoldville. The following month, Roger de Chatelux, a journalist for La Nation Belge, known by his pseudonym “Chalux”, arrived in the newly designated Capital from Matadi. Both described similar scenes of Sunday afternoon dances at the Apollo. 

Between 4:00 and 7:00 pm, Congolese men and women gathered in the city’s only cinema. It was decorated plainly – white walls, bare cement floor, paper flowers. At one end, were a few 4-seat booths on a raised platform. Wearing an assortment of European clothing, the men line up on one side, the women on the other, also dressed in the finest European fashion available in Leopoldville. When the orchestra, an accordionist accompanied by drums, bottle and bamboo sticks, begins a Euro-American dance tune, the men advance to the women, bow and begin to dance with their partner. They hold each other and dance the two-step, but move around the room in a group circle more typical of Congolese dances. Europeans could attend, but not join the dance. 

While Wauters expressed a desire to also see Congolese traditional dance, Chalux was outraged, noting it was deplorable for whites to witness such performances and that Congolese should only be permitted to dance in the cité. In December, “La Nation” carried a piece (likely by Chalux) reporting that the Apollo Palace, normally reserved for whites, was showing films for Congolese.

A Congolese woman with an accordion (Ph. author coll.)

Presumably, after 7:00, the hall was cleared to prepare for an 8:00 screening of the week’s movie for the European community. Such mixing of the races was extremely rare in colonial Leopoldville, as Chalux’ indignant reaction indicates. Wauters reports that the event was organized by a Mr. Honoré. The 1925 Congo Revue lists its ownership as French. However, two years later it was listed as a property of the Crédit Foncier Africain (CFA), which developed the Public Market in 1925 (Aug. 5, 2011).

The cinema’s architecture is unique for that built at the time in Kinshasa. It resembles the ITAC garage (June 9, 2014), and Garage Centrale which succeeded it, suggesting the same builder, but offers no other clues. And, with that, the Apollo Palace fades from history, and takes us to the next iteration of cinema in Leopoldville.

The ITAC Garage (Ph. Conquete de l'Air, 1928)

Garage Central, Parc de Bock at far end of Avenue (Ph. author coll)

In January 1928, an entrepreneur named Manoel Alves hired the Cogetra construction firm (which built the 345-meter port expansion at Kinshasa in 1923) to construct a 42 x 13 meter cinema building. When completed in June, he named it the Ciné Palace. From 1930 to 1934, the Ciné Palace was listed as operated by a M. Merschaert. 

The Ciné  Palace introduced the first “talkies” to Kinshasa audiences in May 1932. A sound engineer from Katanga, Robert Notterdam, who earlier created a cinema at Jim Jumperts’ Grand Hotel in Elisabethville, set up the system. Notterdam’s initiative became known as the Palace Parlant. Afterwards, Notterdam returned to Elisabethville as regional manager of the Ciné  Palace. The success of the talking movies prompted the Hotel ABC in March 1934 to arrange with Merschaert to convert its ballroom to accommodate the new service.

The Hotel ABC (Ph. author coll.)

In 1934, Van Heffen bought the Alves property in Leopoldville, located southwest of the Place de la Cité between Aves. Strauch and Travailleurs, as well as the Jumperts cinema in Elisabethville. Van Heffen’s business model was based on importing films and distributing them to operators in provincial towns. Except for two properties in Leopoldville and Elisabethville, he did not own the cinemas. Van Heffen provided the projectors and sound equipment, and concessionaires were responsible for setting up the venue and collecting receipts, receiving 60% of the proceeds. 

Another player in the movie business was Fernando Toncker, owner of the “Pavillon Kinois” restaurant, who began screening films at the Cinéma Central on Ave. Rubbens in 1935. In June 1938, he offered use of the cinema to the Congo Protestant Council for its 60th Anniversary meetings. With the advent of World War II, records show Tonker as a cinema operator, but the Cinéma Central was now owned by the Compagnie Commercial Congo-Suisse (CCCS). Toncker, an Italian national, was sent to a detention camp in Katanga in May 1941. In May 1942, Charles Stocker, an associate of CCCS, took over the Cinéma Central under his own management.

The Cinema Central in 1937 (Ph. author coll.)

A tax on movies levied by the Comité Urbain at the end of December 1941 proved an unpopular move when the cinemas in turn raised prices. An initial meeting of the Comité in February to review the issue was inconclusive, but in March it reduced the tax to 10 percent. The Cinéma Central then reduced its ticket price to Fr.20, inclusive of tax. Both Cinéma Central and Ciné Palace, which were beginning to screen US films, were also interested in obtaining US newsreels from the US Office of War Information. They were especially interested in footage from the Pacific War, which could be delivered in a timely manner by Pan American Clipper (May 23, 2011).

By mid-August, Cinéma Central was able to announce the arrival of US films in French, the first being the 1933 musical “Moonlight and Melodies” (aka “Moonlight and Pretzels”). In March 1943, however, Jean Hourdebise, a former associate of Van Heffen, took over the cinema, renaming it “Studio-Kin”. Ciné Palace and Studio-Kin continued to offer US films six days a week throughout the remainder of the war, with some French titles becoming available after the liberation of Belgium in 1944. 

Hourdebise also sought to open a cinema for Congolese in the cité. An earlier screening for évolués at the Cinéma Central in April 1942 was well received and participants expressed the hope that the initiative could be continued on a monthly basis. In August 1944, Hourdebise requested a building permit for a site on Rue Kalembelembe in what is now Commune de Lingwala. At the beginning of February 1946, Hourdebise received a half-acre plot on Ave des Huileries from the Comité Urbain. It is not clear if this was the same location at the intersection of Huleries and Kalembelembe, but the cinema was not built. 

At the same time Hourdebise was looking to the African audience, the Colonial Information Service organized a series of films for Congolese in Parc De Bock November 23, 1944, (Feb. 6, 2011), including a documentary on the liberation of Brussels and short features on Congo. Anthropologist Suzanne Comhaire-Sylvain (May, 30, 2021) reported over 1000 people attended the event. The Information Service continued weekly open-air seances on a rotating basis at one of five locations in the cité, reaching 6000 people at Place Ruwet in February 1945. The Information Service provided simultaneous translation into Kikongo and Lingala and avid audience participation and commentary added to the viewing experience.

Congolese watching an Information Service program
(Ph. wikipedia)

Congolese entrepreneurs quickly began to obtain licenses for cinemas in the cité. In 1951, African Affairs magazine reported that a third Congolese-owned cinema had opened in Leopoldville; the following year, a fourth theater opened. By the mid-1950s, a couple dozen cinemas were licensed by the Leopoldville municipality, including: Bala, Gagnon, Kongo Bar and Ciné Macauley in Barumbu; Kabangu, Petit-Bois, and Mingiendi in Dendale (now Commune de Kasa-Vubu); Amazou, Siluvangi and Zoe in Kinshasa, and Standard in Ngiri-Ngiri. Often located in a popular bar, the owners used 16mm projection equipment provided by the film distributor (i.e. Hourdebise).

The Kongo Bar in 1946 (Ph. Liberas)

Ciné Macauley (Ph. author coll.)

Young Congolese patrons were enthralled by the images of the American Westerns reaching cité cinemas in the 1950s. The young men were inspired by and emulated the masculine, take charge mannerisms of the cowboys (pronounced “coboy”) portrayed on the screen, adopted soubriquets of their favorite characters and developed a slang dialect called Indoubill (a fusion of Indian and Buffalo Bill). Gondola describes how, “spectators, including youngsters, would pour into the adjacent buvettes to drink and emulate their favorite Western heroes”. Gang members dressed in western outfits -- jeans and plaid shirts and boots, cowboy hats, even holstered pistols -- if they could get them. The subculture was captured in many photos produced by Jean Depara (July 12, 2014).

"Bills" pose for Depara in Leopoldville (Ph. messymessychic)

After the war, Cine Palace and Studio-Kin continued to serve Leopoldville’s movie-going European community. Van Heffen’s Palace chain further developed its US links as distributor for Paramount Pictures in Congo. Pan American Airways screened “Wings over New York” in February 1950, free publicity from Van Heffen for the airline, which wanted to screen Pan Am’s films it its 30 affiliates throughout Congo. Hourdebise’s Studio-Kin was now renamed Cine Albertum. In May 1951, Leopoldville’s elite gathered for a tribute to Governor General Jungers’ 40th anniversary of colonial service.

Cine Albertum in 1947 (Ph. liberas)

Another cinema chain, Ciné RAC (Radio Amplification Cinema) was incorporated in February 1950 by Jean Jacober, another ex-Van Heffen manager, and Willy Pitzele, Director of Comuele, was well as Belgium-based investors. Jacober created RAC in 1942 to sell radio and cinema equipment in Leopoldville. Pitzele moved from Leopoldville to Comuele’s Aketi headquarters the same year and launched a cinema for Congolese there. RAC opened its cinema on Ave. des Aviateurs in 1955.

The Cine RAC in the 1950s (Ph. author coll.)

The Cine RAC in 1970 (Ph. author coll.)

An alternative venue was the Auberge du Petit Pont (Jan. 9, 2011), which added an open-air cinema behind its restaurant at this time. Before air conditioning was widespread, many cinemas in Congo used this format. Your author remembers watching Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’ “The Long, Long Trailer” (1953) there sometime after we moved to Kinshasa in 1956.

The entrance to Petit Pont cinema in 1963 (Ph. author coll.)

Chez Nicola (ex-Petit Pont) in 1968. Entrance to cinema on right (Ph. author coll.)

Chez Nicola demolished in 2010s, replaced with Kin Plaza Mall (Ph. author coll.)

Hourdebise founded Cofilmex in 1952, a distribution company based on 16 mm format. In February 1956, Hourdebise requested a building permit for a 650-seat facility on Blvd Albert opposite the new Post Office to be called “Albertum”. The new venue would replace the original Studio-Kin site on Ave Rubbens. The Comité Urbain expressed concerns about evacuation in the event of a fire. Two weeks later, Hourdebise had his permit after submitting revised plans with better exits and agreement from the adjacent Immoaf building regarding placement of those exits. Two years later, Van Heffen opened a new cinema on Ave De Gaulle.

Ciné Albertum in the early 1960s (Ph. author coll.)

A military parade on Blvd. Albert in 1961 (Ph. cegesoma)

After Independence in 1960, the three main cinemas continued operations. In 1968, Albertum was renamed Palladium. A company called Congovox (led by veteran Belgian journalist Pierre Davister) bought out Hourdebise (Cofilmex) with an investment by President Mobutu. Two years later, Davister’s company acquired the Van Heffen assets. With Zairianization in 1973, Cofilmex was acquired by Information Minister Sakombi, Cine RAC by Anifrani (a Mobutu company), and VanHeffen by Minister Mokolo. When the assets were offered back to the former owners in 1976, a combination of mis-management coupled with the advent of VHS video cassettes considerably diminished their market value. The Palace and Paladium chains merged in 1979.

The Paladium on the Boulevard went through several iterations. An investor named Momo Sunguza reopened it in 1996 as the Cinemax, but it closed in 1998 after a property dispute. After a brief stint as Cinépolis, the cinema was demolished in the mid-2000s, to make way for the Hotel Kinduelo apartment building.

Cinemax in 1997 (Ph. Preston Witman)

Kinduelo building - 2018 (Ph. author coll.)

Ex-Ciné Palace - 2006 (Ph. author coll.)

When I passed this building on Ave. du Commerce in 2006, I thought, “That’s the old Ciné Palace!”. But after nearly 40 years, how reliable could memory be? The unique marquee tower suggested something more than just another retail store on Commerce. Googling the street addresses of the tenants – Kikwa Boss and Nova Japan – confirmed this was No. 52 Ave. du Commerce, the Ciné Palace’s address.

UK-based Italian film-maker Cecilia Zoppelletto visited in Kinshasa in 2014 and was surprised to find the city of over ten million did not have a single movie theater. Her film, “La Belle at the Movies” premiered June 21, 2016 in a ballroom at the Hotel Fleuve Congo Kempinski. The film draws from the experience of Congolese film-makers, former cinema proprietors, government officials and movie fans.  She also interviews some of the "Bills", now in their 60s and 70s.

"La Belle at the Movies" poster (Ph. femmefortes)

As if to challenge the notion that movie going was through in Kinshasa, the following year Cinebuzz, a “salle de spectacle” based on digital projection, opened on Ave Mondjiba opposite the French Embassy. Another cinema, Cinékin, shows movies at some of the new malls in the capital, as well as the auditorium at College Boboto. Notwithstanding the impact of the digital revolution on a preference for personal viewing, there is still an audience for big screen entertainment.

Showbuzz on Ave. Mondjiba (Ph. Showbuzz)

Sources: 

• Chalux, 1925, Un An au Congo Belge, Bruxelles : Librairie Albert Dewit. 

• Comhaire-Sylvain, Suzanne, 1950. Food and Leisure Among the African Youth of Leopoldville, Belgian Congo, University of Cape Town. 

• Congo, Revue Générale de la Colonie belge. (multiple years) 

• Gondola, Ch. Didier, 2016. Tropical Cowboys: Westerns, Violence, and Masculinity in Kinshasa, Indiana University Press. 

• Otten, Rik, 1984. Le cinéma dans les pays des grands lacs: Zaïre, Rwanda, Burundi, OCIC. 

• « Vodacom, NileDutch, Comexas Afrique et FBNBank sponsors de la soirée la belle at the movies à Kinshasa », Femmes Forte, July 14, 2016.  

(https://www.femmefortes.com/wp-login/blog/2016/07/14/vodacom-niledutch-comexas-afrique-et-fbnbank-sponsors-de-la-soiree-la-belle-at-the-movies-a-kinshasa/) 

• Wauters, Joseph, 1924. Le Congo au travail, Bruxelles : Maison national d'edition l'Églantine.