"Evolving from viewing halls such as the Salon de Pertierra and the Cine Walgrah to converted, ill-ventilated warehouses, basements, or bodegas like the Cine Orpheum and Cine Cervantes, to theaters for the performing arts such as the Circulo Teatro Zorilla and the Manila Grand Opera House, these [structures] evolved into film palaces beautifully designed by foremost architects of the period highlighted by murals, sculpture, and grillwork created by equally renowned artists of the time. Indeed, watching movies in the Golden Age of Cinema was a total experience where one could enter a “palace” and lose oneself in make-believe worlds for the price of a movie ticket and a bag of popcorn.”
Post-WWII ruins of State Theater seen in the distance. Photograph by John Tewell