Kuhio Theatre completed war service before hosting ‘roadshow’ films

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Waikiki and Toyo theaters, because Consolidated is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. This week, I thought I’d write about one of its finest theaters, the Kuhio, which was built on the corner of Kuhio Avenue and Kalaimoku Street in Waikiki.

The Kuhio Theatre was ready to open in early 1942 but it was commandeered by the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Navy leased the theater for the duration of the war for air-conditioned office and storage space. The Kuhio didn’t open as a movie theater until June 1945.

Back then, a movie often showed at just one theater when it first opened. If you wanted to see that film, you had to go to that particular theater.

The Kuhio was the home of “roadshow” films, blockbuster movies that also featured an overture and intermission, says theater historian Lowell Angell. They were always very popular and might play there for months, with just one or two reserved-seat shows a day. That was the case at the Kuhio with “Dr. Zhivago,” “Hawaii” and “The Sound of Music.”

At the Hawaii grand opening of “The Sound of Music,” one of the von Trapp family members, Hedwig, who lived in Kailua, attended, along with Gov. John Burns and other local dignitaries. The film, about the von Trapp family and their escape from the Nazis. played at the Kuhio for over a year.

A former usherette there contacted me.

“We had usherettes at the Kuhio, just like the Waikiki Theatre,” Janice (Correa) Choy told me. “We both wore white, but we had a blue lei and sash at the Kuhio, while the Waikiki usherettes wore red.

“We had to memorize the alphabet backward so we could escort patrons to their reserved seats. We were also trained to be courteous, polite and smile,” Choy said.

“Customers were very respectful in those days, although we did have to occasionally shine our flashlights on someone putting their feet up on the chair in front of them.”

Choy started at the Kuhio around 1957.

“I wanted to be a stewardess, but at 16 was too young. I thought being an usherette would give me useful experience, but when I applied to Aloha Airlines some time later, out of 50 they only picked five and I wasn’t among them.”

Working at Consolidated’s Kuhio Theatre paid 95 cents an hour (about $8.31 today), Choy recalls. Her hours were roughly 4 to 10 p.m.

“Our manager was Mr. Christian — we never heard his first name — and he stood at the door and welcomed everybody. He was the nicest man. I never saw him reprimand anyone.”

Usually four usherettes — all female — worked at a time, two on each aisle, although the theater employed over a dozen.

One movie that Choy remembers playing at the Kuhio was “Sayonara,” which starred Marlon Brando, Red Buttons, Miiko Taka and Miyoshi Umeki. It was based on the book by James Michener. The 1957 film was a love story between a U.S. Korean War pilot and a Japanese entertainer. The mixed marriage ran into trouble on all fronts and didn’t end well.

Angell said: “‘Sayonara’ was a quasi-autobiographical novel, as Michener’s third wife (of 40-plus years) was Japanese. He often visited Hawaii and felt very comfortable here because interracial marriages were much more accepted.”

“Sayonara” is credited with increasing tolerance of interracial marriages, which were illegal in many states back then. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won four. One of those was for Umeki, who was the first (and only) Asian to win a best supporting actress award.

“The top restaurant in Waikiki then was Canlis, a block away,” Choy said. “Their waitresses wore kimonos. For the movie, the Kuhio Theatre rented kimonos from Canlis for the usherettes.”

Adults paid $1.25 admission in 1957, which would be about $11 today.

The Waikiki was the top theater in town and the Kuhio was probably No. 2, Choy believes. “Sayonara” most likely was sent to the Kuhio because the Waikiki was so tropical, with its concrete coconut and papaya trees. “It fit our style better,” she said.

Because movies played for weeks or months at one theater, I wondered if it would be boring to work there.

“No,” Choy said. “We were able to memorize many of the lines and entertained ourselves by imitating the actors.”

The usherettes had a lounge upstairs where they could listen to the radio, dance, drink juice and have fun when they didn’t need to be working.

Choy remembers the janitor, Mr. Barong, a Filipino man who brought a lunch pail to work.

“He often shared with us,” Choy recalled. “That’s where I had my first taste of pork guisantes. The shredded pork, pea and tomato sauce stew was delicious.”

Occasionally, Consolidated would move them around to another theater to cover a shift. Choy remembers filling in once in a while at the Waikiki, Kaimuki, Princess and the Drive-In in the Kapiolani area, where the Don Quijote store is located.

Choy said she took a full-time job at Amfac after a few years at the Kuhio. She thinks about her coworkers from back then and wonders where they are and what they’re doing.

“It was a neat time for me. I loved the people the most. The variety — different personalities and different nationalities.”

Gradually the theater environment shifted toward multiplexes and the neighborhood theaters closed. That was the case at the Kuhio, which split into twin screens in the 1980s before closing in 1995.

Choy is retired today. She and her husband, Al, live in Hawaii Kai.

Hedwig von Trapp taught at St. Anthony School in Kailua for many years. She wore her Austrian dress, the dirndl, every day, according to newspaper accounts, and died in 1972.

Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” series of books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Contact him via email at sigall@yahoo.com.