"ملف 8/16 ملخص استخباراتي بشأن البحرين" [و‎‎٧‎٤] (٢٠٦/١٤٧)

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United Kingdom. On the 24th his brother Shaikh Salman
gave a dinner party for him at his gardens. The guests
included His Excellency the Political Resident, the Poli
tical Agent, the senior officials of the Bahrain Petroleum
Company, members of the local European community, and many
of the A1 Khalifah.
(iii) Ahmad Omran, Director of Education, Bahrain
Government, has returned to Bahrain, having been in Egypt
and the Lebanon. He has arranged for 22 Egyptian teachers
to be seconded by the Egyptian Government to the teaching
staff in Bahrain. He was able to get Palestineans with
better qualifications, but in view of the fact that they are
non-returnable to their country of origin, he wisely refrained
from engaging them. There is criticism amongst certain
circles in Bahrain regarding the alleged frequent changes
and quality of the teachers imported from outside Bahrain.
(iv) Reference paragraph 119 (v) of Intelligence
Summary No.8.
The lunatic seaman was thought to be an Adenese,
and Gray Mackenzie managed to persuade the master of the
tanker on her next visit to Bahrain to take the lunatic with
him as his ship was calling at Aden. The authorities at Aden,
however, were not convinced that he was an Adenese and would
not allow him to be landed. He was therefore brought back
to Bahrain and is now wandering round the town.
(v) Reference paragraph (iv) of Intelligence Summary
No.12.
For the first few days after its opening the
"Pearl Cinema" showed to full houses and there were as many
as three shows a day. But when the novelty of the interior
decoration, the upholstered chairs, and the distorting mirrors
in the gallery had 'worn off Bahrainis had many criticisms to
make. Without air-conditioning, the cinema was a most un
comfortable place to sit in during th^ summer months, the
screen was too small, the projector and sound apparatus poor,
and the quality of the films shov/n indifferent. As a result
the "Pearl" has been showing to almost empty houses. Its
competitors the "Bahrain Cinema" in Manama and the "Muharraq
Cinema" in Muharraq are doing much better. To them has been
added another, the "nl Ahli Cinema" which opened in Manama
during September. The building is no more than a walled
enclosure and has ho roof, but the screen is large, the pro
jector and sound apparatus good, and only films which have
already proved their box office value in ^gypt or India are
being shown. It can seat over a thousand persons and is
running at present to capacity houses.
(vi) The staple fare of the Bahraini cinema goer is
the Egyptian film, but many Indian films are shown and there
are large audiences for them. "Kismet" and "Mun Ki Jeet"
were very popular, and at the moment "The Flying Prince" which
features a pugilistic heroine is providing a rival attraction
to the Egyptian Cinema stars, .Abdul Wahab, in "Yom Said", and
Omme Kalsoum, in "Sallamah".
(vii) The European community goes either to the Bapco
cinema at Awali or the R.A.F. cinema at Muharraq. The
Pearl