Rialto Theatre

I saw Jaws and Let's Do it Again here. Wow!!! Days gone by!!! That was the end of Brooklyn's finest moments.

I had an aunt that worked at the Brooklyn Rialto. Her and my Grandmother liked westerns. Midnight Cowboy once played there. They went to see the movie not knowing, well, that it certainly wasn't a western.

The last time I was to the Rialto we lived on Long Island and drove into Brooklyn for some reason that I forget. We saw the Sting, and my aunt was still working there.

Is this the theater that held the Battles of the Bands in the 60's or was that the Albemarle? Seems like I remember it was in an area above the theater itself, which would fit the Albemarle's description and there was an entrance and exit on a side street. Can't remember exactly anymore.

Maddy TN:
Are you sure that wasn't the Loew's Kings? I was never at a battle of the bands in Brooklyn, but that would be the likely place. It had a stage behind the screen.

The Rialto Theatre opened on 16th March 1916 with the movie "The Ne're Do Well" starring Harry Lonsdale and Kathlyn Williams. It's opening seating capacity was 1,542.

The header Function should be changed to; Church

I just thought of another story about this theater. My sister took me to this theater for one of the many times I saw Walt Disney's the Love Bug. She wanted me to describe the film and tell me what was going on. I did not know at the time I was helping her with a school project. I must have been a annoyance to people in the balcony.

In his recent autobiography "The Good, the Bad, and Me," actor Eli Wallach (born 1915) recalls going frequently to the Rialto when he was growing up in Brooklyn.

He writes: "On Saturday the Union Street Toughs would go to the Rialto, a movie palace about three blocks from my house. The Rialto had a big marquee with red and green lights flickering on it, and I would pay for my admission with the dime I had earned during the week... We would all sit on wooden benches in the smoke-filled theater and watch Westerns starring Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, and William S. Hart, who became my heroes..." (pages 20-21)

Wallach could not have imagined that one day he would be acting in films himself, including westerns such as "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," from which his book derives its sly title.

The Rialto was a Century theater for my entire life (I was born in 1956). I never knew it as anything else but a Century theater. This needs to be updated.

I found this photo on the Internet INCORRECTLY identified as the Rialto Theatre in Times Square, NYC. Could it possibly be the Rialto in Brooklyn? If not, I shall remove it:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rialto16.jpg

Warren; I have just compared your Rialto photo above with a fairly recent photo I have of the Rialto, Brooklyn. Looks to me like the same building. Thanks for posting it.

What happened to the collection of comments that followed the introduction?

Please disregard my 1/17/06 question. I seem to be having computer problems...And thanks, Ken. That seems to confirm what I thought. The photo was dated 1916, the same year that the Brooklyn Rialto opened.

In '73 or '74 I took my Father's girlfriend Rita here to see Lucy in "Mame." I liked it !

Wow, Frankie, that's really interesting!

In Sidney Lumet's "Bye Bye Braverman" (1968, I think) there's a scene where the the main characters, who've been driving frantically around New York looking for a funeral, stop briefly and run into a Chinese restaurant, emerging, seconds later, with a basket full of egg rolls.
That Chinese restaurant was right next to the Rialto. In between this place and the theater is either a very thin street (too thin to drive a car down) or a service alleyway, I can't recall which.
In any event, the shots outside the restaurant were angled specifically so that the theater isn't shown.
That was a great restaurant while it was there. It turned into other businesses afterwards, but their sign remained for years afterwards, I don't know if it's still up there.

Could this be the former Rialto Theatre? The whitewashed front wall has similarities to the photo in my post of 1/16/06, including three narrow windows above the entrance:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/mysterychurch.jpg

Yes Warren, I can confirm you have the correct Rialto Theatre building. Here are a couple more photographs which I took in June 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/203850519/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/203851727/

What happened to the name on the marquee? Did the Church move out?

As you can see, the marquee has been damaged by a passing truck (or something?) at some time. The building is still in use as a church as can be seen on the sign on the right-hand side over the alley entrance on the second photo

The exterior photos suggest that the interior design of this Rialto was different from the Rialto that Century subsequently built in Jamaica. This Rialto obviously had a conventional balcony, as demonstrated by the fire escapes on both sides of the auditorium. The Rialto in Jamaica (later re-named the Savoy when Century sold the theatre) had all its seating on the ground floor, with a raised "stadium" section at the rear. I posted a photo of the Rialto/Savoy's auditorium at the listing for that theatre. I have yet to find any photos of the interior of this Rialto. Does anyone know the name of the church? If I could find the hours for services, it would be worth a trip to find out what still exists of the original interior.

The name of the church is the 'Eglise De Dieu'.

A truck hit the Church? I would hate to be that truck driver. He has alot of explaining to do now and Later! LOL

This is a recent real estate report for this address

1085 Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, New York 11226
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVERVIEW
Block & Lot #: 05165 - 0078
Building Class: Church, Synagogue, Chapel (M1)
School District: 17 map/schools
City Council District: 40
Police Precinct: 70 (Crime Statistics)
Political Contributions: search
BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS
Zoning R6
Building Size (F x D): 78.17ft x 146.50ft
Lot Size (F x D): -
Building Height: -
Total Gross Area of Building:
Year Built: 1916
Historic District?: No
Corner Lot?: Yes
Has Garage?: No
Number of Floors: 3
# Units: 0
FAR as built: 1.29
Allowable FAR: 2.43

Here is a vintage postcard view from the early 1930's:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/204748759/

This is a photo of the former Rialto Theater from around 1950.

This is a recent photo of the former Rialto theater building and here is another.

Photos of Century's Rialto and Albermarle are at this url:
http://brooklynpix.com/photo1/F/flatbush57.jpg

These pictures were taken in 1950. Flatbush Ave. trolleys stopped running early in 1951.

Photos above show new circa 1947-48 marquees on Rialto and Albermarle Theaters.

My memories of the Rialto are from my high school days in the mid-60s. The Rialto used to show all the new James Bond releases. WOW were they popular. It was the first time I remember having to stand on long lines to get into a movie. Many times you had to wait on line to get into the next showing because the showing that just started was sold out.

Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, etc.....those are my memories of the Rialto.

An Austin theater organ opus 970 size 3/15 was installed in the Rialto Theater in 1920.

I visited the Rialto many times during the sixties. I remember seeing West Side Story at night. With my mom. Who worked across the street at Henry's ice cream parlor. I must have been around 8 0r 9 at the time. It was a very big deal. I remember her saying the parlor would get real busy when the show let out. Regarding the battle of the bands site. that would be at the Midwood @Flatbush and Glenwood Rd. I saw many battles there. the place was called the Midwood Terrace. It usually featured 4 or 5 bands set up around the floor with the top band set up on the main stage. It really wasn't so much a battle, more like a talent show. I know they had some pretty big acts like the Vagrants featuring Leslie West, Constant Changes which morphed into Alive & Kicking It was a great place to view the local talent.

Here's a new link to an image of the Rialto Theatre at its grand opening in March, 1916. Publicity claimed it was the largest purpose-built cinema in Brooklyn up to that time, with 2,000 seats. The construction costs were estimated at $125,000 (about $2.5 million today): http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/rialto16.jpg

The year given for this photo is 1969.

I believe the Rialto did more than just show movies. I remember seeing Carmen Miranda in vaudeville there around 1948-9.