Rialto Theatre
1481 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1481 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
2 people
favorited this theater
The original “Temple of the Motion Picture” and “The Shrine of Music and the Allied Arts”, the Rialto Theatre has been simply missing from Cinema Treasures long enough. Demolished and rebuilt in 1935 on a smaller scale, this theatre was on the same site of the now closed Cineplex Odeon Warner, also listed as Rialto here.
Under the personal direction of S. L. Rothapfel (Roxy), the Rialto show ran five times daily and included the Rialto Orchestra, vocal and instrumental solos, and “accompaniment contributed by the grand organ”.
A December 2, 1917 program announces:
“For the convenience of patrons
Ladies Retiring Rooms on the First and Second Mezzzanine Floors
Gentlemen’s smoking rooms, off the Main Floor and Second Mezzanine
Writing tables and Check Room on the First Mezzanine Floor
Drinking Water on the First and Second Mezzzanine Floors, filtered by the Puro process
Carriage Call on the South Side of the Main Lobby
This theatre, with every seat occupied, can be emptied in less than three minutes".
A Paramount-Artcraft Strauss house, the Rialto featured a weekly film with the bill changing every Sunday.
Next door to the Rialto and over Child’s Restaurant was the Republic Republic Restaurant.
“The most beautiful and cleanest Chop Suey and Tea Parlor in New York”.
“The Rialto Orchestra, maintained by the Rialto Theatre Corporation, and conceded to be the finest organization in existence devoted to motion pictures, enjoys through special arrangement with the Carl Fisher Company, access to and the use of the largest and most comprehensive musical library in America.”
I now leave it to other far more worthy contributors than myself to fill in the gaps for this historic site.
Contributed by
Al Alvarez
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 37 comments)
A closeup of the 1947 RIALTO marquee is seen in the David O. Selznick production of “Portrait of Jennie”, and the Rialto is referenced in the plot.
An item appearing in Billboard on 9/15/1916 with the headline “It Fooled Rathapfel”:
When Sam Rothapfel got back on the job at the Rialto recently, after a five-day trip, he thought for a moment that some one had slipped a new pipe organ into his theatre. Anything the organ had ever done sounded almost half hearted compared with what it was doing now. Then he remembered that the original scenic background had been ripped out and replaced by a set of transparencies. The plaster had cut off the sound from several groups of pipes, and when it was removed the organ preceded to let out a roar of relief that shook the auditorium.
Seventy-six years ago today, and in its final month of operation before demolition, the Rialto opened day-and-date with the Mayfair on the world premiere engagement of MGM’s “Mark of the Vampire,” which was advertised as “Too Much Horror For One Theatre.” Starring Bela Lugosi, Lionel Barrymore, and Lionel Atwill, with Todd (“Freaks”) Browning as director, the B&W melodrama was also described as “Not For Weak Hearts!…For your nerves' sake, no standing will be permitted in either theatre. The capacity of two theatres assures seats for every one. The terrifying suspense of this picture demands that you be seated from beginning to end. Please don’t tell your friends the thrilling climax!”.
Thanks Tinseltoes,Bela Lugosi was the Man of Horror in those days of real Horror movies,not this trash they peddle today for Horror.
I added two of Warren’s really nice photos to the photo section before the links are lost.
The Rialto Theatre was featured in this 1932 trade ad: boxofficemagazine
Harold Lloyd in Times Square (1930): archive
Here is a Rialto Theatre program from July 27, 1919. Dorothy Gish’s NUGGET NELL (1919) was the main feature, and 10% of the ticket price went to the government for a war tax.
I can’t believe this theater lasted less than 20 years.
The corner property at the “Crossroads of the World” became too valuable and could only be re-developed vertically with an office building. Also, the Rialto quickly became “old-fashioned” as larger and more grandiose cinemas were built in midtown.