Rio Theatre
435 W. Milam Street,
Wharton,
TX
77488
435 W. Milam Street,
Wharton,
TX
77488
1 person
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The Rio Theatre was a majestic brick building located just west of downtown Wharton, Texas. This building replaced the original Rio Theatre which had opened in 1935.
The exterior had a large vertical, wall-mounted sign bearing the theater’s name and a broad, burgundy-colored marquee with real milkglass. The neon on the marquee and the vertical sign glowed a mystic pink! The terrazzo floor outside the lobby was a seafoam green with two pink lines that curved towards the lobby.
The Rio Theatre was known as the home of the stars, and it was a favorite hangout of Wharton teens in the 1950’s, 1960’s, and early 1970’s. During these years the theatre was operated by the Frels Theatres chain, out of Victoria, Texas. The manager in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s was Mae Jensen. The Rio would show a children’s movie on Saturday mornings. Among the movies that made their Wharton debut at the Rio Theatre were “Old Yeller”, “Love Story”, “Shaft”, and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.
The Rio Theatre was closed in 1975. It was used as a church from 1976 until 1991. Left abandoned, it was demolished on November 20, 1997
Contributed by
Bob Machann
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
1984 Photo
A television pilot was filmed in Wharton in 1970. The Rio was closed to the public for three days while filming was done inside. Sadly, this footage was left on the cutting room floor. I saw the pilot when it aired. It began with a passing train. As the last car went by there was a city limit sign, “Wharton Wisconsin”. The only information I have ever found on this pilot is linked below.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455821/
Thanks, Ken, for the information. This is slightly off-topic, but was the passing train in “Two Boys” a Southern Pacific train? Back in the day, there was an SP railroad crossing down the street from the Rio (It’s now a Kansas City Southern track). I wonder if that’s where the train scene was filmed.
Bob, the track used in “Two Boys” crossed N. Alabama Rd. The tracks ran along side Santa Fe Street. The view was to the north and the train was moving eastward. I don’t know if the train was a Santa Fe. BTW, I worked for Mae Jensen at the Rio back in ‘69-'70 for a while.
Picture of the Rio when “To Kill a Mockingbird” was playing there: View link
The Rio opened at 6:00 p.m. on August 13, 1950. The premier feature was, fittingly enough, “Nancy Goes to Rio” with Ann Sothern and Jane Powell. The Rio’s general contractor was James Kershaw, and C. Russell Lewis of Dallas, Texas supervised the artistic decorations.
Are there any surviving photos of the Rio’s interior? There were bas-reliefs in the lobby and auditorium when the Rio was new. Did these survive a 1967 interior remodel? Does anyone know?
Judging from the photo of the facade that CWalczak linked to above, this 1950 theater was not Spanish Renneissance in style, but thoroughly modern. Maybe it was the original Rio that was Spanish.
The last movie to show at the Rio before it closed was “Los Hombres No Lloran” with Jorge Rivero and Lorena Velazquez. That was on June 15, 1975.
Pictured in this 1961 trade report: Boxoffice