Rialto Theatre

1481 Broadway,
New York, NY 10036

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Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 18, 2019 at 7:16 pm

Thank you, buddy.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 18, 2019 at 7:10 pm

OK. I will delete the above post, and re-add the 3 I had removed, and identify them as 42nd Stret entrance.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 18, 2019 at 6:11 pm

David, the Rialto 2 had an entrance on 42nd street and was in the basement of this same theatre. Once inside you could go from one to the other without being harassed. There is no reason to remove the 42nd street photos since this was basically a twin with two boxoffices and two entrances until Cineplex Odeon mothballed the fully remodelled twin two due to subway noise.

StevenOtero
StevenOtero on January 9, 2018 at 6:49 am

In the photo posted as 1978 photo courtesy of Al Ponte’s Time Machine The sign says Rialto 2.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on September 15, 2017 at 4:03 pm

1961 photo added courtesy of the Americas Past In Photos Facebook page.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on August 13, 2017 at 2:36 pm

Excerpt from a NY Times review of November 30, 1942:

The mortality rate in “Night Monster” is pretty high, even for the type of chiller drama the customers of the Rialto have become accustomed to over the years at the self-styled “house of horror.”

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on May 26, 2017 at 7:08 pm

Also, the Cineplex Odeon takeover was in 1987 not 1978.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on May 26, 2017 at 6:38 pm

Please update above.

It was also a legit house in the early 80’s that housed Blues In the Night with Leslie Uggams. After thirteen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Epps, opened on June 2, 1982 at the Rialto Theatre, where it ran for 53 performances. Jean Du Shon, Debbie Shapiro, Leslie Uggams, and Charles Coleman comprised the cast. The show was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on February 13, 2017 at 8:50 am

This should have a Previous Name listing as Brandt’s Rialto, which was used for much of its existence.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on November 29, 2016 at 10:57 pm

Excerpt from the NY Times review dated April 26, 1941:

The Rialto is following tradition this week in celebrating a quarter of a century of purveying movies to the public with a new screen-and-squeal item, “The Black Cat,” a comedy thriller suggested by a Poe short story…

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 9, 2016 at 6:25 am

1957 photo added courtesy of Al Ponte’s Time Machine – New York Facebook page.

Ed Miller
Ed Miller on November 5, 2015 at 10:37 am

“Cat People” played to packed houses at the Rialto in 1942, and was held over for many weeks. The Rialto audiences were considered “the most savvy movie-goers in the world”.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 21, 2015 at 9:37 pm

1970 photo added courtesy of Al Ponte’s Time Machine – New York Facebook page.

rivoli157
rivoli157 on November 18, 2011 at 7:31 am

I believe this theatre had legit fare in the late 70s ,early 80s. “Musical Chairs”,“Marlowe” and a revival of the musical version of “Canterbury Tales”

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 21, 2011 at 2:36 pm

Times Square porn theatres circa summer 1970.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jkbx53LjKU&feature=related

KingBiscuits
KingBiscuits on March 10, 2011 at 11:24 pm

The Cineplex Odeon run lasted from 6/12/1987 (opening with Predator) to 7/5/1990 (closing with The Hunt for Red October).

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on December 26, 2010 at 8:26 am

Can you post the ad that you got that info from, Tinseltoes?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on October 19, 2010 at 5:33 am

Woody, I think that photo may have been just after the opening as the Warner. By the time it closed the 42nd Street marquee was long gone.

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on July 16, 2010 at 10:13 am

Sinatra and Abbott & Costello on the same bill. Now that’s entertainment, folks.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on March 14, 2010 at 9:59 am

From the post above, the Dead End Kids fit the policy:

42nd Street Memories * Jerry Kovar on Aug 15, 2006 at 5:52am

  • Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

“The Rialto opened for Christmas of 1935 with Frank Buck’s ‘'Fang and Claw.’‘ The theater’s manager, Arthur Mayer, saw the Rialto as distinctly masculine in tone. Most theaters, he said in a newspaper interview after the opening, were ’‘rococo, luxurious palaces for the uxorious,’‘ both in styling and choice of films. His theater, both in styling and presentations, sought to satisfy the ’‘ancient and unquenchable male thirst for mystery, menace and manslaughter.’‘ He was soon called the ’‘merchant of menace.’”

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on March 14, 2010 at 9:52 am

Excerpt from the New York Times' review of a Dead End Kids picture “Call A Messenger”

“To say that "Call a Messenger” fits in with the policy of the Rialto, which is to improve on any time-tested formula for shock by the simple expedient of doubling the dose, is to say everything. It doubles the dose, and although this method, on a few unfortunate occasions, has been known to prove fatal, it ought rather to be good for a minute portion of amusement in the present case."

number71
number71 on February 27, 2010 at 8:31 am

On the TV show “Fame”, in an episode called “Street Kid” (episode # 18 2/25/1982), you can see the marquee in the background while the character of Doris talks to some streetwalkers.

William
William on September 1, 2009 at 12:21 pm

I would agree with mendoza’s post to. “Rambo: First Blood Part 2” was released 1985 and the second feature “Runaway” was from 1984.