What a shame about the Hastings. Just read the post and saw that it has been closed – again for lack of attention. It was, without a doubt, the best room to see a big screen presenation of a film in the Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley.. The first film I reacll seeing there was “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” in 1977 – pretty heady stuff for a naive 17 year old Irish-Catholic boy! I had to read the novel to figure out what I had just seen. Other films over the years included, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind;” Blade Runner;“ "The World According to Garp;” “Blue Thunder;” “Krull;” and “Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade;” and “Crimson Tide.” Great theater, lots of good memories. It was bad enough when they divided it the first time, but when they divided THAT and created those little shoe-box theaters (greed?), it was really terrible. But as long as the main auditorium was intact – and you checked that your film was playing in it – it was still worth going out there to see it. Now it’s gone – along with all the great other Pasadena theaters and Alhambra theaters of my youth, including The Monterey, The Garfield, The El Rey and recently, The Rialto. Now they only exist in my memory. I even went to the Hastings a few times with my ex-wife and mother in law to see “Godfather III” and “Dances with Wolves!” Yikes. Lest we forget …
The last nail in the coffin of the Chinese – after building the horrendous Highland & Hollywood development, removing the old box office and hiring all those kitchy celebrity “impersonators” out front, was the policy of using the screen to project advertisments as “Preshow entertainment” before the feature. No more curtain and a chance to sit and appriciate the decor and motif. Nothing is scared. Now you are bombarded by advertisements whether you want to see them or not. Also their policy of between show tours is terrible. The last time I was there an usher told me I was in the way of the group – and this after I paid for a ticket to the film! This is NOT the same theater Harvey Korman goes to and tries to get in on a student rate in “Blazing Saddles.”
I agree with the comments above, also, that the days of the Rilato’s single screen as a first or second run movie theater are over. I started seeing films there when it was a “revival” theater in the 70’s. Hard to belive that there were almost 20 of these types of theaters offering diverse cinema programming before home video killed them all. Yet, the future of the Rialto lies in it becoming a community/multi-use theater and I agree with all the ideas above for it’s potential use. It would require a tremendous infusion of cash to get the theater and the adjoining space (now occupied by an empty cafe and neglected trading card store) and could be developed in something similar to Arclight where you could enjoy varied programming such as a play, High School graduation, concert, speakers, etc and have a meal or a drink afterward in a cafe/resturant. But I suppose the current owners of the buliding would have to sell or take part in such a venture. Anybody know who owns the Rilato? Of course I may have to move out of South Pasadena before I see anything happen if the bloody rents keep going up.
I sure hope that the city of South Pasadena intervenes and takes some responsibility in finding an investor for the theater. The theater could benifit from a private party taking over the lease or buying the building outright and restoring it similar to the Orpheum and Los Angeles theaters in Los Angeles – and maybe the Los Angeles Conservancy can get involved too. The Rialto is very much an icon in South Pasadena and can be used for many things, but the city needs to get involved. Save this historic theater.
Used to go to the Vagabond in the late 70’s and 80’s when there were such a thing as revival theaters in Los Angeles. I recall seeing an uncut version of the 1933 original version of “King Kong” there – complete with the scene where Kong pops a guy into his mouth and them spits out his clothes! Good times. Recently I watched the 1980 film “The Formula” with Marlon Brando and Gecorge C. Scott. Not much to the film (other then Brando’s weird performance), but there is a scene at the beginning that shows Scott leaving the Vagabond after seeing a film there. Check it out.
I second Ken MC ’s comment about Joe Vogel. I grew up in Monterey Park and went to all the local theters as a lad in the 1960’s and 70’s and am, too, very sad that nothing remains of them. I certainly enjoy Joe’s knowledge about the history of these theaters and almost feel like I know the man!
Anybody got photos of this drive in? I’ve lived in the area all my life and never saw it or can recall it.
What a shame about the Hastings. Just read the post and saw that it has been closed – again for lack of attention. It was, without a doubt, the best room to see a big screen presenation of a film in the Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley.. The first film I reacll seeing there was “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” in 1977 – pretty heady stuff for a naive 17 year old Irish-Catholic boy! I had to read the novel to figure out what I had just seen. Other films over the years included, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind;” Blade Runner;“ "The World According to Garp;” “Blue Thunder;” “Krull;” and “Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade;” and “Crimson Tide.” Great theater, lots of good memories. It was bad enough when they divided it the first time, but when they divided THAT and created those little shoe-box theaters (greed?), it was really terrible. But as long as the main auditorium was intact – and you checked that your film was playing in it – it was still worth going out there to see it. Now it’s gone – along with all the great other Pasadena theaters and Alhambra theaters of my youth, including The Monterey, The Garfield, The El Rey and recently, The Rialto. Now they only exist in my memory. I even went to the Hastings a few times with my ex-wife and mother in law to see “Godfather III” and “Dances with Wolves!” Yikes. Lest we forget …
The last nail in the coffin of the Chinese – after building the horrendous Highland & Hollywood development, removing the old box office and hiring all those kitchy celebrity “impersonators” out front, was the policy of using the screen to project advertisments as “Preshow entertainment” before the feature. No more curtain and a chance to sit and appriciate the decor and motif. Nothing is scared. Now you are bombarded by advertisements whether you want to see them or not. Also their policy of between show tours is terrible. The last time I was there an usher told me I was in the way of the group – and this after I paid for a ticket to the film! This is NOT the same theater Harvey Korman goes to and tries to get in on a student rate in “Blazing Saddles.”
I seem to recall that the IRA blew this theater up sometime ago. Anybody have any details or can confirm?
I agree with the comments above, also, that the days of the Rilato’s single screen as a first or second run movie theater are over. I started seeing films there when it was a “revival” theater in the 70’s. Hard to belive that there were almost 20 of these types of theaters offering diverse cinema programming before home video killed them all. Yet, the future of the Rialto lies in it becoming a community/multi-use theater and I agree with all the ideas above for it’s potential use. It would require a tremendous infusion of cash to get the theater and the adjoining space (now occupied by an empty cafe and neglected trading card store) and could be developed in something similar to Arclight where you could enjoy varied programming such as a play, High School graduation, concert, speakers, etc and have a meal or a drink afterward in a cafe/resturant. But I suppose the current owners of the buliding would have to sell or take part in such a venture. Anybody know who owns the Rilato? Of course I may have to move out of South Pasadena before I see anything happen if the bloody rents keep going up.
I sure hope that the city of South Pasadena intervenes and takes some responsibility in finding an investor for the theater. The theater could benifit from a private party taking over the lease or buying the building outright and restoring it similar to the Orpheum and Los Angeles theaters in Los Angeles – and maybe the Los Angeles Conservancy can get involved too. The Rialto is very much an icon in South Pasadena and can be used for many things, but the city needs to get involved. Save this historic theater.
Used to go to the Vagabond in the late 70’s and 80’s when there were such a thing as revival theaters in Los Angeles. I recall seeing an uncut version of the 1933 original version of “King Kong” there – complete with the scene where Kong pops a guy into his mouth and them spits out his clothes! Good times. Recently I watched the 1980 film “The Formula” with Marlon Brando and Gecorge C. Scott. Not much to the film (other then Brando’s weird performance), but there is a scene at the beginning that shows Scott leaving the Vagabond after seeing a film there. Check it out.
I second Ken MC ’s comment about Joe Vogel. I grew up in Monterey Park and went to all the local theters as a lad in the 1960’s and 70’s and am, too, very sad that nothing remains of them. I certainly enjoy Joe’s knowledge about the history of these theaters and almost feel like I know the man!