New Rivoli Theatre

Joe Vogel on April 23, 2024 at 5:22 pm

An article about the Rivoli appeared in the September 4, 1920 issue of Moving Picture World:

“RIVOlI Theatre Is Opened.

“BUFFALO’S newest neighborhood house, the Rivoli, owned by Joseph Kozanowski and managed by Harry T. Dixon, opened its doors on Sunday, August 22. The theatre, which is on Broadway, just beyond Fillmore, cost $250,000 and has a seating capacity of 1,700 on the orchestra floor, balcony and gallery. Joseph Geigand, Buffalo architect, designed the building. The opening attraction was ‘For the Soul of Rafael,’ starring Clara Kimball Young. Manager Dixon was showered with congratulations on the opening day.

“The Rivoli is built of red tapestry brick with beautiful terra cotta trimmings. The seats are unusually large and are upholstered in leather. The woodwork through the house is of mahogany finish. Two Simplex machines are used for projection. The stage setting is elaborate. A ten-piece orchestra accompanies the program. Seventeen ushers, girls on the orchestra floor and boys in the balcony, are used.

“The manager’s office opens from an attractive foyer on the second floor, where the rest rooms are also located. The interior decorations present a most attractive appearance, the lighting fixtures being unusually good. Prices will be 11, 22 and 28 cents on week days and 11, 25 and 33 cents on Sunday.

“This house is in the heart of the great Buffalo Polish district, with a population of close to 150,000 persons. Mr. Dixon for the present is confining his advertising to the two Polish newspapers in the district, but eventually will spread it in the big dallies. Buffalo may well be proud of the Rivoli, which will compare favorably with any neighborhood house in the state.”

Note the correct opening date of August 22, 1920. Also of note, the revelation that the theater’s management advertised only in the city’s Polish language newspapers during the early days of its operation.

rivest266 on September 21, 2022 at 9:55 pm

Listings ended in 1950 and reopened as the Old Rivoli theatre on October 26th, 1971 with “King Kong”

W Frisk on April 12, 2011 at 1:11 pm

Was this the theatre with the Carrier air conditioning rotory compressor in a vault under the alley that you had to get to by going through the basement air conditioning ducts?

bflonyguy on March 6, 2009 at 9:25 am

I remember going there once as a 17yr old in the 70s. They were showing a gay-themed film starring Fannie Flagg called, I believe, “Some Of My Best Friends Are”. I remember getting all dressed up on a cold winter weeknight, thinking I was going to meet other cool gay people there. I drove in from the country, to this (in retrospect) iffy neighborhood, and parked my dad’s new car in (I think) an empty parking ramp. There were six bored, neighborhood folks in the theater. Movie was totally untittilating. Drove home unscathed. Said I went to K-Mart (the latest-open place I could think of!).

railroad on April 8, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Phone number 1960: HUmboldt 3523

LouB on March 21, 2008 at 3:36 pm

View link

The site above shows a picture of this theatre.

arl on February 4, 2008 at 4:22 pm

Stanley Kosanowski opened this theater, and continued to run it until the mid 1960s. He
often showed Polish movies and religious films, along with second run films. Kosanowski
filed a suit in the mid 1940s against Sheas, who ran the nearby Roosevelt, claiming he
was unable to get good films because of Shea’s monopoly of the area. The suit was
eventually thrown out. The theater closed for a period in the mid 1960s, opening again
in the 1970s , as the Old Rivoli. Now anything was shown, including X-rated films.
After closing in the late 1970s, it was sold at a tax foreclosure sale for $1,000. The
building was razed in 1984.