Rialto Theatre
400 Cherokee Street,
Kingsport,
TN
37660
400 Cherokee Street,
Kingsport,
TN
37660
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This opened on May 26th, 1921. Grand opening ad posted Rialto Theatre opening Thu, May 26, 1921 – 6 · Kingsport Times (Kingsport, Tennessee) · Newspapers.com
The Rialto was in operation by 1921, when a candy store called the Palace of Sweets advertised in the July 11 issue of The Kingsport Times that it was located on Cherokee Street opposite the Rialto Theatre.
An article in the August 22, 1937, issue of The Kingsport Times said that the Rialto had just been purchased by the Nu-Strand Theatre company, who had been operating the house under a lease for ten years. The new owners planned to expand and remodel the theater.
The description accompanying this 1946 photo of the Rialto and a neighboring store gives the theater’s address as 400 Cherokee Street. It also says that the buildings on this block have been demolished to make way for a parking lot.
Here is the January 1938 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/2lkyfr
Here is a December 1944 ad from the Kingsport Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2w25hs
Here is an ad for a rather exotic film showing at the Rialto on 1/23/38:
RIALTO THEATRE – Monday Only
For the first time on any screen … the horrifying, blood-chilling
rites of the savage PENITENTES, whose pagan idolatry forces
them to undergo self-torture and flagellation before they can reach
the apex of their sacrifices, crucifixion!
MAN HUNTERS OF THE CARIBBEAN
with ANDRE ROOSEVELT, CAPT. E ERSKINE LOCH
Any Seat – 10c and 20c – Any Time