Rialto Theatre
6153 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19144
6153 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19144
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The theatre at Germantown and Tulpehocken was announced in 1913 as part of a $95,000 project. It sat unfinished and in foreclosure in latter 1913 and into 1914 when Bader & Simpson Co. completed the project. Constantly changing hands in rapid succession in its first 18 months, the theatre was labeled as a “failure” by the trade press. But in February of 1916, the Tulpe was taken over by Stanley Mastbaum as an early Stanley Corp. venue and renamed then as the Rialto.
Mastbaum had the right answer and the Rialto became a success. It was wired for sound to remain viable. It received a streamlined makeover in 1938 to the plans of David Supowitz. The Rialto Theatre closed September 15, 1959 at end of lease with “The Big Circus” and “Gunfight at Dodge City.”
The February 19, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this notice:
Ken MC – That is the Rialto theater in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. The street with Belgium blocks and trolley tracks is Germantown Avenue. The 23 Trolley line ran there, at that time the longest trolley line entirely within a city limits in the world. The adjoining street is East Tulpehocken Street, where my mother was born in 1915. I saw the Creature From the Black Lagoon in that theater in 1954. It was a lovely little theater. You walked straight in from the entrance, slightly uphill. The theater was all to the right. Thanks for posting it.
That probably is the Rialto. I’m not familiar with the theater, but the street appears to be belgian block (cobblestone) with trolley tracks in it. That’s what Germantown Avenue is at that location.
This is supposed to be a Rialto in Philadelphia in 1940. if it looks like the one on Germantown Avenue, let me know.
http://tinyurl.com/qmabju
The Rialto Theatre was opened as the Tulpehocken Theatre in 1914 at 6153 Germantown Avenue (Germantown Avenue & Tulpehocken Street). It was built at a cost of $20,000. It was a 834 seat theatre that was remodeled in the Art Deco style in 1931 by William H. Lee (a major theatre builder at the time) and given the new name “Rialto Theatre”. As with many of Germantown’s theatres and despite its smaller size, this was built as a vaudeville house with a stage for live shows as well as movies. In the early years as the Tulpehocken Theatre, live shows was its primary purpose. Eventually, it sole purpose was as a movie theatre. It closed in 1957 and, in 1960, was converted into a church, which is still housed there today. The facade was totally remodeled to the point where you cannot tell that it was a theatre at one time. Unlike some of the remodeling of these old theatre facades, this one actually looks nice.
Used to be operated by the Stiefel family which at one time also operated the Philadelphia Uptown. The son, Arnold Stiefel, became an Hollywood agent, including among his clients Clint Eastwood. Mr. Stiefel was also the producer of the film “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”