Designation Broadway Years active 1916–1935 Closed 2002 Owner Paramount Pictures Function Adult movie theater | Type Broadway Opened 21 April 1916 Capacity 1,960 Rebuilt 1935 | |
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Address 1481 Broadway, New York, NY 10036, USA Similar Central Theatre, Astor Theatre, Church of the Messiah, Victoria Theatre, Empire Theatre | ||
The Rialto Theatre was a movie palace in New York City located at 1481 Broadway, at the corner of 42nd Street, within the city's Broadway Theater District.
The 1,960-seat theater opened on April 21, 1916, on the former site of Oscar Hammerstein's Vaudeville venue the Victoria Theatre. Beginning in 1919, the Rialto Theatre premiered many releases by Paramount Pictures (then known as the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation) until being supplanted by the newly built Paramount Theatre in 1926 as the movie studio's flagship theater in New York City.
When Paramount sold the building in 1935, the Rialto Theatre was demolished and rebuilt on a smaller scale, with the rest of the building dedicated to shops and office space.
By the 1970s, the theater had become an adult movie theater. In February 1980, it abandoned adult films in lieu of legitimate theater, becoming host to live theatrical productions. The building also contained a TV studio that was once home to daytime talk shows hosted by Geraldo Rivera and Montel Williams.
The building was torn down in 2002 and a high-rise office building was erected in its place.
In popular culture
The Rialto's predecessor, the Hammerstein vaudeville venue, is featured in the 1948 film Portrait of Jennie. Jennie's parents are high-wire trapeze artists who perform at Hammerstein's until tragedy strikes. The Rialto itself also makes an appearance in the film, with a Mickey Mouse cartoon playing in the background.