Rialto Theater
102 S. Ocean Avenue,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
102 S. Ocean Avenue,
Patchogue,
NY
11772
1 person
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Showing 26 - 29 of 29 comments
I was a cashier and worked concession at the Rialto from 1972 until I graduated from high school in 1974. The manager was Mrs. Carpenter, a nice old lady whose life was the Rialto. My sister was an assistant manager until 1971, so in a way, I felt as if I grew up there! I remember being terrified that a mouse would run across my shoes during Ben, so I sat with my feet folded under me. It’s true that the theater was run down, but in the dark, who could tell? When The Exorcist played there the crowds were so huge, that Mrs. Carpenter told me to just throw the money in the storage room behind the candy counter. By the time we got around to counting, the room was almost filled to the top with money! It’s odd how the features were so inconsistent. They’d go from Easy Rider to Kung Fu movies. I spent many fond hours up in that projectionist booth watching the projectionist, on whom I had a crush, change reels. The lot seems so small now that it’s empty, and yet the theater seemed so grand.
PAul, I went to school with you. I worked at the Rialto from JUne 1964 to November 1966. I remember when Bette Davis & Olivia DeHavilland came when “HUSH, HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE” WAS PLAYING. What a crowd there was that day! It was god place for a high school kid to work, but it was not in the best condition. The water fountain always leaked and in the summer the place smelled like a wet dog. But, oh, the memories!
What a shame………I used to live in Patchogue and the theater was just around the corner…It had all of the latest movies of the times.
I was a childof the 1950’s and will always remember when it was .25 to get in, .10 for a coke, and .10 for popcorn!!! What a great piece of Patchogue history gone by……
Today it is a small park and at one time the only thing left were the original hindges in the ground for the front doors……….
Paul Glass
The Rialto Theater had 817 seats.