Rialto Theater
12 S. Main Street,
Pleasantville,
NJ
08232
12 S. Main Street,
Pleasantville,
NJ
08232
2 people
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Reopened as Rialto on September 13th, 1924
Rialto theatre opening in Pleasantville 12 Sep 1924, Fri Atlantic City Daily Press (Atlantic City, New Jersey) Newspapers.com
closed or stopped placing its ads in 1971.
For years, it had ‘Escape from the Planet of the Apes’ left on the marquee…
The postcard doesn’t look anything like the previously posted photo of the Rialto. Relinked here. I think we may have found a different, earlier Rialto.
From the early 1900s a photo postcard image of the Rialto in Pleasantville.
Tony the projectionist’s last name was Amoroso. I remembered immediately after posting my last message.
I worked as an usher at The Rialto during 1964 and 1965. Charles Coburn was the theatre manager. Bill Horowitz and his partner Tony (can’t recall his last name) were the projectionists. Sam Lippincott was the doorman. On summer evenings we’d oftentimes climb the stairs onto the theatre’s roof and stand leaning against the marquee’s edge, looking out across South Main Street. Stecher’s Jewelers was immediately across Main Street. The Carlton, then closed but still extant (painted pink), was one door down from the corner of West Washington Boulevard and South Main Street. Coburn had a key to The Carlton. One evening he took me on a tour inside. Flags still hung from the dusty balcony.
Bing has a BE view that’s better than nuttin'…..
View link
I guess the Googlemobile skipped Pleasantville, at least for now.
Does anyone remember the name of the manager of the Rialto? I went throughout the ‘50’s as a kid, but can’t remember the guy’s name now.
The old bank building next to the Rialto has been demolished. A new building now occupies both spaces.
Bob, I remember the Planet of the Apes marquee. That must have been the last film that was shown. I think the space is still a vacant lot, but last time I was in town the Rialto bar was still next door.
Here is a 1941 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2yrth9
It was for sale in the Summer of 1973. I believe that it was torn down around December 1973. Yes, it was once part of the WB chain. It had one of “The Planet Of The Apes” on the marquee for at least a year. I saw “Woodstock” there in 1970. Bob Lord was the projectionist. The Rialto was on the east side Main Street between the Black Horse Pike & Old Turnpike. No balcony. In 1974, “THE FRANKS” bought the Super Simplex projectors, RCA PhotoPhone sound heads, and Motiograph pedestals. We installed it all in the Ventnor in the spring of 1974.
I saw MASH at this theater shortly before it closed. The movie was listed on the marquee for months after the theater shut down. It’s across the street from a cemetery near the White Horse Pike.
Editions of the F.D.Y. 1941 and 1943 list the Rialto Theater as being operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Listed in the 1951 Film Daily Yearbook at 12 S. Main Street, 08232, with 888 seats.