Rialto Theatre

Poplar Street,
Massena, NY 13662

Unfavorite 1 person favorited this theater

Showing 5 comments

Tinker3cat
Tinker3cat on January 9, 2017 at 8:08 pm

The Rialto theater building in Massena is gone now. For a time after the theater closed it was used by Fay Motors as a storage barn. Massena once had three indoor single screen theaters operating at the same time.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 8, 2017 at 7:22 pm

The September 20, 1924, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item about the Rialto:

“Thomas E. Shean, a well known lawyer in Massena, who is erecting a house to be known as the Rialto in the Pine Grove section of the village, expects to open within the next few weeks. The seats will be in place within two weeks.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 12, 2014 at 12:53 pm

The August 4, 1926, issue of Variety carried this brief item about the Rialto: “Rialto, seating 486, at Massena, N. Y., has been leased from Frank J. Kuras by Schine Enterprises.” That’s the earliest mention of the Rialto I’ve found so far.

Tinker3cat
Tinker3cat on April 13, 2012 at 7:01 pm

Yes there was a “RIALTO THEATER” in Potsdam . It closed around the late 1950’s. The Massena theater was more of a neighborhood location not too far from the ALCOA plant. I enjoyed many “Francis” the talking mule and “Ma and Pa Kettle” movies here. There was a certain joy to watching a film in one of these old theaters that just doesn’t come across in the new multi-plex theaters. That’s just my opinion. Ray. Charlotte, NC

mikey7290
mikey7290 on July 15, 2008 at 8:28 pm

Wasn’t the Rialto on Market Street in Potsdam, NY?