Rialto Theatre
113 S. Main Street,
Hope,
AR
71801
113 S. Main Street,
Hope,
AR
71801
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Malco Theatres Inc., Paramount Pictures Inc.
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Grand Theatre, New Grand Theatre
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Opened as the Grand Theatre by 1920. It was taken over by Malco Theatres Inc. in 1930 and renamed New Grand Theatre. It reopened as the Rialto Theatre on October 29, 1930. In the 1940’s it was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary M.A. Lightman. It was still in operation in 1950.
In reading through the article in the Arkansas Historical Society I noticed that it stated that the Rialto Theatre, after closing on November 14, 1957 was gutted by fire later that night. It became a Western Auto Store. The address for the Western Auto Store was 113 S. Main Street thus the correct address.
Contributed by
Lost Memory, Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
The April 17, 1937, issue of Boxoffice announced that the Rialto Theatre at Hope had opened the previous Thursday. It was located in the rebuilt New Grand Theatre building. I’ve found the New Grand mentioned in issues of The Reel Journal going back as far as 1925, but don’t know how long it was closed before being rebuilt as the Rialto.
The Rialto opened with 450 seats, including those in its segregated balcony. It was originally operated by Malco Theatres.
That means that the New Theatre probably wasn’t operating before 1935 either. The earliest mention I’ve found of it is in 1937. Hope apparently had two movie houses opened in the mid 1930s.
The November 9, 1957, issue of Boxoffice carried a list of theaters in Arkansas that had recently been closed by the United Theatres circuit, and the Rialto was among them. The Hope Drive-In was closed at the same time.
The Grand Theatre dates back to at least 1920. When it was purchased by Malco in 1930, the New Grand was closed and reopened October 29, 1930 as the Rialto. It was then closed during the Depression.
After a $15,000 makeover, Malco – citing improved business conditions – reopened the theatre Rialto Theatre on February 1, 1937. In 1952, Malco sold the New, Saenger and Rialto to M.S. McCord & Associates operated under the United Theatre Corporation circuit.
The final film at the Rialto was the exploitation film, “Mom and Dad” which played on November 14, 1957. After midnight, the theatre was gutted by a fire. A salvage sale the following February offered the theatre seats just prior to the building being converted for other retail purposes.