Rialto 4 Cinemas
841 Gilman Street,
Berkeley,
CA
94710
841 Gilman Street,
Berkeley,
CA
94710
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Renaissance Rialto
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Rialto Theater, Rialto Twin
Nearby Theaters
Essentially assembled in a West Berkeley warehouse from salvaged parts and ornamentation from demolished or renovated older theaters (its seats, for example, came from the Oakland Paramount), the Rialto Theatre opened in 1972, and was the first theater in what would eventually become the Renaissance Rialto chain—“the rebirth of the Rialto”, according to Allen Michaan (who had named it after an old theater he had attended as a child).
Initially a single-screen rep house, the cinema was expanded into a twin in October 1974 and became a fourplex on March 21, 1975, showing foreign and independent films and achieving a cult following among aficionados of those films.
Eventually changing trends, among them the then-recent arrival of the Shattuck Cinemas, took their toll, however, and Michaan eventually closed up shop at the cinema that began it all in 1989.
Contributed by
Garrett Murphy
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
The building that housed the rialto now houses several retail outlets.
The Rialto was a unique theatergoing experience. It was located on a stretch of Gilman street that came fairly close to Emeryville and was located on the edge of a slum. If a north wind was blowing, you’d step out of the theater and smell the Emeryville food processing factories. That was pretty bad. Parking was iffy and my car was stolen from the area at one time. Nonetheless, the theatre itself was funky and amusing. The lobby was fairly small for a 4-plex. The concession stand was dinky, as I recall. Three of the auditoriums were uncomfortable to sit in. The largest auditorium was better in all respects, although in terms of comfort it was only a bit better than the others. Those seats were HARD to sit in for more than ten minutes. The large auditorium played 3-D movies and the booth was equipped with Stereovision 3-D, which used the polarized glasses instead of those red-blue things. I saw ANDY WARHOL’S FRANKENSTEIN there and the picture was excellent. This auditorium, though, was very peculiar — a section of seats was positioned off to one side, facing a wall. People seated all the way over to one side could not see the screen! The Rialto was, during the mid-70s, the only place to see cult movies…literally. The UC Theatre was a better experience but the Rialto would keep titles for a whole week. The Rialto would sometimes play the same stuff you would find at the Telegraph Repertory, but the viewing experience was better (which isn’t saying much).
Uh Jeff, Gilman is practically on the opposite end of Berkeley from Emeryville; Gilman is actually very close to Albany (and UC Village).
Where you could hear three movies for the price of one…but I loved it.
2 screens in October 1974.
and four on March 21st, 1975.
My dad finally took me to see The Exorcist here. But my greatest memories are of the Saturday matinee series of classic sci-fi films in 1976? 77?
Along with those, the Rialto hosted an unforgettable run of dual-strip 3D films from the 1950s. I think those were newly created prints, as pristines as you can imagine. I recall seeing IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON there, and we might’ve seen others (HOUSE OF WAX?). I might still have my Polaroid glasses. I still remember just how crisp and amazingly lifelike those Jack Arnold 3D films were. The later 80s 3D films didn’t hold a candle to those classics.
I feel blessed that the Rialto 4 gave us few Bay Area moviegoers that once in a lifetime experience. I’m so glad some photos still remain.
I saw Warhol’s Frankenstein and Dracula, Caligula, Salo and oddly enough Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry W/Shirley MacLaine in her film debut here! The rancid stale popcorn and overstuffed seats bring back disgusting yet weirdly pleasanf memories! PS Salo is THE most gag inducing tripe in film history! Makes Texas chainsaw look like The Rescuers! ☺☺
What a funky place with tiny theaters and sound bleeding through the walls! I only saw one film there, Laurie Anderson’s “Home of the Brave” (1986), which wasn’t playing anywhere else in the area.