Rio

Opened as cinema Palladium on the Monday of January 26th 1925. It was located on the premises of Klostergatan 5 in central Örebro. Its premier film was “Här skall filmas” and is presented as a comedy in seven acts, the film was screened three times during the premier night. It was also deemed unfit for children.(1) Palladium was owned by a man named Adolf Wiklund, an Örebro resident at the time.(2) The appearance of the cinema front was described as simple and something that matches the building’s exterior. The foyer had white walls and black ceiling in a classical style. The Salon was colored in green and yellow, the canopy in the back was in gray, silver and velvet. The walls were divided by niches and the ceiling had decorated wooden beams, there was also a chandelier made from gilded wood.(3) The amount of screens in the cinema isn’t mentioned which leads to the probability that there was only one, the amount of seats on the other hand was counted to be 315. In 1934 the cinema was purchased by Svenska förenade biograf AB, who opened Saga as the company’s premier cinema in Örebro in 1938.(4)

It wasn’t until 1943 that the cinema on Klostergatan was renovated and had the name changed to Rio. The cinema now had cushioned seats (which now counted 303)(5) and a leaning floor inside the salon which allowed for a clear view of the screen. This points to the possibility of the floor being completely flat before the renovation. The reporter who reviewed the cinema was very pleased with the acoustics and ventilation. The curtain was now “tango red” and the backdrop worked to add to the intimate character of the salon. The walls were free of allegorical paintings, only decorated with three-armed lamps, the ceiling was changed and simplified. The entrance to the cinema was deemed elegant and spacious while the doorway was stylishly made in teak and the canopy had neon lights. The architectural style was now of Swedish functionalism.(6) The premier was again on a Monday, this time on the sixth of September they held their new premier night. The film was “I detta vårt liv”, with only two screenings compared to the original premier in 1925 which had three. (most likely due to the length of the film) and again it was deemed unfit for children.(7)

In the 1960’s Rio was still in the same place as it started, Klostergatan 5 in Örebro and the architectural style and amount of seats seem to have remained the same since the 1943 renovation. The films shown at Rio in the 1960’s varied, but they were more often than not, adult films. Some examples are “Den Försvunna Safarin”,(8) “Gorillan Klipper Till”,(9) “Mannen i Skräckkabinettet”,(10) “Morianerna”, (11) and “De Vilda Änglarna”.(12) There were other films which children were allowed to watch as well, such as: “Sängkammartjuven”, (13) and (“Han gick genom Väggen”).(14) Rio also screened a lot of films that had been popular at cinema Saga, also owned by Svenska förenade biograf AB.(15) There were advertisements for Rio’s screenings in the local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda and during the year 1960 they seem to have chosen to screen films on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There were two screenings per night on those days, one at 7pm and one at 9pm. This was something that seems to have largely remained the same up to 1965 when the times were moved to 6.30pm and 8.30pm. There might have been matinées at this time but they do not seem to be visible in the newspapers until 1969 where they were advertised on the Saturdays and screened on Sundays at 1pm and 3pm.

Cinema Rio was under the ownership of Svenska förenade biograf AB and later Europa Film until 1983 when it fell under private ownership. The cinema was closed for the summer and reopened for the fall season, the new owner was Börje Öhrman, a man who had previously worked at the cinema. However, it only lasted until 1985 when Sandrew film & theater AB in Stockholm took over the cinema, (16) they also wanted the cinema to have their own brand name and changed it to Sandrew.(17) Along with the new sign there was also a reparation and reconstruction, there were 180 seats with modern armchairs, surround sound and new coloration in salon and foyer, along with a new computer-controlled film-projector.(18) In 1989 SF opened Filmstaden in Örebro with ten salons which was immense competition for Sandrew. In December of 1989 Sandrew opened their triplet-cinema, (Sandrew 123) three salons in SF:s old Spegeln and Rio got its old name back. During 1990 Rio was run parallelly with Sandrew 123 but was closed in April due to lack of films and in the end it was closed for good.(19) There were a couple of attempts at opening a pub on the premises but they were largely unsuccessful, Palladium (the original name of the cinema from 1925), which opened and closed in 1994. The Old Monk was another which opened in 1995 under a different name but was unsuccessful in drawing customers and had to close as well.

Klostergatan 5 lies in the centre of Örebro, in its surroundings are pubs, restaurants, the city theatre, Hotel Slottet, Järntorget and Örebro castle. Based on the cinema only having one salon and its film repertoire it would probably have been viewed as a neighborhood cinema. The building is still there today, although it has not been used as a cinema for quite some time. Currently it is used as an apartment building and there are at least three companies which have their offices there. Plusius AB, Tango AML AB, and Wiccon AB. There’s one empty part, but there’s also a sushi bar called Hachi and a restaurant called Asmara on the Järntorgsgatan side of the building.

1 Palladium, “Den nya biografen PALLADIUM öppnas idag,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, January 26 1925, 2. 2 Åsa Jernudd, “List of Swedish Cinemas 1930 and 1936,” (Powerpoint presentation for Film History as a Social and Cultural Phenomenon, Örebro Universitet, Örebro) 3 “Biografinvigning i Örebro,” Nerikes Allehanda, January 27 1925, 3. 4 Alf Rune, Filmvägen till Biogatan, (Örebro: Nerikes Allehanda, 1998), 40. 5 Ibid., 40. 6 “RIO VÅR ALLRA NYASTE BIO.”, Nerikes Allehanda, September 7 1943, 5. 7 Rio, “Rio Invigningspremiär,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, September 6 1943, page 16. 8 “Den Försvunna Safarin,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, January 18 1960, 20. 9 “Gorillan klipper till,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, February 8 1960, 21. 10 “Mannen i Sräckkabinettet,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, September 9 1965, 22. 11 “Morianerna,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, September 14 1965, 19. 12 “De vilda änglarna,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, November 17 1969, 23. 13 “Sängkammartjuven,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, February 1 1960, 20. 14 “Han gick genom Väggen,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, February 15 1960, 21. 15 Rune, 40. 16 “Rio blir Sandrew-bio,” Nerikes Allehanda, March 2, 1985, 16. 17 Rune, 40. 18 Ibid., 40. 19 Ibid., 40.

Bibliography: “Biografinvigning i Örebro,” Nerikes Allehanda, January 27 1925, 3.

Jernudd, Åsa. “List of Swedish Cinemas 1930 and 1936.” Powerpoint presentation for Film History as a Social and Cultural Phenomenon, Örebro Universitet, Örebro.

Palladium, “Den nya biografen PALLADIUM öppnas idag,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, January 26 1925, 2.

Rio, “De vilda änglarna,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, November 17 1969, 23. Rio, “Den Försvunna Safarin,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, January 18 1960, 20. Rio, “Gorillan klipper till,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, February 8 1960, 21. Rio, “Han gick genom Väggen,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, February 15 1960, 21. Rio, “Mannen i Sräckkabinettet,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, September 9 1965, 22. Rio, “Morianerna,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, September 14 1965, 19. Rio, “Sängkammartjuven,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, February 1 1960, 20.

“Rio blir Sandrew-bio,” Nerikes Allehanda, March 2, 1985, 16.

“Rio Invigningspremiär,” Advertisement, Nerikes Allehanda, September 6 1943, page 16. “RIO VÅR ALLRA NYASTE BIO.”, Nerikes Allehanda, September 7 1943, 5. Rune, Alf. Filmvägen till Biogatan. Örebro: Nerikes Allehanda, 1998.

Author’s notes: All newspaper articles and advertisements were found in the microfilm archive of Örebro University library.

Research report by Torben Friedrich, Joakim Andersson & Alina Hornbach for the course “Film History as a Social and Cultural Phenomenon” at Örebro University, Spring 2024 (Course leader: Kim Khavar Fahlstedt)

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