Rialto Theatre

Joe Vogel on January 13, 2010 at 7:26 am

A survey of new theater construction in the St. Louis area published in Boxoffice of October 16, 1937, lists Eddie Rosecan’s Rialto at Hannibal as one of the projects underway. Two other theaters Rosecan operated in small towns in the area were also called Rialto.

The Rialto was expanded and its front rebuilt in 1946, according to Boxoffice of February 6 that year. The item said the capacity would be enlarged by 50 percent.

If this house was ever called the Tom Sawyer, it must have been after Rosecan sold it to Frisina in 1955, but I’ve been unable to find any evidence that it was renamed. Frisina’s Orpheum was renamed the Tom Sawyer following a 1949 remodeling, according to Boxoffice of July 30 that year.