OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
COURIER LIFE, AUGUST 20-26, 2021 39
BY SUSAN DE VRIES
It opened to great fanfare in 1916
but it has been decades since the
movie lights fl ickered inside the Rialto
Theatre in Flatbush.
Purchased by a congregation in
the 1970s for use as a worship space,
a recent look inside the modest brick
building at 1085 Flatbush Avenue
shows that bits of its theatrical past
can still be found. Columns, pilasters
and stylized fl owers dot the auditorium
that originally fi t about 2,000
movie watchers.
This wasn’t one of the over-the-top
movie palaces with statement-making
exteriors and interiors dripping
with lavish details. At fi rst glance
the exterior, designed by R. Thomas
Short, appears relatively modest.
But the white paint that has covered
the building since at least the early
1980s disguises a fi nely detailed tapestry
brick facade that includes a lyre
and theatrical masks ornamenting
the pediment. The original iron and
glass marquee and signage depicted
in early photos was replaced with a
larger marquee by the late 1930s, as
seen in the historic tax photo; it too
is now gone.
We did not uncover any early photos
of the auditorium, but reviews of
the local press and trade publications
provided some clues about the original
details. “The interior of the Rialto
is chiefl y distinctive for its good taste
rather than elaborate detail of its decoration,”
the Standard Union reported
just a few weeks before the theater
opened on March 18, 1916.
Other design elements highlighted
in local papers were a lobby with marble
fl oors, mirrors and plasterwork
ornamenting the ceiling. The auditorium
was lit with gold chandeliers.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was the
only publication to refer to the ornament
as being designed with an “Egyptian
idea” with a gold and white theme
and a “sprinkling of red, green and
blue blended into the ceiling and wall
panels.”
While the multi-hued fi nishes are
gone, a gold and white theme is still
used on the interior. Gold paint picks
out wall moldings, pilasters and the
arabesque ornaments that fl ank the
wall sconces. The most striking detail,
and one that seems perhaps the most
likely to be original, are the stylized
sunfl owers that top four of the pilasters
fl anking the stage.
What was unusual
about the Rialto, at
least according to the
press at the time, was
that while there was
room for an orchestra
there was not a full
setup for vaudeville
or stage productions.
The owners were betting
on the new power
of motion pictures
alone to lure audiences
to their new
venue. The new theater
would focus on
“high class photoplay
exhibition,” the Motion Picture News
proclaimed in 1916, with musical selections
before and after the fi lm and
an orchestra to provide accompaniment
to the silent fi lms.
That bet on the power of fi lm seemed
to pay off if opening night was any indication.
Crowds stormed the doors
on March 18, 1916, reported the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle, eager to see the new
theater and the opening attraction of
“The Ne’er Do Well” a multi-reel saga
based on a novel by Rex Beach.
The theater managed to entertain
Flatbush audiences until 1976, according
to Brownstoner’s Suzanne Spellen,
when 60 years of showing popular
fi lms came to an end.
Picture it!
20th Century
Flatbush movie
house remains
full of history
Rialto Theatre in Flatbush interior (above) opened in the 1920s.
Photo by Susan De Vries/The Brooklyn Public Library