Rialto Theatre - New York City (photo: Cinema Treasures website)
 
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Rialto Theatre

1481 Broadway, NW corner of 42nd Street
New York, N.Y. 10036





The Rialto Theatre, the original "Temple of the Motion Picture" and "The Shrine of Music and the Allied Arts", opened on April 21, 1916 on the site of the demolished Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre. The Rialto was built and first operated by Crawford Livingston and Felix Kahn, who hired S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel to be the managing director. Under Roxy's direction, the Rialto show ran five times daily and included the Rialto Orchestra, vocal and instrumental solos, and "accompaniment contributed by the grand organ". The success of the Rialto encouraged Livingston and Kahn to build the Rivoli, which opened in 1917, with "Roxy" Rothafel as managing director of both theatres. From 1919, the Rialto and Rivoli showed mostly Paramount releases, but that began to change in 1926, when the new Paramount Theatre opened and became the company's NYC "flagship." Paramount by that time also controlled the Criterion Theatre. There wasn't enough Paramount product for all four theatres, so the Rialto, Rivoli and Criterion began showing films from other distributors as well. With the advent of the Depression, Paramount could no longer afford to run four Broadway theatres, so the oldest of the group, the Criterion and Rialto, were sold and quickly demolished to make way for new buildings. In 1935, the Rialto was demolished and rebuilt on a smaller scale.
           
Rialto Theatre - New York City (photo: Cinema Treasures website)
  
Rialto Theatre - New York City (photo: Cinema Treasures website)
           
Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 520 (1922)
Electro-pneumatic action
Style 260
3 manuals, 15 ranks, 7 tuned percussions, 14 traps


Wurlitzer's Op. 520 for the Rialto Theatre has a factory date of February 25, 1922.
           
Pedal – 32 notes
16
   Ophicleide     Bass Drum
16
   Diaphone [metal]     Kettle Drum
16
   Tibia Clausa     Snare Drum
16
   Bourdon     Crash Cymbal
8
   Tuba Horn     Cymbal
8
   Octave     Great to Pedal
8
   Tibia Clausa     Solo to Pedal
8
   Clarinet      
8
   Saxophone     Pedal 2nd Touch
8
   String
16
   Diaphone
8
   Cello
16
   Ophicleide – Pizzicato
8
   Flute      
4
   Flute     1st Touch & 2nd Touch Traps Switch
16
   Piano      
          3 Combination Toe Pistons
           
Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
16
   Contra Viol [TC]     Mandolin
16
   Bourdon     Marimba [re-it]
8
   Tuba Horn     Harp
8
   Diaphonic Diapason     Crysoglott
8
   Tibia Clausa     Snare Drum
8
   Clarinet     Tambourine
8
   Saxophone     Castanets
8
   String     Chinese Block
8
   Viole d'Orchestre     Tom Tom
8
   Viole Celeste      
8
   Oboe Horn     Accompaniment 2nd Touch
8
   Quintadena
8
   Tuba Horn
8
   Flute
8
   Tibia Clausa
8
   Vox Humana     Cathedral Chimes
4
   Piccolo     Sleigh Bells
4
   Viole     Xylophone
4
   Octave Celeste     Triangle
4
   Flute     Solo to Accomp.
4
   Vox Humana     Solo to Accomp. –- Pizzicato
2 2/3
   Twelfth      
2
   Piccolo     10 Double Touch Adjustable
8
   Piano          Combination Pistons
4
   Piano      
          Suitable Bass
Great (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
   Ophicleide
2
   Fifteenth
16
   Diaphone
2
   Piccolo
16
   Tibia Clausa
1 3/5
   Tierce
16
   Clarinet [TC]
16
   Piano
16
   Saxophone [TC]
8
   Piano
16
   Contra Viol [TC]
4
   Piano
16
   Bourdon     Marimba [re-it]
8
   Trumpet     Harp
8
   Tuba Horn     Cathedral Chimes
8
   Diaphonic Diapason     Xylophone
8
   Tibia Clausa     Glockenspiel
8
   Clarinet     Orchestral Bells [re-it]
8
   Orchestral Oboe     Sleigh Bells
8
   Kinura     Chrysoglott
8
   Saxophone     Solo to Great
8
   String      
8
   Viole d'Orchestre     Great 2nd Touch
8
   Viole Celeste
16
   Ophicleide
8
   Flute
8
   Tibia Clausa
8
   Vox Humana     Solo to Great
4
   Clarion     Solo to Great – Pizzicato
4
   Piccolo      
4
   Viol     10 Double Touch Adjustable
4
   Octave Celeste          Combination Pistons
4
   Flute      
2 2/3
   Twelfth     Suitable Bass
           
Solo (Manual III) – 61 notes
16
   Ophicleide
4
   Clarion
8
   Trumpet
4
   Piccolo
8
   Tuba Horn     Cathedral Chimes
8
   Diaphonic Diapason     Xylophone
8
   Tibia Clausa     Glockenspiel
8
   Clarinet     Orchestral Bells [re-it]
8
   Orchestral Oboe      
8
   Kinura     10 Double Touch Adjustable
8
   Saxophone          Combination Pistons
8
   String      
8
   Oboe Horn     Suitable Bass
8
   Quintadena      
           
Tremulants (3)
    Main      
    Solo      
    Vox Humana      
           
General
    Two Balanced Expression Pedals with Indicating Keys
    One Balanced Crescendo Pedal
    Thunder Pedal (Diaphone) – Piano Pedal
    Thunder Pedal (Reed) – Piano Pedal
    One Double Touch Sforzando Pedal – Piano Pedal
     • 1st Touch: Full stops (wind)
     • 2nd Touch: Everything
    One Double Touch Sforzando Pedal – Piano Pedal
     • 1st Touch: Snare Drum
     • 2nd Touch: Bass Drum and Cymbal
           
Effects (operated by pistons)
    Auto Horn   Fire Gong
    Steamboat Whistle   Horse Hoofs
    Two Birds (one in each expression box)    
         
STOP & CHAMBER ANALYSIS
     
Main Chamber
16
   Diaphonic Diapason
85 pipes
16
   Tuba Horn
85 pipes
8
   Clarinet
61 pipes
16
   Concert Flute
97 pipes
8
   Viole d'Orchestre
85 pipes
8
   Viole Celeste
73 pipes
8
   Vox Humana
61 pipes
    Chrysoglott
49 notes
 
    Piano
85 notes
 
Solo Chamber
8
   Saxophone
61 pipes
8
   Brass Trumpet
61 pipes
8
   Solo String
61 pipes
16
   Tibia Clausa
85 pipes
8
   Orchestral Oboe
61 pipes
8
   Quintadena
61 pipes
8
   Oboe Horn
61 pipes
8
   Kinura
61 pipes
    Marimba
49 notes
    Cathedral Chimes
25 notes
    Xylophone
37 notes
    Glockenspiel
37 notes
    Sleigh Bells
25 notes
         
Austin Organ Company
Hartford, Conn. – Opus 611 (1916)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 56 stops


Originally, orchestral music functioned as a major attraction. The theater publicized its grand pipe organ, built by the Austin Organ Co. of Hartford, Conn., as the biggest organ ever to be installed in a motion picture theater. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
           
Sources:
     Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16666
     Junchen, David L. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 1. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985.
     Junchen, David L., comp. and ed. by Jeff Weiler. The WurliTzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History. Chicago: The American Theatre Organ Society, 2005.
     >Kaufmann, Preston J. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 3. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1995.
     The Theatre Organ Home Page: http://theatreorgans.com. Specifications of Wurlitzer "Style 260" organ.

Illustrations:
     AJWB Collection. Drawings of interior; marquee.