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Dayton Memories >
Theatres in downtown Dayton
Theatres in downtown Dayton
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luv my dayton
48 posts
Jun 22, 2012
8:32 PM
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Downtown was a special place to go for a week end date as many movie theatres were down there. We'd be waiting in lines down and around the corner to get into RKO Keith for a movie. I remember wearing a dress with alot of petticoats, heels, and gloves!!! When was the last time you recall seeing that kind of wear. Once you got inside you thought you were in a palace with the chandeliers, red velvet seats and drapes. Such a formal place and you felt special for just a couple of hours. Any special memory you had of one of these movie houses?
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blue J
23 posts
Jul 11, 2012
3:32 AM
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I'm unfortunately too young to have gone to any of the older movie theaters in Dayton, but I would have loved it (the Keith's last stand, as a movie theater, anyway, was in 1967, and I was born in '73)...I would have loved to go to the Loew's downtown as well. My mother always said I was born at least a generation too late!
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tlturbo
351 posts
Jul 11, 2012
4:40 AM
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Which theater was across the street from Rikes and a little bit toward the river? It was on a corner and I remember the big sign advertising the Absent Minded Professor on the side of the building (maybe that was 1st or 2nd st?) I didn't spend that much time in downtown as I lived in Beavercreek & Kettering. The Dabel, the theater next to Country Kitchen and Fairborn were more often the choice if I HAD to go to an indoor instead of a drive-in. Most of us corvette guys would take dates and meet up at the Southside in Centerville.
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87 Buick GN
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Dan-O
49 posts
Jul 11, 2012
5:38 AM
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Here is a website about all of the theaters that have been located in the downtown Dayton area at one time or another:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/united-states/ohio/dayton/downtown
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blue J
24 posts
Jul 11, 2012
9:19 AM
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What a great find- thanks for posting it.
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cilla46
100 posts
Jul 11, 2012
9:22 AM
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Just thinking about those grand old theaters makes me smile!So many hours spent riding the bus downtown,buying a ticket and walking through the doors to a world of wonder.I especially loved going to the RKO Keith’s because it was so beautiful inside. Walking up the double staircases from the lobby to the promenade made a young girl feel like a princess!The furnishings were like being in a European castle and the restroom was huge with an attendant.Back in the 50's it was a place you would dress up in your "Sunday best" to go sit in the dark and watch the latest movies!
Being older does have many benefits!One of them is having memories of a slower,more peaceful pace of life in Dayton.I wouldn't trade those days for anything.......
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blue J
27 posts
Jul 11, 2012
4:36 PM
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Does anyone know anything (personal memories or otherwise) about the Rialto Theater? It's one for which I can't find any info, beyond the street address and the vintage- 1940s. I think it was pretty short-lived.
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supersix
76 posts
Jul 11, 2012
5:06 PM
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tlturbo, that would have been the Victory Theatre, now restored and known as "The Victoria Opera House". It's actually quite impressive.
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Curt Dalton
575 posts
Jul 11, 2012
6:43 PM
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I wrote a book called "When Dayton Went to the Movies" that is here on DHBO at http://www.daytonhistorybooks.citymax.com/page/page/1475737.htm - Here is part of what I found out about the Rialto, which started out as the Majestic. Read the next post for the rest of the story.
Majestic (1912-18)
Rialto(1919-67)
212-214 South Jefferson Street
One of the more elaborate picture houses was the Majestic on south Jefferson Street, just below Fifth. The grand opening took place on March 4, 1912. And what a grand opening it was. The first movie shown was Children Who Labor, an Edison picture based on incidents connected with the labor strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Patrons were entertained between the changing of reels by the "American Gypsy Girls’ Quartet", with music provided by Buell B. Reisinger’s Solo Orchestra , which was comprised of six of Dayton’s best musicians. Attention given to patrons included ushers and other employees dressed in tuxedos for the afternoon shows and appropriate evening dress for the evening performances.
Proprietor J. P. Montgomery was told by his friends that he should not get involved in the Majestic because it was "too much out of the way", being south of Third Street. Montgomery, a successful theater promoter from the south part of the United States, replied by running ads continuously in the local newspapers that stated the Majestic was "The Place To Go". The advertisements were often bold and very funny. A typical one stated: "I know I’ll land you as a regular. Yes, I’ll do it, even though it takes the last cow dad has on the farm."
The strategy must have worked, for before very long the theater was a thriving business. William Randolph, Montgomery’s successor, continued the advertising campaign. It was estimated by the Dayton Daily News that the Majestic had spent well over $36,000 for advertising during the theater’s first three years.
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Curt Dalton
576 posts
Jul 11, 2012
6:43 PM
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Part Two of the Rialto history:
Randolph, unfortunately, had the bad luck to lease the theater a week before the 1913 flood. Damages to the theater ran over $14,000. Undaunted, Randolph reopened on May 3, 1913, with ads reclaiming that the Majestic had "No Flood Germs! - No Flood Odors!" Promotions were held to bring people back. "Nellie" the camel gave children free rides, and if they couldn’t make it to the camel, the camel went to their homes, free of charge.
It wasn’t long at all before Randolph recouped his losses. Records indicate that 12,142 people attended the Majestic the first week it reopened.
On June 16, 1913, the theater made an astounding announcement. For the next thirteen weeks it would present Edison Talking Pictures, the picture with sound! Each hour a Kinetophone talking picture would be included on the bill.
Although Thomas Edison’s remarkable invention had been seen in several vaudeville theaters, this would mark the first time in the world that it was shown in a theater devoted exclusively to motion pictures. This was understandable since the cost of showing the pictures was enormous. The rental of the equipment and films for the thirteen weeks ran close to $5000. This at a time when admission to the Majestic was a nickel.
"But the bringing of Mr. Edison’s great invention to Dayton is not a money-making proposition with us." claimed the management. "We cannot handle much more business than we are doing at present. We will be only too pleased if we break even on the engagement..."
The first film shown was called The Lecture. In it a man explained to the audience the achievements and future possibilities of the Kinetophone. The motion picture illustrated different sounds, such as the blowing of whistles, horns and bugles, the barking of dogs and the playing of a piano and violin. The pictures were a moderate success, due more to the fact that they produced sound than to their story lines, most of which were quite dull.
In 1919 the theater was bought by John Seifert who rechristened it the Rialto. The policy of the movie house slowly changed to second run movies after this. By the late 1920’s the theater was depending on sensationalism to bring in patrons. An advertising in 1927 tells that the Rialto was going to show the movie False Shame. Touted as "The Most Thrilling Sex Picture Ever Produced" it promised that it would tell and show "everything". The movie, about social diseases, was not what many of the patrons (mostly men, I’m sure) had gone to view, but it did draw a crowd during the week it was shown.
H. L McClelland remembers the Rialto was "structured like an Egyptian temple, but radiating an aura of pure Hollywood. Colorful posters and colorless stills lined the lobby walls around the box-office. Unfortunately, the Rialto, as I remember it, was extremely trashy in the late 1940’s, and one reason that my mother and I usually avoided it".
In May 1963 H & K Enterprises, Inc. purchased the Rialto from William Clegg, who had purchased the theater in 1946. When H & K dissolved their partnership a couple of years later, operation of the theater was taken over by Reverend Auburn F. Haggard, preacher for Congregation Church near Piqua.
Records are sketchy, but I believe the Rialto was closed for good by the end of 1967. The old building was razed in January 1969.
Last Edited by on Jul 11, 2012 6:44 PM
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Butchl1977
14 posts
Jul 12, 2012
8:07 PM
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Ah--The old Rialto where the bats gave you free haircuts and the rats shined your shoes.LOL
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blue J
36 posts
Jul 13, 2012
1:47 PM
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Thank you for all of the background, Curt. (I see that I was pretty far off in my supposition). I didn't realize that the Rialto was originally the Majestic- that one I had read about before.
Maybe you can tell me, or anybody else- did Memorial Hall ever show movies? I have a distinct memory of going to see things there with my parents when I was between five and seven years old; somewhere in there. That would be about 1978-'80. But my mind could be playing tricks on me, for a number of reasons.
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RCOONa
4 posts
Jan 14, 2014
8:03 AM
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I worked at Lowe's theater in the early 60's as an usher and remember the long lines when they were showing the "block buster" movies. Carl Rogers was the manager. It was a great theater, with a balcony and an opening on the 2nd floor over part of the lower main seating area on the 1st floor. 24
Last Edited by RCOONa on Jan 14, 2014 8:04 AM
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