Rialto Cinema

325 Shirley Road, Shirley,
Southampton, SO15 3HW

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation

Functions: Restaurant

Styles: Gothic Revival

Nearby Theaters

Rialto Cinema

Actress Stella Muir (the British Mary Pickford) was invited to be part of the grand opening ceremonies on January 9th, 1922 with an audience of over 900 who saw their guest of honor star in the evening’s new film "The Heart of a Rose" -a silent film with live musical accompaniment. Originally owned by Joe Rose, the Rialto Cinema went under the banner of Oscar Deutsch and his Odeon chain of theatres in 1937, although it never received the ‘Odeon’ name.

The Rialto Cinema said goodbye on 5th November 1960 by showing Mike Todd’s musical spectacular "Around the World in Eighty Days." It was converted into a Top Rank Bingo Club which wasn’t too successful as it closed in June 1962. The building then became a Blundel’s furniture store which had closed by 1994. Its last use was as a Town & Country Pine furniture store and the auditorium was demolished in 2004. The front of the building was converted into a restaurant

Contributed by Simon Overton

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Harry Rigby
Harry Rigby on March 20, 2021 at 5:10 am

It seems likely that the auditorium was completely demolished [flats] but the foyer block and frontage was modified to become Puccini’s Italian Restaurant. Look at the wall facing the side road [Janson Road] - the openings are the same.

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