Rialto Theatre

228 E. Main Street,
Marion, VA 24354

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Additional Info

Functions: Retail

Previous Names: Hutton Moving Picture Show, Star Theatre

Nearby Theaters

1939 photo as the Rialto Theatre courtesy of Matt Shaw.

The Hutton Moving Picture Show opened prior to 1916. It later became the Past Time Theatre and then the Star Theatre. It was listed as (Closed) in 1937. It had reopened in 1938 as the Rialto Theatre but had closed by 1939. The Rialto Theatre was still listed as (Closed) in 1941. Building still stands and today houses The Past Time Antique Emporium.

Pruner Boarding House was previously above the marquee.

Contributed by David Zornig

Recent comments (view all 6 comments)

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on December 19, 2017 at 6:45 am

Current tenant Past Time Antique Emporium has graciously provided the following chronology. It opened as the Hutton Moving Picture Show, a silent film venue. It then became Past Time Theatre, then Star Theatre with the Star Diner next door. It’s final incarnation was as the Rialto Theatre. The antique store is named Past Time as an homage to the previous name. 1939 photo as the Rialto added courtesy of Matt Shaw.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 19, 2017 at 9:28 pm

Here is an item from the June 3, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:

“Buys Pastime to Close It.

“Marion, Va. — The Pastime theater has been acquired by C. B. Eccles, who operates the Marion, and has been closed up. The Pastime was the first theater in the field here, but it has been supplanted by the Marion, a new and very attractive one. The town is not large enough to support two such theaters and one had to go.”

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on December 20, 2017 at 7:40 am

Interesting. That confirms that the Marion was a different theatre altogether. It should be removed from the previous names, and the two I mentioned above should be added. The Rialto appears to already be closed in the 1939 photo I added.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 20, 2017 at 1:55 pm

At the time the Lincoln Theatre opened in July, 1929, its lessee, R. W. Sherrill, had been operating the Marion Theatre since the middle of the previous winter, according to an article in the June 27 issue of The Smyth County News (PDF of the entire issue.) Sherrill intended to keep the Marion open, on a six-day schedule, and would show mostly westerns. At this time it was the only other theater operating in Marion.

SethG
SethG on March 5, 2024 at 12:03 pm

This theater appears on the 1913 map, but the building is not on the 1908 map. Pastime (not Past Time) should be added to the AKA.

SethG
SethG on March 5, 2024 at 12:05 pm

The building has been remuddled a few times, and is missing the cornice. It was gutted by fire October 2021, and the 2022 streetview shows it roofless.

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