Happy Birthday, Vista Theatre!

On this day in 1925, my home the former Vista Theatre of Rio Vista, California, celebrated its grand opening! In honor of the theatre and its almost five decade run, let’s take a look back at its beginnings.

Original owner Paul Weiss didn’t build a new theatre completely from scratch. He purchased the Vista Theatre, a one-story building, and moved it from the 100 block of Main Street, Rio Vista, to the 200 block. It stands in the same spot today.

Contemporary exhibitor journals sometimes refer to the new Vista Theatre or even the New Vista Theatre. It’s worth further investigation to see if Weiss considered adding the word “New” to the theatre’s name to distinguish it from the box theatre he had purchased and rebuilt to a grander size and design. Whatever the case, eventually new was dropped as either an adjective or part of the appellation.

According to the EXHIBITORS HERALD (March 14, 1925), Weiss spent $30,000 to build the theatre:

In 2019 dollars, that’s the equivalent of $435,774.86. The interior of the theatre from walls to high ceiling had an Art Deco design. “The auditorium featured a stage flanked by pillars and a balcony.” Outside a neon marquee ran vertical across the building’s edifice, and a ticket booth was centered in front of the main entranceway closer to the sidewalk.

An excerpt from MOTION PICTURE NEWS (May 30, 1925) contains more details about the theatre and its grand opening festivities, delayed to April 23:

The Mayor was Martin Christensen, Jr, but I’ve not found clarification of which movie stars or vaudeville acts graced the Vista’s stage that night. I will keep hunting for those details!

The film screened was silent THE DRESSMAKER FROM PARIS (1925). After a string of successes in 1924, Paul Bern won the directorial duties away from Raoul Walsh. Howard Hawks and Adelaide Heilbron wrote the story, and she wrote the screenplay. Leatrice Joy, Ernest Torrence, and Allan Forrest star while Mildred Harris gives a supporting performance. Bern’s then girlfriend Olive Borden appears in an uncredited role as a “mannequin”.

This was Joy’s last film at Paramount, but more notably costume designer Travis Banton‘s work makes its screen debut. THE DRESSMAKER FROM PARIS was his first film assignment. Banton is ranked as one of the top costume designers of the the Golden Age of Hollywood, so it’s a pity this film is considered lost.

We don’t get to see his designs move, but their images survive in still photography. At the time, the film’s gowns were valued at $50,000, which would be about $726,291.43 in 2019 dollars. Obviously a visually opulent film to open a beautiful new theatre with!

In the Rio Vista Museum, I stumbled across a fact that makes me feel connected to the early days of the Vista beyond my love of movies. I found a summary of the theatre’s history written by the museum’s historian Phil Pezzaglia. Like many early merchants and tradespeople, the Weiss family lived in the same building as their business. They lived in theatre on its second floor in an apartment across from the balcony.

My husband and I live on that very same second floor. There’s no longer a separation between a front apartment and the balcony. Over the years the two spaces were converted to one almost free flowing space. Structural changes to the theatre began in 1935 when Paul Weiss sold it. His apartment was converted to lounges.

Every time we watch an old film, play vintage tunes and the occasional theatre organ recordings, or read or write about early cinema, I feel like we’re keeping the flame alive. Yes, the old theatre has been split into parts and repurposed many a time, but there’s no denying what the building was or could be again some day. Today there are a pair of people living in it who love film and the theatre and its history.

Join us in wishing the Vista Theatre a happy 94th birthday!