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Overview

The Osran Amusement Company operated the 1,000-seat Rialto Theatre on 2nd Street between Washington and Pacific Avenues in 1920. (See Bremerton, Washington, City Directory, 1920, p. 116.) Osran also managed the Dream Theatre in Bremerton, that slightly predated the Rialto and the Strand Theatre in Olympia, WA.

Building History

According to Cinema Treasures.org, the Rialto Theatre opened on 02/06/1918, with Eugene Oswald and John "Jack" Rantz (born c. 1882 in Austria) comprising its management. In 1913, Rantz, a former sawyer who immigrated to the US c. 1887, operated the Rex Theatre in Bremerton. (See Bremerton, Washington, City Directory, 1913, p. 73.) After the Rialto's construction in 1918, the smaller Rex stood just across the 2nd Street.

They commissioned the Syracuse, NY-born architect Maximilian B. Umbrecht (1872-1955), then based in Seattle, WA, to design the $75,000 building. It measured 60 x 105 feet. (See Cinema Treasures.org, "Rialto Theater 245 2nd Street, Bremerton, WA 98337," published 09/20/2017, accessed 06/04/2019.) One description indicated that the building had a reinforced concrete frame, although a postcard view of one side does not show this. This postcard shows a load-bearing brick or hollow-tile wall topped with a stepped parapet.

A note in the American Architect in 1917 stated: "Architect Max Umbrecht, Arcade Building, has been commissioned to prepare plans for the erection of two-story fireproof theater building in Bremerton, for the Osran Amusement Company. Cost, $75,000." (See "Building News--Washington," American Architect, 05/30/1917, vol. CXI, no. 216, p. 18.)

The serial Motography, a magazine published for film exhibitors, included a story on the Rialto in its issue of 03/09/1918. This article underscored that the large theatre was designed to profit from Bremerton's naval yard growth during World War I, and described the new venue: "The Rialto has been under construction for about a year, the labor shortage causing much delay. Oswald and Rantz have been operating the Dream theatre in Bremerton for several years and had been planning to erect a new house for some time. When the navy department decided last year upon Bremerton for a Pacific base the two men promptly began planning a house that would be big enough and fine enough for the increase in population which was sure to come in the next few years. The Rialto is the result of their planning. The theatre is a detached building with outside walls of stucco in natural color. Above the imposing marquee are three broad shallow niches. On the back wall of each of these is painted a life size peacock with gorgeous tail. The interior walls are also in natural colored stucco, trimmed with gold borders, but the decorations throughout the house carry out the color scheme of red and green. The curtain is red velvet and the draperies at the entrance to the auditorium are also red velvet. The carpets are red, while four pairs of blind French doors are curtained in silk, two pairs in red and two in green. Wicker chairs in the boxes, in the balcony are upholstered in red and green cretonne. The house has a seating capacity of a little under a thousand." (See "Brand New Theatre is Opened," Motography, vol. XIX, no. 10, 03/09/1918, p. 482.)

Theatre historian Joe Vogel said of the Osran Amusement Company: "The Osran Amusement Company (Oswald and Rance [sic]) operated several theaters in Bremerton during this period. It eventually became a subsidiary of Evergreen State Amusement Corporation." (See Cinema Treasures.org, "Rialto Theater 245 2nd Street, Bremerton, WA 98337," published 09/20/2017, accessed 06/04/2019.) Although it became embroiled in a lengthy lawsuit with the Union Theatre Company after 1921, Osran continued to operate in 1935, making its headquarters in Seattle, WA. (See Motion Picture Herald, vol. 120, 1935, p. 42.) Oswald and Rantz had close ties with theatre distribution networks in Seattle, and Rantz would later live there.

Building Notes

In 1923, Al Finkelstein managed the Rialto Theatre for the Osran Theatre Company. (See Bremerton, Washington, City Directory, 1923, p. 72.)

PCAD id: 22926