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The history of the Rialto cinema and the subsequent Rosellón Cinema, Intim and Intimo cinemas, had its origins in 1928, when Remigio Díaz, Pedro Pascual and Alexandre Vilá, decided to build in a premises they owned, located at 257 Rosellón Street, between Paseo de Gracia and Rambla Cataluña, a new cinema that will be managed by José Palet.
It was the first cinema that existed with this name in Barcelona. The Rialto wanted to distance itself from large venues that claimed to have a significant spectator capacity and wanted to get away from overcrowding with a venue with only a capacity of 598 spectators.
Inside, it prioritized modern decoration with soft tones that gave an appearance of comfort to the public. In those times the cinema did not have sound and some viewers were tired of listening to the caskets and the audience that sometimes followed the beats of the music.
The central location and the owners' intention that the cinema would be well received by the upper class of the city and the cinematographic environment meant that it had two openings.
A private one, on Friday, September 7, 1928, attended by Barcelona authorities, the press and guests, which included a decoration that was liked by everyone and another the following day, in which it was presented to the public with an announcement on page 14 of La Vanguardia.
It was presented as "a flirtatious cinema dedicated to young ladies", a phrase it maintained for a time. The projections (which at that time were silent) were accompanied by the Vilalta musical ensemble.
On the billboard it was presented with this advertisement:
Your cinema, miss. Today, September 8 First session, at 3:30. Second special session, at 5:45 and night session at 9:30. Program “Gaumont Magazine” number 39, “The Bellboy at Maxim's” by Nicolás Rimsk, “Under the Imperial Eagle”, performed by the dog “Relámpago” (premiere) and “Sports Follies” (comedy).
On Saturday, November 9, 1929, he began programming with the Paris cinema showing: Legionnaires in Paris and Grain of Sand and the well-known Newsreel.
On January 26, 1930, he appeared in two different advertisements. On page 13 of La Vanguardia, one to one column jointly with the Paris cinema, in which it announced the premiere of the silent film "Su Mejor Carrera" for Monday, with Jobyne Ralston and Red Grange and, in another to three columns, it announced the premiere with the Melodion Sound Device and the sound film Noah's Ark, jointly with the Tinola theater, distributed by Exclusivas DIANA.
As the results were not what the three owners expected, they decided to change the name of the premises, in order to seek a new impact on the public by presenting it as a new sound cinema.
The Rosellón cinema was inaugurated on Saturday, September 27, 1930, programming Las picaras collegiales and Condition of Peace. It announced that every night at the end of the program there would be a final party by the Six Melodian's Jazz orchestra, under the artistic direction of Alejandro Vilalta.
On Saturday, January 3, 1931, he inaugurated the famous Excelson sound system, projecting 60 Minute Magazine, in color, Delikatessen, by Harry Lietdke and Daniela Parola, and La mujer y el lelele, by Conchita Montenegro.
On Saturday the 10th, he premiered at the same time the film Who Would Say So, a sound comedy, and Ivan the Terrible (silent), the first major production of the Soviet Union.
Starting on Sunday, January 11, it took the habit of showing a mixed program, drawings and sound newsreels and one of the great silent films that had been released.
The lack of a constant programming line made its owners close the premises again, carrying out a new restoration, installing projection equipment from the Bauer house, which predicted unbeatable projection of reproduction and sound, and they changed the name of the venue again. local again.
The new Intim cinema was inaugurated on December 31, 1932, with the screening of the films Check the King and Shanghai Express.
Its subsequent history as Intim cinema and the later one as Intimate cinema, due to the imperative of the dictatorship of General Franco's regime, deserves another separate story.
