Rialto Cinema, Dunedin

The building was taken over during the 1920s by Thomas O'Brien, and extensively redesigned in a faux Moorish style, with a twinkling starry interior ceiling and minarets.

It was renamed as the St. James Theatre in 1952, undergoing major renovations at the same time, though parts of the earlier Moorish and Art Deco stylings were retained.

The complex reopened as a three-screen multiplex (expanded to five then six in the second half of 2004) under its current name in 1998, at which time it became part of the Rialto Cinemas group.

In its notes on its status as an Atmospheric Theatre, the trust indicate its "use of exotic historic architectural design themes to create the illusion of a romantic courtyard or amphitheatre, and... use of special concealed lighting effects to further the illusion... by creating a night sky effect on the ceiling of the auditorium.

The illusion of the courtyard/amphitheatre was cleverly done by creating in plaster the design features of a pergola, such as classical or eastern columns with entablatures or architraves, and blind arcades, again in either classical or exotic eastern architectural forms.... [The structure includes] a ceiling of smooth plaster painted electric blue, and curved from behind the side walls without interruption or blemish.