The 1948-49 Theatre Catalog listed the Rogers Corner Dr. in Bark Hamsted (sic), owner Vincent Yarmatz, capacity 300. The 1949-50 edition has the People’s Dr. in Winsted (5 miles west), same owner and capacity. By 1952, People’s was in Pleasant Valley, owned by L. Cintrella and V. Yarmatz. The 1955-56 edition showed it owned by just L. Centrella, capacity increased to 343.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac showed the Rogers Corner Drive-In in Pleasant Valley, owned by Peoples Drive-In Theatre Corp., capacity 300. It stayed that way through 1966. It became Rogers Corners in the 1969-76 editions. The 1982-88 International MPAs had it back to the singular Rogers Corner, owned by D. Heilbron.
A 2013 Hartford Courant article said McGrane had owned the drive-in “for 17 years”. A 2008 New York Times article said that McGrane bought the Pleasant Valley “11 years ago”. Both suggest the purchase happened a year or two after 1995.
The Times also mentioned that “In the ’70s, like many theaters, it survived by showing what the multiplexes couldn’t: X-rated movies.”
There’s a superb story of the last weekend of the 2014 season with the current owner (Donna McGrane), the previous owners (Brady and Sally Miller), and the local guy who raised the money for the digital projector’s down payment (Travis Lipinski). The story’s at Entertainment Weekly of all places.
I had always read that the Northfield straddled the border, but Google Maps shows the entire view field, screen and driveway on the NH side. Maybe the total acreage stretches into MA? Or Google Maps' border is wrong.
In the Theatre Catalogs, the Northfield first appeared in the 1949-50 edition as the Auto Th (later Auto DI) in Northfield MA, owner C. (Carl) Nilman, capacity 300, and it stayed like that through 1956.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac also listed “Drive-In” in Northfield MA, C. Nilman, 300. For the 1955 edition, it changed to the Auto Drive-In, keeping everything else, and stayed that way through 1966.
The 1969-76 MPAs listed the Northfield Community in Northfield MA, capacity 400.
The 1982-88 MPAs listed the Northfield Drive In in Winchester NH, owned by Shakour, capacity 220. (The drive-in is closer to Winchester than Hinsdale as the crow flies, though the drive is a little longer.)
The drive-in’s history page says the Shakour family bought it in 1967, and that Mitchell Shakour is the current owner. And I wrote in 2014 that the Northfield ended its season that year with a wedding.
If I interpret the photos at HistoricAerials.com correctly, the Leicester added its second screen in the southeast corner of the main viewing area between 1995 and 1997. Then the third screen, which required carving out a whole new viewing area to the south, came in between 2001 and 2003.
Hanna Joseph built the Robin Hood Drive-In restaurant in the 1960s. In 1967, he built the Leicester on adjoining property. The Worcester Telegram said in August 2017 that his daughter Maria Joseph, who still owns the theater, was reopening the restaurant as Joe’s Drive-In.
On the last week of its 2017 season, the Leicester used all three screens, although only Screen One is digital. Yet they were able to show Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Baywatch on the film-only screens. I didn’t think there were that many 2017 movies still on film.
The Wellfleet opened on July 3, 1957, with “Desk Set,” starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It was built by Spring Brook Center Inc., which has owned it ever since.
It wasn’t listed in the 1959 International Motion Picture Almanac. In 1961, its owner shows up as John M. Jentz, and its capacity is (under-?)stated as 200. That was John Macdonald “Don” Jentz, who went from being an instructor at MIT to leading the investment group that built and ran the drive-in. That low number stuck in subsequent IMPA editions, but by 1982 it was up to 600.
Eleanor Hazen managed the Wellfleet for quite a while, but by 2001 it was run by John Vincent, who is now at least part of the ownership group.
The Overlook must have been built in a hurry! From the Poughkeepsie Journal, Aug. 4, 1949:
Four Albany men have formed a corporation which has purchased property in the Overland Road, Town of LaGrange, as a site for a drive-in theater, it was learned today.
The Albany group has purchased approximately 12 acres of land of the George Beyer property in Overlook road. The deed of the transaction indicated a consideration of $9,000. Members of the corporation were identified as Harry Lamont, Gerald S. Schwartz, Sidney Urbach and Lewis A. Sumberg. The last named is attorney to the corporation.
… The theater will accommodate 700 cars, it was said. The 12-acre tract is bounded on the east by Overlook road and on the west by the Wappingers creek. It is close to DeGarmo bridge.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog listed the Overlook’s owner as Harry Lamont, and its capacity as 700 cars. Other references list the capacity at 500.
The 1952-54 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as “Dutchess Drive-In, Inc., H. Lamont”. Lamont was listed by himself from 1955 through 1966.
In the 1982 MPA, the Overlook is listed under Lagrange with the owner S. F. Cohen, and that’s the way it stayed through its last drive-in list in 1988.
Just noticed that the first Catalog list (1948-49) put Mendon’s drive-in on Mendon-Millville Road. That starts on the southwest side of Mendon. The Milford/Mendon is on Milford Street on the northeast side. So now I’d put my money on a different drive-in and another continuing Almanac error.
Did Mendon once have another drive-in, or is the Mendon’s opening date wrong?
The 1952-53 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac lists only the Auto Drive-In, owner F. Parker, capacity of only 100 cars. The next edition changed the name to Open-Air Drive-In, and that’s how it stayed through the 1955 edition, then things changed.
The 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1952 editions of the Theatre Catalog also list the Mendon Auto Drive-In, owner Fred Parker, capacity 100. There’s nothing in the 1953-54 edition, and in the next drive-in list (the 1955-56 edition) there’s the Milford Drive-in, with the owner of Twin D. I. Th., and Affiliated Ths., capacity 485 cars.
Maybe the Almanacs got it wrong, that the small Auto folded around 1953, soon to be replaced by the larger Mendon, and the Almanac kept assigning the old owner and capacity to the new drive-in. Or maybe Fred Parker kept owning the same drive-in from before 1949 till after the name change. I’ll bet an hour at the local library or a phone call to the right local historian could produce the answer.
2008: a staycation postcard from The Herald News
2013: 10-minute Executive Suite TV interview, with drive-in footage, of the folks who run the Rustic
2017: Very nice drone video including what the front looks like at ground level
There’s a nice article about the Desmaris family and the Rustic in the Sept. 8, 1997 New York Times, still available online 20 years later. A real time capsule! It says Clem and Beverly met while working there in 1954. They bought the Rustic in 1988, threw out the X-rated movies and added two screens.
The 1952 and 1955-56 Theatre Catalogs list it with a capacity of 600 cars, run by M. Stanzler and Affiliated Ths. Corp.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac lists the owner as Rustic Drive-In, Inc. and that capacity at 600. That stayed the same through at least its 1966 edition. In 1982, the owner was Hallmark (not the card company, I hope!) and capacity was 500, and nothing changed through the MPAs' last drive-in list in 1988.
Thanks to Google Books, here are some Billboard magazine excerpts. Personally, I love seeing how the story slowly evolves.
Sept. 26, 1953: Morris Keppner, Burnside Theater Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., and Louis Lipman, Hartford auto dealer, have started construction of a 700-car capacity drive-in at Mansfield, Conn. The project will be ready for operation by spring, 1954.
Oct. 24, 1953: Morris Keppner, partner, Burnside Theater Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., and Louis Lipman, Hartford automobile dealer, listed as principal officers of Theaters, Inc., a newly formed West Hartford corporation, have started construction of a $125,000 drive-in, to accommodate 750 cars, at Mansfield, Conn., three and a half miles north of Willimantic, Conn. Completion is planned for spring, 1954.
Nov. 21, 1953: A March, 1954, opening is planned for the $150,000, 750-car capacity drive-in being built at Mansfield, Conn., by General Theaters, Inc., of which Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman are principal officers. The project is the first of several planned theater units for the West Hartford, Conn., corporation. Keppner is partner in the Burnside Theater, East Hartford, Conn., while Lipman is a real estate developer.
Oct. 30, 1954: The largest screen in eastern Connecticut, 116 feet wide and 62 feet high, has been installed at Mansfield Drive-In, Willimantic. The theater is owned and operated by General Theaters, Inc., West Hartford, principals in which are Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman.
Nov. 20, 1954: The 750-car capacity Mansfield (Conn.) Drive-In, operated by General Theaters, Inc., West Hartford, Conn., will be increased to 850 by spring, according to partners Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman.
According to a 2016 interview on YouTube, owner Michael Jungden started managing the Mansfield in 1974. He leased the drive-in “a few years” after that, added two screens in 1985, and bought it in 1991.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed it with Exec: M. Keppner, Liggett-Florin, capacity 950 cars. And here’s what my (International) Motion Picture Almanacs say:
According to the International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf, the Amenia was almost the smallest US drive-in. The 1969 IMPA’s smallest listed capacity was the Bamberg (SC) Drive-In at 50 vehicles. It listed the Amenia at 54; the very specific number suggests a level of accuracy.
Then again,
a 2014 article in the Poughkeepsie Journal reminisced that it had room for just 44 cars. It also said there was a permanent old car on the grounds to accommodate walk-ins, and that it closed in 1983.
Of course, the world’s smallest is the Jericho Drive-In in the outback of Australia with space for just 34-36 cars.
The ABC (A for Australian) covered the Jericho’s digital conversion in October 2013. That story claimed the capacity is 36 cars. Maybe somebody added a speaker pole? :)
A few newspaper articles say the Randall opened in 1954. In some, the drive-in bills itself as “the world’s smallest,” which is an exaggeration though true in spirit.
Here are the notes from the International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf.
1955: not listed.
1956-66: owner H. B. Hudson, capacity 150 vehicles.
1969-76: 150.
1982: Osterberg, 200.
1984-88: Osterberg, 1 screen.
A May 2006 article in The Herald of Randolph VT said Scott Corse bought the Randall “11 years ago”. He rented it to Larry and Laurie Girard in 2006, and to Lorena Miller and family in 2012.
Adam Gerhard and Regina Franz leased the Randall from Corse in 2013. They raised enough money from the community for a down payment on a digital projector. The Herald wrote that Corse later told them he’d told them in February 2014 that the lease would not be renewed, and after the 2014 season, they kept the projector with them as they left. That led to the civil suit filed by the state of Vermont, as TomMc11 mentioned, though the defendants maintain their innocence and say the suit includes erroneous, unsubstantiated by any evidence, and in many cases outright false statements.
In May 2015, David and Tammy Tomaszewski, operators of the local indoor theater, took over the drive-in, renaming it the Bethel. The Herald wrote, “Tomaszewski confirmed this week that he and Scott Corse, who owns the drive-in, have signed a ‘yearly renewable lease’ for 20 years.”
The Bethel managed to get by with 35mm in 2015, then the Tomaszewskis started making serious improvements such as a new screen (replacing the original from 1954) and a digital projector. That email interview is in the Aug. 12, 2017 Valley News.
“(Reginald) Drowns built the Holiday Park Drive-In in 1950, and renamed it the Hi Way 5 Motel and Drive-In when he added six motel units 10 years later. It was the first of its kind in the country.”
The article goes on to say that Reginald screened every film in advance, spliced out racy scenes, and rigged the sound to go silent on cuss words. Wife Terri ran the motel and wouldn’t rent to anyone who didn’t look married or who drank beer.
Also, the Hi Way 5 must have been closed in the mid-80s. “People still talk about the reopening weekend of 1987. A couple from Connecticut named Ray and Elaine Herb took a chance on reviving the motel and drive-in, which had fallen into neglect after being shuttered for a few years.” Peter and Erika Trapp bought the Fairlee in 2003.
Now there are three drive-in / motels, thanks to the addition of a motel at the Sunset in Colchester VT, but the Fairlee was the first. I don’t know of any drive-in / motel combination that ever closed; if you do, please add a comment.
It appears that the Fairlee opened as the Holiday Park, then changed to the Hi-Way 5 in the early 1960s. Maybe at the same time the motel went up?
The 1952 and 1955-56 Theatre Catalogs list only the Holiday Park for Fairlee, owner “Reginald Drown, and Daytz Th. Ent.”, capacity 200 vehicles.
The 1952-54 editions of the Motion Picture Almanac also list the Holiday Park for Fairlee, owner Daytz Thea. Ent. Corp., no capacity noted. Other editions:
And despite all those changes, Seven Days wrote in 2013 that Ernest and Dorothy Handy bought the drive-in from a developer in 1948 and ran it until their retirement in 1979, when son Peter Handy took over ownership.
Also, the Sunset’s “Sunset in the News” page (pdf) is a photo of the Lake Champlain Weekly from July 2008, and it says that Peter added those two screens in 1980, then added the fourth in 1994.
Mallet’s Bay is listed separately on Cinema Treasures. It was open for a lot of the same years as the Sunset, which the Motion Picture Almanacs and Theatre Catalogs listed under Burlington. (The MPAs also eventually listed Mallets Bay under Burlington.)
Here’s what my Theatre Catalogs say about the Sunset.
1948-49: owner John Gardiner, Sunset Amusement Corp., capacity 300 vehicles. The Sunset was the only drive-in it listed for Vermont in that edition.
1949-50: John Gardiner, 300.
1952: D. Handy, and Daytz Th. Entr., 600.
1955-56: D. Handy, and Affiliated Ths. Corp., 600.
The reference books on my shelf don’t say much about Hathaway’s. The Theatre Catalogs from 1949-56 list F. Chase Hathaway as owner and a capacity of 400 vehicles.
The Motion Picture Almanacs from 1952-66 all list the owner as “Hathaway’s Drive-In Theatre, Inc.; Sylvan Leff” and a capacity of 338. The terse listings from 1969-76 continue with the 338 capacity, and from 1982-88, Hathaway’s was not listed, despite evidence elsewhere of continuous operation.
The International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf line up very well with the official history from my previous post. It also shows how slowly the IMPAs responded to changes that it continued showing the Milford as a single screen in its last national drive-in list in its 1988 edition.
The Milford Drive-In was built in 1958 and owned by a local group of people. Several area contractors contributed labor and materials during construction hoping for a share of future profits. The drive-in opened as a single screen theater with an 84 foot wooden frame screen, a combination concession, projection, and restroom building, a box office and a playground. During the 1960’s the drive-in was leased to and managed by another couple.
In 1969, the Scharmett family purchased the drive-in from the original owners and they have operated it continuously since then, except for three years during the 1970’s when the business was leased to Fall River Theater Corporation. Some of the many improvements the Scharmett’s have made over the years include: completely renovating the concession and restrooms, installing a new steel screen to replace the original wooden structure, building a new marquee, building a new box office, paving the entrance road, and being the first drive-in in New Hampshire to provide both AM and FM radio sound to its customers.
In 1984, the drive-in became a twin when additional acreage was cleared and a second screen was added. A second floor was constructed above the original building to provide room for a new projection room. At the same time the drive-in’s projection equipment was upgraded and continues to be upgraded to meet the growing technology demands of a modern operation.
Today, the Milford Drive-In is the only remaining drive-in theater in southern New Hampshire. Our patrons often drive from great distances just to enjoy the nostalgia, fun times, great food, and first run movies under the stars.
The 1948-49 Theatre Catalog listed the Rogers Corner Dr. in Bark Hamsted (sic), owner Vincent Yarmatz, capacity 300. The 1949-50 edition has the People’s Dr. in Winsted (5 miles west), same owner and capacity. By 1952, People’s was in Pleasant Valley, owned by L. Cintrella and V. Yarmatz. The 1955-56 edition showed it owned by just L. Centrella, capacity increased to 343.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac showed the Rogers Corner Drive-In in Pleasant Valley, owned by Peoples Drive-In Theatre Corp., capacity 300. It stayed that way through 1966. It became Rogers Corners in the 1969-76 editions. The 1982-88 International MPAs had it back to the singular Rogers Corner, owned by D. Heilbron.
A 2013 Hartford Courant article said McGrane had owned the drive-in “for 17 years”. A 2008 New York Times article said that McGrane bought the Pleasant Valley “11 years ago”. Both suggest the purchase happened a year or two after 1995.
The Times also mentioned that “In the ’70s, like many theaters, it survived by showing what the multiplexes couldn’t: X-rated movies.”
There’s a superb story of the last weekend of the 2014 season with the current owner (Donna McGrane), the previous owners (Brady and Sally Miller), and the local guy who raised the money for the digital projector’s down payment (Travis Lipinski). The story’s at Entertainment Weekly of all places.
I had always read that the Northfield straddled the border, but Google Maps shows the entire view field, screen and driveway on the NH side. Maybe the total acreage stretches into MA? Or Google Maps' border is wrong.
In the Theatre Catalogs, the Northfield first appeared in the 1949-50 edition as the Auto Th (later Auto DI) in Northfield MA, owner C. (Carl) Nilman, capacity 300, and it stayed like that through 1956.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac also listed “Drive-In” in Northfield MA, C. Nilman, 300. For the 1955 edition, it changed to the Auto Drive-In, keeping everything else, and stayed that way through 1966.
The 1969-76 MPAs listed the Northfield Community in Northfield MA, capacity 400.
The 1982-88 MPAs listed the Northfield Drive In in Winchester NH, owned by Shakour, capacity 220. (The drive-in is closer to Winchester than Hinsdale as the crow flies, though the drive is a little longer.)
The drive-in’s history page says the Shakour family bought it in 1967, and that Mitchell Shakour is the current owner. And I wrote in 2014 that the Northfield ended its season that year with a wedding.
If I interpret the photos at HistoricAerials.com correctly, the Leicester added its second screen in the southeast corner of the main viewing area between 1995 and 1997. Then the third screen, which required carving out a whole new viewing area to the south, came in between 2001 and 2003.
Hanna Joseph built the Robin Hood Drive-In restaurant in the 1960s. In 1967, he built the Leicester on adjoining property. The Worcester Telegram said in August 2017 that his daughter Maria Joseph, who still owns the theater, was reopening the restaurant as Joe’s Drive-In.
On the last week of its 2017 season, the Leicester used all three screens, although only Screen One is digital. Yet they were able to show Dunkirk, Wonder Woman, Transformers: The Last Knight, and Baywatch on the film-only screens. I didn’t think there were that many 2017 movies still on film.
And its web site and Facebook page are both active as I type.
The Wellfleet opened on July 3, 1957, with “Desk Set,” starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It was built by Spring Brook Center Inc., which has owned it ever since.
It wasn’t listed in the 1959 International Motion Picture Almanac. In 1961, its owner shows up as John M. Jentz, and its capacity is (under-?)stated as 200. That was John Macdonald “Don” Jentz, who went from being an instructor at MIT to leading the investment group that built and ran the drive-in. That low number stuck in subsequent IMPA editions, but by 1982 it was up to 600.
Eleanor Hazen managed the Wellfleet for quite a while, but by 2001 it was run by John Vincent, who is now at least part of the ownership group.
The Overlook must have been built in a hurry! From the Poughkeepsie Journal, Aug. 4, 1949:
Four Albany men have formed a corporation which has purchased property in the Overland Road, Town of LaGrange, as a site for a drive-in theater, it was learned today.
The Albany group has purchased approximately 12 acres of land of the George Beyer property in Overlook road. The deed of the transaction indicated a consideration of $9,000. Members of the corporation were identified as Harry Lamont, Gerald S. Schwartz, Sidney Urbach and Lewis A. Sumberg. The last named is attorney to the corporation.
… The theater will accommodate 700 cars, it was said. The 12-acre tract is bounded on the east by Overlook road and on the west by the Wappingers creek. It is close to DeGarmo bridge.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog listed the Overlook’s owner as Harry Lamont, and its capacity as 700 cars. Other references list the capacity at 500.
The 1952-54 Motion Picture Almanacs listed the owner as “Dutchess Drive-In, Inc., H. Lamont”. Lamont was listed by himself from 1955 through 1966.
In the 1982 MPA, the Overlook is listed under Lagrange with the owner S. F. Cohen, and that’s the way it stayed through its last drive-in list in 1988.
Just noticed that the first Catalog list (1948-49) put Mendon’s drive-in on Mendon-Millville Road. That starts on the southwest side of Mendon. The Milford/Mendon is on Milford Street on the northeast side. So now I’d put my money on a different drive-in and another continuing Almanac error.
Did Mendon once have another drive-in, or is the Mendon’s opening date wrong?
The 1952-53 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac lists only the Auto Drive-In, owner F. Parker, capacity of only 100 cars. The next edition changed the name to Open-Air Drive-In, and that’s how it stayed through the 1955 edition, then things changed.
1956-57: Milford, F. Parker, 100. 1959: Milford, Interstate, 300. 1961-66: Milford, Interstate, 100. 1969-76: Milford, 100. 1982: Milford, Interst Ths., 500. 1984-88: Milford, Interst. Ths., 1 screen.
The 1948-49, 1949-50, 1950-51 and 1952 editions of the Theatre Catalog also list the Mendon Auto Drive-In, owner Fred Parker, capacity 100. There’s nothing in the 1953-54 edition, and in the next drive-in list (the 1955-56 edition) there’s the Milford Drive-in, with the owner of Twin D. I. Th., and Affiliated Ths., capacity 485 cars.
Maybe the Almanacs got it wrong, that the small Auto folded around 1953, soon to be replaced by the larger Mendon, and the Almanac kept assigning the old owner and capacity to the new drive-in. Or maybe Fred Parker kept owning the same drive-in from before 1949 till after the name change. I’ll bet an hour at the local library or a phone call to the right local historian could produce the answer.
Three good YouTube videos:
2008: a staycation postcard from The Herald News 2013: 10-minute Executive Suite TV interview, with drive-in footage, of the folks who run the Rustic 2017: Very nice drone video including what the front looks like at ground level
The Motion Picture Herald wrote in 1952 that Meyer Stanzler was the Boro’s operator. Full text on Internet Archive.
There’s a nice article about the Desmaris family and the Rustic in the Sept. 8, 1997 New York Times, still available online 20 years later. A real time capsule! It says Clem and Beverly met while working there in 1954. They bought the Rustic in 1988, threw out the X-rated movies and added two screens.
The 1952 and 1955-56 Theatre Catalogs list it with a capacity of 600 cars, run by M. Stanzler and Affiliated Ths. Corp.
The 1952-53 Motion Picture Almanac lists the owner as Rustic Drive-In, Inc. and that capacity at 600. That stayed the same through at least its 1966 edition. In 1982, the owner was Hallmark (not the card company, I hope!) and capacity was 500, and nothing changed through the MPAs' last drive-in list in 1988.
Thanks to Google Books, here are some Billboard magazine excerpts. Personally, I love seeing how the story slowly evolves.
Sept. 26, 1953: Morris Keppner, Burnside Theater Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., and Louis Lipman, Hartford auto dealer, have started construction of a 700-car capacity drive-in at Mansfield, Conn. The project will be ready for operation by spring, 1954.
Oct. 24, 1953: Morris Keppner, partner, Burnside Theater Corporation, East Hartford, Conn., and Louis Lipman, Hartford automobile dealer, listed as principal officers of Theaters, Inc., a newly formed West Hartford corporation, have started construction of a $125,000 drive-in, to accommodate 750 cars, at Mansfield, Conn., three and a half miles north of Willimantic, Conn. Completion is planned for spring, 1954.
Nov. 21, 1953: A March, 1954, opening is planned for the $150,000, 750-car capacity drive-in being built at Mansfield, Conn., by General Theaters, Inc., of which Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman are principal officers. The project is the first of several planned theater units for the West Hartford, Conn., corporation. Keppner is partner in the Burnside Theater, East Hartford, Conn., while Lipman is a real estate developer.
Oct. 30, 1954: The largest screen in eastern Connecticut, 116 feet wide and 62 feet high, has been installed at Mansfield Drive-In, Willimantic. The theater is owned and operated by General Theaters, Inc., West Hartford, principals in which are Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman.
Nov. 20, 1954: The 750-car capacity Mansfield (Conn.) Drive-In, operated by General Theaters, Inc., West Hartford, Conn., will be increased to 850 by spring, according to partners Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman.
According to a 2016 interview on YouTube, owner Michael Jungden started managing the Mansfield in 1974. He leased the drive-in “a few years” after that, added two screens in 1985, and bought it in 1991.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed it with Exec: M. Keppner, Liggett-Florin, capacity 950 cars. And here’s what my (International) Motion Picture Almanacs say:
(listed under Mansfield CT)
1955-61: Liggett-Florin, 780.
1963-66: Morris Keppner, 780.
(listed under Willimantic CT)
1969-76: 900.
1982: M. Jungden, 950.
1984-88: M. Jungden, 1 screen.
According to the International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf, the Amenia was almost the smallest US drive-in. The 1969 IMPA’s smallest listed capacity was the Bamberg (SC) Drive-In at 50 vehicles. It listed the Amenia at 54; the very specific number suggests a level of accuracy.
Then again, a 2014 article in the Poughkeepsie Journal reminisced that it had room for just 44 cars. It also said there was a permanent old car on the grounds to accommodate walk-ins, and that it closed in 1983.
Of course, the world’s smallest is the Jericho Drive-In in the outback of Australia with space for just 34-36 cars.
The ABC (A for Australian) covered the Jericho’s digital conversion in October 2013. That story claimed the capacity is 36 cars. Maybe somebody added a speaker pole? :)
A few newspaper articles say the Randall opened in 1954. In some, the drive-in bills itself as “the world’s smallest,” which is an exaggeration though true in spirit.
Here are the notes from the International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf.
1955: not listed.
1956-66: owner H. B. Hudson, capacity 150 vehicles.
1969-76: 150.
1982: Osterberg, 200.
1984-88: Osterberg, 1 screen.
A May 2006 article in The Herald of Randolph VT said Scott Corse bought the Randall “11 years ago”. He rented it to Larry and Laurie Girard in 2006, and to Lorena Miller and family in 2012.
Adam Gerhard and Regina Franz leased the Randall from Corse in 2013. They raised enough money from the community for a down payment on a digital projector. The Herald wrote that Corse later told them he’d told them in February 2014 that the lease would not be renewed, and after the 2014 season, they kept the projector with them as they left. That led to the civil suit filed by the state of Vermont, as TomMc11 mentioned, though the defendants maintain their innocence and say the suit includes erroneous, unsubstantiated by any evidence, and in many cases outright false statements.
In May 2015, David and Tammy Tomaszewski, operators of the local indoor theater, took over the drive-in, renaming it the Bethel. The Herald wrote, “Tomaszewski confirmed this week that he and Scott Corse, who owns the drive-in, have signed a ‘yearly renewable lease’ for 20 years.”
The Bethel managed to get by with 35mm in 2015, then the Tomaszewskis started making serious improvements such as a new screen (replacing the original from 1954) and a digital projector. That email interview is in the Aug. 12, 2017 Valley News.
Aha! The August 2015 issue of Southwest: The Magazine says my guesses were on target.
“(Reginald) Drowns built the Holiday Park Drive-In in 1950, and renamed it the Hi Way 5 Motel and Drive-In when he added six motel units 10 years later. It was the first of its kind in the country.”
The article goes on to say that Reginald screened every film in advance, spliced out racy scenes, and rigged the sound to go silent on cuss words. Wife Terri ran the motel and wouldn’t rent to anyone who didn’t look married or who drank beer.
Also, the Hi Way 5 must have been closed in the mid-80s. “People still talk about the reopening weekend of 1987. A couple from Connecticut named Ray and Elaine Herb took a chance on reviving the motel and drive-in, which had fallen into neglect after being shuttered for a few years.” Peter and Erika Trapp bought the Fairlee in 2003.
Now there are three drive-in / motels, thanks to the addition of a motel at the Sunset in Colchester VT, but the Fairlee was the first. I don’t know of any drive-in / motel combination that ever closed; if you do, please add a comment.
It appears that the Fairlee opened as the Holiday Park, then changed to the Hi-Way 5 in the early 1960s. Maybe at the same time the motel went up?
The 1952 and 1955-56 Theatre Catalogs list only the Holiday Park for Fairlee, owner “Reginald Drown, and Daytz Th. Ent.”, capacity 200 vehicles.
The 1952-54 editions of the Motion Picture Almanac also list the Holiday Park for Fairlee, owner Daytz Thea. Ent. Corp., no capacity noted. Other editions:
1955: Holiday Park, R. E. Brown, no capacity.
1956-59: Holiday Park, R. E. Brown, 300.
1961-63: Holiday Park, Holiday Park, Inc., 300.
1966: Hi-Way 5, R. E. Drown, 400.
1969-76: Hi-Way 5, 400.
1982: Hi Way 5, Drown, 300.
1984-88: Hi Way 5, Drown, 1 screen.
And despite all those changes, Seven Days wrote in 2013 that Ernest and Dorothy Handy bought the drive-in from a developer in 1948 and ran it until their retirement in 1979, when son Peter Handy took over ownership.
Also, the Sunset’s “Sunset in the News” page (pdf) is a photo of the Lake Champlain Weekly from July 2008, and it says that Peter added those two screens in 1980, then added the fourth in 1994.
Mallet’s Bay is listed separately on Cinema Treasures. It was open for a lot of the same years as the Sunset, which the Motion Picture Almanacs and Theatre Catalogs listed under Burlington. (The MPAs also eventually listed Mallets Bay under Burlington.)
Here’s what my Theatre Catalogs say about the Sunset.
1948-49: owner John Gardiner, Sunset Amusement Corp., capacity 300 vehicles. The Sunset was the only drive-in it listed for Vermont in that edition.
1949-50: John Gardiner, 300.
1952: D. Handy, and Daytz Th. Entr., 600.
1955-56: D. Handy, and Affiliated Ths. Corp., 600.
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And here are the details from my MPAs.
1952-53: Daytz Theas., 600.
1953-54: Daytz Theas., 416.
1955-59: H. Young, 416.
1961-66: Sunset Amuse. Corp., 416.
1969-76: 416.
1982: M. Jarvis, 500.
1984: P. Handy, 1 screen
1986-88: P. Handy, 3 screens.
The reference books on my shelf don’t say much about Hathaway’s. The Theatre Catalogs from 1949-56 list F. Chase Hathaway as owner and a capacity of 400 vehicles.
The Motion Picture Almanacs from 1952-66 all list the owner as “Hathaway’s Drive-In Theatre, Inc.; Sylvan Leff” and a capacity of 338. The terse listings from 1969-76 continue with the 338 capacity, and from 1982-88, Hathaway’s was not listed, despite evidence elsewhere of continuous operation.
The International Motion Picture Almanacs on my shelf line up very well with the official history from my previous post. It also shows how slowly the IMPAs responded to changes that it continued showing the Milford as a single screen in its last national drive-in list in its 1988 edition.
1959: not listed.
1961-63: owner/operator Sidney Goodridge, capacity 300.
1969-76: 300.
1982: Fall Riv., 300.
1984-88: R. Scharmett, 1 screen.
From the Milford’s About Us page:
The Milford Drive-In was built in 1958 and owned by a local group of people. Several area contractors contributed labor and materials during construction hoping for a share of future profits. The drive-in opened as a single screen theater with an 84 foot wooden frame screen, a combination concession, projection, and restroom building, a box office and a playground. During the 1960’s the drive-in was leased to and managed by another couple.
In 1969, the Scharmett family purchased the drive-in from the original owners and they have operated it continuously since then, except for three years during the 1970’s when the business was leased to Fall River Theater Corporation. Some of the many improvements the Scharmett’s have made over the years include: completely renovating the concession and restrooms, installing a new steel screen to replace the original wooden structure, building a new marquee, building a new box office, paving the entrance road, and being the first drive-in in New Hampshire to provide both AM and FM radio sound to its customers.
In 1984, the drive-in became a twin when additional acreage was cleared and a second screen was added. A second floor was constructed above the original building to provide room for a new projection room. At the same time the drive-in’s projection equipment was upgraded and continues to be upgraded to meet the growing technology demands of a modern operation.
Today, the Milford Drive-In is the only remaining drive-in theater in southern New Hampshire. Our patrons often drive from great distances just to enjoy the nostalgia, fun times, great food, and first run movies under the stars.