Some of its original installations include a 50x46ft screen, a 40x30ft concession/projection building, and a capacity of 300 cars. it was first owned by Lester Soule, and was later operated by Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corporation.
Throughout its history, the theater area has a long history of vehicle accidents, even during the theater’s construction.
The Norway Drive-In closed after the 1985 season, and was last owned by Kenneth Kilgore of Paris, Maine.
It was once operated by Peter J. Marrone, who joined Affiliated Theatres by 1952. A few years later, it was operated by the Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corporation.
The Sturbridge Drive-In closed in 1968, and was demolished a few years later to make way for another racetrack but the screen was still standing. The racetrack was demolished several years later.
The Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center now occupies the former theater site.
The Pioneer Valley Drive-In opened its gates on September 9, 1951 with “Petty Girl” and “Branded” (unknown if any short subjects added). It was first operated by John Whitney, and his brother Oakley who was the projectionist.
It was renamed simply the “Pioneer Drive-In” at the start of the 1972 season. When the 1980s rolled along, the Pioneer Drive-In received a number of incidents.
On May 17, 1980, both the Orange Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police dispersed an unruly crowd inside the theater. A 19-year-old Athol man was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct and released on personal recognizance at the Athol police station. A similar incident happened on April 7, 1984 but not much info.
On May 15, 1981, a Class A brush fire was extinguished near the Pioneer Drive-In, which the theater itself received no damage.
On June 12, 1982, the snack bar was closed for one evening following the manager reported to police that a number of kids were throwing objects and cursing near the snack bar. The kids vanished by the time police arrived. The theater also received trouble in May 1984 following concerns over several suspicious kids.
On August 5, 1982, police investigated a report of two men coming out of the woods near the theater carrying backpacks and sleeping bags. They were spotted heading for the railroad tracks, but the suspects fled after an officer spotted him, and both were never found.
On August 18, 1983, the operator of the theater was picking blueberries when he turned around and finds several police officers notifying him that he parked his car illegally.
On October 17, 1983, three speaker posts were knocked over during a vandalism report.
On September 3, 1984, police were called after reports of a person riding his bike inside the concession stand. Police immediately took the bike to the station. This came one week after a break-in at the theater.
The Pioneer Drive-In closed after the 1985 season and was demolished in mid-1986.
The Joy Theatre closed for the final time on October 1, 1980 with “Revenge Of The Bushido Blade” and “Dolemite”. It originally closed due to repairs, but later confirmed as its final closing.
Found it. The theater was located on 53 NH-10, Orford, NH 03777, and judging by articles and showtimes, it was primarily named the Starlite Drive-In.
The Starlite Drive-In opened its gates on June 1, 1952 with Red Skelton in “Texas Carnival” and Fred Astaire in “You Were Never Lovelier” with no extra short subjects.
The Starlite closed for the final time on August 3, 1987 with “Adventures In Babysitting” and “Outrageous Fortune”. Both the screen and concession/projection booths were demolished a few years later.
On November 26, 1986, the Ranch Mart Theatre officially became the first movie house in Kansas (and the Kansas City market) to have installations of THX sound. It costed Commonwealth a total of $60,000 in equipment as well as remodeling.
Missouri received its first two THX theaters on the same day, June 5, 1987, when AMC opened the Metro North Plaza 6 in Kansas City and a sound system upgrade at the Wehrenberg Kenrick 8 Cine in Shrewsbury near St. Louis.
I looked up 19 Drive-In’s website archives and it appears that the 19 Drive-In closed in August 2020, meaning that the theater closed in the middle of the 2020 season. It did plan to reopen for the 2021 season but it never happened due to updates, repairs, and improvements. And as of 2024, the theater was still closed and abandoned.
The Electric Theatre opened as early as 1907. In the early-1910s while under the management of C.H. Barkalow, the theater suffered destruction from a massive fire which destroyed four buildings on First Street (north of Maple). It was rebuilt and reopened a short time later.
The Electric Theatre closed as a movie house in 1931 but retained as a special events house until 1932.
The Ozark Theatre opened its doors on September 23, 1930 with “The Eyes Of The World” (unknown if extras added) and was first operated by J.R. Ghosen. Tom Edwards purchased the building in 1933 and was remodeled in 1940.
The Ozark Theatre fire of February 1949 happened in the morning hours of February 24, 1949 caused by faulty wiring, causing an estimate loss of $50,000 in damages. Ms. Phillipean Spaulding was underneath the marquee after spending time at the business section upstairs when she turned around and saw the explosion. She said several doors and windows were blown open. Afterward, she ran across the street and back toward town to report the fire when she met two of the city’s firefighters, who immediately went Code 3. They fought the fire and climbed on top of the Masonic Temple. Bill Smith was the manager of the theater at the time and said that the janitor had left the building a short time before the fire started. Despite nobody being injured, Smith notified Tom Edwards (or Tommy Edwards by his real name). Edwards said that the total loss of the theater was the amount above, but most of which were covered by insurance, and immediately planned for a new theater at the site. The original schedule for the Ozark Theatre immediately hopped on over to the other nearby movie theater in Eldon at the time, Tom’s Theatre.
NOTE: It was also the second theater being destroyed in a fire in Eldon, with the first one dating back to the early 1900s when four frame buildings on First Street, just north of Maple, were completely destroyed. One of which was the Electric Theater, operated by C.H. Barkalow at the time.
The Ozark Theatre was rebuilt by Edwards and Smith themselves and reopened on September 8, 1949 with Doris Day in “My Dream Is Yours” with no extra short subjects.
The Ozark Theater closed on May 14, 1969 with Steve McQueen in “Bullitt” and was demolished in December of that same year.
It appears that both the Corral Drive-In and the older Drive-In are actually two separate drive-ins in different locations.
I cannot find any info about the older drive-In that lasted for only a short period of time, but Tom Edwards opened the Corral Drive-In’s gates on May 20, 1952 with James Craig in “Drums Of The Deep South” (unknown if extras added). Some original information about the Corral Drive-In including a 60ft screen, RCA individual speakers, 900ft white cedar fence surrounding the drive-in, a playground featuring slides and swings, and the entirety of concessions, projection, and restrooms are in one single 30x45ft building. It was located on a 40 acre plot atop a hill and the viewing area surfaced with chat covers 10 acres in total.
Unfortunately the Eldon Advertiser stopped showing ads for the Corral Drive-In right after the 1980 season, but it appears that the theater closed before the 1983 season after the screen went down during high winds that May.
The Delco Theatre opened on September 13, 1919 with Pat O'Malley in “The Red Glove”, and closed in August 1937 when Harry Blount opened the Plaza Theatre nearby (which would later unfortunately suffer damage from a nearby hotel fire exactly less than 24 hours after grand opening).
Harry Blount opened the Plaza Theatre on August 5, 1937 as the replacement of the Delco Theatre.
Unfortunately on the very next day after grand opening, the Plaza Theatre suffered damage from a nearby hotel fire. Its newly-installed plate glass windows were destroyed, as well as some of its sun-tan structural glass in the front of the wall and the marquee glass were cracked. This led to a very short closure until reopening a short time later.
This started life as the Garrison Cinema, and opened its doors on June 27, 1974 with Julie Andrews in “The Sound Of Music”. The Garrison Cinema had a capacity of 268 seats and was locally-owned by Garrison Cinemas Ltd. led by R.G. McEwan.
Unfortunately, the Garrison Cinema did host an opening as a special events house with a special pageant contest three days before it officially opened as a movie theater.
The Capitol Theatre opened with Shirley Temple in “Our Little Girl” (unknown if any extra short subjects were added).
Information about the Capitol as of 1935 goes as follows: Throughout the entire building interior features lounging rooms for both genders. The lounging room for men featured glowing hunting reds with red furniture, while the lounging room for women features delicate peach color with apple green furniture. The powder room is in pink and ivory equipped with triple full-sized mirrors and make-up shelves featuring a third section in lavender. The color combinations are carried out with unusual blends that are most pleasing to the eye.
The mezzanine from which the lounging rooms lead are finished in blue with a silver leaf in the ceiling, and was trimmed in gold. The overhead is also in a lighting fixture in variegated colors. There are thick floors and cushion rugs woven especially for room while canary yellow furniture was installed. Throughout the foyer and the grand staircase featured the same color. The staircase woodwork is in ebony black capped with silver leaf while the overhead lighting is a long narrow fixture extending the length of the foyer giving a soft lighting effect.
Inside the auditorium proper, the lighting fixtures above the capacity of seats are constructed with possible 25 different color combinations. A wide isle extends down the center of the auditorium and wide aisles are on each side. The entirety of its original seats are blue seats with gold plush backs. They are both roomy and wide apart so that nobody need to stand if another desires to move out first. The drapery in the stage extends across the entire front of the building’s interior, and was listed by the Dubinsky Brothers as one of the largest draperies ever in the midwest.
The entirety of air conditioning and filtering systems are Westinghouse installations. Some of these include its 425hp direct connected fully automatic compressors and an F-12 dichlorodifluoromethane refrigerant systems. The F-12 is non-toxic, non-inflammable, and odorless gas giving them the very last degree of safety to patrons. These compressors are able to give the sum of 74 tons of refrigeration when all four machines are operating or the equivalent of the melting of 148,000 pounds of ice in 24 hours. They are turn connected means of cooper pipe to one large copper expansion coil known to be one of the largest single air conditioning coils to be fabricated and weigh in itself almost 2,000 pounds. There are also elaborate systems of ducts, with six large openings into the main ceiling and five under the balcony where comparatively low velocity cold dry air will spill over the plate defuser neatly made a part of the lighting fixtures onto the audience below causing no drafts and no rapid rush of air against patrons. On the mezzanine lounge and entrance foyer are four high velocity directional flow grills giving the customizers a cool breeze as they enter the theater during summer months. Behind all this is the elaborate control system by which the entire plant operated by one master switch located in the manager’s office in the rear of the house. When the manager wants cooling, he has only to throw the switch to an “on” position which in turn, by means of electronically controls starts the supply fan and the condenser water circulating pump which feeds water through condensers and thus up onto the roof where it is cooled in an all-metal cooling tower. In winter months, it takes outside air through a preheater coil which is supplied with heat through an automatically controlled supply valve which is in turn controlled by the temperature of the incoming outside air. It is then mixed in the mixing chamber with some recirculated air and all passes through the filters and then through a large heating coil also regulated by an automatic supply valve which is regulated by the temperature of the return air. Then on through the supply fan and distributed over the theater by means of the system of ducts.
American Multi-Cinema (AMC Theatres) last operated the Capitol for only a month following the announcement to the theater building’s sellout to the chain. AMC closed the Capitol on May 15, 1970 with the Three Stooges in “The Outlaws Is Coming”.
Despite being first operated by AMC Theatres, it was later taken over by Crown Cinema Corporation later in the 1970s. This was followed by Dickinson Theatres and finally Hollywood Theaters.
The Crown Cinema Corporation (or Crown Theatres as I called it) opened the twin-screen Capital 2 Theatres on February 15, 1978. Both auditoriums split in 1985 and became the Capital 4 Theatres, with a total capacity of 1,250 seats.
It was later operated by Dickinson Theatres, then Hollywood Theaters, and finally Goodwich Quality Theaters.
Some of its original installations include a 50x46ft screen, a 40x30ft concession/projection building, and a capacity of 300 cars. it was first owned by Lester Soule, and was later operated by Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corporation.
The Norway Drive-In closed after the 1985 season, and was last owned by Kenneth Kilgore of Paris, Maine.
Correction: It opened with “The Petty Girl” and “Branded”, not “Pretty Girl”.
It was once operated by Peter J. Marrone, who joined Affiliated Theatres by 1952. A few years later, it was operated by the Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corporation.
The Sturbridge Drive-In closed in 1968, and was demolished a few years later to make way for another racetrack but the screen was still standing. The racetrack was demolished several years later.
The Sturbridge Host Hotel and Conference Center now occupies the former theater site.
Edited from my July 19, 2020 (11:51 am) comment:
The Pioneer Valley Drive-In opened its gates on September 9, 1951 with “Petty Girl” and “Branded” (unknown if any short subjects added). It was first operated by John Whitney, and his brother Oakley who was the projectionist.
It was renamed simply the “Pioneer Drive-In” at the start of the 1972 season. When the 1980s rolled along, the Pioneer Drive-In received a number of incidents.
On May 17, 1980, both the Orange Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police dispersed an unruly crowd inside the theater. A 19-year-old Athol man was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct and released on personal recognizance at the Athol police station. A similar incident happened on April 7, 1984 but not much info.
On May 15, 1981, a Class A brush fire was extinguished near the Pioneer Drive-In, which the theater itself received no damage.
On June 12, 1982, the snack bar was closed for one evening following the manager reported to police that a number of kids were throwing objects and cursing near the snack bar. The kids vanished by the time police arrived. The theater also received trouble in May 1984 following concerns over several suspicious kids.
On August 5, 1982, police investigated a report of two men coming out of the woods near the theater carrying backpacks and sleeping bags. They were spotted heading for the railroad tracks, but the suspects fled after an officer spotted him, and both were never found.
On August 18, 1983, the operator of the theater was picking blueberries when he turned around and finds several police officers notifying him that he parked his car illegally.
On October 17, 1983, three speaker posts were knocked over during a vandalism report.
On September 3, 1984, police were called after reports of a person riding his bike inside the concession stand. Police immediately took the bike to the station. This came one week after a break-in at the theater.
The Pioneer Drive-In closed after the 1985 season and was demolished in mid-1986.
Closed after the 1980 season.
The Joy Theatre closed for the final time on October 1, 1980 with “Revenge Of The Bushido Blade” and “Dolemite”. It originally closed due to repairs, but later confirmed as its final closing.
On March 24, 2024, Round Lake Beach Police and Fire officials responded to a break-in after reports of someone breaking inside the abandoned theater.
Found it. The theater was located on 53 NH-10, Orford, NH 03777, and judging by articles and showtimes, it was primarily named the Starlite Drive-In.
The Starlite Drive-In opened its gates on June 1, 1952 with Red Skelton in “Texas Carnival” and Fred Astaire in “You Were Never Lovelier” with no extra short subjects.
The Starlite closed for the final time on August 3, 1987 with “Adventures In Babysitting” and “Outrageous Fortune”. Both the screen and concession/projection booths were demolished a few years later.
On November 26, 1986, the Ranch Mart Theatre officially became the first movie house in Kansas (and the Kansas City market) to have installations of THX sound. It costed Commonwealth a total of $60,000 in equipment as well as remodeling.
I looked up 19 Drive-In’s website archives and it appears that the 19 Drive-In closed in August 2020, meaning that the theater closed in the middle of the 2020 season. It did plan to reopen for the 2021 season but it never happened due to updates, repairs, and improvements. And as of 2024, the theater was still closed and abandoned.
Judging by aerials, it appears that the drive-in lasted into as late as the 1990s, but was demolished completely by 2004.
The Electric Theatre opened as early as 1907. In the early-1910s while under the management of C.H. Barkalow, the theater suffered destruction from a massive fire which destroyed four buildings on First Street (north of Maple). It was rebuilt and reopened a short time later.
The Electric Theatre closed as a movie house in 1931 but retained as a special events house until 1932.
The Ozark Theatre opened its doors on September 23, 1930 with “The Eyes Of The World” (unknown if extras added) and was first operated by J.R. Ghosen. Tom Edwards purchased the building in 1933 and was remodeled in 1940.
The Ozark Theatre fire of February 1949 happened in the morning hours of February 24, 1949 caused by faulty wiring, causing an estimate loss of $50,000 in damages. Ms. Phillipean Spaulding was underneath the marquee after spending time at the business section upstairs when she turned around and saw the explosion. She said several doors and windows were blown open. Afterward, she ran across the street and back toward town to report the fire when she met two of the city’s firefighters, who immediately went Code 3. They fought the fire and climbed on top of the Masonic Temple. Bill Smith was the manager of the theater at the time and said that the janitor had left the building a short time before the fire started. Despite nobody being injured, Smith notified Tom Edwards (or Tommy Edwards by his real name). Edwards said that the total loss of the theater was the amount above, but most of which were covered by insurance, and immediately planned for a new theater at the site. The original schedule for the Ozark Theatre immediately hopped on over to the other nearby movie theater in Eldon at the time, Tom’s Theatre.
The Ozark Theatre was rebuilt by Edwards and Smith themselves and reopened on September 8, 1949 with Doris Day in “My Dream Is Yours” with no extra short subjects.
The Ozark Theater closed on May 14, 1969 with Steve McQueen in “Bullitt” and was demolished in December of that same year.
It appears that both the Corral Drive-In and the older Drive-In are actually two separate drive-ins in different locations.
I cannot find any info about the older drive-In that lasted for only a short period of time, but Tom Edwards opened the Corral Drive-In’s gates on May 20, 1952 with James Craig in “Drums Of The Deep South” (unknown if extras added). Some original information about the Corral Drive-In including a 60ft screen, RCA individual speakers, 900ft white cedar fence surrounding the drive-in, a playground featuring slides and swings, and the entirety of concessions, projection, and restrooms are in one single 30x45ft building. It was located on a 40 acre plot atop a hill and the viewing area surfaced with chat covers 10 acres in total.
Unfortunately the Eldon Advertiser stopped showing ads for the Corral Drive-In right after the 1980 season, but it appears that the theater closed before the 1983 season after the screen went down during high winds that May.
The Delco Theatre opened on September 13, 1919 with Pat O'Malley in “The Red Glove”, and closed in August 1937 when Harry Blount opened the Plaza Theatre nearby (which would later unfortunately suffer damage from a nearby hotel fire exactly less than 24 hours after grand opening).
Harry Blount opened the Plaza Theatre on August 5, 1937 as the replacement of the Delco Theatre.
General Cinema operated the theater until Classic Cinemas took it over on March 25, 1990.
Correction: It was the Crown Cinema Corporation that took over the Ritz after United Artists, not Crown Theatres.
This started life as the Garrison Cinema, and opened its doors on June 27, 1974 with Julie Andrews in “The Sound Of Music”. The Garrison Cinema had a capacity of 268 seats and was locally-owned by Garrison Cinemas Ltd. led by R.G. McEwan.
Once operated by the Dubinsky Brothers.
First operated by the Dubinsky Brothers.
Also in the middle of the commercial, it has that same aerial shot except one of the “Flick My BIC” snipes was playing on the screen.
The Capitol Theatre opened with Shirley Temple in “Our Little Girl” (unknown if any extra short subjects were added).
Information about the Capitol as of 1935 goes as follows: Throughout the entire building interior features lounging rooms for both genders. The lounging room for men featured glowing hunting reds with red furniture, while the lounging room for women features delicate peach color with apple green furniture. The powder room is in pink and ivory equipped with triple full-sized mirrors and make-up shelves featuring a third section in lavender. The color combinations are carried out with unusual blends that are most pleasing to the eye.
The mezzanine from which the lounging rooms lead are finished in blue with a silver leaf in the ceiling, and was trimmed in gold. The overhead is also in a lighting fixture in variegated colors. There are thick floors and cushion rugs woven especially for room while canary yellow furniture was installed. Throughout the foyer and the grand staircase featured the same color. The staircase woodwork is in ebony black capped with silver leaf while the overhead lighting is a long narrow fixture extending the length of the foyer giving a soft lighting effect.
Inside the auditorium proper, the lighting fixtures above the capacity of seats are constructed with possible 25 different color combinations. A wide isle extends down the center of the auditorium and wide aisles are on each side. The entirety of its original seats are blue seats with gold plush backs. They are both roomy and wide apart so that nobody need to stand if another desires to move out first. The drapery in the stage extends across the entire front of the building’s interior, and was listed by the Dubinsky Brothers as one of the largest draperies ever in the midwest.
The entirety of air conditioning and filtering systems are Westinghouse installations. Some of these include its 425hp direct connected fully automatic compressors and an F-12 dichlorodifluoromethane refrigerant systems. The F-12 is non-toxic, non-inflammable, and odorless gas giving them the very last degree of safety to patrons. These compressors are able to give the sum of 74 tons of refrigeration when all four machines are operating or the equivalent of the melting of 148,000 pounds of ice in 24 hours. They are turn connected means of cooper pipe to one large copper expansion coil known to be one of the largest single air conditioning coils to be fabricated and weigh in itself almost 2,000 pounds. There are also elaborate systems of ducts, with six large openings into the main ceiling and five under the balcony where comparatively low velocity cold dry air will spill over the plate defuser neatly made a part of the lighting fixtures onto the audience below causing no drafts and no rapid rush of air against patrons. On the mezzanine lounge and entrance foyer are four high velocity directional flow grills giving the customizers a cool breeze as they enter the theater during summer months. Behind all this is the elaborate control system by which the entire plant operated by one master switch located in the manager’s office in the rear of the house. When the manager wants cooling, he has only to throw the switch to an “on” position which in turn, by means of electronically controls starts the supply fan and the condenser water circulating pump which feeds water through condensers and thus up onto the roof where it is cooled in an all-metal cooling tower. In winter months, it takes outside air through a preheater coil which is supplied with heat through an automatically controlled supply valve which is in turn controlled by the temperature of the incoming outside air. It is then mixed in the mixing chamber with some recirculated air and all passes through the filters and then through a large heating coil also regulated by an automatic supply valve which is regulated by the temperature of the return air. Then on through the supply fan and distributed over the theater by means of the system of ducts.
American Multi-Cinema (AMC Theatres) last operated the Capitol for only a month following the announcement to the theater building’s sellout to the chain. AMC closed the Capitol on May 15, 1970 with the Three Stooges in “The Outlaws Is Coming”.
Despite being first operated by AMC Theatres, it was later taken over by Crown Cinema Corporation later in the 1970s. This was followed by Dickinson Theatres and finally Hollywood Theaters.
The Crown Cinema Corporation (or Crown Theatres as I called it) opened the twin-screen Capital 2 Theatres on February 15, 1978. Both auditoriums split in 1985 and became the Capital 4 Theatres, with a total capacity of 1,250 seats.
It was later operated by Dickinson Theatres, then Hollywood Theaters, and finally Goodwich Quality Theaters.