Wellfleet Drive-In

51 State Highway Route 6,
Wellfleet, MA 02667

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Related Websites

Wellfleet Cinemas (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corp.

Architects: Burt W. Federman

Functions: Movies (First Run)

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 508.349.7176

Nearby Theaters

Wellfleet Drive-In

One of the better drive-in theatres on the cape, independently owned, so better service and prices. The Wellfleet Drive-In opened July 3, 1957 with Katherine Hepburn in “Desk Set”. Associated with the adjacent Wellfleet Cinema. By 1970 it was operated by Daytz Theatre Enterprises Corp.

Contributed by Thom

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

cinemaboy
cinemaboy on February 14, 2005 at 12:52 am

The architect for this theater, as well as almost if not all of the Sack Cinemas, and Sonny and Eddy’s Cinemas, and many independently owned cinemas, was Burt W. Federman. His office was in Park Square (Boston) and he designed or “twinned” literally thousands of cinemas in the New England area. By the 1980’s, he designed many of the Showcase cinemas located in New England and the central atlantic states. He passed away in 1987. He had also developed a soundproofing system for cinemas which had been first used in a mutiplex he had designed in the Bronx.

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on July 18, 2005 at 10:35 am

What a great theatre! I’ve been bike-backpacking in the cape for a few weeks. It’s on Route 6 where inns dot the landscape and it’s a few miles from one of the town’s centers. They have found a niche and a way to stay in business all year round. They have one movie screen as well as a mini-golf course (that’s very subpar, no pun intended), a restaurant, a bar that faces the golf course with ice cream, etc. The adjacent field serves as a weekly flea market, the largest of its kind in the area. The staff are awesome too.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on August 6, 2011 at 11:48 am

The map shows this in the wrong location. It’s located farther south toward North Eastham, a little south of Gill Road and across the highway from Village Lane.

The Wellfleet is a fabulous drive-in…in fact, a complete drive-in and cinema complex to die for. I’ll post more later, including pictures.

Chris1982
Chris1982 on September 25, 2014 at 1:39 am

The Welllfleet Drive-In is a single screen drive-in with a car capacity of 700 cars. It is open seasonaby from April thru October.. The Wellfleet Cinema is a four screen. It is independently owned and operated by the Wellfleet Theatres. Both Theatres have made the conversion to digital projection.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on September 25, 2014 at 4:51 pm

Actually Chris1982 I called the recording this year and the drive in closes the 2nd week in September for the season. I was there last year the 3rd week and it had just closed. I was very disappointed.

Chris1982
Chris1982 on September 25, 2014 at 11:41 pm

Their last week end to be open was Sept. 19 & Sept. 20 with “Jurassic Park” & “Jaws” showing.

TomMc11
TomMc11 on July 27, 2017 at 4:04 pm

Use the format 51 US-6, Wellfleet, MA 02667 when using Google Maps or Historic Aerials. The format above does not map properly on either, but the one I just posted does.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on October 2, 2017 at 11:57 am

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.

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on November 22, 2018 at 1:06 am

looks like it was twin at one time!

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on August 25, 2019 at 6:21 pm

According to the Cape Cod Chronicle, it was Charles Zehnder and Don Jentz who opened the Wellfleet in 1957.

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