Highway 65 Drive-In

Autoscope Drive,
Buffalo, MO 65622

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Buffalo Autoscope Drive-In

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Highway 65 Drive-In

The Buffalo Autoscope Drive-In was the second autoscope drive in, and opened on August 1, 1954 with Marlene Dietrich in “Rancho Notorious”. It was originally owned and operated by Tom Smith of Urbana, who opened the first (much smaller) Autoscope in nearby Urbana in 1953. Both Autoscope’s were open in 1954, but then the Urbana Autoscope closed. This drive-in had space for 122 cars, and operated as an Autoscope for about 20 years, which I think is the longest any drive-in ever operated as an Autoscope.

Eventually in the 1970’s, it was converted to a conventional drive in with space for 250 cars, and was renamed Highway 65 Drive In, which closed in 1997.

Contributed by Bob Brown

Recent comments (view all 18 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 2, 2015 at 9:18 pm

The October 23, 1954, Boxoffice article about the Buffalo Autoscope Drive-In that I linked to in an earlier comment has been moved. Here are current links:

First page

Second page

Third page

j3jackson
j3jackson on December 30, 2016 at 11:57 am

My grandpa, Elza Jackson was third owner with Bert Croley and Tom Smith. My dad, Jim Jackson,said he worked there and helped build and maintain it.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on November 1, 2018 at 7:33 am

When it reopened as Highway 65 Drive-in, it had 250 cars.

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on December 1, 2018 at 1:49 am

i just uploaded a very very cool aerial of ir from 1959 from historic aerials.com

jwmovies
jwmovies on March 4, 2019 at 11:08 pm

The address for this theater is now 1600 North Ash Street, Buffalo, MO 65622. This points directly to the entrance and exit roads which are still there.

Please update.

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on March 5, 2019 at 10:13 am

a closer address is Autoscope Rd Buffalo, Missouri

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on January 8, 2020 at 8:59 am

To re-emphasize Joe Vogel’s excellent post, in the Modern Theatre Buyers' Directory section of the Oct. 23, 1954 issue of Boxoffice, there was a three-page article about the Autoscope. It included plenty of photos including an aerial view (uploaded here), closeups of the projection setup, and a shot of the central concession / projection building.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on July 14, 2021 at 6:02 pm

Boxoffice, April 29, 1974: “BUFFALO, MO. - The Autoscope Drive-In on U.S. 65 north of here, recently acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Robert DeJarnette from Mr. and Mrs. Bert Croley, opened Friday (5) on a weekends-only policy. The Croleys had been associated with the airer since it started operation approximately 20 years ago. The DeJarnettes have moved to Buffalo from Minneapolis, where Bob was a distributor for United Artists for more than 17 years. The Autoscope Drive-In will be open to moviegoers ever night during summer.”

stereo3d
stereo3d on January 23, 2023 at 2:07 pm

Joe’s links to the Oct. 23, 1954 issue of Boxoffice are no longer working. The article starts on page 16 of “The Modern Theatre Section” and the magazine is available online at https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/27007049/boxoffice-october231954

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on January 23, 2023 at 4:19 pm

Thanks for the update, stereo3d. Here is a clickable link to the October 23, 1954 issue of Boxoffice.

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