101 Movies Drive-In

280 Smith Ranch Road,
San Rafael, CA 94903

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Blumenfeld Theater Circuit

Previous Names: 101 Drive-In

Nearby Theaters

Enlarged speaker from Mark Chambers photo.

Opened on July 27, 1962 with Elvis Presley in “Blue Hawaii” & Jerry Lewis in “Visit to a Small Planet”. This was a drive-in just north of San Rafael, California. It was a pretty big drive-in too, with a capacity for 1,000 cars. You could see the screen from the highway as you passed by. It was very popular with the high school kids. It was closed around 1980-1981.

The Cinemark Regency 6 was built on the site, opening in October 1983.

Contributed by Celeste

Recent comments (view all 13 comments)

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on August 9, 2018 at 2:43 pm

Did it show 101 movies before it closed?

Scott Neff
Scott Neff on August 9, 2018 at 6:57 pm

No. But it was right off Highway 101.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on September 14, 2019 at 2:05 pm

The 101 Movies Drive-In Closed Between 1980 And 1981. The Cinemark Regency 6 Which It Opened In October 1983 Now Sits In This Site.

stevenj
stevenj on September 14, 2019 at 4:51 pm

The Apple map above shows a remote location far to the west of 280 Smith Ranch Rd.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on September 14, 2019 at 5:24 pm

the Apple maps are not reliable. Copy & paste the address into Google and click on the map it gives you. It will pull up an April 2019 Street View of the Regency Cinema at that location then.

stevenj
stevenj on September 14, 2019 at 7:45 pm

I did just that David Z but that will not correct the map on this site. Was hoping one of the site administrators would see this and correct it for this page.

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on September 15, 2019 at 3:33 pm

stevenj & DavidZorning:I tried to make a correction to the map, but could not succeed. Sorry about that. Ken Roe, Volunteer Theatre Editor.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on September 15, 2019 at 4:15 pm

Thank you Ken Roe for all that you do. It is much appreciated.

stevenj
stevenj on September 15, 2019 at 4:56 pm

Thanks for trying Ken.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on February 1, 2020 at 10:35 pm

Boxoffice, Aug. 20, 1962: “After eight months of construction, the 1,000-car 101 Drive-In has been opened by Blumenfeld Theatres. … Cost of construction was placed at $500,000 … A feature of the big screen is that its surface is porcelainized metal rather than the painted plywood often used on drive-ins in this area.”

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