Jolly Roger Drive-In

11141 Canal Road,
Cincinnati, OH 45241

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Jolly Roger Drive-In

The short lived and pirate themed Jolly Roger Drive-In opened on September 15, 1967, screening the comedy/romance “Barefoot in the Park” with Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Charles Boyer and Mildred Natwick. The second feature was the 1966 comedy/drama “Alfie” with Michael Caine, Shelly Winters and Millicent Martin. It was opened by Sam Levin dba Roger Inc. and Levin Services from Dayton, OH. Levin Services were also operating the Feguson Hills Drive-In along with several other drive-in theatres in the Dayton, OH area. Car capacity was 1,600 cars with in-a-car speakers and in-a-car heaters. It was advertsised as being open all year. The screen tower featured a screen that was 120ft wide. The entrance to the drive-in was called Gangplank Road and at the end of it was a 65ft replica of an old Caribbean seas fort that was the ticket offices. The refreshment stand was decorated in a pirate motif and all the theatre personnel wore pirate costumes. In the 1970’s the Jolly Rogers flea market opened.

Levin Services only leased the property for ten years with the option to buy in at the end of the lease. In 1977, times were changing in the drive-in theatre business, so Levin Services decided not to exercise the option to buy the property. The Jolly Roger Drive-In closed at the end of the 1977 season and it is now a UPS Customer Service Center.

Contributed by Randy Studer, moviemad4life

Recent comments (view all 9 comments)

CatfishFilms
CatfishFilms on October 13, 2005 at 3:40 am

Used to sneak into Jolly Roger…without a car! We’d have Dad drop us off at the nearby roller skating rink, then dash across I-75 and sneak through the woods and into the Drive-In. Then, we’d look for single young ladies with a car. When entering the NORMAL way, with a car, you’d drive through a little castle-style building where you would pay. That little castle survived the demolition of the Drive-In for a few years; it was easily visible from the highway. Then, it too disappeared, ending all traces of this delightfully themed theater. YARRRGH!!!

MWW

ZookieFreddie
ZookieFreddie on July 11, 2006 at 6:38 pm

Why is there no meation of a Jolly Roger Theater in Kettering, Ohio? It was on the south side of E. David Road.

meheuck
meheuck on April 2, 2008 at 2:18 am

I want to say that for a brief time, this drive-in reopened in the early ‘80’s as the “Captain Kidd” or “Captain Blood,” maybe for only a summer. If it wasn’t this location, it had to be nearby.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on January 2, 2010 at 3:15 pm

August 9 1974 NOW SHOWING THE SWINGING CHEERLEADERS in a First run in Cincinnati.It was playing Day and date with the RIVERVUE AUTO drive in.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on January 2, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Soft Core Sex night at the JOLLY ROGER. Along with the SWINGING CHEERLEADERS is second feature THE CLASS OF ‘74. Third movie is THE STUDENT TEACHERS and to close the night out THE ROOMMMATES all Rated R of course. August 9 1974.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 2, 2010 at 4:09 pm

Here is a 1968 aerial photo. Drive-ins.com has this theater in Sharonville, which I guess is a suburb of Cincinnati.
http://tinyurl.com/ydkbqtm

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on March 17, 2010 at 4:01 pm

Nice aerial ken mc,they all look the same from the sky.

MovieMad52
MovieMad52 on August 16, 2014 at 10:06 pm

To clarify….Jolly Roger Drive In was in Cincinnati. the Capital Kidd, which had a lot of local resistance to opening was in Dayton. Both owned by Levin Services.

Jbharuch
Jbharuch on June 19, 2015 at 1:30 pm

1977 Bob Seger’s Night Moves had just come out… The movie The White Buffalo was playing… She was a senior and I was a sophmore…

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