An article in the March 30, 1957 issue of Boxoffice liberally quoted a newspaper article written by Kelly A. Crawford, Allen Theatres manager, describing the history of theaters in the county. “The first motion picture theatre was opened in the San Juan basin at Farmington in the summer of 1912 by Frank B. Allen … Not only was it one of the first movie houses in the U. S., but today the Allen Theatre is the oldest theatre in the Rocky mountain area under the same family operation.”
Boxoffice, March 23, 1957: “Leonard Steele, owner of the Vida, Spearfish, and Wally O'Neil, owner of the Hills Drive-In there, are each building new homes in Spearfish.”
Boxoffice, March 23, 1957: “Gibralter Enterprises has sold the Sierra Drive-In, Socorro, N. M., to Lester Dollison, who now has six theatres in New Mexico”
Adding emphasis to the closing date. Boxoffice, March 16, 1957: “The Black Hills Amusement Co., which recently bought the Stockade Drive-In, Chadron, Neb., is dismantling the ozoner.”
Boxoffice, March 9, 1957: “Glen Wittstruck has sold the Rio in Meeker, as well as his home there, to Dr. Willis E. Scott, a dentist. … He still owns the Buckskin Drive-In, Ignacio, Colo, which is on the market”
Boxoffice, Feb. 9, 1957: “O. K. Leonard, owner of the Apache, Globe, Ariz., has taken over the Joy ozoner in nearby Cactus from J. L. Lightfoot. The Joy is being renamed the Cactus, with W. G. McKinley appointed as manager.”
Within Arizona but outside of Tucson, which is not near Globe, I can’t find a Cactus or Joy drive-in, or a town named Cactus for that matter. It would be interesting if Cactus was a name for what is now part of Globe, and that the Joy which became the Cactus later became the second Apache. It’s just as likely that some guy at Boxoffice got something wrong again.
Aha, here’s what happened to it. Boxoffice, Feb. 9, 1957: “AKRON, COLO. – Fred Hall, a high school teacher here, and his wife have sold the Varsity Theatre to Jack and Jim McMillion.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 19, 1957: “Marie Ortiz, seventh grade pupil, won the first prize in the contest to rename the Isis Theatre. Her winning name was the Spur.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1956: “Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Kelloff have taken over the 800-seat Uptown in Pueblo and will operate it. The house has been operated the past 25 years by the Cooper Foundation Theatres.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 17, 1956: “Ed and John Nelson have closed the Olathe, Olathe, Colo. They were unable to show a profit even with the full cooperation of the merchants”
Boxoffice, Oct. 20, 1956: “SILVERTON, COLO. – The Barlows, who run the Lode Theatre here, are convinced that it’s wise for business people to keep up with changing times. Since they remodeled their theatre this year to accommodate wide-screen projection, they say the quality of shows has been raised and the general improvements are paying off in increased customer support.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 8, 1956: “GILLESPIE, ILL. – Louis Odorizzi of Staunton, Ill., who owns and operates the Sunset Drive-In on Highway 66 near Mount Olive, Ill., has leased the old Lyric Theatre here and is readying it for reopening in the next 60 days. … Odorizzi plans to reopen the house with a new name, the Canna Theatre.”
The Grand Opening ad in the photo section said the Clinton was 1¼ miles north of Clinton on Highway 63. The Boxoffice note I just posted said the Breeze-Way was 3½ miles north on Highway 63. Both are accurate. The Clinton did not become the Breeze-Way.
HistoricAerials shows the Clinton in 1949 at 2801 N Main St., and still there in 1953 and 1955. All three times, the future Breeze-Way site is undeveloped. In the 1962 aerial, there’s nothing left of the Clinton; it looks just like the gravel supply it is now. But the Breeze-Way is there in 1962, further north on the same highway. The Breeze-Way was still outlined in a 1987 topo map, but the screen was gone by a 1992 photo.
Boxoffice, July 28, 1956: “CLINTON, IND. – Gene Marietta and Gene Hathaway have opened their new Breeze-Way Drive-In Theatre, three and a half miles north on Highway 63.”
Boxoffice, July 28, 1956: “Harry L. Nace, head of the Harry L. Nace Theatres, has bought the interest of Malcolm White, mayor of Scottsdale, in the Valley Theatre Corp. there. … The purchase makes his the sole owner of the two Scottsdale theatres, the Roundup and the Kiva. … The Roundup, a drive-in, will be expanded with 150 stadium-type seats being installed for walk-in patrons, and 270 new automobile speakers added.”
Boxoffice, June 30, 1956: “WILLCOX, ARIZ. – The new drive-in theatre here, owned by Long Theatres of Safford, has been opened here under the supervision of Cecil Flint, manager of the Long Theatres here.”
Boxoffice, June 23, 1956: “Fire destroyed the $20,000 screen at the Falls Motor Vu Drive-In shortly before opening time on a recent Monday night. Owner-Manager L. A. Donohue said the 60x108-foot screen, a total loss, is insured for $20,000. Donohue said he believed the fire may have been started by children playing behind the screen, as four children came from the vicinity of the screen about 7:55 p.m. and told him it was on fire. The blaze was out of control before fire trucks arrived.”
Boxoffice, June 9, 1956: “WESTWOOD VILLAGE, CALIF. – Continuing to expand its southland exhibition holdings, the Robert L. Lippert circuit has purchased the Uclan Theatre here from the Paul Dietrich-Manny Feldstein chain. The 850-seat showcase, operating for the past several years on an art house policy, will be renamed the Crest”
In the May 26, 1956 issue, one of the typical managerial rotation notes in Boxoffice mentioned that the Fulton Drive-In had been “recently acquired by Commonwealth.”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1956: “J. K. Munsell’s just-completed Baker Drive-In Theatre is open for business. The 230-car outdoorer, four miles west of town, is described as “strictly modern,” with a widescreen specifically built to eliminate distortion from the sides of the parking area.”
There was a nice long article in the April 28, 1956 issue of Boxoffice describing how incoming manager Ralph Bradshaw ended the practice of using an armed guard to chase away vandals and began employing young native Americans from a nearby Yaqui settlement to maintain and police the site.
An article in the March 30, 1957 issue of Boxoffice liberally quoted a newspaper article written by Kelly A. Crawford, Allen Theatres manager, describing the history of theaters in the county. “The first motion picture theatre was opened in the San Juan basin at Farmington in the summer of 1912 by Frank B. Allen … Not only was it one of the first movie houses in the U. S., but today the Allen Theatre is the oldest theatre in the Rocky mountain area under the same family operation.”
Boxoffice, March 23, 1957: “Leonard Steele, owner of the Vida, Spearfish, and Wally O'Neil, owner of the Hills Drive-In there, are each building new homes in Spearfish.”
Boxoffice, March 23, 1957: “Gibralter Enterprises has sold the Sierra Drive-In, Socorro, N. M., to Lester Dollison, who now has six theatres in New Mexico”
Adding emphasis to the closing date. Boxoffice, March 16, 1957: “The Black Hills Amusement Co., which recently bought the Stockade Drive-In, Chadron, Neb., is dismantling the ozoner.”
Boxoffice, March 9, 1957: “Glen Wittstruck has sold the Rio in Meeker, as well as his home there, to Dr. Willis E. Scott, a dentist. … He still owns the Buckskin Drive-In, Ignacio, Colo, which is on the market”
Boxoffice, March 9, 1957: “Glen Wittstruck has sold the Rio in Meeker, as well as his home there, to Dr. Willis E. Scott, a dentist.”
Boxoffice, Feb. 9, 1957: “O. K. Leonard, owner of the Apache, Globe, Ariz., has taken over the Joy ozoner in nearby Cactus from J. L. Lightfoot. The Joy is being renamed the Cactus, with W. G. McKinley appointed as manager.”
Within Arizona but outside of Tucson, which is not near Globe, I can’t find a Cactus or Joy drive-in, or a town named Cactus for that matter. It would be interesting if Cactus was a name for what is now part of Globe, and that the Joy which became the Cactus later became the second Apache. It’s just as likely that some guy at Boxoffice got something wrong again.
Aha, here’s what happened to it. Boxoffice, Feb. 9, 1957: “AKRON, COLO. – Fred Hall, a high school teacher here, and his wife have sold the Varsity Theatre to Jack and Jim McMillion.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 19, 1957: “Marie Ortiz, seventh grade pupil, won the first prize in the contest to rename the Isis Theatre. Her winning name was the Spur.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1956: “Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Kelloff have taken over the 800-seat Uptown in Pueblo and will operate it. The house has been operated the past 25 years by the Cooper Foundation Theatres.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 17, 1956: “Ed and John Nelson have closed the Olathe, Olathe, Colo. They were unable to show a profit even with the full cooperation of the merchants”
Boxoffice, Oct. 20, 1956: “SILVERTON, COLO. – The Barlows, who run the Lode Theatre here, are convinced that it’s wise for business people to keep up with changing times. Since they remodeled their theatre this year to accommodate wide-screen projection, they say the quality of shows has been raised and the general improvements are paying off in increased customer support.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 8, 1956: “GILLESPIE, ILL. – Louis Odorizzi of Staunton, Ill., who owns and operates the Sunset Drive-In on Highway 66 near Mount Olive, Ill., has leased the old Lyric Theatre here and is readying it for reopening in the next 60 days. … Odorizzi plans to reopen the house with a new name, the Canna Theatre.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 1, 1956: “Al O'Keefe and Judy Poynter have taken over the Sunset Drive-In in Taft from Jim Parks”
Boxoffice, Aug. 4, 1956: “The Five Points Drive-In, Five Points, has been closed permanently”
The Grand Opening ad in the photo section said the Clinton was 1¼ miles north of Clinton on Highway 63. The Boxoffice note I just posted said the Breeze-Way was 3½ miles north on Highway 63. Both are accurate. The Clinton did not become the Breeze-Way.
HistoricAerials shows the Clinton in 1949 at 2801 N Main St., and still there in 1953 and 1955. All three times, the future Breeze-Way site is undeveloped. In the 1962 aerial, there’s nothing left of the Clinton; it looks just like the gravel supply it is now. But the Breeze-Way is there in 1962, further north on the same highway. The Breeze-Way was still outlined in a 1987 topo map, but the screen was gone by a 1992 photo.
Boxoffice, July 28, 1956: “CLINTON, IND. – Gene Marietta and Gene Hathaway have opened their new Breeze-Way Drive-In Theatre, three and a half miles north on Highway 63.”
Boxoffice, July 28, 1956: “Harry L. Nace, head of the Harry L. Nace Theatres, has bought the interest of Malcolm White, mayor of Scottsdale, in the Valley Theatre Corp. there. … The purchase makes his the sole owner of the two Scottsdale theatres, the Roundup and the Kiva. … The Roundup, a drive-in, will be expanded with 150 stadium-type seats being installed for walk-in patrons, and 270 new automobile speakers added.”
Boxoffice, June 30, 1956: “WILLCOX, ARIZ. – The new drive-in theatre here, owned by Long Theatres of Safford, has been opened here under the supervision of Cecil Flint, manager of the Long Theatres here.”
Boxoffice, June 23, 1956: “Fire destroyed the $20,000 screen at the Falls Motor Vu Drive-In shortly before opening time on a recent Monday night. Owner-Manager L. A. Donohue said the 60x108-foot screen, a total loss, is insured for $20,000. Donohue said he believed the fire may have been started by children playing behind the screen, as four children came from the vicinity of the screen about 7:55 p.m. and told him it was on fire. The blaze was out of control before fire trucks arrived.”
Boxoffice, June 9, 1956: “WESTWOOD VILLAGE, CALIF. – Continuing to expand its southland exhibition holdings, the Robert L. Lippert circuit has purchased the Uclan Theatre here from the Paul Dietrich-Manny Feldstein chain. The 850-seat showcase, operating for the past several years on an art house policy, will be renamed the Crest”
Boxoffice, June 2, 1956: “Paul Milner has bought the Star, Imperial, Neb., from Carlin Smith”
In the May 26, 1956 issue, one of the typical managerial rotation notes in Boxoffice mentioned that the Fulton Drive-In had been “recently acquired by Commonwealth.”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1956: “J. K. Munsell’s just-completed Baker Drive-In Theatre is open for business. The 230-car outdoorer, four miles west of town, is described as “strictly modern,” with a widescreen specifically built to eliminate distortion from the sides of the parking area.”
There was a nice long article in the April 28, 1956 issue of Boxoffice describing how incoming manager Ralph Bradshaw ended the practice of using an armed guard to chase away vandals and began employing young native Americans from a nearby Yaqui settlement to maintain and police the site.