According to a researcher at the Navajo County Historical Society in Holbrook, the 66’s last ad in the Holbrook Tribune News was on Aug. 16, 1957. Also, Nace’s ad in the Arizona Republic, which included Holbrook’s indoor Roxy plus ozoners Mt. Elden and Tonto, stopped including the 66 on May 17, 1957. For now, my guess is that 1957 was the 66’s final season.
Boxoffice, Dec. 18, 1978: “William B. Boren, son of Bill Boren, will take over the operation of the newly purchased Blackwell’s Video Theatre and the Pioneer Drive-In. Both situations were bought from Video Independent Theatres.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 15, 1973: “Athel Boyter, Boyter Booking Agency, took over operation of the Waldron Theatre and Hillcrest Drive-In at Lindsay Monday (1). Boyter’s partner and manager is Dan Wolfenbarger”
Boxoffice, June 17, 1974: “Dan Wolfenbarger … recently purchased (the Waldron Theatre and Hillcrest Drive-In at Lindsay) from Athel Boyter of Oklahoma City”
Dickinson ran the Webb City for 34 seasons, 1964-1997.
Boxoffice, Dec. 16, 1963: “Dickinson, Inc., has acquired the Webb City Drive-In, Webb City; the 66 Drive-In and the Roxy, Carthage, from William D. Bradfield, effective April 1964, according to Glen W. Dickinson jr., head of the circuit.”
Hollywood Theatres took over Dickinson’s Joplin-area indoor theaters on Oct. 3, 1997. The Webb City was the last movie house to stay under the Dickinson banner for one more weekend. Its final show was on Sunday, Oct. 12, the double feature of “Conspiracy Theory” & “Fire Down Below.” Dickinson announced the sale of the drive-in to Wal-Mart the following spring.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 21, 1954: “The Orpheum Theatre. Joplin, Mo., will be reopened September 2 under new ownership and management. P. D. Crockett, of Webb City, is the new owner. He said negotiations for the purchase of the theatre were completed a short time after the theatre was closed last May by former owner, Fox Ozark Theaters, Inc., of Kansas City.”
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.”
Boxoffice, April 5, 1965: “Wendell Peck has purchased the Fiesta Drive-In and the Beloit Theatre at Beloit, Kas., from the Mid-Central Realty Co. Until the change the theatres were operated by the Commonwealth circuit.”
via Christine Larson, administrator for the Buckeye Public Library:
According to the Buckeye Valley News, the theatre opened on Friday, August 26, 1955 showing, “Rear Window,” starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly and “Arrowhead,” with Charlton Heston and Kathy Jurado. Robert Young, who formerly operated drive-in theatres in Colorado was the proprietor of the enterprise which was located on South 5th Street at Irwin. The theatre included speakers to accommodate 200 cars with room to grow. There was a building which housed the projection equipment, snack bar and washrooms. The 85’x40’ screen accommodated the wide cinemascope pictures.
The Tonto’s final ad in the twice-a-week Winslow Mail was on Sept. 11, 1985, showing “European Vacation” and “Summer Rental.” It included a note “Rialto opens Friday”, so the switchover to the indoor theater happened after the Tonto’s last night on Sept. 12, 1985.
A reminiscent note in the Jan. 3, 1986 Mail included, “We took the boys to the Tonto Drive-In Theater. The best speakers were still up front. “The movie never starts on time,” Phyllis predicted to the boys. “Twenty minutes after it is supposed to start, everyone will honk their horns and then it will start.” Her memories of 1963 (Troy Donahue & Sandra Dee in A Summer Place) prove absolutely reliable predictors for 1985 (Richard Pryor in The Toy). She also predicted that at least one train would pass by in the middle of the movie. There were two. Progress, I suppose.”
(Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sun, Dec. 3, 1954: “The Rodeo Drive-in movie was shaken but undamaged by an explosion yesterday. Similar explosions have damaged other Tucson theaters owned by Hugh Downe and Wes Becker, owners of the Rodeo.”
(Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sun, June 20, 1980: “BISBEE - a Cochise County grand jury has returned indictments in connection with the showing of sexually-oriented films by a Douglas drive-in theater. The indictments named Spring-Wick Corp. of Phoenix, owners Tom Springer and Bruce Wicks, and Hector Delgadillo of Douglas, manager of the Fort Apache Drive-In. They were charged with public display of explicit sexual materials. The indictments Thursday stemmed from the showing of two X-rated films, "Screwpies” and “The Coming of Angels.”
“Low and medium resolution images of photographs and textual material from Cline Library’s Colorado Plateau Digital Collections are always freely available by using the download or print icon in the upper right hand corner of the item record. The only requirement is that you properly credit the item, as described below and in our image use policy.”
Kingman, 1968. NAU.PH.85.3.210.114. Fronske Studio. Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University.
The Gage’s first appearance in the Arizona Republic movie page, in fine print without a mention of a grand opening, was on Sept. 14, 1956. The double feature was “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates” and “Raw Edge”.
As to when it closed, if Kingman phone books suddenly stopped listing it in 1968, that was probably its final season. (We know it opened that year thanks to the sign photo with “Sgt. Ryker”.) The Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in list was mostly on autopilot in 1967-76.
The Sage / Vale was definitely on West Indian School Road, near where aerial photos show a drive-in by 1958 through 1986. (The screen was gone in 1987.) Please add Sage Drive-In as a Previous Name here.
Boxoffice, Dec. 21, 1957: “ELKHART, KAS. - The Doric Theatre, completely rebuilt since it was damaged by fire more that a year ago, was reopened recently with “Love in the Afternoon” as the opening attraction. New walls, a modern front and complete new lobby have been built. All seats in the theatre have been refinished and new carpeting and tiling provided. Projection and sound equipment, screen, restrooms, drinking fountains, concessions stand and interior decorations are all new. The building is owned by C. S. McClung. A contract was signed recently by Dr. K. W. Pieratt of Dumas, Tex., and J. B. Mann of Guymon, Okla., with McClung for a long term lease on the theatre building and fixtures. Delbert Stewart, who manages the Sands Drive-In south of here on Highway 95 for Pieratt and Mann, is manager of the Doric as well.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 21, 1957: “ELKHART, KAS. - The Doric Theatre, completely rebuilt since it was damaged by fire more that a year ago, was reopened recently … The building is owned by C. S. McClung. A contract was signed recently by Dr. K. W. Pieratt of Dumas, Tex., and J. B. Mann of Guymon, Okla., with McClung for a long term lease on the theatre building and fixtures. Delbert Stewart, who manages the Sands Drive-In south of here on Highway 95 for Pieratt and Mann, is manager of the Doric as well.”
The final listing (as “Belair”) in the daily Pacific Theatres' ad in the Los Angeles Times was Sept. 10, 1989. It had the movies that DriveIn101 mentioned a couple of posts ago, but it wasn’t in any Pacific ads after that.
This drive-in opened as the Mt. Vernon Motor-In, the name it showed on its sign probably at least until it was twinned in 1973. The San Bernardino County Sun wrote on Nov. 10, 1972: “The Bombs: There’s a triple bill of motorcycle flicks – “The Hellcats,” “The Sidehackers,” and “Hell’s Belles” – at the Mt. Vernon Motor-In.” That was its final set of movies as a single-screen on Nov. 14 that year.
Pacific Theatres' final listing for the Mt. Vernon in the Los Angeles Times on Sept. 10, 1989, was “Turner and Hooch” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” on one screen, and “Lock Up” and “Cage” on the other.
The Los Angeles Times' final listing for the Valley was on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 1977, when the drive-in showed a couple of Italian films, “Autopsy” and “Sacrifice.”
Chet Wilkins of the Ontario Neon Co. called the Valley’s screen tower “the largest neon mural in the world”. It was assembled over weeks at the First Baptist Church of Ontario because its basement floor was large enough to accommodate it.
And here’s the Internet Archive link to the Charles Phoenix photo that sameegrl posted about 13 years ago.
The final listing for the Big Sky was in the Sept. 9, 1984 issue of the Monrovia News-Post. The drive-in was showing “Hollywood Hot Tubs” and “Surf II”.
Monrovia News-Post, Nov. 15, 1984: “The landmark orange and yellow Big Sky Drive-In screen rising from the sidelines of the 210 Freeway in Duarte will be torn down in a $4.5 million land sale to make way for the Mountain Vista Shopping Center. Under a deal unveiled Tuesday (13) between the Duarte Redevelopment Agency and developers … The city plans to buy the majority of the Big Sky property from the owners for $3.2 million. A portion of the land fronting Huntington Drive is already owned by the city’s redevelopment agency.”
According to a researcher at the Navajo County Historical Society in Holbrook, the 66’s last ad in the Holbrook Tribune News was on Aug. 16, 1957. Also, Nace’s ad in the Arizona Republic, which included Holbrook’s indoor Roxy plus ozoners Mt. Elden and Tonto, stopped including the 66 on May 17, 1957. For now, my guess is that 1957 was the 66’s final season.
Boxoffice, Aug. 10, 1964: “Fred Munson, Arkansas City … has sold his 166 Drive-In to Clara Bullard, who operates the Airview (sic) there.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 18, 1978: “William B. Boren, son of Bill Boren, will take over the operation of the newly purchased Blackwell’s Video Theatre and the Pioneer Drive-In. Both situations were bought from Video Independent Theatres.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 15, 1973: “Athel Boyter, Boyter Booking Agency, took over operation of the Waldron Theatre and Hillcrest Drive-In at Lindsay Monday (1). Boyter’s partner and manager is Dan Wolfenbarger”
Boxoffice, June 17, 1974: “Dan Wolfenbarger … recently purchased (the Waldron Theatre and Hillcrest Drive-In at Lindsay) from Athel Boyter of Oklahoma City”
Boxoffice, March 18, 1974: “Ike Carroll is the new owner of the Shamrock Drive-In at Laverne and Athel Boyter will do the booking and buying”
Dickinson ran the Webb City for 34 seasons, 1964-1997.
Boxoffice, Dec. 16, 1963: “Dickinson, Inc., has acquired the Webb City Drive-In, Webb City; the 66 Drive-In and the Roxy, Carthage, from William D. Bradfield, effective April 1964, according to Glen W. Dickinson jr., head of the circuit.”
Hollywood Theatres took over Dickinson’s Joplin-area indoor theaters on Oct. 3, 1997. The Webb City was the last movie house to stay under the Dickinson banner for one more weekend. Its final show was on Sunday, Oct. 12, the double feature of “Conspiracy Theory” & “Fire Down Below.” Dickinson announced the sale of the drive-in to Wal-Mart the following spring.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 21, 1954: “The Orpheum Theatre. Joplin, Mo., will be reopened September 2 under new ownership and management. P. D. Crockett, of Webb City, is the new owner. He said negotiations for the purchase of the theatre were completed a short time after the theatre was closed last May by former owner, Fox Ozark Theaters, Inc., of Kansas City.”
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.”
Boxoffice, April 5, 1965: “Wendell Peck has purchased the Fiesta Drive-In and the Beloit Theatre at Beloit, Kas., from the Mid-Central Realty Co. Until the change the theatres were operated by the Commonwealth circuit.”
via Christine Larson, administrator for the Buckeye Public Library:
According to the Buckeye Valley News, the theatre opened on Friday, August 26, 1955 showing, “Rear Window,” starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly and “Arrowhead,” with Charlton Heston and Kathy Jurado. Robert Young, who formerly operated drive-in theatres in Colorado was the proprietor of the enterprise which was located on South 5th Street at Irwin. The theatre included speakers to accommodate 200 cars with room to grow. There was a building which housed the projection equipment, snack bar and washrooms. The 85’x40’ screen accommodated the wide cinemascope pictures.
The Tonto’s final ad in the twice-a-week Winslow Mail was on Sept. 11, 1985, showing “European Vacation” and “Summer Rental.” It included a note “Rialto opens Friday”, so the switchover to the indoor theater happened after the Tonto’s last night on Sept. 12, 1985.
A reminiscent note in the Jan. 3, 1986 Mail included, “We took the boys to the Tonto Drive-In Theater. The best speakers were still up front. “The movie never starts on time,” Phyllis predicted to the boys. “Twenty minutes after it is supposed to start, everyone will honk their horns and then it will start.” Her memories of 1963 (Troy Donahue & Sandra Dee in A Summer Place) prove absolutely reliable predictors for 1985 (Richard Pryor in The Toy). She also predicted that at least one train would pass by in the middle of the movie. There were two. Progress, I suppose.”
(Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sun, Dec. 3, 1954: “The Rodeo Drive-in movie was shaken but undamaged by an explosion yesterday. Similar explosions have damaged other Tucson theaters owned by Hugh Downe and Wes Becker, owners of the Rodeo.”
(Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sun, June 20, 1980: “BISBEE - a Cochise County grand jury has returned indictments in connection with the showing of sexually-oriented films by a Douglas drive-in theater. The indictments named Spring-Wick Corp. of Phoenix, owners Tom Springer and Bruce Wicks, and Hector Delgadillo of Douglas, manager of the Fort Apache Drive-In. They were charged with public display of explicit sexual materials. The indictments Thursday stemmed from the showing of two X-rated films, "Screwpies” and “The Coming of Angels.”
The Mt. Elden’s last show was Sunday, Oct. 9, 1977, when it showed “Eat My Dust” and “Thunder and Lightning.”
“Low and medium resolution images of photographs and textual material from Cline Library’s Colorado Plateau Digital Collections are always freely available by using the download or print icon in the upper right hand corner of the item record. The only requirement is that you properly credit the item, as described below and in our image use policy.”
Kingman, 1968. NAU.PH.85.3.210.114. Fronske Studio. Special Collections and Archives, Cline Library, Northern Arizona University.
The Gage’s first appearance in the Arizona Republic movie page, in fine print without a mention of a grand opening, was on Sept. 14, 1956. The double feature was “Davy Crockett and the River Pirates” and “Raw Edge”.
As to when it closed, if Kingman phone books suddenly stopped listing it in 1968, that was probably its final season. (We know it opened that year thanks to the sign photo with “Sgt. Ryker”.) The Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in list was mostly on autopilot in 1967-76.
The Sage / Vale was definitely on West Indian School Road, near where aerial photos show a drive-in by 1958 through 1986. (The screen was gone in 1987.) Please add Sage Drive-In as a Previous Name here.
Boxoffice, Dec. 21, 1957: “ELKHART, KAS. - The Doric Theatre, completely rebuilt since it was damaged by fire more that a year ago, was reopened recently with “Love in the Afternoon” as the opening attraction. New walls, a modern front and complete new lobby have been built. All seats in the theatre have been refinished and new carpeting and tiling provided. Projection and sound equipment, screen, restrooms, drinking fountains, concessions stand and interior decorations are all new. The building is owned by C. S. McClung. A contract was signed recently by Dr. K. W. Pieratt of Dumas, Tex., and J. B. Mann of Guymon, Okla., with McClung for a long term lease on the theatre building and fixtures. Delbert Stewart, who manages the Sands Drive-In south of here on Highway 95 for Pieratt and Mann, is manager of the Doric as well.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 21, 1957: “ELKHART, KAS. - The Doric Theatre, completely rebuilt since it was damaged by fire more that a year ago, was reopened recently … The building is owned by C. S. McClung. A contract was signed recently by Dr. K. W. Pieratt of Dumas, Tex., and J. B. Mann of Guymon, Okla., with McClung for a long term lease on the theatre building and fixtures. Delbert Stewart, who manages the Sands Drive-In south of here on Highway 95 for Pieratt and Mann, is manager of the Doric as well.”
The final listing (as “Belair”) in the daily Pacific Theatres' ad in the Los Angeles Times was Sept. 10, 1989. It had the movies that DriveIn101 mentioned a couple of posts ago, but it wasn’t in any Pacific ads after that.
This drive-in opened as the Mt. Vernon Motor-In, the name it showed on its sign probably at least until it was twinned in 1973. The San Bernardino County Sun wrote on Nov. 10, 1972: “The Bombs: There’s a triple bill of motorcycle flicks – “The Hellcats,” “The Sidehackers,” and “Hell’s Belles” – at the Mt. Vernon Motor-In.” That was its final set of movies as a single-screen on Nov. 14 that year.
Pacific Theatres' final listing for the Mt. Vernon in the Los Angeles Times on Sept. 10, 1989, was “Turner and Hooch” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” on one screen, and “Lock Up” and “Cage” on the other.
Narrowing the date. Motion Picture Daily, April 5, 1960: “LOUDON, Tenn., April 4. - Valley Drive-in Theatre here has been destroyed by fire.”
The Los Angeles Times' final listing for the Valley was on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 1977, when the drive-in showed a couple of Italian films, “Autopsy” and “Sacrifice.”
Chet Wilkins of the Ontario Neon Co. called the Valley’s screen tower “the largest neon mural in the world”. It was assembled over weeks at the First Baptist Church of Ontario because its basement floor was large enough to accommodate it.
And here’s the Internet Archive link to the Charles Phoenix photo that sameegrl posted about 13 years ago.
For some reason, the Mt. Baldy’s ad continued to call its opening weekend a “Grand Opening,” but opening night was June 8, 1960.
The final listing for the Big Sky was in the Sept. 9, 1984 issue of the Monrovia News-Post. The drive-in was showing “Hollywood Hot Tubs” and “Surf II”.
Monrovia News-Post, Nov. 15, 1984: “The landmark orange and yellow Big Sky Drive-In screen rising from the sidelines of the 210 Freeway in Duarte will be torn down in a $4.5 million land sale to make way for the Mountain Vista Shopping Center. Under a deal unveiled Tuesday (13) between the Duarte Redevelopment Agency and developers … The city plans to buy the majority of the Big Sky property from the owners for $3.2 million. A portion of the land fronting Huntington Drive is already owned by the city’s redevelopment agency.”