Same drive-in? Boxoffice, Aug. 1, 1953: “Construction of a new drive-in has been started on Highway 19 between Vernon and Sulligent. Owner is Richards Theatres of Fayette, who operates the Strand in Sulligent and the Lamar in Vernon. Person submitting the name selected for the drive-in will receive a $25 defense bond.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 10, 1953: “CHIPLEY, FLA. - Hurricane "Florence,” which hit the northwestern Florida section recently, destroyed the screen tower of the Starlight Drive-In here. I. Roche, owner of the drive-in, started building a new concrete block tower in the shape of a pyramid. Estimated damage to the tower was about $1,500. Another $250 damage was done to the blinds. This was the second time this year that the screen had been damaged by storms."
Boxoffice, Oct. 10. 1953: “AUBURNDALE, FLA. - D. C. Laird has sold the Twinkle Star Drive-In here. The new owner, Talgar Theatres, has taken over operation of the airer.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 14, 1953: “A number of improvements are planned at the Melody Cruise-In before its reopening next spring, according to Michael H. Chakeres, general manager of the Springfield Theatres Co. A 65-foot-wide screen will be installed, along with about 100 more speakers, at the airer on Route 40 east of Springfield.”
The Denver Mart (the exhibit hall/event center) is closing permanently on March 31. The Denver Post reported that it’s the result of a loan default and expected sale of the complex.
Since the concession stand and rest rooms were based in the Mart, it’s not surprising that the drive-in web page now says “The Drive In Is closing and will not be open for the 2021 season.”
All indications are that the drive-in was popular enough to reopen when the complex’s ownership gets squared away. But for now, it’s probably more accurate to mark this one Closed.
Boxoffice, July 2, 1955: “The Tri-Delta Amusement Co. of Tucson, headed by George Diamos, opened its new Geronimo Drive-In in Fry, Ariz., on June 29. It is a 500-car installation.”
Boxoffice, July 2, 1955: “Chet Borg’s Mo-Kan Drive-In at Fort Scott, Kas., was "attacled” by Cougar jet planes on a recent Sunday afternoon. The public was invited to attend free and saw Borg “fight back” with a 21-gun aerial salute. The planes “attacked” from a height of 2,000 feet. That night Borg showed “An Annapolis Story” and Navy recruiting circulars were distributed during the day. Borg said when he heard the Navy planes were making a tactical training flight in the vicinity, he booked the picture and made the “attack” arrangement. The planes came from the nearby Olathe, Kas., training base."
Looks like Art and Deldee Clemon sold out quickly. Here’s a for-sale classified in the Dec. 1, 1956 Boxoffice: “300-car drive-in. Fast growing southern California desert community. Only 8 month old, showing good profit. Owner has interests in another state. Write, Patio Theatre, Box 936, Twentynine Palms, Calif.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1956: “ARCADIA, FLA. - DeSoto Drive-In near Brownsville, about four miles north of Arcadia, has been purchased by John Jackson jr. from Mr. and Mrs. George West. The theatre was opened in 1951 under the ownership of Bernie Swiney. Two years later he sold out to George West and Bernie Thompson, and a short time later Thompson sold his interest to Mr. and Mrs. West, who have operated it ever since. The new owner is from Batesville, Ind., where he owns and operates a drive-in which is closed during the winter. Her plans to return to a seven-day-a-week operation of the DeSoto.”
The Kante Group, part of the family of organizations by local entrepreneur Joni Rogers-Kante, has purchased the TeePee, as reported by the Sapulpa Times. Heavy equipment has already begun clearing the overgrown viewing field - photos in the article.
The Times wrote, “It’s unknown at this time exactly in what way the property will be used, but unnamed sources have told Sapulpa Times that they expect to have the theater operating again by the summer of 2021.” Unnamed sources? I wonder whether this was a spokesperson who didn’t want to talk on the record or just some local rumor.
Left unspoken is how patrons would drive to a reborn TeePee. If the Rock Creek Bridge is still closed, that would mean a fairly long drive on a narrow, albeit historic, stretch of old Route 66.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog had the sketchy listing: “Bishop, Cal., NEW D. I. Exec: C. A. Ford. (–)”
The Bishop’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1957 edition, capacity 460, owner F. C. Amistoso
Motion Picture Exhibitor, March 5, 1958: “Louis Wudke and Ned Shafer have sold their Bishop Drive-In, Bishop, to a syndicate.”
Boxoffice, March 30, 1964: “Exhibitors Service, headed by Harry Rackin and Syd Lehman, is booking and buying for Merton Pond’s Bishop Drive-In”
Boxoffice, April 24, 1967: “Merton Pond of the Bishop Theatre and Bishop Drive-In” visited Los Angeles Film Row.
The generally reliable 1977 edition of the MPA still showed the Bishop, now with a capacity of 342 and owner M.H. Pond. It stayed that way through 1979, then dropped off the 1980 MPA drive-in list.
I couldn’t find many mentions of the Lucky. The Sept. 22, 1951 issue of Boxoffice noted that Clayton Gran had obtained a building permit for the drive-in, which was “expected to be completed within six months.”
Boxoffice, June 28, 1952: “Co-owners Clayton Gran and Fremon Klint have opened their new $55,000 drive-in on Fulkerth road north of the Stanislaus district fair grounds. The theatre was named the Lucky Drive-In and it has a self-service snack bar.”
The Lucky was still operating in July 1967, when “The Weird World of LSD,” a black-and-white film directed by Robert Ground, had a record-breaking run there.
The 1978 Motion Picture Almanac, which tended to be reasonably accurate, still included the Lucky, run by R. Laykin. In the 1980 edition, the owner changed to Maestri, which is how it stayed through its final MPA appearance in 1982.
The San Jose held its grand opening on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1954. An earlier article in the Albuquerque Journal quoted co-owner Robert E. Morley that the drive-in’s nightly feature would be one Spanish-language movie and “one American picture”. Opening night matched that promise, with Pedro Armendáriz in “Por Querer a Una Mujer” (For Loving a Woman) and Maria Montez in “Cobra Woman”, plus a cartoon.
Boxoffice, April 28, 1951: “TERRELL, TEX. - The Terrell Drive-In, just west of the city, has reopened for the season with a new screen tower. Manager Leaman Marshall said a children’s playground would be opened soon.”
Looks like the Bordertown once had a different working title.
Boxoffice, April 28, 1951: “EL PASO - A $75,000 twin drive-in, with capacity for 800 cars, will be built on the Carlsbad road by John Blocker. It will be the second twin drive-in in Texas, the first one being built by Blocker in Wichita Falls and sold recently. The El Paso airer will be called the Carlsbad Road Drive-In.”
Boxoffice, April 21, 1951: “The Sheppard Drive-In, formerly the Open-Air Drive-In, has opened after complete remodeling. It is west of the city on the Iowa Park road. Charles W. Weisenburg is owner. A mural of a B-36 is on the front and there is a new marquee. There are new ramps, RCA equipment, new wiring, lights on every speaker post and curb lights. There are spaces for 400 cars, doubled capacity over last year.”
Boxoffice, July 17, 1947: “Bill Morrow will open his new drive-in between Gladewater and Longview around August 1.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1947: “The Colonial, W. M. Morrow’s new drive-in theatre, located on the Longview-Gladewater highway, had its formal opening August 5. The opening screen attraction was "Boom Town.” "
Same drive-in? Boxoffice, Aug. 1, 1953: “Construction of a new drive-in has been started on Highway 19 between Vernon and Sulligent. Owner is Richards Theatres of Fayette, who operates the Strand in Sulligent and the Lamar in Vernon. Person submitting the name selected for the drive-in will receive a $25 defense bond.”
A similar photo appeared in the Sept. 26, 1953 issue of Boxoffice, which appears to be in the public domain.
Boxoffice, Oct. 10, 1953: “CHIPLEY, FLA. - Hurricane "Florence,” which hit the northwestern Florida section recently, destroyed the screen tower of the Starlight Drive-In here. I. Roche, owner of the drive-in, started building a new concrete block tower in the shape of a pyramid. Estimated damage to the tower was about $1,500. Another $250 damage was done to the blinds. This was the second time this year that the screen had been damaged by storms."
Boxoffice, Oct. 10. 1953: “AUBURNDALE, FLA. - D. C. Laird has sold the Twinkle Star Drive-In here. The new owner, Talgar Theatres, has taken over operation of the airer.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 14, 1953: “A number of improvements are planned at the Melody Cruise-In before its reopening next spring, according to Michael H. Chakeres, general manager of the Springfield Theatres Co. A 65-foot-wide screen will be installed, along with about 100 more speakers, at the airer on Route 40 east of Springfield.”
The Denver Mart (the exhibit hall/event center) is closing permanently on March 31. The Denver Post reported that it’s the result of a loan default and expected sale of the complex.
Since the concession stand and rest rooms were based in the Mart, it’s not surprising that the drive-in web page now says “The Drive In Is closing and will not be open for the 2021 season.”
All indications are that the drive-in was popular enough to reopen when the complex’s ownership gets squared away. But for now, it’s probably more accurate to mark this one Closed.
Boxoffice, July 2, 1955: “The Tri-Delta Amusement Co. of Tucson, headed by George Diamos, opened its new Geronimo Drive-In in Fry, Ariz., on June 29. It is a 500-car installation.”
Boxoffice, July 2, 1955: “Chet Borg’s Mo-Kan Drive-In at Fort Scott, Kas., was "attacled” by Cougar jet planes on a recent Sunday afternoon. The public was invited to attend free and saw Borg “fight back” with a 21-gun aerial salute. The planes “attacked” from a height of 2,000 feet. That night Borg showed “An Annapolis Story” and Navy recruiting circulars were distributed during the day. Borg said when he heard the Navy planes were making a tactical training flight in the vicinity, he booked the picture and made the “attack” arrangement. The planes came from the nearby Olathe, Kas., training base."
Looks like Art and Deldee Clemon sold out quickly. Here’s a for-sale classified in the Dec. 1, 1956 Boxoffice: “300-car drive-in. Fast growing southern California desert community. Only 8 month old, showing good profit. Owner has interests in another state. Write, Patio Theatre, Box 936, Twentynine Palms, Calif.”
Boxoffice, Dec. 15, 1956: “ARCADIA, FLA. - DeSoto Drive-In near Brownsville, about four miles north of Arcadia, has been purchased by John Jackson jr. from Mr. and Mrs. George West. The theatre was opened in 1951 under the ownership of Bernie Swiney. Two years later he sold out to George West and Bernie Thompson, and a short time later Thompson sold his interest to Mr. and Mrs. West, who have operated it ever since. The new owner is from Batesville, Ind., where he owns and operates a drive-in which is closed during the winter. Her plans to return to a seven-day-a-week operation of the DeSoto.”
The Kante Group, part of the family of organizations by local entrepreneur Joni Rogers-Kante, has purchased the TeePee, as reported by the Sapulpa Times. Heavy equipment has already begun clearing the overgrown viewing field - photos in the article.
The Times wrote, “It’s unknown at this time exactly in what way the property will be used, but unnamed sources have told Sapulpa Times that they expect to have the theater operating again by the summer of 2021.” Unnamed sources? I wonder whether this was a spokesperson who didn’t want to talk on the record or just some local rumor.
Left unspoken is how patrons would drive to a reborn TeePee. If the Rock Creek Bridge is still closed, that would mean a fairly long drive on a narrow, albeit historic, stretch of old Route 66.
I wonder where this fits.
Boxoffice classified ad, Dec. 29, 1956: “For sale, complete drive-in theatre. Dirt cheap, must be moved. M. D. Otterback, Wellington, Kas.”
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog had the sketchy listing: “Bishop, Cal., NEW D. I. Exec: C. A. Ford. (–)”
The Bishop’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1957 edition, capacity 460, owner F. C. Amistoso
Motion Picture Exhibitor, March 5, 1958: “Louis Wudke and Ned Shafer have sold their Bishop Drive-In, Bishop, to a syndicate.”
Boxoffice, March 30, 1964: “Exhibitors Service, headed by Harry Rackin and Syd Lehman, is booking and buying for Merton Pond’s Bishop Drive-In”
Boxoffice, April 24, 1967: “Merton Pond of the Bishop Theatre and Bishop Drive-In” visited Los Angeles Film Row.
The generally reliable 1977 edition of the MPA still showed the Bishop, now with a capacity of 342 and owner M.H. Pond. It stayed that way through 1979, then dropped off the 1980 MPA drive-in list.
I couldn’t find many mentions of the Lucky. The Sept. 22, 1951 issue of Boxoffice noted that Clayton Gran had obtained a building permit for the drive-in, which was “expected to be completed within six months.”
Boxoffice, June 28, 1952: “Co-owners Clayton Gran and Fremon Klint have opened their new $55,000 drive-in on Fulkerth road north of the Stanislaus district fair grounds. The theatre was named the Lucky Drive-In and it has a self-service snack bar.”
The Lucky was still operating in July 1967, when “The Weird World of LSD,” a black-and-white film directed by Robert Ground, had a record-breaking run there.
The 1978 Motion Picture Almanac, which tended to be reasonably accurate, still included the Lucky, run by R. Laykin. In the 1980 edition, the owner changed to Maestri, which is how it stayed through its final MPA appearance in 1982.
Update: This photo appears to have been taken by Flickr user Commstock, who holds the copyright.
Theatre Catalog, 1952: “Hill’s D. I., P. O. Box 206. Exec: Dr. Gerald Hill, and Giles E. Turner. (—)”
That was from the front page of the Aug. 30, 1956 edition of the Shamrock Texan, accessed through the Texas Digital Newspaper Program.
The San Jose held its grand opening on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 1954. An earlier article in the Albuquerque Journal quoted co-owner Robert E. Morley that the drive-in’s nightly feature would be one Spanish-language movie and “one American picture”. Opening night matched that promise, with Pedro Armendáriz in “Por Querer a Una Mujer” (For Loving a Woman) and Maria Montez in “Cobra Woman”, plus a cartoon.
There’s a nice 1981 plane’s-eye view of the Hi Way 13 Drive-In at Vintage Aerial.
Boxoffice, April 28, 1951: “TERRELL, TEX. - The Terrell Drive-In, just west of the city, has reopened for the season with a new screen tower. Manager Leaman Marshall said a children’s playground would be opened soon.”
Looks like the Bordertown once had a different working title.
Boxoffice, April 28, 1951: “EL PASO - A $75,000 twin drive-in, with capacity for 800 cars, will be built on the Carlsbad road by John Blocker. It will be the second twin drive-in in Texas, the first one being built by Blocker in Wichita Falls and sold recently. The El Paso airer will be called the Carlsbad Road Drive-In.”
Boxoffice, April 21, 1951: “The Sheppard Drive-In, formerly the Open-Air Drive-In, has opened after complete remodeling. It is west of the city on the Iowa Park road. Charles W. Weisenburg is owner. A mural of a B-36 is on the front and there is a new marquee. There are new ramps, RCA equipment, new wiring, lights on every speaker post and curb lights. There are spaces for 400 cars, doubled capacity over last year.”
Boxoffice, July 17, 1947: “Bill Morrow will open his new drive-in between Gladewater and Longview around August 1.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1947: “The Colonial, W. M. Morrow’s new drive-in theatre, located on the Longview-Gladewater highway, had its formal opening August 5. The opening screen attraction was "Boom Town.” "
Same drive-in? Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1947: “Perish Woodson plans to open his drive-in in Topeka within two weeks.”
Sometimes Boxoffice jumped the gun in its opening announcements. I wonder if this was one of those times.
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1947: “O. F. Sullivan’s second outdoor theatre in Wichita, with a capacity of 750 cars, … opened this week.”