UA Marina Auto Movies
141 Beach Road,
Marina,
CA
93933
141 Beach Road,
Marina,
CA
93933
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The Marina Auto Movie (not plural) held its grand opening on June 19, 1968 with “The Sound of Music” and “High, Wild and Free.”
In the 1970s, the Marina Auto Movie dropped off the Salinas Californian movie pages as it pivoted to X-rated films. In early 1977, the Marina City Council banned “offensive nudity or sexually-explicit conduct at drive-ins.” That ordinance was to take effect March 28. I didn’t find any evidence of lawsuits or appeals, nor of any other mentions of the Marina Auto Movie in the Californian after that, so it’s possible that was the closing date.
The drive-in was clearly visible in a 1968 aerial photo. I don’t see the screen in the 1981 aerial, but the ramps were still in good shape.
Although the aerial proves it opened earlier, the drive-in’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Alamanc was the 1970 edition, where the circuit list entry for United Artists Theatre Circuit listed the U.A. Marina Auto Movie under Monterey.
The 1972-76 MPA drive-in lists included “UAmarina” (capacity 620) under Marina CA. The rebooted 1977 MPA drive-in list had the Marina Auto Movie (capacity 754) under Monterey.
The Marina Auto Movie’s final appearance in the MPA drive-in list was 1982; the UA circuit’s holdings placed it in Marina that year. In the 1983 edition, the Marina Auto Movie was gone from all MPA lists.