Today, Mlive.com posted that the old Bel-Air site was being redeveloped for storage units. (sigh!)
“The Bel-Air Drive-In opened April 29, 1955, and lasted for 30 years. Admission was 50 cents for adults and free for children younger than 12. Ladies received a free gift and kids got free candy on opening day. …Both the Bel-Air and the eastside drive-in, called the Jackson Drive-In, closed after the 1987 season and were demolished.”
Marin County’s first drive-in theater, Marin Motor Movies opened in 1948 and featured a 41- by 52-foot screen and “hook-on” car speakers that could be tuned loud or soft “depending on the amount of attention the occupants wish to devote to the screen.” [Capacity was 600.] A sunken building (to avoid obstructing vision) housed the projection room, snack bar and rest rooms. The Marin Square shopping center now occupies the site.
The Winslow Mail wrote that the Tonto held its formal opening on Oct. 12, 1951. “The theatre, under the control of Nace Interests in Phoenix, will be managed locally by Rusty Bridge, manager of Winslow’s Rialto and Chief theaters.” Capacity was 300 at the start, but would be 500 “when finished”.
Ground-breaking ceremonies had been Aug. 31, and that really fast construction was under the direction of Michael A. Parker. Opening night movies were Colt 45, starring Randolph Scott, and Return of the Frontiersman with Julie London. Who would later marry Bobby Troup, who wrote the song Route 66.
In September 1983, Dean Branson in Flagstaff advertised in the Winslow Mail’s want ads for a resident manager for the Tonto.
The Tonto was still advertising in the Mail in September 1985, but not in 1986. In 1993, the Mail wrote that part of the movie Natural Born Killers was being shot at the “old” Tonto, so it had probably closed by then.
Historic Aerials shows the Tonto with its screen up, facing northwest, in 1953. Other photos show the Tonto still active in 1980, and the rebuilt screen up in 1997. That screen was gone by 2005.
The sad remnant of the marquee was still there as of July 2018, per Google Street View from I-40.
Motion Picture Almanac mentions:
1952-66: capacity 300, owned by H. (Harry) L. Nace Theatres
1969-76: no owner info
1977-84: capacity 300, owned by Nace
1985-88 (final drive-in list): owned by Blair & Reid
The Tribune News of Holbrook AZ ran a photo on April 2, 1981 showing that winds “gusting up to 60 miles per hour” knocked down the Tonto’s screen “last Thursday”, which would make it March 26, 1981.
The Winslow Mail ran a photo on May 21 that year showing the “80 foot by 40 foot steel structure” getting lifted into place. The caption said it replaced the destroyed wooden screen. “The drive-in will be opening in the very near future, according to Nolan G. Losey Sr., projectionist.”
I saw an undated pdf of an old Film Daily Year Book that mentioned an Indian Drive-In, and someone else’s roundup of dead Arizona drive-ins. Who knows what their original source might have been.
But I did find this from Phoenix’s Arizona Republic, March 26, 1955: “HOLBROOK – A large crowd, including many from neighboring towns, attended the opening of the new Western Star drive-in theater here this week. Located at Mesa Bonita, just northeast of Holbrook, the theater is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Young and Young’s mother, Elizabeth Young.”
From the March 14, 1955, Arizona Republic: “Robert Young has announced the opening this week of his new Western Star drive-in theater on Mesa Bonita, (x?) miles northeast of Holbrook.”
In the May 22, 1980, Holbrook Tribune News, its 25 Years Ago (May 1955) notes included: “The Western Star Drive-In offered a double feature which included Riding Shotgun, with Randolph Scott, and His Majesty O'Keefe, starring Burt Lancaster.”
Historic Aerials' topo maps for 1957-69 show two drive-ins across Route 66 from each other. Based on Daniel’s descriptions, the one to the east was probably the 66 Drive-In. This would have been the other one, west of the highway and south of Hermosa Road, but was it called the Indian?
The Motion Picture Almanac series mentions only two drive-ins, ever, for Holbrook. One was the 66, and the other was the Western Star, capacity 200, owned by Robert Young. The Western Star was listed in the 1956-59 editions of the MPA, then fell off in 1960, the same as its competitor across the highway.
Daniel is right. There were two drive-ins almost across Route 66 from each other, according to Historic Aerials' topo maps. The 1957-69 maps all show that one was due south of the airport at the end(!) of Hermosa Drive east of Route 66, and from Daniel’s description, I’ll guess it’s the 66. The other was on the west side of Route 66 just south of Hermosa, matching where Daniel says the Indian Drive-In had been.
By the 1997 aerial photo, I-40 was running through what had been the 66 Drive-In site.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists only the 66 for Holbrook. It showed capacity 400, owner Harry L. Nace. The Motion Picture Almanac series first mentioned it in its 1956 edition, capacity 300, owner Harry Nace. It stayed that way through the 1959 edition, then dropped off the list in 1960, never to return. Did it close so soon, or did it get overlooked?
Based on photos from Historic Aerials, the entrance was on Route 66 about 925 feet west of the intersection with Sakelares. What’s left of the marquee was still visible on Google Street View as of June 2018 in the middle of what is now the entrance to a Waste Management Hauling facility.
The screen faced south in the 1971 aerial photo, in which the back rows already looked untended. The 1973 topo map shows a drive-in there, but by the 1981 photo, the screen is gone and the southern half of the field is being used by another business.
I guess someone needs to add a Cinema Treasures entry for J.C. West’s other drive-in in Grants: the Trail. Historic Aerials shows it in 1955, screen facing north, in the middle of nowhere off Route 66 just west of town. Now there’s a sizable residential area around its intact (no screen) remains behind the Immanuel Baptist Church on Valencia Avenue. The 1981 aerial photo shows it still looking good, though the screen was gone by the 1997 photo.
Motion Picture Almanac mentions for Grants NM:
1955-59: The Trail DI, capacity 225, owned by J.C. West
1960-62: Both the Trail and the "Schara" (sic) capacity 275, also J.C. West
1963-66: Trail and Sahara, still J.C. West
1969-76: Trail and Sahara, no owner info
1977-79: Only the Trail, capacity 200, owner Grants Inc.
Photos of the site at Historic Aerials verify that the drive-in existed there in 1962-1981. The next photo, 1997, shows that by then the elementary school lot had already carved out the south side of the drive-in viewing area.
Motion Picture Almanac mentions:
1960-66, capacity 578, Frontier Theas.
1969-76, capacity 578, (no owner info in these lists)
1977-88, capacity 300, Commonwealth
The higher capacity number came from a time when a drive-in operator knew exactly how many speakers he had to maintain. The 1981 photo still showed the full-sized viewing area, so it’s possible that Commonwealth understated it.
Its last listing in the Motion Picture Almanac series was the 1959 edition, showing capacity 249, run by Frontier Theaters. In Gallup, the 1960 MPA showed only the Zuni, a larger drive-in on the other side of town and also run by Frontier.
Today, the local Daily Herald ran photos of “15 fun places in Utah County that sadly only exist in your memories”. One of them was of the dismantling of the Pioneer in 2002. According to the caption, the drive-in “closed in the summer of 2001 after owners Marv and Jeanie Cox sold the land.”
In its 25 Years Ago Today notes, the Union Bulletin of Walla Walla wrote that the Port of Walla Walla bought the 27-acre “Sky-Vu” site for $425,000 from Sterling Theater Co. Inc. on Feb. 2, 1994.
That E.C. Houck was Corbin Eugene “Red” Houck who passed away on Jan. 22, 2019. According to his obituary in the Waco Tribune-Herald, “Eugene started working in the theater business. He owned the Joy Drive-In Theater and the Joy Theater downtown that was destroyed in the 1953 Waco tornado. He then went into the nursery and landscaping business with his father, Corbin Houck …”
Yet another indication of how slow the International Motion Picture Almanacs were at removing listings: We know exactly when it closed (in 1984), but the Lee Highway stayed on the IMPA drive-in list through the list’s final edition in 1988.
The Tysons Reporter recently ran a brief story about the site, drawing on Fairfax County’s aerial photography. The Reporter said that it was “the Washington area’s largest drive-in theater”.
“The theater featured a 50×120′ CinemaScope screen and a rotunda-style dining area. At its capacity [sic] in 1983, the drive-in could fit 1,353 cars.”
The story continues that it was closed in 1984, replaced by a nearby indoor multiplex. That site was redeveloped into the Mosaic District, which includes the 8-screen Angelika Film Center.
There’s another great article, with a ton of very nice photos, in yesterday’s Houston Herald. Here are a few new details:
Long-time Texas County residents Josh and Jennifer Shelton took ownership of the business in June 2018. The Faith Fellowship youth group painted the projection / concession building on Day One.
The Phoenix “can accommodate close to 150 vehicles”. It still uses FM sound, and there was no reference to leftover speakers.
“The drive-in was open on weekends during the holiday season, and will operate on a week-by-week basis until re-opening for good in the spring and showing movies into late fall.” Since the indoor theater operates pretty much all year, the drive-in appears to run whenever weather permits.
MagicValley.com reported that the drive-in’s fence was down and the screen would be dismantled around the end of the year. It was to become a storage facility. The article said that the Motor-Vu was built in 1947 and began operating in 1948.
This October, the site is transformed into “The Deserted Drive-In” for an interactive Zombie Resistance experience. http://www.basetactics.com/zombie-resistance-2018/
Also, based on an August 2018 Google Street View, the drive-in looks like it’s still in pretty good shape and is available for lease from HFL Corporation, 814-238-4000. https://goo.gl/maps/5vdicC6KBE72
There was a long retrospective article in the Reno Gazette Journal this month. Some highlights:
“Tony Pecetti, a bigger-than-life accordionist and entertainment entrepreneur in town, opened the El Rancho Drive-In on Aug. 19, 1950.” He died in 1969. “In 1973, the Syufy Enterprises, now run by brothers Ray and Joe Syufy of San Rafael, Calif., purchased the drive-in.”
In 1993, it was “scheduled to be torn down and turned into a flea market and indoor theater complex.” No mention of how the El Rancho dodged that one.
“The screens, varying in size, are steel and wood, never replaced since first installment, though three were add-ons through the years.”
It’s currently run by General Manager Diego Maldonado, who lives on-site with his family.
The Cecil Whig newspaper recently wrote a short retrospective. A couple of quotes:
Nathan Rosen had carefully located the new enterprise by finding a suitable tract, one large enough for 700 cars, on the new dual highway. The 15 acres were leased from the Society of the Divine Savior, a Catholic order popularly known as Salvatorians.
The lease was transferred to Reba and Muriel Schwartz in March 1960. The new owners were experienced motion picture operators … Local papers reported they were putting the Elk in first-class condition for the spring opening. The drive-in closed in the early 1980s, and in 1984 the property was sold.
Its Facebook page says it failed to open for the 2014 season. On April 7, 2014, they wrote, “We are sorry to say the Way-Bak-Wyn Drive-In will not be open in the summer of 2014. We will miss our wonderful customers. Thanks for all your support during our short run. The age of digital has come and we just can’t afford to upgrade our equipment.”
Today, Mlive.com posted that the old Bel-Air site was being redeveloped for storage units. (sigh!)
“The Bel-Air Drive-In opened April 29, 1955, and lasted for 30 years. Admission was 50 cents for adults and free for children younger than 12. Ladies received a free gift and kids got free candy on opening day. …Both the Bel-Air and the eastside drive-in, called the Jackson Drive-In, closed after the 1987 season and were demolished.”
Both Drive-in 54’s link and an article today at Mlive.com agree that the Jackson closed after the 1987 season.
From the Marin Independent Journal’s History Watch:
Marin County’s first drive-in theater, Marin Motor Movies opened in 1948 and featured a 41- by 52-foot screen and “hook-on” car speakers that could be tuned loud or soft “depending on the amount of attention the occupants wish to devote to the screen.” [Capacity was 600.] A sunken building (to avoid obstructing vision) housed the projection room, snack bar and rest rooms. The Marin Square shopping center now occupies the site.
The Winslow Mail wrote that the Tonto held its formal opening on Oct. 12, 1951. “The theatre, under the control of Nace Interests in Phoenix, will be managed locally by Rusty Bridge, manager of Winslow’s Rialto and Chief theaters.” Capacity was 300 at the start, but would be 500 “when finished”.
Ground-breaking ceremonies had been Aug. 31, and that really fast construction was under the direction of Michael A. Parker. Opening night movies were Colt 45, starring Randolph Scott, and Return of the Frontiersman with Julie London. Who would later marry Bobby Troup, who wrote the song Route 66.
In September 1983, Dean Branson in Flagstaff advertised in the Winslow Mail’s want ads for a resident manager for the Tonto.
The Tonto was still advertising in the Mail in September 1985, but not in 1986. In 1993, the Mail wrote that part of the movie Natural Born Killers was being shot at the “old” Tonto, so it had probably closed by then.
Historic Aerials shows the Tonto with its screen up, facing northwest, in 1953. Other photos show the Tonto still active in 1980, and the rebuilt screen up in 1997. That screen was gone by 2005.
The sad remnant of the marquee was still there as of July 2018, per Google Street View from I-40.
Motion Picture Almanac mentions:
The Tribune News of Holbrook AZ ran a photo on April 2, 1981 showing that winds “gusting up to 60 miles per hour” knocked down the Tonto’s screen “last Thursday”, which would make it March 26, 1981.
The Winslow Mail ran a photo on May 21 that year showing the “80 foot by 40 foot steel structure” getting lifted into place. The caption said it replaced the destroyed wooden screen. “The drive-in will be opening in the very near future, according to Nolan G. Losey Sr., projectionist.”
I saw an undated pdf of an old Film Daily Year Book that mentioned an Indian Drive-In, and someone else’s roundup of dead Arizona drive-ins. Who knows what their original source might have been.
But I did find this from Phoenix’s Arizona Republic, March 26, 1955: “HOLBROOK – A large crowd, including many from neighboring towns, attended the opening of the new Western Star drive-in theater here this week. Located at Mesa Bonita, just northeast of Holbrook, the theater is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Young and Young’s mother, Elizabeth Young.”
From the March 14, 1955, Arizona Republic: “Robert Young has announced the opening this week of his new Western Star drive-in theater on Mesa Bonita, (x?) miles northeast of Holbrook.”
In the May 22, 1980, Holbrook Tribune News, its 25 Years Ago (May 1955) notes included: “The Western Star Drive-In offered a double feature which included Riding Shotgun, with Randolph Scott, and His Majesty O'Keefe, starring Burt Lancaster.”
Historic Aerials' topo maps for 1957-69 show two drive-ins across Route 66 from each other. Based on Daniel’s descriptions, the one to the east was probably the 66 Drive-In. This would have been the other one, west of the highway and south of Hermosa Road, but was it called the Indian?
The Motion Picture Almanac series mentions only two drive-ins, ever, for Holbrook. One was the 66, and the other was the Western Star, capacity 200, owned by Robert Young. The Western Star was listed in the 1956-59 editions of the MPA, then fell off in 1960, the same as its competitor across the highway.
Daniel is right. There were two drive-ins almost across Route 66 from each other, according to Historic Aerials' topo maps. The 1957-69 maps all show that one was due south of the airport at the end(!) of Hermosa Drive east of Route 66, and from Daniel’s description, I’ll guess it’s the 66. The other was on the west side of Route 66 just south of Hermosa, matching where Daniel says the Indian Drive-In had been.
By the 1997 aerial photo, I-40 was running through what had been the 66 Drive-In site.
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog lists only the 66 for Holbrook. It showed capacity 400, owner Harry L. Nace. The Motion Picture Almanac series first mentioned it in its 1956 edition, capacity 300, owner Harry Nace. It stayed that way through the 1959 edition, then dropped off the list in 1960, never to return. Did it close so soon, or did it get overlooked?
Based on photos from Historic Aerials, the entrance was on Route 66 about 925 feet west of the intersection with Sakelares. What’s left of the marquee was still visible on Google Street View as of June 2018 in the middle of what is now the entrance to a Waste Management Hauling facility.
The screen faced south in the 1971 aerial photo, in which the back rows already looked untended. The 1973 topo map shows a drive-in there, but by the 1981 photo, the screen is gone and the southern half of the field is being used by another business.
I guess someone needs to add a Cinema Treasures entry for J.C. West’s other drive-in in Grants: the Trail. Historic Aerials shows it in 1955, screen facing north, in the middle of nowhere off Route 66 just west of town. Now there’s a sizable residential area around its intact (no screen) remains behind the Immanuel Baptist Church on Valencia Avenue. The 1981 aerial photo shows it still looking good, though the screen was gone by the 1997 photo.
Motion Picture Almanac mentions for Grants NM:
Photos of the site at Historic Aerials verify that the drive-in existed there in 1962-1981. The next photo, 1997, shows that by then the elementary school lot had already carved out the south side of the drive-in viewing area.
Motion Picture Almanac mentions:
The higher capacity number came from a time when a drive-in operator knew exactly how many speakers he had to maintain. The 1981 photo still showed the full-sized viewing area, so it’s possible that Commonwealth understated it.
Its last listing in the Motion Picture Almanac series was the 1959 edition, showing capacity 249, run by Frontier Theaters. In Gallup, the 1960 MPA showed only the Zuni, a larger drive-in on the other side of town and also run by Frontier.
Today, the local Daily Herald ran photos of “15 fun places in Utah County that sadly only exist in your memories”. One of them was of the dismantling of the Pioneer in 2002. According to the caption, the drive-in “closed in the summer of 2001 after owners Marv and Jeanie Cox sold the land.”
The local Daily Herald ran a photo today showing a Track Hoe pushing over the Art City’s screen. The photo was dated 2002.
In its 25 Years Ago Today notes, the Union Bulletin of Walla Walla wrote that the Port of Walla Walla bought the 27-acre “Sky-Vu” site for $425,000 from Sterling Theater Co. Inc. on Feb. 2, 1994.
That E.C. Houck was Corbin Eugene “Red” Houck who passed away on Jan. 22, 2019. According to his obituary in the Waco Tribune-Herald, “Eugene started working in the theater business. He owned the Joy Drive-In Theater and the Joy Theater downtown that was destroyed in the 1953 Waco tornado. He then went into the nursery and landscaping business with his father, Corbin Houck …”
Yet another indication of how slow the International Motion Picture Almanacs were at removing listings: We know exactly when it closed (in 1984), but the Lee Highway stayed on the IMPA drive-in list through the list’s final edition in 1988.
The Tysons Reporter recently ran a brief story about the site, drawing on Fairfax County’s aerial photography. The Reporter said that it was “the Washington area’s largest drive-in theater”.
“The theater featured a 50×120′ CinemaScope screen and a rotunda-style dining area. At its capacity [sic] in 1983, the drive-in could fit 1,353 cars.”
The story continues that it was closed in 1984, replaced by a nearby indoor multiplex. That site was redeveloped into the Mosaic District, which includes the 8-screen Angelika Film Center.
There’s another great article, with a ton of very nice photos, in yesterday’s Houston Herald. Here are a few new details:
Long-time Texas County residents Josh and Jennifer Shelton took ownership of the business in June 2018. The Faith Fellowship youth group painted the projection / concession building on Day One.
The Phoenix “can accommodate close to 150 vehicles”. It still uses FM sound, and there was no reference to leftover speakers.
“The drive-in was open on weekends during the holiday season, and will operate on a week-by-week basis until re-opening for good in the spring and showing movies into late fall.” Since the indoor theater operates pretty much all year, the drive-in appears to run whenever weather permits.
MagicValley.com reported that the drive-in’s fence was down and the screen would be dismantled around the end of the year. It was to become a storage facility. The article said that the Motor-Vu was built in 1947 and began operating in 1948.
KEZJ reported that workers were demolishing the site in December 2018.
This October, the site is transformed into “The Deserted Drive-In” for an interactive Zombie Resistance experience. http://www.basetactics.com/zombie-resistance-2018/
Also, based on an August 2018 Google Street View, the drive-in looks like it’s still in pretty good shape and is available for lease from HFL Corporation, 814-238-4000. https://goo.gl/maps/5vdicC6KBE72
There was a long retrospective article in the Reno Gazette Journal this month. Some highlights:
“Tony Pecetti, a bigger-than-life accordionist and entertainment entrepreneur in town, opened the El Rancho Drive-In on Aug. 19, 1950.” He died in 1969. “In 1973, the Syufy Enterprises, now run by brothers Ray and Joe Syufy of San Rafael, Calif., purchased the drive-in.”
In 1993, it was “scheduled to be torn down and turned into a flea market and indoor theater complex.” No mention of how the El Rancho dodged that one.
“The screens, varying in size, are steel and wood, never replaced since first installment, though three were add-ons through the years.”
It’s currently run by General Manager Diego Maldonado, who lives on-site with his family.
The Cecil Whig newspaper recently wrote a short retrospective. A couple of quotes:
Nathan Rosen had carefully located the new enterprise by finding a suitable tract, one large enough for 700 cars, on the new dual highway. The 15 acres were leased from the Society of the Divine Savior, a Catholic order popularly known as Salvatorians.
The lease was transferred to Reba and Muriel Schwartz in March 1960. The new owners were experienced motion picture operators … Local papers reported they were putting the Elk in first-class condition for the spring opening. The drive-in closed in the early 1980s, and in 1984 the property was sold.
Its Facebook page says it failed to open for the 2014 season. On April 7, 2014, they wrote, “We are sorry to say the Way-Bak-Wyn Drive-In will not be open in the summer of 2014. We will miss our wonderful customers. Thanks for all your support during our short run. The age of digital has come and we just can’t afford to upgrade our equipment.”