Crawfordsville (Indiana) Journal-Review: May 19, 1949.
BEN HUR DRIVE-IN PLANS ITS INITIAL SHOWING FRIDAY NIGHT
After many weeks of preparation, the Ben Hur drive-in theater, a half mile east of the city on State Road 34, will be opened Friday night. (Ed. note: Old name for SR136.)
“Silver River” will be the first movie screened, with the presentation to start at 8:00 p.m. (CDT). Two shows are planned each night.
Work on the new drive-in theater has been pushed almost continuously in recent weeks as they sought to open at the earliest possible date. The owners are Bert Rayburn, Ralph Roberts and Pete Deckard, of this city, and F. I. Mitchell, of Veedersburg.
The new theater has a capacity of 500 automobiles. Each car will have an individual speaker of the latest design, with individual volume control. Speakers posts will be illuminated and will bear ramp and position numbers. The latest of sound and projection equipment has been installed so that the audiences will be able to enjoy clear pictures without sound distortion.
Ramps have been surfaced with crushed limestone to eliminate dust and mud. Drainage has been planned so that the heaviest downpour will not bother the parked cars nor create the danger of being stuck in the mud.
Entrances from the highways are of concrete and lead to crushed stone drives designed to eliminate hazards of leaving main lines of traffic.
The screen tower is constructed of concrete blocks. It is 50 feet high and 50 feet wide, and is covered with a special white paint which gives added brilliance to the pictures. The projected picture will be approximately 32 x 40 feet and will be clearly visible from all parts of the theater.
A modern concession and restroom building has been constructed in the center of the lot. It is of concrete block construction and meets all the requirements of the State Board of Health, according to the management.
Public telephone service will be maintained at the theater at all times.
It was pointed out that anyone can enter or leave the theater at any time he desires without interfering with his neighbor.
The general contract for the Ben Hur theater was held by the Mitchell Construction company of Veedersburg. The Mitchell firm has built a number of other drive-in theaters and has contracts for others to be built in the near future.
12/19/2015
I’ve been digging up everything I can find on the Eastwood, most recently this STAR WARS first birthday pic. There is still quite a bit of mis-information in some of these posts, but the memories of the best theatre in Indianapolis will never be lost! Enjoy!
Ron R. Keedy, Manager and Owner
The only fact I’m going to stick to is that I was the person threading the projectors and turning them on during most of the films mentioned. If I have a date wrong or a title out of sequence, so be it. I’m trying to share some memories of a great theatre and an era I was a part of, not compile a minute by minute CIA report. I think this is tainting the spirit of what the Eastwood was all about. I’m now 68 years old, have been in this business 50+ years and have worked just about every theatre in Marion and surrounding counties. I thought it would be fun to keep these memories alive for Cinema Treasures whether in the correct order or not. If everyone feels their research is correct and wants to post it, have at it. Thanks, Ron Keedy
One last note: When the Eastwood opened Ayr-Way East (owned by Ayres) was the anchor store. It became a Target store, was closed for awhile and finally became Menards, which it is today. The Eastwood was gutted. However, the outer walls are still in place and are part of the Menards lumber year. Although difficult to see, you can walk over there and tell where the building is and walk inside and you can see where the rear exit doors were. The wonderful Adams family (for real) owned the Dairy Queen in the north parking lot of the Eastwood.
Ron Keedy, Eastwood Manager, beginning in April 1977.
The Eastwood did not have to bargain for pictures after the run of STAR WARS; film companies began demanding the Eastwood to open their blockbuster movies. We played STAR WARS for 55 weeks, 1,204 performances, thru June 13, 1978 (including a 1st birthday celebration with a visit from Darth Vader). Closed for two days and decorated the lobby to look like the Frosty Palace Malt Shop for our premiere of GREASE on Wednesday, June 16. Dinah Manoff and Barry Pearl who played Marty and Doody in the film were on to promote the film, meet the guests and sign autographs; arriving in a limo. Dinah Manoff stepped out of the lime dressed as Marty and Barry Pearl popped out of the trunk dressed as Doody. GREASE enjoyed a 28 week run leading up to the opening of our Christmas picture that year, Disney’s BLACK HOLE. Other great pictures followed for shorter runs leading up to our June 1979 premier of ALIEN.
Ron Keedy, Eastwood Theatre Manager, beginning in April 1977.
The original name for the Eastwood was the Ayr-East Theatre. Because of its rustic western look Y&W Theatrs (the owners) settle on The Eastwood. It was our tradition, after that, to open a Clint Eastwood movie on Christmas Day each year. The original 25' by 40' screen and red traveler curtains were replaced in 1973 with a 64', 36° curved Cinerama screen for the re-issue of the original 7 Cinerama movies beginning with THIS IS CINERAMA. The Cinerama movies failed at the box office and Cinerama, Inc. abandoned the idea. That is how the giant screen and Cinerama lenses for STAR WARS came to be in the Eastwood.
Ron Keedy, Eastwood Theatre Manager beginning in April 1977.
The first public showing of STAR WARS was at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25, 1977. We had 2 invitational (sold out) showings at 8:00 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday prior. We modified the showtimes to add a midnight showing on Friday and Saturday beginning 7 days later beginning on Friday, June 3rd and we continued with midnight shows the remainder of the summer. Our exclusive run for the state of Indiana was for 12 weeks. However, the popularity of the show blew all records and Fox added Glendale, Eastgate, Greenwood and 1 other (I forget) theatre at the 8 week mark with additional openings each week for most of the summer.
Ron Keedy, Eastwood Theatre Manager for STAR WARS.
The projectors were Simplex XL mounted on the original Super Simplex bases.
Crawfordsville (Indiana) Journal-Review: May 19, 1949.
BEN HUR DRIVE-IN PLANS ITS INITIAL SHOWING FRIDAY NIGHT
After many weeks of preparation, the Ben Hur drive-in theater, a half mile east of the city on State Road 34, will be opened Friday night. (Ed. note: Old name for SR136.) “Silver River” will be the first movie screened, with the presentation to start at 8:00 p.m. (CDT). Two shows are planned each night. Work on the new drive-in theater has been pushed almost continuously in recent weeks as they sought to open at the earliest possible date. The owners are Bert Rayburn, Ralph Roberts and Pete Deckard, of this city, and F. I. Mitchell, of Veedersburg. The new theater has a capacity of 500 automobiles. Each car will have an individual speaker of the latest design, with individual volume control. Speakers posts will be illuminated and will bear ramp and position numbers. The latest of sound and projection equipment has been installed so that the audiences will be able to enjoy clear pictures without sound distortion. Ramps have been surfaced with crushed limestone to eliminate dust and mud. Drainage has been planned so that the heaviest downpour will not bother the parked cars nor create the danger of being stuck in the mud. Entrances from the highways are of concrete and lead to crushed stone drives designed to eliminate hazards of leaving main lines of traffic. The screen tower is constructed of concrete blocks. It is 50 feet high and 50 feet wide, and is covered with a special white paint which gives added brilliance to the pictures. The projected picture will be approximately 32 x 40 feet and will be clearly visible from all parts of the theater. A modern concession and restroom building has been constructed in the center of the lot. It is of concrete block construction and meets all the requirements of the State Board of Health, according to the management. Public telephone service will be maintained at the theater at all times. It was pointed out that anyone can enter or leave the theater at any time he desires without interfering with his neighbor. The general contract for the Ben Hur theater was held by the Mitchell Construction company of Veedersburg. The Mitchell firm has built a number of other drive-in theaters and has contracts for others to be built in the near future.
12/19/2015 I’ve been digging up everything I can find on the Eastwood, most recently this STAR WARS first birthday pic. There is still quite a bit of mis-information in some of these posts, but the memories of the best theatre in Indianapolis will never be lost! Enjoy! Ron R. Keedy, Manager and Owner
The only fact I’m going to stick to is that I was the person threading the projectors and turning them on during most of the films mentioned. If I have a date wrong or a title out of sequence, so be it. I’m trying to share some memories of a great theatre and an era I was a part of, not compile a minute by minute CIA report. I think this is tainting the spirit of what the Eastwood was all about. I’m now 68 years old, have been in this business 50+ years and have worked just about every theatre in Marion and surrounding counties. I thought it would be fun to keep these memories alive for Cinema Treasures whether in the correct order or not. If everyone feels their research is correct and wants to post it, have at it. Thanks, Ron Keedy
One last note: When the Eastwood opened Ayr-Way East (owned by Ayres) was the anchor store. It became a Target store, was closed for awhile and finally became Menards, which it is today. The Eastwood was gutted. However, the outer walls are still in place and are part of the Menards lumber year. Although difficult to see, you can walk over there and tell where the building is and walk inside and you can see where the rear exit doors were. The wonderful Adams family (for real) owned the Dairy Queen in the north parking lot of the Eastwood. Ron Keedy, Eastwood Manager, beginning in April 1977.
The Eastwood did not have to bargain for pictures after the run of STAR WARS; film companies began demanding the Eastwood to open their blockbuster movies. We played STAR WARS for 55 weeks, 1,204 performances, thru June 13, 1978 (including a 1st birthday celebration with a visit from Darth Vader). Closed for two days and decorated the lobby to look like the Frosty Palace Malt Shop for our premiere of GREASE on Wednesday, June 16. Dinah Manoff and Barry Pearl who played Marty and Doody in the film were on to promote the film, meet the guests and sign autographs; arriving in a limo. Dinah Manoff stepped out of the lime dressed as Marty and Barry Pearl popped out of the trunk dressed as Doody. GREASE enjoyed a 28 week run leading up to the opening of our Christmas picture that year, Disney’s BLACK HOLE. Other great pictures followed for shorter runs leading up to our June 1979 premier of ALIEN. Ron Keedy, Eastwood Theatre Manager, beginning in April 1977.
The original name for the Eastwood was the Ayr-East Theatre. Because of its rustic western look Y&W Theatrs (the owners) settle on The Eastwood. It was our tradition, after that, to open a Clint Eastwood movie on Christmas Day each year. The original 25' by 40' screen and red traveler curtains were replaced in 1973 with a 64', 36° curved Cinerama screen for the re-issue of the original 7 Cinerama movies beginning with THIS IS CINERAMA. The Cinerama movies failed at the box office and Cinerama, Inc. abandoned the idea. That is how the giant screen and Cinerama lenses for STAR WARS came to be in the Eastwood. Ron Keedy, Eastwood Theatre Manager beginning in April 1977.
The first public showing of STAR WARS was at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25, 1977. We had 2 invitational (sold out) showings at 8:00 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday prior. We modified the showtimes to add a midnight showing on Friday and Saturday beginning 7 days later beginning on Friday, June 3rd and we continued with midnight shows the remainder of the summer. Our exclusive run for the state of Indiana was for 12 weeks. However, the popularity of the show blew all records and Fox added Glendale, Eastgate, Greenwood and 1 other (I forget) theatre at the 8 week mark with additional openings each week for most of the summer.
Ron Keedy, Eastwood Theatre Manager for STAR WARS.