61st Street Drive-In
3201 S. 61st Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19153
3201 S. 61st Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19153
4 people
favorited this theater
The 61st Street Drive-In opened in 1963. At that time it was operated by Budco. This drive-in closed in October 1983.
Contributed by
Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
I posted a vintage pic of the sign.
research i conducted is that the theater closed in 1983. can’t find any ads for it after that.. if this photo is from the mid 80’s it would make sense.. Lots of low budget horror b flicks shown here during the late 70’s early 80’s..
This was hte last drive in in the Phila area to open. I was 6 years old.
Went to this theater 2 times. Once in the 60’s and saw a double feature The Cincinatti Kid and The Hill and again in 1983 and saw Snow WHite and another Disney movies. Both times all films were flat. B+NEver saw a scope movie on there big screen.
research i did was that 1983 was the last season. Another thing is. they showed almost every low budget horror movie that come along..Looks like it was the horror movie drive -in. to name a few, Amityville horror nightmares. blood beach. phantasm. Humongous. Prom Night. the fog. dont go in the house. the fifth floor. the boogey man… to name a few…
Saw the biggest movies of the the 70’s there. Willard, Dr. Phibes, Shaft, Dirty Harry, The Godfather. Next to the funky river and refineries.
Narrowed it down today. Looks like the last or one of the last movies shown here was Strange Invaders with nancy allen and paul le mat. Last listing was Thursday October 20th 1983..
The theatre was built to handle the over flow of its sister theatre the Flag ship “AIRPORT D-I” another Budco D-I. On one night during the opening week we had trouble keeping the picture in focus on the right side of the screen. Turned out the steel support on the right side was pulling out of the ground. We had to bring in a krane to support the tower until it could be secured. I think it held around 500 cars.
rg
Although decrepit, the 61ST STREET DRIVE-IN THEATRE sign, with its red arrow, still welcomes moviegoers to a drive-in that went dark over 30-years ago. It’s as if Rod Serling (1924-1975) is ready to step from behind that red/yellow, black/white marquee sign to say — Welcome to The Twilight Zone! “Strange Invaders” (1983 – Orion) starring Paul Le Mat (b. 1945) and Nancy Allen (b. 1950), the last picture to play here, may still be playing. Eerie!
I’ve had countless adventures at the 61st St. D.I. – from the late ‘60’s thru 1981 as a customer, hard partier and verocious devourer of HORROR and exploitation treats. The location of this wonderful shrine to sleaze was, and still is, about 12 blocks from my own lair . I, (Very Unfortunately), closed A LOT of awesome Philly theatres – both as projectionist and unwilling manager, but the 61st St. makes me extra wistful. I was Very lucky to be the Weekend projectionist for the last two spring/summer seasons in this – my Second favorite D.I. in my neighborhood! (My escapades at the Family Drive In, about ten minutes away from the 'ol 61st, are semi-legendary —— to a few, at least.) Wow, memories!