Mt. Vernon Twin Drive-In
632 S. Mount Vernon Avenue,
San Bernardino,
CA
92410
632 S. Mount Vernon Avenue,
San Bernardino,
CA
92410
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 16 comments
Thanks to Corona (!), the Pro Swap is permanently closed too! 🥺🥺🥺
JimRoss66 is correct to point out that the Mt. Vernon was never on Route 66. (One more reason to replace the misleading novelty matchbook cover as its front image, BTW.) According to the official 1948 California Division of Highways map, it was 1.3 miles south of US 66.
Then again, in my book “Drive-Ins of Route 66,” I include every drive-in within three miles of the Mother Road, (2.5 miles in the 1st edition), partly to avoid omitting ozoners that happened to be on the other side of small towns. So the Mt. Vernon is there, close enough. :)
Clarification on location. US 66 initially turned west from Mt. Vernon at 4th St. to Foothill and was later moved to 5th St. to Foothill. If the theater was at 632 S. Mt. Vernon (south of the rail yard) it was not a Route 66 drive-in.
This drive-in opened as the Mt. Vernon Motor-In, the name it showed on its sign probably at least until it was twinned in 1973. The San Bernardino County Sun wrote on Nov. 10, 1972: “The Bombs: There’s a triple bill of motorcycle flicks – “The Hellcats,” “The Sidehackers,” and “Hell’s Belles” – at the Mt. Vernon Motor-In.” That was its final set of movies as a single-screen on Nov. 14 that year.
Pacific Theatres' final listing for the Mt. Vernon in the Los Angeles Times on Sept. 10, 1989, was “Turner and Hooch” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” on one screen, and “Lock Up” and “Cage” on the other.
At its grand opening on Sept. 25, 1948, the Mt. Vernon showed “Deep Waters” starring Dana Andrews, “On the Old Spanish Trail” starring Roy Rogers, “plus cartoon and news”.
Boxoffice, Oct. 23, 1948: “SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. – A. G. and George E. Mitzel recently opened the 700-car Mount Vernon Motor-In here. The Mitzels also own drive-in in Portland, Ore., and in Los Angeles. The Mount Vernon airer, the owners said, boasted a natural stage, an innovation in drive-in construction.”
Does Mt Vernon look purple?
The sign is still being used for the swap meet by the looks of it.
Yes, the Mt. Vernon was on US 66, which ran along Baseline Road when it was built, though it’s more like 55-60 miles east of downtown L.A. A much closer match would be the Foothill Drive-In in Rialto, just west of the San Bernardino city limits. Maybe CT should move the fake matchbook cover to that page? ;)
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. – A new drive-in theatre is being erected at Baseline and Cunningham avenue here for the Highland Theatre Co. Projection and screen buildings will be of frame and stucco construction. Designed by theatre architect C. A. and W. G. Balch of Los Angeles the new plant will cost $40,000.”
Is this drive-in actually on Route 66, as it says on the matchbox cover shown above?
Boxoffice, Feb. 18, 1950: “Construction will be launched shortly on the new Starlite Drive-In, an 800-car operation in Rosemead, by B. E. Congdon and Ford and Carl Bratcher. They also operate the Mount Vernon Drive-In in San Bernardino and the Del Rio in Riverside.”
Although the Mt. Vernon was included in an LA Times ad for the 1991 movie Double Impact, in a laundry list of theaters showing the film, that was probably a mistake. I couldn’t find any other Times mentions of the Mt. Vernon in 1990 or 1991.
The Mt. Vernon’s final ad in the San Bernardino Sun was Sept. 10, 1989.
By the way, the drive-in was never actually named Purple Passion. That matchbook was clearly a novelty gag, though possibly based on the Mt. Vernon’s location. Spot checks on ads in The San Bernardino County Sun from 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 (clipping uploaded), 1959, 1962, and 1970 all call it the Mt. Vernon Motor-In Theatre.
“Pacific’s Mt. Vernon Drive-In, 714/884-0403” was included in Los Angeles Times advertisements as late as September 1991.
Is the swap meet only for professionals(lol!)?
Opened 1948, closed 1989. Known as Mt. Vernon Twin Drive-in Theaters from 1973 to closing.
This Drive-in was two screens at closing not one. Please update.