Sacramento 6 Drive-In

I was a projectionist at the Sacramento 6 from the ‘80s until the mid '90s (and worked for Century Theaters for a few years after that). We opened “Three Men and a Baby” in November 1987 as a main feature, and as is often the case, it moved to become a co-feature (second feature) after a few weeks. However, it was very popular and stayed as a co-feature for one movie or another, continuously, for nearly a year. I remember my friend (and fellow projectionist) and I were, by summer of '88, amazed every week when we got the bookings that “Three Men and a Baby” was still going to play. I remember it going into late summer/early fall of '88. I don’t think it made it a full year, but it came really close, more than 34 weeks. That was very unusual, but I think there were a few films that rivaled 30-something weeks of play back then.

I have a lot of good memories of the Sacramento 6 drive in. I have been going there since I was a kid and still go with my girlfriend now. To me its better than a regular theater because if the movie sucks you still get to enjoy a beautiful summer night outside and the drive-in makes bad movies more bearable. I’ve seen some classics here (Jurassic Park, Waynes World, Back to the Future II & III) and some not-so-classics (Super Mario Bros. The Movie, Richie Rich, The Flintstones Movie).

I was lucky to get a behind the scenes look at the drive in in 2004 when I was working for a local radio station, KWOD 106.5, and we did a couple classic movie nights at the Sacramento 6. Back then it was thought that the Sacramento 6 was closing for good and we we’re throwing it a going away party. We had local rock bands playing there, free double features, people showed up by the truck loads! Little did we know our going away party wouldn’t really be that because almost 10 years later its still going strong even in the winter months. But in the summer the lines have been known to be backed up to the busy street and over the Highway 50 overpass. I know one day it will be gone but from the looks of it that might not be any time soon.

Did you smell the fires?

This opened on June 28th, 1973 as the world’s first 5-screen drive-in. the 6th screen was installed in 1976. Grand opening ad posted. For the record, the Thunderbird Drive-In in Fort Lauderdale, FL expanded to 6 screens on September 21st, 1973. Grand opening ad posted.

The snack bar was damaged by fire 11 months ago however they were able to repair and are thankfully still open!