The Jan. 10, 1953 Boxoffice magazine drive-in roundup showed the Cloverleaf as built in 1952 and in operation with a capacity of 700 cars, owned by Community Theatres.
Near the other side of the drive-in’s life, the Aug. 1, 1988 issue reported that Dustin Palmer had shifted from managing Topeka’s Dickinson six-plex to the Cloverleaf, “which re-opened May 27.”
davidcoppock, the Grand Opening flyer in the photos here included “The most in fine food and snack bar refreshments”
Denny Pine, thanks for nailing down the Circle’s closing date. Here’s a memory of the place from the Albuquerque Tribune decades later (7/16/87):
“Even the oddball Circle Drive-In, also known as the Autoscope, is long gone. Located at 2900 Carlisle Blvd., N.E. in the early 1960s, the Circle projected movies via mirrors to a battery of 3-by-5 foot television-like screens, one in front of each car. But the Circle owners, who showed X-rated films at drive-ins in Joplin, Mo., didn’t realize the strength of Albuquerque winds. Evening breezes kept the Circle from ever working properly.”
On Jan. 19, 2024, there was a small fire behind the dormant Garberville. According to a story in Redheaded Blackbelt, firefighters ran a hose through the theater to quickly extinguish the fire.
The article said that the building had been sold after the theater closed in 2016. Renovation efforts since then have been intermittent. “An unidentified man at the scene stated that the theatre would reopen in approximately 18 months.”
After years of frustration, I found the Garberville! The great, helpful folks at the UC-Berkeley library pointed me to FrameFinder, an aerial photo tool hosted by UC-Santa Barbara. A 1954 aerial photo shows the drive-in pretty much exactly where the Caltrans yard is today.
I’ll leave it to Kenmore and others to estimate the capacity based on that photo. There are a lot of ramps there.
Motion Picture Herald, Feb. 12, 1955: “Amelia Ellis, who operates the Mason theatre at Mason, Tenn., and Frayser drive-in at Memphis, is now building a new drive-in at Millington, Tenn., 18 miles north of Memphis. Millington is the location of the Navy base with around 16,000 men enrolled in its schools, hospital and air wing.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, May 11, 1955: “Amelia Ellis has opened her new Ellis Drive-In, Millington, Tenn., equipped for 400 cars. She has a 90-foot screen for VistaVision and Cinemascope.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Nov. 6, 1963: “Howard Nicholson, former manager (of the Memphis Paramount exchange), resigned to operate Ellis Drive-In, Millington, Tenn.”
In an old article, the Christian Chronicle wrote that the Harrington family opened the Calvert in 1953. And the contemporary accounts bear that out.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 8, 1953: “Paul Harrington, of nearby Covington, Ky., has opened his new Calvert drive-in, at Calvert City, Ky., of which S. H. Pewitt is manager.”
Motion Picture Herald, March 27, 1954: “Paul Harrington, owner, has closed his Calvert theatre, Calvert City, Ky., and opened his Calvert drive-in for the summer.”
According to a ad two days earlier in the (Boise) Idaho Statesman, the Emmett held its grand opening on April 11, 1950. Its first movie was “The Red Pony.”
The first newspaper ad, or mention, that I could find for the Pay-Ont was in the April 28, 1949 edition of the (Boise) Idaho Statesman. That ad said nothing about being a grand opening.
Boxoffice, June 3, 1963: “Audrey Jacobs has leased her Osecoles (sic) Theatre, Soquel, to John Bowles of San Francisco. The theatre has been redecorated and renamed the Cinema. An art policy, with an eye to the growth of Santa Cruz, and the new University, are the theatre’s current plans.”
That was a typo - it’s the 1950 Film Daily Year Book that still showed the Queen. Here are a few more clips to make up for that:
Variety, Nov. 20, 1940: “Lee Scarborough will open his new house in Van, Texas, this week. He formerly operated the Queen, Tenaha. City’s only other house was the Victor operated by S. G. Fry destroyed by fire several months ago.”
Boxoffice, Feb. 8, 1941: “Knox Riley, a brother of Mack Riley of Logansport, is reopening the Queen at Tenaha. He was (at Dallas Film Row) completing arrangements along with Mack and L. G. Tomlinson of Timpson. Knox is associated in Tenaha with Mack, who, in turn, is in partners with Tomlinson. On his own, however, Mack operates the Castle in Logansport.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, April 13, 1955: “Knox Riley has announced that he has installed CinemaScope at his Queen, Tenaha, Tex.”
Variety, April 22, 1959: “Queen Theatre at Tenaha, Tex., which had been shuttered here for some time has been reopened under the management of Tommy Yarberry and Cecil Russell.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, July 26, 1961: “The Jay, a new wide screen theatre seating 350 patrons, has been built and formally opened at Joaquin, Tex., by Herman Powell, Jr. Powell also owns the Queen, Tenaha, Tex.”
The Jan. 10, 1953 Boxoffice magazine drive-in roundup showed the Cloverleaf as built in 1952 and in operation with a capacity of 700 cars, owned by Community Theatres.
Near the other side of the drive-in’s life, the Aug. 1, 1988 issue reported that Dustin Palmer had shifted from managing Topeka’s Dickinson six-plex to the Cloverleaf, “which re-opened May 27.”
Confirmed.
“John Basham is manager of the new Starlight Drive-In opened July 2 by Claude Parrish and Hugh Wallace near Topeka, Kas.” —BoxOffice, July 9, 1949
What a gorgeous photo! Where did it come from?
davidcoppock, the Grand Opening flyer in the photos here included “The most in fine food and snack bar refreshments”
Denny Pine, thanks for nailing down the Circle’s closing date. Here’s a memory of the place from the Albuquerque Tribune decades later (7/16/87):
“Even the oddball Circle Drive-In, also known as the Autoscope, is long gone. Located at 2900 Carlisle Blvd., N.E. in the early 1960s, the Circle projected movies via mirrors to a battery of 3-by-5 foot television-like screens, one in front of each car. But the Circle owners, who showed X-rated films at drive-ins in Joplin, Mo., didn’t realize the strength of Albuquerque winds. Evening breezes kept the Circle from ever working properly.”
On Jan. 19, 2024, there was a small fire behind the dormant Garberville. According to a story in Redheaded Blackbelt, firefighters ran a hose through the theater to quickly extinguish the fire.
The article said that the building had been sold after the theater closed in 2016. Renovation efforts since then have been intermittent. “An unidentified man at the scene stated that the theatre would reopen in approximately 18 months.”
After years of frustration, I found the Garberville! The great, helpful folks at the UC-Berkeley library pointed me to FrameFinder, an aerial photo tool hosted by UC-Santa Barbara. A 1954 aerial photo shows the drive-in pretty much exactly where the Caltrans yard is today.
I’ll leave it to Kenmore and others to estimate the capacity based on that photo. There are a lot of ramps there.
That’s a cropped version of a 1948 photo that’s part of the S. Charles Lee Papers collection at UCLA, which says that it’s copyrighted.
There’s a still sharper version (the original) at the S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962 collection at UCLA, which says that it’s copyrighted. Hmm.
This 1939-40 photo by Julius Shulman is part of the S. Charles Lee Papers, 1919-1962 collection at UCLA, which says that it’s copyrighted.
Motion Picture Herald, Feb. 12, 1955: “Amelia Ellis, who operates the Mason theatre at Mason, Tenn., and Frayser drive-in at Memphis, is now building a new drive-in at Millington, Tenn., 18 miles north of Memphis. Millington is the location of the Navy base with around 16,000 men enrolled in its schools, hospital and air wing.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, May 11, 1955: “Amelia Ellis has opened her new Ellis Drive-In, Millington, Tenn., equipped for 400 cars. She has a 90-foot screen for VistaVision and Cinemascope.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Nov. 6, 1963: “Howard Nicholson, former manager (of the Memphis Paramount exchange), resigned to operate Ellis Drive-In, Millington, Tenn.”
In an old article, the Christian Chronicle wrote that the Harrington family opened the Calvert in 1953. And the contemporary accounts bear that out.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 8, 1953: “Paul Harrington, of nearby Covington, Ky., has opened his new Calvert drive-in, at Calvert City, Ky., of which S. H. Pewitt is manager.”
Motion Picture Herald, March 27, 1954: “Paul Harrington, owner, has closed his Calvert theatre, Calvert City, Ky., and opened his Calvert drive-in for the summer.”
According to a ad two days earlier in the (Boise) Idaho Statesman, the Emmett held its grand opening on April 11, 1950. Its first movie was “The Red Pony.”
The first newspaper ad, or mention, that I could find for the Pay-Ont was in the April 28, 1949 edition of the (Boise) Idaho Statesman. That ad said nothing about being a grand opening.
Date of the change:
Boxoffice, June 3, 1963: “Audrey Jacobs has leased her Osecoles (sic) Theatre, Soquel, to John Bowles of San Francisco. The theatre has been redecorated and renamed the Cinema. An art policy, with an eye to the growth of Santa Cruz, and the new University, are the theatre’s current plans.”
That was a typo - it’s the 1950 Film Daily Year Book that still showed the Queen. Here are a few more clips to make up for that:
Variety, Nov. 20, 1940: “Lee Scarborough will open his new house in Van, Texas, this week. He formerly operated the Queen, Tenaha. City’s only other house was the Victor operated by S. G. Fry destroyed by fire several months ago.”
Boxoffice, Feb. 8, 1941: “Knox Riley, a brother of Mack Riley of Logansport, is reopening the Queen at Tenaha. He was (at Dallas Film Row) completing arrangements along with Mack and L. G. Tomlinson of Timpson. Knox is associated in Tenaha with Mack, who, in turn, is in partners with Tomlinson. On his own, however, Mack operates the Castle in Logansport.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, April 13, 1955: “Knox Riley has announced that he has installed CinemaScope at his Queen, Tenaha, Tex.”
Variety, April 22, 1959: “Queen Theatre at Tenaha, Tex., which had been shuttered here for some time has been reopened under the management of Tommy Yarberry and Cecil Russell.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, July 26, 1961: “The Jay, a new wide screen theatre seating 350 patrons, has been built and formally opened at Joaquin, Tex., by Herman Powell, Jr. Powell also owns the Queen, Tenaha, Tex.”
Boxoffice, May 11, 1940: “Cairo - The Grant, Bill Heaton’s new house, opened recently. It seats 280.”
Boxoffice, May 11, 1940: “Cameron - The new theatre which will be opened here at an early date has been named the Rees.”
Boxoffice, May 11, 1940: “Alberni, B. C. - Harold Warren opened his new theatre, the Roxy, recently. It seats 300.”
Same theater?
Boxoffice, May 11, 1940: “Battleground (sic) - M. A. Rhoads of Woodland was reported to have opened his new theatre here before giving it a name.”
Boxoffice, May 11, 1940: “Alvarado - Will Barnes' new theatre has opened. This replaces the old one wiped out by fire.”
Boxoffice, May 11, 1940: “Deckerville - Joseph P. Uvick opened his new 350-seat Thumb in January.”
Boxoffice, May 4, 1940: “Eaton - Rader Brothers have opened the new 498-seat James.”
Boxoffice, May 4, 1940: “Cleveland - Phil Smith of Boston has been arranging for the opening of the new West Side Drive-In on or about May 10.”
Same theater?
Boxoffice, May 4, 1940: “Mt. Gilead - N. W. Land’s new theatre had a February opening.”
Boxoffice, May 4, 1940: “The Ely, Walter Hull’s new house, has been completed.”