With the completion of the second drive-in theatre here,
the owners decided they would have to use
names to properly identify one from the
other. One theatre will be known as the East
Drive-In and the other the West Drive-In.
The East was scheduled to open Wednesday
(16). During the closed months, many improvements were made, including the changing from a central speaking system to in-a-car speakers. The West is still in the building stage and is expected to open some time
between the first and the 15th of July. The
West will also be equipped with in-a-car
speakers. Both will be directed by Floyd
Murrow.
“OPEN NEW DRIVE-IN — Underwood and Ezell have opened their new Winkler
drive-in, located on the Houston thoroughfare of that name where it intersects with Telephone road. It is their ninth such plant in the state. The Winkler was designed by Jack Corgan, Dallas architect; will park 450 cars on ramps that have been paved to keep down the dust. In-car speakers, a play park for children and lawn seats for those without cars are features. Bill Sargent is manager, having been transferred from the Circle at Waco.”
In a story about De Leon’s other indoor theater, the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice mentioned that “M. D. Stewart’s Texas … was sold to J. R. Miller a year ago.”
Same theater? From the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
De Leon, Tex. – H. L. Millington and A. R. Parsons will open their new Atomic Theatre here March 15. They have leased a store building with a high ceiling and are having Lupe Romero of Dallas do the conversion job. The 475-seater will have a balcony, rest rooms and probably a cry room.
Millington is in the auto business at Comanche, 15 miles from here. Parsons worked for many years as projectionist at M. D. Stewart’s Texas, which was sold to J. R. Miller a year ago.
“BILLINGS. MO. – O. F. Bolinger has sold the State here to Buford L. Lowrance, an ex-GI new to the business. Bolinger owned the theatre for a year.” —BoxOffice, Feb. 1, 1947
Looks like it opened even earlier. From the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
CRYSTAL CITY, MO. – Tilden Dickson opened his new Hi-Way Theatre here January 21. The house has RCA projection and sound equipment, International seats and Mohawk carpeting, all furnished by Cinema Supply.
Same drive-in? From the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
LOS ANGELES – Robert L. Lippert, vice-president of Screen Guild Productions, is building a new drive-in theatre on the outskirts of Medford, Ore. This will increase the number of his theatre holdings to 35.
The Medford property was one of several theatre sites acquired by Lippert when he purchased the nine-theatre circuit of Leverette Interstate Theatres situated in Oregon and northern California.
The new theatre will have a capacity of 400 automobiles with individual speakers for each year. (sic) It is expected to be completed by early summer.
STOCKDALE, TEX. – Stockdale’s new and ultramodern theatre, the Dale, which cost $80,000, was opened here Christmas week by W. D. Glasscock of San Antonio. He also owns the Blanco and the new George West, situated in the respective Texas towns of those names.
The George West was officially opened New Year’s eve. This theatre cost $75,000.
Present at the Stockdale opening were numerous exhibitors from surrounding towns, including Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Arrington of the Dutch Mill Theatre at Holland.
GREENE, IOWA – A modernistic marquee was hung at the Greene here last weekend, replacing the old-style canopy sign. The marquee, which extends horizontally from the theatre front, has neon lettering showing the current attraction on each side in five-inch characters. Mayor Robert Hessel, owner of the theatre, plans to redecorate the entire building in the spring.
ST. LOUIS – The Plaza Theatre was opened January 1 by Clarence and Francis Kalmann as part of the Wehrenberg-Kalmann circuit, which now includes 23 houses. The theatre has for some years been used as a synagogue. It has been thoroughly modernized inside and out, equipped with latest in sound and projection equipment, about 600 seats, carpeting, drapes and lighting.
HUGO, COLO. – Earl Berens of Milbank, S. D., has purchased the Hugo Theatre here from Marion Smith, giving a free show an an introduction to the community. He announced he will improve the house. —BoxOffice, Jan. 4, 1947
CRAIG, COLO. – Opening date for the New West Theatre here is only weeks away, and workmen have been working overtime to complete remodeling of the building early in January. Stan Stanfill, manager, hasn’t set the opening day as yet.
Ed Arnold, commercial artist, recently spent a week in Craig painting the panels for the auditorium. Arnold was in charge of all decorators and artists who worked on the buildings at the San Francisco World’s Fair of 1940.
New screen, new projection equipment, and new heating and ventilating systems are also being installed.
From Variety, Aug. 6, 1952, “Terrace Drive-In opened in Lees Summitt, Mo., July 31. The 300-car ozoner is operated by Jam, Inc.”
From the Aug. 27, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor, “The sign on the Terrace Drive-In, Lee’s Summit, Mo., was damaged by high winds the day after it opened. Sam Abend and Earl Jameson are the owners.”
From Variety July 9, 1958, “Roy S. Lindamood, 75, longtime theatre manager in the Kansas City area, died June 26 in K.C. He had operated the Vogue Theatre and the Terrace Drive-In Theatre in Lee’s Summit and at one time ran an amusement park in Galveston, Tex.”
Good catch, fatfink. The Dixieland was listed under Opp AL in the Motion Picture Almanacs' drive-in lists from 1977 to 1979, owned by Con-McLend.
The MPA circuit listings showed the Dixieland among Connet Theatres' holdings from at least 1976 through at least the 1988 edition, nine years after it fell off the MPA drive-in list.
What became the Tri-City was advertising as the 99 Drive-In in 1940. The “99” was featured in its ads after it reopened in 1947 until it became the Tri-City, which was Nov. 28, 1948 according to DriveIn101 above.
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.
The Skyline stayed open until January 1989, when its newspaper movie listings abruptly ceased. It’s weird how many references I’ve read for a 1987 closure, but the newspaper ads don’t lie, at least not that way.
Current owner Larry Rodkey bought the Skyline in 1995, as recounted in a 2015 article in the local newspaper. “This one (Skyline) was closed when I bought it. And this is what I get for drinking,” Rodkey said with a hearty laugh. “I came here many, many years ago and stopped in front and I said ‘I’m going to own this some day.’ And 10 years later I got it.”
After running it on a shoestring for about a decade, Rodkey leased it to manager Randy Shull. After a couple of years, Shull closed it in August 2009. Gene Harvey took over the lease and reopened two months later.
Harvey tried and failed to win a digital projector from Honda, then closed the Skyline in February 2015. Rodkey returned, paid more for two digital projectors than he had paid for the whole place two decades earlier, and reopened the drive-in again in April that year.
The Tesuque was a twin for a few years after its 1953 expansion. That fits with the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog calling it the Tesuque Twin, owner Marlin Butler, cap 850.
Newspaper ads from at least May 8, 1953 called it the Tesuque Twin and referred to East and West screens. In September that year, silent western star Hoot Gibson made an appearance there on a stage “erected between the two screens.” Per the Albuquerque Journal.
On Feb. 24, 1956, a wind storm “tore off a 16-by-43 foot section of the east screen at the Tesuque drive-in theater early in the afternoon. Part of it blew over the wall into the adjoining street.” Per a front-page story the next day in the Journal.
It rebuilt. The July 13, 1956 ad in the Journal had East and West screens again. But by 1957, the ads showed that the drive-in was back down to one screen.
The Monitor of McAllen TX, on July 15, 2000, wrote about the history of the Town & Country, saying that it reopened July 7 that year “after almost 20 years of darkness”.
The article said the drive-in opened June 21, 1956, with a capacity over 1450. “At the time, it was billed as the largest drive-in in the Southwest.” It was then owned by C.D. “Toad” Leon of Abilene. He said, “I had moved to Abilene and was here a year without any visible means of support and they were going to arrest me for vagrancy, so I built the drive-in.”
Based on newspaper ads, it looks like the Circle was closed for a while before they tried to reboot it as the Cinema C. I couldn’t find Circle ads from August 1965 until the Cinema C’s Grand Opening. And it looks like the reboot didn’t take; I couldn’t find any Cinema C ads after October 1967.
The NE 66 changed to simply 66 (not Route 66) in 1962, then to the Cinema 66 in 1964. It was still active in May 1968, but the Barton chain was sold in June 1968 to Ferris Enterprises, which immediately closed the Cinema 66. Its final ad was May 31, 1968. The following week, the ad said “Closed for remodeling. Watch for re-opening later this summer!”
From the April 19, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
With the completion of the second drive-in theatre here, the owners decided they would have to use names to properly identify one from the other. One theatre will be known as the East Drive-In and the other the West Drive-In. The East was scheduled to open Wednesday (16). During the closed months, many improvements were made, including the changing from a central speaking system to in-a-car speakers. The West is still in the building stage and is expected to open some time between the first and the 15th of July. The West will also be equipped with in-a-car speakers. Both will be directed by Floyd Murrow.
Two notes from BoxOffice, April 12, 1947:
PARIS, KY. — In-car speakers have been installed at the Bluegrass Drive-In Theatre on the Lexington-Georgetown road near here.
The Blue Grass Drive-In, Georgetown, Ky., also opened the last weekend in March.
Here’s the full note that Joe Vogel found:
“OPEN NEW DRIVE-IN — Underwood and Ezell have opened their new Winkler drive-in, located on the Houston thoroughfare of that name where it intersects with Telephone road. It is their ninth such plant in the state. The Winkler was designed by Jack Corgan, Dallas architect; will park 450 cars on ramps that have been paved to keep down the dust. In-car speakers, a play park for children and lawn seats for those without cars are features. Bill Sargent is manager, having been transferred from the Circle at Waco.”
In a story about De Leon’s other indoor theater, the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice mentioned that “M. D. Stewart’s Texas … was sold to J. R. Miller a year ago.”
Same theater? From the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
De Leon, Tex. – H. L. Millington and A. R. Parsons will open their new Atomic Theatre here March 15. They have leased a store building with a high ceiling and are having Lupe Romero of Dallas do the conversion job. The 475-seater will have a balcony, rest rooms and probably a cry room.
Millington is in the auto business at Comanche, 15 miles from here. Parsons worked for many years as projectionist at M. D. Stewart’s Texas, which was sold to J. R. Miller a year ago.
“BILLINGS. MO. – O. F. Bolinger has sold the State here to Buford L. Lowrance, an ex-GI new to the business. Bolinger owned the theatre for a year.” —BoxOffice, Feb. 1, 1947
“MILLER, MO. – The Star Theatre here is moving. It will move into the Frank Washam building which is undergoing alteration.” —BoxOffice, Feb. 1, 1947
Looks like it opened even earlier. From the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
CRYSTAL CITY, MO. – Tilden Dickson opened his new Hi-Way Theatre here January 21. The house has RCA projection and sound equipment, International seats and Mohawk carpeting, all furnished by Cinema Supply.
Same drive-in? From the Feb. 1, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
LOS ANGELES – Robert L. Lippert, vice-president of Screen Guild Productions, is building a new drive-in theatre on the outskirts of Medford, Ore. This will increase the number of his theatre holdings to 35.
The Medford property was one of several theatre sites acquired by Lippert when he purchased the nine-theatre circuit of Leverette Interstate Theatres situated in Oregon and northern California.
The new theatre will have a capacity of 400 automobiles with individual speakers for each year. (sic) It is expected to be completed by early summer.
From the Jan. 4, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
STOCKDALE, TEX. – Stockdale’s new and ultramodern theatre, the Dale, which cost $80,000, was opened here Christmas week by W. D. Glasscock of San Antonio. He also owns the Blanco and the new George West, situated in the respective Texas towns of those names.
The George West was officially opened New Year’s eve. This theatre cost $75,000.
Present at the Stockdale opening were numerous exhibitors from surrounding towns, including Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Arrington of the Dutch Mill Theatre at Holland.
From the Jan. 4, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
GREENE, IOWA – A modernistic marquee was hung at the Greene here last weekend, replacing the old-style canopy sign. The marquee, which extends horizontally from the theatre front, has neon lettering showing the current attraction on each side in five-inch characters. Mayor Robert Hessel, owner of the theatre, plans to redecorate the entire building in the spring.
From BoxOffice, Jan. 4, 1947:
ST. LOUIS – The Plaza Theatre was opened January 1 by Clarence and Francis Kalmann as part of the Wehrenberg-Kalmann circuit, which now includes 23 houses. The theatre has for some years been used as a synagogue. It has been thoroughly modernized inside and out, equipped with latest in sound and projection equipment, about 600 seats, carpeting, drapes and lighting.
HUGO, COLO. – Earl Berens of Milbank, S. D., has purchased the Hugo Theatre here from Marion Smith, giving a free show an an introduction to the community. He announced he will improve the house. —BoxOffice, Jan. 4, 1947
From the Jan. 4, 1947 issue of BoxOffice:
CRAIG, COLO. – Opening date for the New West Theatre here is only weeks away, and workmen have been working overtime to complete remodeling of the building early in January. Stan Stanfill, manager, hasn’t set the opening day as yet.
Ed Arnold, commercial artist, recently spent a week in Craig painting the panels for the auditorium. Arnold was in charge of all decorators and artists who worked on the buildings at the San Francisco World’s Fair of 1940.
New screen, new projection equipment, and new heating and ventilating systems are also being installed.
From Variety, Aug. 6, 1952, “Terrace Drive-In opened in Lees Summitt, Mo., July 31. The 300-car ozoner is operated by Jam, Inc.”
From the Aug. 27, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor, “The sign on the Terrace Drive-In, Lee’s Summit, Mo., was damaged by high winds the day after it opened. Sam Abend and Earl Jameson are the owners.”
From Variety July 9, 1958, “Roy S. Lindamood, 75, longtime theatre manager in the Kansas City area, died June 26 in K.C. He had operated the Vogue Theatre and the Terrace Drive-In Theatre in Lee’s Summit and at one time ran an amusement park in Galveston, Tex.”
Good catch, fatfink. The Dixieland was listed under Opp AL in the Motion Picture Almanacs' drive-in lists from 1977 to 1979, owned by Con-McLend.
The MPA circuit listings showed the Dixieland among Connet Theatres' holdings from at least 1976 through at least the 1988 edition, nine years after it fell off the MPA drive-in list.
What became the Tri-City was advertising as the 99 Drive-In in 1940. The “99” was featured in its ads after it reopened in 1947 until it became the Tri-City, which was Nov. 28, 1948 according to DriveIn101 above.
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.
The Skyline stayed open until January 1989, when its newspaper movie listings abruptly ceased. It’s weird how many references I’ve read for a 1987 closure, but the newspaper ads don’t lie, at least not that way.
Current owner Larry Rodkey bought the Skyline in 1995, as recounted in a 2015 article in the local newspaper. “This one (Skyline) was closed when I bought it. And this is what I get for drinking,” Rodkey said with a hearty laugh. “I came here many, many years ago and stopped in front and I said ‘I’m going to own this some day.’ And 10 years later I got it.”
After running it on a shoestring for about a decade, Rodkey leased it to manager Randy Shull. After a couple of years, Shull closed it in August 2009. Gene Harvey took over the lease and reopened two months later.
Harvey tried and failed to win a digital projector from Honda, then closed the Skyline in February 2015. Rodkey returned, paid more for two digital projectors than he had paid for the whole place two decades earlier, and reopened the drive-in again in April that year.
The Tesuque was a twin for a few years after its 1953 expansion. That fits with the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog calling it the Tesuque Twin, owner Marlin Butler, cap 850.
Newspaper ads from at least May 8, 1953 called it the Tesuque Twin and referred to East and West screens. In September that year, silent western star Hoot Gibson made an appearance there on a stage “erected between the two screens.” Per the Albuquerque Journal.
On Feb. 24, 1956, a wind storm “tore off a 16-by-43 foot section of the east screen at the Tesuque drive-in theater early in the afternoon. Part of it blew over the wall into the adjoining street.” Per a front-page story the next day in the Journal.
It rebuilt. The July 13, 1956 ad in the Journal had East and West screens again. But by 1957, the ads showed that the drive-in was back down to one screen.
The Monitor of McAllen TX, on July 15, 2000, wrote about the history of the Town & Country, saying that it reopened July 7 that year “after almost 20 years of darkness”.
The article said the drive-in opened June 21, 1956, with a capacity over 1450. “At the time, it was billed as the largest drive-in in the Southwest.” It was then owned by C.D. “Toad” Leon of Abilene. He said, “I had moved to Abilene and was here a year without any visible means of support and they were going to arrest me for vagrancy, so I built the drive-in.”
Based on newspaper ads, it looks like the Circle was closed for a while before they tried to reboot it as the Cinema C. I couldn’t find Circle ads from August 1965 until the Cinema C’s Grand Opening. And it looks like the reboot didn’t take; I couldn’t find any Cinema C ads after October 1967.
The NE 66 changed to simply 66 (not Route 66) in 1962, then to the Cinema 66 in 1964. It was still active in May 1968, but the Barton chain was sold in June 1968 to Ferris Enterprises, which immediately closed the Cinema 66. Its final ad was May 31, 1968. The following week, the ad said “Closed for remodeling. Watch for re-opening later this summer!”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The Exhibitor: “J. E. Stribling, Gem, Davenport, Okla., opened his new Rig Drive-In, Davenport.”
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The Exhibitor: “R. M. Downing, Crown, Collinsville, Okla., opened his new Cardinal Drive-In, Collinsville.”