There’s a Facebook group dedicated to St. Louis area drive-ins & indoor theatres with tons of pictures of the Thunderbird and other drive-ins along with newspaper ads for each theatre. I’ve combed through the pics and ads of “The Bird” – not a trace of 2001 or Funny Girl to be found. But there are TONS of ads for horror flicks on that page.
Sorry if I don’t post the link…can’t access FB during the day.
We always make time to visit this spot when we’re in SD for a period of time. I LOVED their main field that used to have that ginormous slightly curved screen. The wind blew it down and it’s replacement is a bit smaller to me.
I lived around the corner from this former D/I from 2007 through the begining of 2010. When it was a D/I, I only went here 3 times: Once in 1990 to see “Darkman” & “Mo Better Blues”, again in 1991 to see “Stone Cold” & “Misery” and lastly in 1993 to see a triple bill of “Meteor Man”, “Poetic Justice” & “In The Line of Fire”. It was at that last visit that Pacific handed out flyers announcing the closing of this and the Studio D/I’s.
LOL on the makeout story! I had a hot and heavy incident at the Vermont once myself…only saw the closing credits of both movies of our double feature. GOOD TIMES!
Nobody busted me…or dinged the door of my car, either. :)
With all due respect, dctrig’s idea of doing roadshow only runs at The Dome wouldn’t work. They’d attract film geeks like us…but it wouldn’t be enough to sustain consistent attendance for all 800 plus seats in there. In addition (and this is what I’ve learned from the good folks who post on this website), high quality prints that can be shown using The Dome’s projection system aren’t that easy to come by.
FWIW, the presentaiton in The Dome for both “The Fighter” and “True Grit” were not too shabby.
In the summer of 1984, I stayed with my uncle, grandmother & cousins for about a month and a half at the nearby Army base (can’t remember the name) that was right next to Junction City. I drove past this drive-in at least 3 times a week that summer…and never went inside to see a single movie.
One week they actually got “Gremlins” (which was nearing its big run) on a double feature with “Twilight Zone.” I BEGGED…PLEADED…CRIED REAL TEARS to my uncle to let us go see that double feature! He responded “Maybe.” On the final night of that double feature (I think the place was switching movies up once a week) I waited to see if the homemade popcorn would be popped & the lawn chairs would go in the trunk. Minutes…then hours passed. We didn’t go.
That summer still marks the longest period of time (2 months) that I did not see a movie at a movie theatre. When I think of that (anguished!!!) time, I’ll always remember driving past this drive-in day after day after day.
Only went here once in 2004 to see “King Arthur”. Place wasn’t bad for a Regal. Reports from hometown indicate that this theatre is a magnet for teenage hooligans.
JAlex posted this relevant Esquire info on the thread of another St. Louis area theatre:
“The Esquire converted to a three-screen venue in late 1969 and early 1970. The theatre was closed in December 1969 and the main theatre (without the balcony) reopened on December 25, 1969. The two mini-theatres (the old balcony) opened on February 4, 1970.”
When was the 4th auditorium was added? Also, when was the 4th aud rebuilt to add the 4 newer screens?
ETX is on the 3rd floor. It’s an IMAX'esque unmaked full screen with speakers on the sides, back and CELING (!!!) of the auditorium. Widescreen shot films sit dead center of the screen ala IMAX, too.
The IMAX theatre has switched to an all reserved seating system. Switch happened in Summer 2010. The remaining theatres are still first come first served.
If you include the land from the Quad, there’s room enough to fit 4 screens in there! Can’t wait to see the finished product next time I’m in St. Louis.
P.S. Pacific & ArcLight are the same company. Their parent company (Decurion Corporation) simply converted it from Pacific to ArcLight, so the line about ArcLight “taking it over” is not quite accurate.
ABSOLUTELY STUNNING transformation from Pacific to ArcLight. Auditorium layout completely changed from downward sloping stadium seating to upward sloping stadium seating. Screens are bigger. Sound is upgraded. Projection is DP…but they do have film projectors on hand.
This theatre is going to be the toast of the South Bay!
GREAT STORY about the seats! Heh…my mother actually took me to a matinee of “The Big Fix” there when I was a kid. LOL!
There’s a Facebook group dedicated to St. Louis area drive-ins & indoor theatres with tons of pictures of the Thunderbird and other drive-ins along with newspaper ads for each theatre. I’ve combed through the pics and ads of “The Bird” – not a trace of 2001 or Funny Girl to be found. But there are TONS of ads for horror flicks on that page.
Sorry if I don’t post the link…can’t access FB during the day.
FWIW, the drive would have been only 5-10 minutes.
“As others have noted, the El Capitan is the highest earning single screen theater in the country.”
Of course it is! It’s $25 a ticket (MINIMUM!) to sit in the center section of the theatre.
Giles: The Dome @ ArcLight does have issues with DP on it’s screen. The image can’t fit on the bottom left & right corners of the screen.
We always make time to visit this spot when we’re in SD for a period of time. I LOVED their main field that used to have that ginormous slightly curved screen. The wind blew it down and it’s replacement is a bit smaller to me.
I lived around the corner from this former D/I from 2007 through the begining of 2010. When it was a D/I, I only went here 3 times: Once in 1990 to see “Darkman” & “Mo Better Blues”, again in 1991 to see “Stone Cold” & “Misery” and lastly in 1993 to see a triple bill of “Meteor Man”, “Poetic Justice” & “In The Line of Fire”. It was at that last visit that Pacific handed out flyers announcing the closing of this and the Studio D/I’s.
You have to be an ArcLight Member AND get your ticket online to get the dollar off.
Updated website address: http://www.rubidouxdrivein.com/
LOL on the makeout story! I had a hot and heavy incident at the Vermont once myself…only saw the closing credits of both movies of our double feature. GOOD TIMES!
Nobody busted me…or dinged the door of my car, either. :)
With all due respect, dctrig’s idea of doing roadshow only runs at The Dome wouldn’t work. They’d attract film geeks like us…but it wouldn’t be enough to sustain consistent attendance for all 800 plus seats in there. In addition (and this is what I’ve learned from the good folks who post on this website), high quality prints that can be shown using The Dome’s projection system aren’t that easy to come by.
FWIW, the presentaiton in The Dome for both “The Fighter” and “True Grit” were not too shabby.
In the summer of 1984, I stayed with my uncle, grandmother & cousins for about a month and a half at the nearby Army base (can’t remember the name) that was right next to Junction City. I drove past this drive-in at least 3 times a week that summer…and never went inside to see a single movie.
One week they actually got “Gremlins” (which was nearing its big run) on a double feature with “Twilight Zone.” I BEGGED…PLEADED…CRIED REAL TEARS to my uncle to let us go see that double feature! He responded “Maybe.” On the final night of that double feature (I think the place was switching movies up once a week) I waited to see if the homemade popcorn would be popped & the lawn chairs would go in the trunk. Minutes…then hours passed. We didn’t go.
That summer still marks the longest period of time (2 months) that I did not see a movie at a movie theatre. When I think of that (anguished!!!) time, I’ll always remember driving past this drive-in day after day after day.
I am proud to support this website. Congratulations and here’s to continued success!
I’d love to see a pic of the old #4…as well as a pic of the original #1 with the floodlights & curtain.
Ewww indeed! At least they didn’t go that tacky at the other former “Bridge” in LA.
Add this one to the long long list of theatres I’ve driven by for years but never stepped inside!
All the AMC’s built in the late 2000’s look the same.
Only went here once in 2004 to see “King Arthur”. Place wasn’t bad for a Regal. Reports from hometown indicate that this theatre is a magnet for teenage hooligans.
JAlex posted this relevant Esquire info on the thread of another St. Louis area theatre:
“The Esquire converted to a three-screen venue in late 1969 and early 1970. The theatre was closed in December 1969 and the main theatre (without the balcony) reopened on December 25, 1969. The two mini-theatres (the old balcony) opened on February 4, 1970.”
When was the 4th auditorium was added? Also, when was the 4th aud rebuilt to add the 4 newer screens?
ETX is on the 3rd floor. It’s an IMAX'esque unmaked full screen with speakers on the sides, back and CELING (!!!) of the auditorium. Widescreen shot films sit dead center of the screen ala IMAX, too.
The IMAX theatre has switched to an all reserved seating system. Switch happened in Summer 2010. The remaining theatres are still first come first served.
If you include the land from the Quad, there’s room enough to fit 4 screens in there! Can’t wait to see the finished product next time I’m in St. Louis.
P.S. Pacific & ArcLight are the same company. Their parent company (Decurion Corporation) simply converted it from Pacific to ArcLight, so the line about ArcLight “taking it over” is not quite accurate.
ABSOLUTELY STUNNING transformation from Pacific to ArcLight. Auditorium layout completely changed from downward sloping stadium seating to upward sloping stadium seating. Screens are bigger. Sound is upgraded. Projection is DP…but they do have film projectors on hand.
This theatre is going to be the toast of the South Bay!
Stadium seating is “sad” to somebody? YIKES!
Will never…ever…see a movie here, though.