FLORA, ILL. – The new drive-in between here and Louisville, Ill., on Route 45 has been playing to good business since its recent opening. It is owned by Harry Jones of Lawrenceville and his business associates, who also operate drive-ins near Robinson and Princeton, Ind.
Hmm. Someone different owned the drive-in in 1949. Or was it a second Socorro drive-in? From the Oct. 8, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
SOCORRO, N. M. – Owner Jack Wills says that weather conditions and construction difficulty have made it impossible to reopen the local drive-in this season. Three attempts have been made previously to complete remodeling of the theatre.
A July 20, 1980 article in the Southern Illinoisan of Carbondale agreed with the opening year and provided an approximate closing as the end of the 1979 season. “Business was good and owner I. W. Rodgers would open the Anna Drive-In in 1953. … The drive-in didn’t re-open this spring though and its patched screen looks down on a field of headless poles where speakers once hung.”
The Herald and Review of Decatur IL ran a lengthy article on Feb. 27, 1982, profiling the Rustic and its owner, Mike Stephens. It said the Rustic was opened “about 1949” by the Frisina chain, which sold it to Stephens and his wife in late 1980.
“The Rustic was opened quickly, and gravel had to be added later to its parking lot. ‘They had quite a bit of trouble getting the land to settle,’ Stephens recalls, and several customers' automobiles got stuck the first week and had to be pulled out.”
From the Sept. 4, 1948 issue of Motion Picture Herald, “Ralph Lawler, operator of the Peoria Drive-In theatre, and Joseph N. Sikes, who operates the Springfield Drive-In in Illinois, have formed a partnership placing both theatres under their joint management. Mr. Lawler was formerly district manager for Great States in Illinois, and Mr. Sikes is a Waukegan attorney.”
To elaborate on dallasmovietheaters' comments, a Dec. 13, 1980 article in The Pantagraph of Bloomington IL quoted Springfield manager Richard Goyne as saying that his drive-in caters to family movies while school is out but shifts to X-rated films beginning in the fall. “We do tremendous business or we wouldn’t be open,” he said.
The Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list got confused with something in the mid 1960s, dropped the Springfield in 1980, then picked it up again in 1983, presumably after Frisina sold it. Would that indicate a mid-80s revival? MPA mentions:
1950-59: Drive-In, capacity 800, owner Springfield Drive-In Corp.
1960-64: Drive-In, 800, Central States Theatres
1965-66: Drive-In, 800, Central States Theatres AND Springfield Drive-In, 1,100, Frisina
1967-76: Drive-In, 800, AND Springfield Drive-In, 1,100 (no owner info)
1977-79: Springfield Drive-In, 800, Frisina
1980-82: off the list
1983-84: Springfield Drive-In, 1 screen, Mid Am. Thea.
MONTPELIER, IDA. – Old Oregon Trail and western scenes are painted on the six-foot aluminum fence surrounding the Motor-Vu Drive-In located on a five-acre trace on Route 30-N near here. Built at a cost of approximately $50,000, the drive-in accommodates 300 cars. A 62x55-foot screen and in-car speakers are used. Donald G. Welker is manager.
Same theater? From the Oct. 1, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “ASH FORK, ARIZ. – A 300-seater has been built here on Highway 66. Construction costs were $20,000.”
The Star of Tinley Park wrote on Aug. 22, 1963 that the “Hilltop” was celebrating its birthday Aug. 23-25. “Five years ago the theatre was transferred from the impersonal step-child operation of a large absentee theatre chain to the family style management of a neighbor.”
Owner manager Irwin S. Joseph said he was building a beach and showing the movie Beach Party that weekend.
On July 15, 2001, apparently not long before the abrupt closure, The Star returned to the “Hill-Top” with an affectionate look at one of the few remaining drive-ins. It was open Fridays through Sundays and often filled to its 500-car capacity on Saturday nights.
It may be that the Manistique has been quiet for a while now. The most recent event I could find was a scary triple feature on Oct. 28, 2018, as shown on the U.S. 2 unofficial Facebook page.
Two weeks later, a GoFundMe page launched with videos and a few details. “The Upper Peninsula Film Union with the help of mBank has been able to temporarily remove the drive-in from the market but we still need to raise funds to secure it permanently,” it said. “We really need funds soon to continue the work we have started, preserve and secure the the property and start getting ready for another fun season of drive-in events in 2019.”
There are still more details in the description of a short YouTube video that was posted in July 2018. “April and Jason Collins own the property on U.S. 2 and have allowed Don Erickson and Eric Sherbinow of the U.P. Film Union to produce movie events that bring back the bygone days of the drive in theater.”
Here’s hoping those U.P. folks can keep it going and eventually restore this drive-in.
The Sept. 24, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported, “The Auto-Cine, said to be the first drive-in theatre in Mexico, was opened by Mayo Bros. near the Ninos Heroes park in East Juarez.”
TORRINGTON, WYO. – F. W. Chopping, Zube M. Chopping and Bob C. Otwell are operating the new Kar-Vue Drive-In Theatre recently opened here on the Van Tassel highway.
Opening notes from the Sept. 24, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
ALBUQUERQUE – In-car heaters are among features of the new 66 Drive-In recently opened here by Albuquerque Theatres. With a capacity of 550 cars, the new drive-in has a snack bar and an adjoining patio from which patrons may watch the picture on the screen. George Tucker is city manager for the operating company, and H. H. Schulze is manager of the drive-in.
The Sept. 17, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported, “WINNER, S. D. – The Shoo-Fly Drive-In was opened here recently by owner Don King with Mrs. William Whitford as manager.”
The Sullivan opened on Friday, June 5, 1952, based on a note that day in The Decatur (IL) Daily Review. “The theater is owned and operated by Lee Norton, who also owns the Grand theater in Sullivan.”
On May 1, 1975, the Daily Review reported that George Kerasotes had purchased the Sullivan from Lee and Virginia Norton. Kerasotes said he would keep the place running.
Thomas G. Falk, head of Okay Drive-In Theater, Inc., told the Mattoon Journal Gazette on Feb. 6, 1952 that construction would “begin within a week”. It was on a 14-acre tract with room for expansion from its initial 300-car capacity. Other members of the corporation included Mrs. Eileen M. Falk, Jack Taylor and Mrs. Corma Jane Taylor.
From the Sept. 17, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “CAMDENTON, MO. – A 150-car drive-in being constructed on Route 5 adjacent to the high school by E. E. Hopkins of Lebanon, Mo., was scheduled to open on Saturday (1).” That would be Sat., Oct. 1, 1949, if it happened.
An early inkling came in the Sept. 17, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
LINCOLN, ILL. – Steve Bennis, theatre operator at Lincoln and Freeport, Ill., and Gus Constan, operator at Decatur and Danville, will build new drive-ins here and in Freeport. Both situations will accommodate 400 cars with a hold-back area of 200 to 300 cars to be added later.
The Sept. 3, 1949 issue of BoxOffice explained why the almost-complete drive-in didn’t open that year:
“ROLLA, MO. – Rowe Carney, head of R. E. Carney Theatres, Harry Blunt and associates have purchased ground between new Highway 66 and old 66 as the site for a 500-car drive-in. They hope to have it ready for operation early next spring.
“Previously, Carney contemplated locating the new drive-in on a site north of the Pennant hotel. Under the new arrangement, the firm will abandon the smaller drive-in, which was being constructed by Cecil and Roscoe Hopkins of the Hopkins Motor Sales Co., Lebanon, Mo., which they purchased a few weeks ago. Rolla thus will have only one drive-in, instead of two competing ones. The larger one planned by Carney and his associates will cost about $100,000.”
Then a front-page story in the Rolla Daily Herald on Aug. 18, 1950 helped explain why it didn’t open earlier that year:
“Recent heavy rains have slowed down the work on the new Rolla Drive-in Theater being constructed on Highway 66 between Rolla and Northwye by Rowe Carney.
“The drive-in, located on the south side of the highway in a natural amphitheatre, was smoothed down, and workmen were ready to apply gravel on the "floor,” but the rains made several ditches which will have to be filled before the gravel is spread."
Carney said he still expected to open the Rolla “shortly after Sept. 1.” The drive-in was to include “a big playpen for the kiddies” and chairs for patrons who didn’t want to sit in their cars.
Another note from the Sept. 3, 1949 BoxOffice, “Word comes from Lovington, Ill., that the drive-in planned for that community will operate with 16mm films. Sam Randall is said to be the owner. The little drive-in at Brussels also uses 16mm pictures.”
From the Sept. 3, 1949 issue of BoxOffice, “Hurdis E. Boyd hopes to open his 500-car drive-in at Kennett, Mo., within the next two weeks. The theatre has been equipped by Joe Hornstein, Inc. Boyd also is owner of the local Coca-Cola Co.”
And then it happened, as written in the Sept. 10 issue. “The 500-car Tommie’s Drive-In at Kennett, operated by H. E. Boyd, opened.”
“September 8 (1949) was the opening date for the Quincy Drive-In at West Quincy, Mo. World Theatrical Enterprises of St. Louis is the owner.” – BoxOffice, Sept. 10, 1949
From the Oct. 8, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
FLORA, ILL. – The new drive-in between here and Louisville, Ill., on Route 45 has been playing to good business since its recent opening. It is owned by Harry Jones of Lawrenceville and his business associates, who also operate drive-ins near Robinson and Princeton, Ind.
Hmm. Someone different owned the drive-in in 1949. Or was it a second Socorro drive-in? From the Oct. 8, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
SOCORRO, N. M. – Owner Jack Wills says that weather conditions and construction difficulty have made it impossible to reopen the local drive-in this season. Three attempts have been made previously to complete remodeling of the theatre.
A July 20, 1980 article in the Southern Illinoisan of Carbondale agreed with the opening year and provided an approximate closing as the end of the 1979 season. “Business was good and owner I. W. Rodgers would open the Anna Drive-In in 1953. … The drive-in didn’t re-open this spring though and its patched screen looks down on a field of headless poles where speakers once hung.”
The Herald and Review of Decatur IL ran a lengthy article on Feb. 27, 1982, profiling the Rustic and its owner, Mike Stephens. It said the Rustic was opened “about 1949” by the Frisina chain, which sold it to Stephens and his wife in late 1980.
“The Rustic was opened quickly, and gravel had to be added later to its parking lot. ‘They had quite a bit of trouble getting the land to settle,’ Stephens recalls, and several customers' automobiles got stuck the first week and had to be pulled out.”
From the Sept. 4, 1948 issue of Motion Picture Herald, “Ralph Lawler, operator of the Peoria Drive-In theatre, and Joseph N. Sikes, who operates the Springfield Drive-In in Illinois, have formed a partnership placing both theatres under their joint management. Mr. Lawler was formerly district manager for Great States in Illinois, and Mr. Sikes is a Waukegan attorney.”
To elaborate on dallasmovietheaters' comments, a Dec. 13, 1980 article in The Pantagraph of Bloomington IL quoted Springfield manager Richard Goyne as saying that his drive-in caters to family movies while school is out but shifts to X-rated films beginning in the fall. “We do tremendous business or we wouldn’t be open,” he said.
The Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list got confused with something in the mid 1960s, dropped the Springfield in 1980, then picked it up again in 1983, presumably after Frisina sold it. Would that indicate a mid-80s revival? MPA mentions:
Same drive-in? An aside in the Oct. 1, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported, “The new drive-in at Lawrenceville, Ill., has been opened.”
From the Oct. 1, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
MONTPELIER, IDA. – Old Oregon Trail and western scenes are painted on the six-foot aluminum fence surrounding the Motor-Vu Drive-In located on a five-acre trace on Route 30-N near here. Built at a cost of approximately $50,000, the drive-in accommodates 300 cars. A 62x55-foot screen and in-car speakers are used. Donald G. Welker is manager.
Same theater? From the Oct. 1, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “ASH FORK, ARIZ. – A 300-seater has been built here on Highway 66. Construction costs were $20,000.”
From the Oct. 1, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “SAFFORD, ARIZ. – Don Dillon and Clifton Ratcliff have opened a new drive-in here. Capacity is 400 cars.”
The Star of Tinley Park wrote on Aug. 22, 1963 that the “Hilltop” was celebrating its birthday Aug. 23-25. “Five years ago the theatre was transferred from the impersonal step-child operation of a large absentee theatre chain to the family style management of a neighbor.”
Owner manager Irwin S. Joseph said he was building a beach and showing the movie Beach Party that weekend.
On July 15, 2001, apparently not long before the abrupt closure, The Star returned to the “Hill-Top” with an affectionate look at one of the few remaining drive-ins. It was open Fridays through Sundays and often filled to its 500-car capacity on Saturday nights.
It may be that the Manistique has been quiet for a while now. The most recent event I could find was a scary triple feature on Oct. 28, 2018, as shown on the U.S. 2 unofficial Facebook page.
Two weeks later, a GoFundMe page launched with videos and a few details. “The Upper Peninsula Film Union with the help of mBank has been able to temporarily remove the drive-in from the market but we still need to raise funds to secure it permanently,” it said. “We really need funds soon to continue the work we have started, preserve and secure the the property and start getting ready for another fun season of drive-in events in 2019.”
There are still more details in the description of a short YouTube video that was posted in July 2018. “April and Jason Collins own the property on U.S. 2 and have allowed Don Erickson and Eric Sherbinow of the U.P. Film Union to produce movie events that bring back the bygone days of the drive in theater.”
Here’s hoping those U.P. folks can keep it going and eventually restore this drive-in.
The Sept. 24, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported, “The Auto-Cine, said to be the first drive-in theatre in Mexico, was opened by Mayo Bros. near the Ninos Heroes park in East Juarez.”
From the Sept. 24, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
TORRINGTON, WYO. – F. W. Chopping, Zube M. Chopping and Bob C. Otwell are operating the new Kar-Vue Drive-In Theatre recently opened here on the Van Tassel highway.
Opening notes from the Sept. 24, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
ALBUQUERQUE – In-car heaters are among features of the new 66 Drive-In recently opened here by Albuquerque Theatres. With a capacity of 550 cars, the new drive-in has a snack bar and an adjoining patio from which patrons may watch the picture on the screen. George Tucker is city manager for the operating company, and H. H. Schulze is manager of the drive-in.
The Sept. 17, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported, “WINNER, S. D. – The Shoo-Fly Drive-In was opened here recently by owner Don King with Mrs. William Whitford as manager.”
The Sullivan opened on Friday, June 5, 1952, based on a note that day in The Decatur (IL) Daily Review. “The theater is owned and operated by Lee Norton, who also owns the Grand theater in Sullivan.”
On May 1, 1975, the Daily Review reported that George Kerasotes had purchased the Sullivan from Lee and Virginia Norton. Kerasotes said he would keep the place running.
Thomas G. Falk, head of Okay Drive-In Theater, Inc., told the Mattoon Journal Gazette on Feb. 6, 1952 that construction would “begin within a week”. It was on a 14-acre tract with room for expansion from its initial 300-car capacity. Other members of the corporation included Mrs. Eileen M. Falk, Jack Taylor and Mrs. Corma Jane Taylor.
The 67 Drive-In Theatre was listed as one of the sponsors of the religion ad in the March 22, 1952 issue of The Daily Journal of Jacksonville IL.
From the Sept. 17, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “CAMDENTON, MO. – A 150-car drive-in being constructed on Route 5 adjacent to the high school by E. E. Hopkins of Lebanon, Mo., was scheduled to open on Saturday (1).” That would be Sat., Oct. 1, 1949, if it happened.
An early inkling came in the Sept. 17, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
LINCOLN, ILL. – Steve Bennis, theatre operator at Lincoln and Freeport, Ill., and Gus Constan, operator at Decatur and Danville, will build new drive-ins here and in Freeport. Both situations will accommodate 400 cars with a hold-back area of 200 to 300 cars to be added later.
The Sept. 3, 1949 issue of BoxOffice explained why the almost-complete drive-in didn’t open that year:
“ROLLA, MO. – Rowe Carney, head of R. E. Carney Theatres, Harry Blunt and associates have purchased ground between new Highway 66 and old 66 as the site for a 500-car drive-in. They hope to have it ready for operation early next spring.
“Previously, Carney contemplated locating the new drive-in on a site north of the Pennant hotel. Under the new arrangement, the firm will abandon the smaller drive-in, which was being constructed by Cecil and Roscoe Hopkins of the Hopkins Motor Sales Co., Lebanon, Mo., which they purchased a few weeks ago. Rolla thus will have only one drive-in, instead of two competing ones. The larger one planned by Carney and his associates will cost about $100,000.”
Then a front-page story in the Rolla Daily Herald on Aug. 18, 1950 helped explain why it didn’t open earlier that year:
“Recent heavy rains have slowed down the work on the new Rolla Drive-in Theater being constructed on Highway 66 between Rolla and Northwye by Rowe Carney.
“The drive-in, located on the south side of the highway in a natural amphitheatre, was smoothed down, and workmen were ready to apply gravel on the "floor,” but the rains made several ditches which will have to be filled before the gravel is spread."
Carney said he still expected to open the Rolla “shortly after Sept. 1.” The drive-in was to include “a big playpen for the kiddies” and chairs for patrons who didn’t want to sit in their cars.
Another note from the Sept. 3, 1949 BoxOffice, “Word comes from Lovington, Ill., that the drive-in planned for that community will operate with 16mm films. Sam Randall is said to be the owner. The little drive-in at Brussels also uses 16mm pictures.”
From the Sept. 3, 1949 issue of BoxOffice, “Hurdis E. Boyd hopes to open his 500-car drive-in at Kennett, Mo., within the next two weeks. The theatre has been equipped by Joe Hornstein, Inc. Boyd also is owner of the local Coca-Cola Co.”
And then it happened, as written in the Sept. 10 issue. “The 500-car Tommie’s Drive-In at Kennett, operated by H. E. Boyd, opened.”
“September 8 (1949) was the opening date for the Quincy Drive-In at West Quincy, Mo. World Theatrical Enterprises of St. Louis is the owner.” – BoxOffice, Sept. 10, 1949