That first renaming may not have occurred until 1954. From the Sept. 4, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “Renamed the Lincoln and completely remodelled, the former Cine-Car drive-in in Anaheim was re-opened by John C. Feys.”
Two sources suggest that the theater was called the Uintah during at least part of the 1950s.
The Facebook page of Historical Photos of Fruita & Western Colorado posted this photo of East Aspen Avenue circa 1951, based on it showing Ma & Pa Kettle Back on the Farm. Its poster writes, in part, “The Unitah was the third and last theater in the building, which had been built for the Majestic Theater. … The original cornice fell down a few years before this photo was taken and damaged the theater marquee when the theater was called the Rialto and run by Fred and Carrie Fraser. The cornice was exactingly recreated in the 1990s for Gene Thomas, editor of the Fruita Times, when he owned the building. That’s the cornice visible on the building today.”
There was also a note in the Managers' Round Table Section of the Motion Picture Herald for Aug. 21, 1954 concerning a letter received from Bob and Melba Walker, the Uintah’s owners and managers. Television had recently arrived in town, giving them sleepless nights until Bob did something about it – he bought a TV set for his own lobby and let anybody in town watch it for free. “But, Bob says, at least he sold them popcorn. And the superior value of good movies was impressed on the lookers and buyers. Now, half the time, they don’t bother with TV.”
From the Aug. 21, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “The new Evans drive-in opened here with 592-car and 130 walk-in capacity, and will be managed by R. L. Stanger, owner of the Windsor, Windsor, Colo.”
Here’s the scoop on the name change, from the Aug. 7, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “Harold Cunyus, owner of the Roxy, has leased the Alpine, renamed it the Uptown, and is reopening it after he installs CinemaScope and does some other remodeling and renovating. The house has been closed for some time.”
Here’s the date of the first closing, from the July 24, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “The Coed theatre at Topeka, Kan., has been closed permanently. Lack of business has been given as the cause.”
To pick up on Joe Vogel’s comment here from 2008, here’s a note from the Motion Picture Herald of June 19, 1954 about how and why the Halsted got renamed and reopened:
Four-Screen Drive-In, 138th and Halsted, $325,000 installation that ran into projectionists trouble and remained closed last season, reopened with a single huge screen measuring 50 by 90 feet. The outdoor theater has been renamed the Halsted drive-in.
There’s a large article, over two pages with photos, about the construction of the Centennial in the June 5, 1954 Better Theatres Section of the Motion Picture Herald.
“Adjacent to the drive-in (and this providing another source of entertainment in the immediate vicinity) is a horse track, property of Centennial Horse Racing Track, Inc., which also owns the drive-in. Operating the latter under a lease is Television Theatres, which also owns the Webber (indoor) theatre in Denver.”
There’s a large article, over two pages with photos, about the construction of the Wadsworth in the June 5, 1954 Better Theatres Section of the Motion Picture Herald. It concludes by noting that C. K. Lee, head of Lee Theatres, Inc., Denver, “owner of the theatre, also has two Colorado Springs drive-ins and the Monaca (sic), Denver.”
The June 5, 1954 Motion Picture Herald reported that Barton Theatres had acquired the Circle drive-in. “Mr. and Mrs. Harold Combs are managing the theatre temporarily. This is the 15th theatre in the Barton chain in Oklahoma City.”
As a veteran of Denver’s late, wet snows, I was amused to discover that the Centre opened during a snowstorm according to the Motion Picture Herald of May 8, 1954. The Wadsworth Drive-In, scheduled to open May 1, “was forced to postpone the opening a week because of the big snowstorm hitting Denver last week, right in the midst of the opening of the downtown deluxe 1,247-seat Centre.”
This one’s for you, WadeWilliams. From the April 17, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
The Leawood drive-in had “Riders to the Stars,” Wednesday through Saturday, first run in Kansas City. The drive-in is near the southwest corner of Kansas City, Mo.
This might be the transaction that led to the renaming. From the April 17, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: T.E. Lally has sold the Pontiac drive-in, Pontiac, Ill., to L. Hewitt of Manito, Ill., because of illness.
A note in the Nov. 10, 1982 issue of The Winslow Mail said that the Harry Nace Company sold six theaters, including the Rialto and Tonto Drive-In, to Blair and Reid Properties of Phoenix, effective Nov. 5.
The Phoenix Drive-In Theatre is an example of how drive-in theaters evolved. Speakers were first located in the ground and later migrated onto poles. A concession stand was added. The size of the screen grew and the number of parking slots doubled over time to about 800.
Closure details from a much longer story by Earl Moseley writing in the Sept. 15, 1994 issue of The Tulia Herald:
My next chance to run a Mexican-made feature was during the summer of 1962 at the old Skyway Drive-In Theater on US 287 East at Amarillo. It was opened for six weeds (sic) because owners of the property felt that keeping it closed would result in the state paying a lesser price for the property. The highway department was scheduled to purchase it for the construction of Interstate 40.
…My wife …did not arrive until after Labor Day – the date the Skyway was closed for the season. However, the Skyway kept reopening each summer through 1964 because a deal hadn’t been closed yet with the highway department.
Fun note from the March 27, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
When you build a drive-in, be certain it’s all in the same township! After spending $90,000 on the Morrisville Drive-In theatre, Falls Township, Pa., Robert Baronoff discovered the other day the last four rows are in Lower Makefield Township. And in Lower Makefield Township’s zoning laws, drive-ins are illegal.
Wallace Turner, Vinegar Bend, Ala., purchased the Citronelle drive-in, Cintronelle, Ala., from Mrs. J. R. Culpepper. J. G. Broggi will continue to buy and book.
The Plymouth may have closed in early 1954. From the Feb. 20, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
The Plymouth theatre, the only house in Plymouth, Ohio, has closed permanently “because of television competition, high taxes and other similar factors,” according to the owner, Ed Ramsey, who also operates a drive-in in the vicinity, which will remain in operation.
Ownership note from the Feb. 13, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
“The Edwards drive-in theatre, formerly operated by the Edwards Theatres, has been acquired by the Cal Pac Corp.”
Too bad the Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in lists didn’t notice the ownership change until 1960. Which reminds me that I could list all of the Edwards' mentions in the MPA, which had it under Los Angeles until 1977:
1950-59: capacity 750, owner Edwards Theatres, by Myrl Kavanaugh
Hi MC! Love that Crawling Thing ad you uploaded – I wonder how the flying and creeping critters played out at a drive-in?
I agree completely that newspapers err, but look at that same ad. In advertisements, paid for by a business, that business approves everything. Years of those ads with a consistent spelling sway me into believing that’s how that business wanted to be known, which is my definition of a name. Then again, the marquee is fixed in metal, so maybe that’s how this drive-in should be remembered.
Name-change date hint from the Jan. 9, 1954 Motion Picture Herald under the Oklahoma City header: “A new screen has been installed at Twilight Gardens drive-in theatre.”
Pedantic note: Since Cinema Treasures' style is to list a theater by its final name, the Twilight Gardens should be spelled that way here, without a hyphen. I’ve seen references both ways, but the final newspaper ads and mentions had those two complete words.
Mrs. S. E. Allen expects to open her new 300-car drive-in at Lordsburg, N. M., in the early spring, and about the same opening date has been set for J. C. West’s 300-car drive-in, Grants, N. M.
Fun note in the Motion Picture Herald from Oct. 9, 1937:
E. M. Loew, circuit theatre owner in New England, is complaining bitterly to police that spectators in boats are forming non-paying audiences at his new Drive-In theatre on a filled-in march site outside of Lynn, Mass. The Lynn police, however, not having a navy, are at a complete loss on how to proceed, and Mr. Loew may be forced to build a navy himself, or at least a string of flatboats. Anyway, he could change the name to the Sail-In theatre.
That first renaming may not have occurred until 1954. From the Sept. 4, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “Renamed the Lincoln and completely remodelled, the former Cine-Car drive-in in Anaheim was re-opened by John C. Feys.”
Two sources suggest that the theater was called the Uintah during at least part of the 1950s.
The Facebook page of Historical Photos of Fruita & Western Colorado posted this photo of East Aspen Avenue circa 1951, based on it showing Ma & Pa Kettle Back on the Farm. Its poster writes, in part, “The Unitah was the third and last theater in the building, which had been built for the Majestic Theater. … The original cornice fell down a few years before this photo was taken and damaged the theater marquee when the theater was called the Rialto and run by Fred and Carrie Fraser. The cornice was exactingly recreated in the 1990s for Gene Thomas, editor of the Fruita Times, when he owned the building. That’s the cornice visible on the building today.”
There was also a note in the Managers' Round Table Section of the Motion Picture Herald for Aug. 21, 1954 concerning a letter received from Bob and Melba Walker, the Uintah’s owners and managers. Television had recently arrived in town, giving them sleepless nights until Bob did something about it – he bought a TV set for his own lobby and let anybody in town watch it for free. “But, Bob says, at least he sold them popcorn. And the superior value of good movies was impressed on the lookers and buyers. Now, half the time, they don’t bother with TV.”
From the Aug. 21, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “The new Evans drive-in opened here with 592-car and 130 walk-in capacity, and will be managed by R. L. Stanger, owner of the Windsor, Windsor, Colo.”
From the Aug. 7, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “NE ‘66’ drive-in theatre, Oklahoma City, has installed a giant screen for CinemaScope pictures.”
Here’s the scoop on the name change, from the Aug. 7, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “Harold Cunyus, owner of the Roxy, has leased the Alpine, renamed it the Uptown, and is reopening it after he installs CinemaScope and does some other remodeling and renovating. The house has been closed for some time.”
Here’s the date of the first closing, from the July 24, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: “The Coed theatre at Topeka, Kan., has been closed permanently. Lack of business has been given as the cause.”
To pick up on Joe Vogel’s comment here from 2008, here’s a note from the Motion Picture Herald of June 19, 1954 about how and why the Halsted got renamed and reopened:
Four-Screen Drive-In, 138th and Halsted, $325,000 installation that ran into projectionists trouble and remained closed last season, reopened with a single huge screen measuring 50 by 90 feet. The outdoor theater has been renamed the Halsted drive-in.
There’s a large article, over two pages with photos, about the construction of the Centennial in the June 5, 1954 Better Theatres Section of the Motion Picture Herald.
“Adjacent to the drive-in (and this providing another source of entertainment in the immediate vicinity) is a horse track, property of Centennial Horse Racing Track, Inc., which also owns the drive-in. Operating the latter under a lease is Television Theatres, which also owns the Webber (indoor) theatre in Denver.”
There’s a large article, over two pages with photos, about the construction of the Wadsworth in the June 5, 1954 Better Theatres Section of the Motion Picture Herald. It concludes by noting that C. K. Lee, head of Lee Theatres, Inc., Denver, “owner of the theatre, also has two Colorado Springs drive-ins and the Monaca (sic), Denver.”
The June 5, 1954 Motion Picture Herald reported that Barton Theatres had acquired the Circle drive-in. “Mr. and Mrs. Harold Combs are managing the theatre temporarily. This is the 15th theatre in the Barton chain in Oklahoma City.”
The April 10, 1954 Motion Picture Herald reported that the Cactus had widened its screen to 100 feet.
The June 5, 1954 issue added that the Cactus had installed CinemaScope and magnetic sound.
As a veteran of Denver’s late, wet snows, I was amused to discover that the Centre opened during a snowstorm according to the Motion Picture Herald of May 8, 1954. The Wadsworth Drive-In, scheduled to open May 1, “was forced to postpone the opening a week because of the big snowstorm hitting Denver last week, right in the midst of the opening of the downtown deluxe 1,247-seat Centre.”
This one’s for you, WadeWilliams. From the April 17, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
The Leawood drive-in had “Riders to the Stars,” Wednesday through Saturday, first run in Kansas City. The drive-in is near the southwest corner of Kansas City, Mo.
This might be the transaction that led to the renaming. From the April 17, 1954 Motion Picture Herald: T.E. Lally has sold the Pontiac drive-in, Pontiac, Ill., to L. Hewitt of Manito, Ill., because of illness.
A note in the Nov. 10, 1982 issue of The Winslow Mail said that the Harry Nace Company sold six theaters, including the Rialto and Tonto Drive-In, to Blair and Reid Properties of Phoenix, effective Nov. 5.
From the June 12, 2015 Arizona Republic:
The Phoenix Drive-In Theatre is an example of how drive-in theaters evolved. Speakers were first located in the ground and later migrated onto poles. A concession stand was added. The size of the screen grew and the number of parking slots doubled over time to about 800.
Closure details from a much longer story by Earl Moseley writing in the Sept. 15, 1994 issue of The Tulia Herald:
My next chance to run a Mexican-made feature was during the summer of 1962 at the old Skyway Drive-In Theater on US 287 East at Amarillo. It was opened for six weeds (sic) because owners of the property felt that keeping it closed would result in the state paying a lesser price for the property. The highway department was scheduled to purchase it for the construction of Interstate 40.
…My wife …did not arrive until after Labor Day – the date the Skyway was closed for the season. However, the Skyway kept reopening each summer through 1964 because a deal hadn’t been closed yet with the highway department.
Fun note from the March 27, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
When you build a drive-in, be certain it’s all in the same township! After spending $90,000 on the Morrisville Drive-In theatre, Falls Township, Pa., Robert Baronoff discovered the other day the last four rows are in Lower Makefield Township. And in Lower Makefield Township’s zoning laws, drive-ins are illegal.
From the March 6, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
Wallace Turner, Vinegar Bend, Ala., purchased the Citronelle drive-in, Cintronelle, Ala., from Mrs. J. R. Culpepper. J. G. Broggi will continue to buy and book.
The Plymouth may have closed in early 1954. From the Feb. 20, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
The Plymouth theatre, the only house in Plymouth, Ohio, has closed permanently “because of television competition, high taxes and other similar factors,” according to the owner, Ed Ramsey, who also operates a drive-in in the vicinity, which will remain in operation.
Ownership note from the Feb. 13, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
“The Edwards drive-in theatre, formerly operated by the Edwards Theatres, has been acquired by the Cal Pac Corp.”
Too bad the Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in lists didn’t notice the ownership change until 1960. Which reminds me that I could list all of the Edwards' mentions in the MPA, which had it under Los Angeles until 1977:
Hi MC! Love that Crawling Thing ad you uploaded – I wonder how the flying and creeping critters played out at a drive-in?
I agree completely that newspapers err, but look at that same ad. In advertisements, paid for by a business, that business approves everything. Years of those ads with a consistent spelling sway me into believing that’s how that business wanted to be known, which is my definition of a name. Then again, the marquee is fixed in metal, so maybe that’s how this drive-in should be remembered.
Name-change date hint from the Jan. 9, 1954 Motion Picture Herald under the Oklahoma City header: “A new screen has been installed at Twilight Gardens drive-in theatre.”
Pedantic note: Since Cinema Treasures' style is to list a theater by its final name, the Twilight Gardens should be spelled that way here, without a hyphen. I’ve seen references both ways, but the final newspaper ads and mentions had those two complete words.
From the Jan. 2, 1954 Motion Picture Herald:
Mrs. S. E. Allen expects to open her new 300-car drive-in at Lordsburg, N. M., in the early spring, and about the same opening date has been set for J. C. West’s 300-car drive-in, Grants, N. M.
Fun note in the Motion Picture Herald from Oct. 9, 1937:
E. M. Loew, circuit theatre owner in New England, is complaining bitterly to police that spectators in boats are forming non-paying audiences at his new Drive-In theatre on a filled-in march site outside of Lynn, Mass. The Lynn police, however, not having a navy, are at a complete loss on how to proceed, and Mr. Loew may be forced to build a navy himself, or at least a string of flatboats. Anyway, he could change the name to the Sail-In theatre.