This drive-in opened in 1954 as the White Rock Drive-In; name changed to Casa View in 1961. An educated guess would be that, by the late 50’s, the neighborhood & shopping center that grew up around St. Pius X Parish (est. 1954) had taken on an identity quite separate and apart from the general White Rock area.
The last time I remember visiting this drive-in was in 1970, to see a double feature of “Giant” (which had just had a national reissue in badly faded WarnerColor prints) and “Return of the Seven.” Long night.
Well, we can add a seating capacity of 884 at it’s opening in 1969, courtesy of Tinseltoes' Boxoffice article link. Thanks for posting, I had not seen the auditorium since the late 70’s.
hispeed, don’t give up! STICK AROUND! LOL! Truthfully, there may be no pix of the HiWay extant except, possibly, in some collection physically at or near Kingsville (I’m thinking Kingsville Record archives, or possibly some collection based at Texas A&M Kingsville). There was a commercial photographer in Kingsville named Jimmie Dodd whom my family knew well and who donated his collection of large-format B&W plates, negatives, and prints to the University of Texas at Austin (the Jimmy Dodd Collection – here is the URL: http://www.cah.utexas.edu/exhibits/dodd/biography.html). He has some good images of Kingsville’s two major walk-ins, the Texas and the Rialto, so he may also have taken pix of tHe drive-ins. Haven’t had time to visit the collection physically.
As Yakima1 stated, the HiWay opened in 1948 and closed in 1952, so Sam’s intro data stating it opened in the late 50’s and closed in the early 60’s needs to be corrected.
Also, the photo is an aerial of the Rancho, NOT the HiWay.
It’s too bad that very nice old marquee ca’t be used because of the tree blocking any view of it; I’m just betting that, in Austin, you’d have a hard time getting a permit to cut the tree.
The last ad I can find for the Capitan in the Dallas Morning News archives is for Saturday, January 1, 1955; a double feature, “Betrayed” with Clark Gable and Lana Turner, and “Rancho Notorious” with Marlene Dietrich. No article announces the closing. The ads simply disappear after this date.
BTW, Interstate did NOT open the Capitol, as it says in the introductory remarks, above; although, IIRC, the company did acquire it and the adjacent Rialto (Old Mill) at some time in the lives of these respective theatres.
$50,000 doesn’t sound like a whole lot, esp.compared to the $2,000,000 price tags for the Majestic and Palace, both built the previous year – even considering they were each about 2-3 times the seating capacity.
After carefully studying the Historical Aerials overhead shots from 1957 and 1958, noticing particularly the configuration of the screen tower and its positioning on the property, its “wings” (adjacent fences meant to shield patrons' eyes from ambient light) and the location of the boxoffice, I have concluded that the photo I posted of this theatre…ain’t it.
What theatre the one in the photo might be, I have no idea.
I just updated the street view (hope it sticks) to the building at 1608 Elm that once housed the Crystal Theatre – directly west of H.L. Greene’s Drug Store in the old Wilson Bldg. at the corner of Elm and Ervay (also former site of the original Titche’s store, before they moved east on Elm to a location across from the Tower Petroleum Bldg.), and directly across Elm from the present-day Thanksgiving Tower monstrosity at 1623-25 Elm, formerly the site of the Palace Theatre.
I just updated the street view to reflect the actual street adress; the view now shows the old Hodge building and you can see how the entrance with the marquee looked. My question is: since the changeover to the new format, who in blazes is responsible for the original settings on some of these theatres? This one was off by many blocks and streets – Front St (old US 80) and C – nowhere near the Hodge. What gives?
@ jamestv: I benefitted from your superb projection of “The Wind and the Lion” and you have my compliments! Great picture on the big screen, great projection, great house! Also saw “Where Eagles Dare” here in 1968, but can’t recall whether it was/was not in 70mm. As far as you know, is the original length “Camelot” on DVD, or is it lost?
I was gone from Dallas by the time “Beyond The Poseidon Adventure” premiered and I have never caught the film (I am a fan of bad movies, the REALLY bad ones) but I have heard of this particular event from a friend who was present and his story jibes with yours, egcarter. Wish I’d been there. Shades of “Meteor” and “Rollercoaster!”
Looks like they’ve used some of the original “HEIGHTS” lettering to spell out “IGLESIA.” Seems like it’s been a church more than twice as long as it was a theatre.
Chuck – consult the magic book and tell us when the Peak opened/closed! In all the years I spent growing up in Dallas, I never once heard of this theatre – I am intrigued!
The Medallion was supposed to be the first in a new generation of prestige first-run venues for Interstate Theatres that would replace the old downtown theatres, all of which were on their last legs due to shifting demographics and lack of parking space; ironically, it was the last such venue Interstate built due to the company’s failure to read the coming trend toward multiplex venues. It opened in 1969 with the Dallas exclusive run of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
This theatre had a run of 30+ years…not too shabby when you think about it.
This drive-in opened in 1954 as the White Rock Drive-In; name changed to Casa View in 1961. An educated guess would be that, by the late 50’s, the neighborhood & shopping center that grew up around St. Pius X Parish (est. 1954) had taken on an identity quite separate and apart from the general White Rock area.
The last time I remember visiting this drive-in was in 1970, to see a double feature of “Giant” (which had just had a national reissue in badly faded WarnerColor prints) and “Return of the Seven.” Long night.
Well, we can add a seating capacity of 884 at it’s opening in 1969, courtesy of Tinseltoes' Boxoffice article link. Thanks for posting, I had not seen the auditorium since the late 70’s.
What a beautiful theatre!
What is the name of the theatre under whose marquee canopy raybradley’s second photo of the Maynard is taken from?
hispeed, don’t give up! STICK AROUND! LOL! Truthfully, there may be no pix of the HiWay extant except, possibly, in some collection physically at or near Kingsville (I’m thinking Kingsville Record archives, or possibly some collection based at Texas A&M Kingsville). There was a commercial photographer in Kingsville named Jimmie Dodd whom my family knew well and who donated his collection of large-format B&W plates, negatives, and prints to the University of Texas at Austin (the Jimmy Dodd Collection – here is the URL: http://www.cah.utexas.edu/exhibits/dodd/biography.html). He has some good images of Kingsville’s two major walk-ins, the Texas and the Rialto, so he may also have taken pix of tHe drive-ins. Haven’t had time to visit the collection physically.
hispeed, the new pic is the King’s!
As Yakima1 stated, the HiWay opened in 1948 and closed in 1952, so Sam’s intro data stating it opened in the late 50’s and closed in the early 60’s needs to be corrected. Also, the photo is an aerial of the Rancho, NOT the HiWay.
It’s too bad that very nice old marquee ca’t be used because of the tree blocking any view of it; I’m just betting that, in Austin, you’d have a hard time getting a permit to cut the tree.
The last ad I can find for the Capitan in the Dallas Morning News archives is for Saturday, January 1, 1955; a double feature, “Betrayed” with Clark Gable and Lana Turner, and “Rancho Notorious” with Marlene Dietrich. No article announces the closing. The ads simply disappear after this date.
BTW, Interstate did NOT open the Capitol, as it says in the introductory remarks, above; although, IIRC, the company did acquire it and the adjacent Rialto (Old Mill) at some time in the lives of these respective theatres.
$50,000 doesn’t sound like a whole lot, esp.compared to the $2,000,000 price tags for the Majestic and Palace, both built the previous year – even considering they were each about 2-3 times the seating capacity.
After carefully studying the Historical Aerials overhead shots from 1957 and 1958, noticing particularly the configuration of the screen tower and its positioning on the property, its “wings” (adjacent fences meant to shield patrons' eyes from ambient light) and the location of the boxoffice, I have concluded that the photo I posted of this theatre…ain’t it.
What theatre the one in the photo might be, I have no idea.
Hampton Road was never a two-screen drive-in.
Even in its last days this was a beautiful theatre – saw “The Right Stuff” here, first run. Memorable.
Status is demolished but screen tower frame is still up.
I just updated the street view (hope it sticks) to the building at 1608 Elm that once housed the Crystal Theatre – directly west of H.L. Greene’s Drug Store in the old Wilson Bldg. at the corner of Elm and Ervay (also former site of the original Titche’s store, before they moved east on Elm to a location across from the Tower Petroleum Bldg.), and directly across Elm from the present-day Thanksgiving Tower monstrosity at 1623-25 Elm, formerly the site of the Palace Theatre.
I just updated the street view to reflect the actual street adress; the view now shows the old Hodge building and you can see how the entrance with the marquee looked. My question is: since the changeover to the new format, who in blazes is responsible for the original settings on some of these theatres? This one was off by many blocks and streets – Front St (old US 80) and C – nowhere near the Hodge. What gives?
@ jamestv: I benefitted from your superb projection of “The Wind and the Lion” and you have my compliments! Great picture on the big screen, great projection, great house! Also saw “Where Eagles Dare” here in 1968, but can’t recall whether it was/was not in 70mm. As far as you know, is the original length “Camelot” on DVD, or is it lost?
I was gone from Dallas by the time “Beyond The Poseidon Adventure” premiered and I have never caught the film (I am a fan of bad movies, the REALLY bad ones) but I have heard of this particular event from a friend who was present and his story jibes with yours, egcarter. Wish I’d been there. Shades of “Meteor” and “Rollercoaster!”
Looks like they’ve used some of the original “HEIGHTS” lettering to spell out “IGLESIA.” Seems like it’s been a church more than twice as long as it was a theatre.
@ Chuck1231: Wow! Lifespan of only a decade!
Chuck – consult the magic book and tell us when the Peak opened/closed! In all the years I spent growing up in Dallas, I never once heard of this theatre – I am intrigued!
The Medallion was supposed to be the first in a new generation of prestige first-run venues for Interstate Theatres that would replace the old downtown theatres, all of which were on their last legs due to shifting demographics and lack of parking space; ironically, it was the last such venue Interstate built due to the company’s failure to read the coming trend toward multiplex venues. It opened in 1969 with the Dallas exclusive run of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”