Joe Bob Briggs, July 31, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Parkway Drive-In in Petaluma, Calif., the one right there next to Leisure Lake Mobile Home Park and Highway 101, is about to get fern-barred into oblivion by a developer named Marshall Ward. If this one goes, the closest one left to Santa Rosa is the Redwood Drive-In in Rohnert Park, and who the heck wants to go there?”
Joe Bob Briggs, June 26, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Vista Vue Drive-In in Security, Colo., bit the dust on May 30 when they chopped down the supports and let the mother fall down right there in front of God and everybody. Now this is right next door to Colorado Springs, so you might be wondering, WHERE THE HECK WAS THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY? They waited till school was out for the summer. You see how smart these guys are?”
Joe Bob Briggs, May 1, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Sunset Drive-In in Hot Springs, Arkansas, is history. A grocery chain got it, but they didn’t get the screen yet. We’re talkin about trying to project around the Safeway, but they plowed up all the parking ramps.”
Joe Bob Briggs, April 10, 1985: “Communist Alert! They bulldozed over the Rodeo Drive-In in Tucson for no good reason whatsoever. Ever since they started wheeling in the nursing-home patients from Detroit, this stuff has been happening all over Arizona.”
Joe Bob Briggs, March 20, 1985: “Communist Alert! They chopped down the screen at the Winchester Drive-In in Campbell, Calif., so they can put up a "research and development complex” named Campbell Corporate Center"
Joe Bob Briggs, March 6, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Silver Dollar Drive-In in Albuquerque is history. It’s outta here. Gravel city. By the time I found out, it was already a bunch of pansy apartments with wet bars. It was liberals from Santa Fe.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Feb. 13, 1985: “Communists discovered in Akron suburbs! A few weeks ago some KGB spies slipped into Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and started ripping down the Ascot Drive-In to put up a used pickup-truck lot. Before the boys in the showroom over at Pride Chevrolet found out about it, it was already Smithereen City. That’s how they do it, they sneak up on you.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Jan. 9, 1985: “Miracle in Carolina! Last week, just in time for Christmas, the Skyline Drive-In in Wilmington, N.C., was resurrected for the first time since Hurricane Diana made it look like a permanent screening of Friday the 13th in 3-D. They call it the Skyway now, and they’re back to four bucks a carload, except for people from Raleigh who have to pay five.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Nov. 22, 1984: “Communist Alert! Last week a Superior Court judge named Henry V. Barnette Jr. (also known as Hanky Panky) said the Cairo Drive-In was a “public nuisance” and closed the sucker down. It’s the one in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., run by Jimbo Bullock. Jimbo’s 64 years old and his wife just had a heart attack and he just flat don’t have the cold cash to appeal. It’s one thing when the greedy turkeys buy up the land and rip down the screens to build Wal-Marts. It’s a whole lot different when our own judges and lawyers turn out to be Communists in disguise.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Dec. 26, 1984: “Communist Alert! New facts keep coming out about Judge Henry V. “Hanky Panky” Barnette and his ruling that closed down the Cairo Drive-In in FuquayVarina, N.C. It seems that Hanky had to watch nine movies, including one that they put on upside down, before he could figure out they were “obscene.” First he watched Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, then Titillation, Up and Coming, Johnny Does Paris, Summertime Blue, and four more of the suckers."
Joe Bob Briggs, Dec. 5, 1984: “Communist Alert! World War III on the horizon! Last week the last operating drive-in in Lubbock, Texas was burned to the ground. The Circle Drive-In’s last double feature was Let’s Get Physical and Taboo, and Lubbock police are talking vigilante city by the drive-in haters and their fellow Babtist sympathizers."
Joe Bob Briggs, Sept. 19, 1984: “Communist Alert! Joe Bob reminds you that last week they shut down the Southside Drive-In in Macon, George, for no good reason, which means they got the same number of drive-ins in Bibb County as Trans-Ams in Peking.”
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Ranger under Ranger TX, owner H. N. Rapp, capacity 200 cars.
The RV park across the highway from the old Ranger site lists a Ranger TX postal address. This drive-in really ought to be listed here too under Ranger TX.
In July 1984, Joe Bob Briggs published a letter describing “an old, broken-down drive-in” on the south side of I-20 between Ranger and Olden at Exit 347. “(I)ts screen has crumbled, and grass and brush grow rampant over the parking lot.” Those are pretty specific details, but I can’t find a drive-in at that exit in old aerial photos.
On the other hand, in October 1984, the Midland Reporter-Telegram reported that the Ranger’s owner, Jackie Thornton, said the drive-in would be converted to radio sound “in about a year.” He also said the Ranger had never shown X-rated movies and wouldn’t as long as he owned it.
Boxoffice, Sept. 20, 1952: “CASSVILLE, MO. - The Green Hills Drive-In was opened here August 21 by Mr. and Mrs. Glen Hall, owners of the Hall Theatre here. "Sound Off” was the opening picture."
Boxoffice, Sept. 13, 1952: “A recent tornado that swept through the Poplar Bluff, Mo., vicinity did some damage to the Poplar Bluff Drive-In on Route 67. The drive-in, owned by Rodgers Theatres of Cairo, continued to operate”
Aerial photos show the drive-in was still intact in 1975 but had been razed by 1986. Its boundary walls appeared unusually tall; was that the reason it was named the Fortress?
The Google Maps address of 15 Alec Roy Rd is reasonably close to where the drive-in had been.
Boxoffice, Aug. 16, 1952: “Owner Willard Gamble has installed two 10,000-watt projector lamps at the Eugene Drive-In. They will produce 40 per cent more light. Gamble recently purchased controlling interest in the airer.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 13, 1952: “The Eugene (Ore.) Drive-In, operated by William Gamble, recently installed a miniature train on the playground”
Boxoffice, June 16, 1951: “Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Shelton have sold the Monarch Theatre at Pritchett to Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Bonewell of Kim, Colo. The Sheltons are understood to be going into the ranching business.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 13, 1952: “The Monarch Theatre, closed for three weeks, has reopened under new management. Floyd Kirkendall purchased the theatre from Howard Bonewell. His son, Bob Kirkendall, will assist his dad in the operation of the house.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1952: “Art Pugh, Columbus, Kas., purchased complete drive-in equipment from Shreve Theatre Supply for his new airer expected to open around September 1”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1952: “The Cherokee Drive-In, Columbus, Kas., owned by Stein Theatres, opened Friday (22). Golden Booking Service is handling the buying and booking.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1952: “METROPOLIS, ILL. - Construction is proceeding rapidly on the Joppa Auto-Vue Drive-In near here on U.S. 45 adjacent to the Joppa road. The Joppa and El Capitan drive-ins and the Massac and Royal theatres here are owned by the Massac Amusement Co., headed by Ed Clark.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 16, 1952: “The Del City Drive-In, owned by R. Lewis Barton, was the scene of an explosion which is still a mystery to Midwest City police. A homemade booby trap exploded under a young navy veteran’s car at the ozoner. No indications were found that the act of planting the trap was aimed specifically at either Albert Hubbard, the victim, or the management. Hubbard reported that the "thing” exploded when his car hit it as he was driving toward a parking place. Cardboard and string fragments salvaged by the victims were sent to FBI laboratories in Washington for analysis."
Boxoffice, Aug. 9, 1952: “A bird’s nest that caught fire because it was too near a sizzling neon light on the theatre marquee caused firemen to rush to the Tem-Bel Drive-In. A patron had reported the fire.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 9, 1952: “SEYMOUR, MO. - The Owen Drive-In recently was visited by a Californian who has flown to Douglas county for a visit with his parents, and decided to land at the ozoner. Owner George Owen said that several planes had landed there since he opened the theatre a year ago.”
Joe Bob Briggs, July 31, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Parkway Drive-In in Petaluma, Calif., the one right there next to Leisure Lake Mobile Home Park and Highway 101, is about to get fern-barred into oblivion by a developer named Marshall Ward. If this one goes, the closest one left to Santa Rosa is the Redwood Drive-In in Rohnert Park, and who the heck wants to go there?”
Joe Bob Briggs, June 26, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Vista Vue Drive-In in Security, Colo., bit the dust on May 30 when they chopped down the supports and let the mother fall down right there in front of God and everybody. Now this is right next door to Colorado Springs, so you might be wondering, WHERE THE HECK WAS THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY? They waited till school was out for the summer. You see how smart these guys are?”
Joe Bob Briggs, May 1, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Sunset Drive-In in Hot Springs, Arkansas, is history. A grocery chain got it, but they didn’t get the screen yet. We’re talkin about trying to project around the Safeway, but they plowed up all the parking ramps.”
Joe Bob Briggs, April 10, 1985: “Communist Alert! They bulldozed over the Rodeo Drive-In in Tucson for no good reason whatsoever. Ever since they started wheeling in the nursing-home patients from Detroit, this stuff has been happening all over Arizona.”
Joe Bob Briggs, March 20, 1985: “Communist Alert! They chopped down the screen at the Winchester Drive-In in Campbell, Calif., so they can put up a "research and development complex” named Campbell Corporate Center"
Joe Bob Briggs, March 6, 1985: “Communist Alert! The Silver Dollar Drive-In in Albuquerque is history. It’s outta here. Gravel city. By the time I found out, it was already a bunch of pansy apartments with wet bars. It was liberals from Santa Fe.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Feb. 13, 1985: “Communists discovered in Akron suburbs! A few weeks ago some KGB spies slipped into Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and started ripping down the Ascot Drive-In to put up a used pickup-truck lot. Before the boys in the showroom over at Pride Chevrolet found out about it, it was already Smithereen City. That’s how they do it, they sneak up on you.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Jan. 9, 1985: “Miracle in Carolina! Last week, just in time for Christmas, the Skyline Drive-In in Wilmington, N.C., was resurrected for the first time since Hurricane Diana made it look like a permanent screening of Friday the 13th in 3-D. They call it the Skyway now, and they’re back to four bucks a carload, except for people from Raleigh who have to pay five.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Nov. 22, 1984: “Communist Alert! Last week a Superior Court judge named Henry V. Barnette Jr. (also known as Hanky Panky) said the Cairo Drive-In was a “public nuisance” and closed the sucker down. It’s the one in Fuquay-Varina, N.C., run by Jimbo Bullock. Jimbo’s 64 years old and his wife just had a heart attack and he just flat don’t have the cold cash to appeal. It’s one thing when the greedy turkeys buy up the land and rip down the screens to build Wal-Marts. It’s a whole lot different when our own judges and lawyers turn out to be Communists in disguise.”
Joe Bob Briggs, Dec. 26, 1984: “Communist Alert! New facts keep coming out about Judge Henry V. “Hanky Panky” Barnette and his ruling that closed down the Cairo Drive-In in FuquayVarina, N.C. It seems that Hanky had to watch nine movies, including one that they put on upside down, before he could figure out they were “obscene.” First he watched Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, then Titillation, Up and Coming, Johnny Does Paris, Summertime Blue, and four more of the suckers."
Joe Bob Briggs, Dec. 5, 1984: “Communist Alert! World War III on the horizon! Last week the last operating drive-in in Lubbock, Texas was burned to the ground. The Circle Drive-In’s last double feature was Let’s Get Physical and Taboo, and Lubbock police are talking vigilante city by the drive-in haters and their fellow Babtist sympathizers."
Corroborating rivest266.
Joe Bob Briggs, Sept. 19, 1984: “Communist Alert! Joe Bob reminds you that last week they shut down the Southside Drive-In in Macon, George, for no good reason, which means they got the same number of drive-ins in Bibb County as Trans-Ams in Peking.”
The 1955-56 Theatre Catalog listed the Ranger under Ranger TX, owner H. N. Rapp, capacity 200 cars.
The RV park across the highway from the old Ranger site lists a Ranger TX postal address. This drive-in really ought to be listed here too under Ranger TX.
In July 1984, Joe Bob Briggs published a letter describing “an old, broken-down drive-in” on the south side of I-20 between Ranger and Olden at Exit 347. “(I)ts screen has crumbled, and grass and brush grow rampant over the parking lot.” Those are pretty specific details, but I can’t find a drive-in at that exit in old aerial photos.
On the other hand, in October 1984, the Midland Reporter-Telegram reported that the Ranger’s owner, Jackie Thornton, said the drive-in would be converted to radio sound “in about a year.” He also said the Ranger had never shown X-rated movies and wouldn’t as long as he owned it.
Corroborating 50sSnipes' date.
Boxoffice, Sept. 27, 1952: “W. T. Kerr of Davis has opened the Arbuckle Drive-In at Davis”
A different crop of this photo appeared in the Sept. 27, 1952 issue of Boxoffice.
Boxoffice, Sept. 20, 1952: “CASSVILLE, MO. - The Green Hills Drive-In was opened here August 21 by Mr. and Mrs. Glen Hall, owners of the Hall Theatre here. "Sound Off” was the opening picture."
Boxoffice, Sept. 13, 1952: “A recent tornado that swept through the Poplar Bluff, Mo., vicinity did some damage to the Poplar Bluff Drive-In on Route 67. The drive-in, owned by Rodgers Theatres of Cairo, continued to operate”
Aerial photos show the drive-in was still intact in 1975 but had been razed by 1986. Its boundary walls appeared unusually tall; was that the reason it was named the Fortress?
The Google Maps address of 15 Alec Roy Rd is reasonably close to where the drive-in had been.
Boxoffice, Aug. 16, 1952: “Owner Willard Gamble has installed two 10,000-watt projector lamps at the Eugene Drive-In. They will produce 40 per cent more light. Gamble recently purchased controlling interest in the airer.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 13, 1952: “The Eugene (Ore.) Drive-In, operated by William Gamble, recently installed a miniature train on the playground”
Boxoffice, June 16, 1951: “Mr. and Mrs. Doyle Shelton have sold the Monarch Theatre at Pritchett to Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Bonewell of Kim, Colo. The Sheltons are understood to be going into the ranching business.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 13, 1952: “The Monarch Theatre, closed for three weeks, has reopened under new management. Floyd Kirkendall purchased the theatre from Howard Bonewell. His son, Bob Kirkendall, will assist his dad in the operation of the house.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1952: “Art Pugh, Columbus, Kas., purchased complete drive-in equipment from Shreve Theatre Supply for his new airer expected to open around September 1”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1952: “The Cherokee Drive-In, Columbus, Kas., owned by Stein Theatres, opened Friday (22). Golden Booking Service is handling the buying and booking.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 23, 1952: “METROPOLIS, ILL. - Construction is proceeding rapidly on the Joppa Auto-Vue Drive-In near here on U.S. 45 adjacent to the Joppa road. The Joppa and El Capitan drive-ins and the Massac and Royal theatres here are owned by the Massac Amusement Co., headed by Ed Clark.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 16, 1952: “The Del City Drive-In, owned by R. Lewis Barton, was the scene of an explosion which is still a mystery to Midwest City police. A homemade booby trap exploded under a young navy veteran’s car at the ozoner. No indications were found that the act of planting the trap was aimed specifically at either Albert Hubbard, the victim, or the management. Hubbard reported that the "thing” exploded when his car hit it as he was driving toward a parking place. Cardboard and string fragments salvaged by the victims were sent to FBI laboratories in Washington for analysis."
Boxoffice, Aug. 9, 1952: “A bird’s nest that caught fire because it was too near a sizzling neon light on the theatre marquee caused firemen to rush to the Tem-Bel Drive-In. A patron had reported the fire.”
I guess the Owen opened in 1951?
Boxoffice, Aug. 9, 1952: “SEYMOUR, MO. - The Owen Drive-In recently was visited by a Californian who has flown to Douglas county for a visit with his parents, and decided to land at the ozoner. Owner George Owen said that several planes had landed there since he opened the theatre a year ago.”