Kennerado is absolutely right about the Grande’s soft opening night. Here are a couple of other notes:
A “baby tornado” hit the Grande the afternoon of Oct. 8, 1959. The west wall was blown down, plenty of neon was wrecked, and the concession stand roof was “extensively damaged”. Yet “the show went on a usual” that night under the direction of 20-year-old owner-manager Tommy Shaffer.
Four years later, in October 1963, Shaffer was beaten and killed, his body found in roadside brush. A suspect was arrested in Kentucky, where he had been already wanted for an unrelated kidnapping case, and he was later tried on an unrelated murder of a St. Louis man.
Ted Siebenman managed the Grande in early 1965, and Myron Woodcock took over on July 1 that year.
I also found that photo, with a softer focus and a fuzzier “circa 1940: date, at the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri St. Louis. That page said that it’s a St. Louis Globe-Democrat photo, and UMSL would be happy to sell you reproduction rights.
This 1947 photo by Brooks Crummett can be found in the Joseph K. Redmond, Jr. Collection at the UMKC Digital Special Collections. A notice on that page suggests that LaBudde Special Collections licenses its rights.
Based on the stories and ads in the weekly Warrenton Banner, the Moto-Vu (hyphenated) opened Tuesday, Aug. 8, 1950. Its first movie was “Duchess of Idaho” starring Esther Williams.
In October 1958, Mr. & Mrs. Zimmerman leased the Moto-Vu to David Meyer of Salem MO. The lease was to be for five years. (Meyer had been running the West Quincy Drive-In.)
In March 1962, Eugene Tacke bought the indoor Vita and the Moto-Vu equipment from the Zimmermans and signed “a very long term lease on the land now occupied by the Moto-Vu Drive-In”. (Sounds like it hadn’t been completely dismantled.) Tacke reopened on May 10. “One major improvement was to widen the screen, now making the face 32' by 60' which now ranks third largest in the state.”
The Moto-Vu lasted until at least 1966, finishing its season on Oct 23 that year.
It looks like the Paul Bunyon opened a little before 1955, probably 1954. This note in the April 7, 1955 edition of the Warrenton (MO) Banner implied that the drive-in was already in operation:
“Mr. and Mrs. Gene Tacke left Sunday for St. Paul, Minn. … They own and operate a Drive-In Theater at Ericsburg during the summer months and own a four room cottage on the banks of Rainy Lake. Ericsburg is three miles from International Falls, Minn. Mr. and Mrs. Tacke expect to return to their home in Warrenton on October 1.”
The Paul Bunyon debuted in the Motion Picture Almanac in the 1955 edition, published early that year, in International Falls with an owner named “E. Tacke”.
The Dispatch of Moline IL reported on April 3, 1956 that earlier that day, high winds had blown down “an addition to the movie screen at the Bel-Air Drive-In Theater,” causing minor injury to 5-year-old Bradley Zoeckler, son of Bel-Air employee Richard Zoeckler.
The Dispatch of Moline IL reported on April 3, 1956, that high winds pushed the Corral’s screen forward into its playground area that afternoon, destroying the screen.
According the Berwyn IL newspaper The Life, the Bel-Air’s final movies were shown on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2000.
One screen had “Backstage” followed by “Highlander: Endgame.” Another had “Original Kings of Comedy” then “Bless the Child.” The last double-header started with “Turn It Up,” and the Bel-Air’s final movie, based on scheduled start time, was “The Cell.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 20, 1951: “DRAPER, UTAH - A fire of unknown origin swept through the Draper Theatre building early Tuesday and left the structure a complete loss. Besides the theatre, the building housed a drug store and doctor’s office. The entire operation was managed by Lloyd Iams, who had not totaled an estimate of losses. The 277-seat showhouse was beyond saving when fire apparatus reached the scene, according to firemen.”
Looks like the Lassen opened in 1950, accounting for its presence on the 1951 Film Daily Year Book list. The July 15, 1950 issue of Boxoffice had a long list of open and under construction drive-ins; it included Susanville’s among the open. Then the Sept. 16, 1950 issue said that George Robinson was the manager “of the new Lassen Auto Movie.”
The Norwood Star reported on May 17, 1951, that 231 children and 50 adults watched a matinee of “Cinderella” at the Mesa. Many preschoolers sat on other patrons' laps, and the theater “was well filled.”
Here’s one of those transactions. Boxoffice, July 20, 1959: “Frank Barnes has sold the Elite Theatre in Crawford, Neb., to Jim Stockwell. Barnes is moving to Washington state.”
Boxoffice, March 11, 1950: “David Thomason will bring films back to Cope, Colo., by way of a new 150-seat theatre to be named the Rainbow, and replacing the Homestead which burned. The opening will be this month.”
Boxoffice, July 20, 1959: “Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Thomason have sold the Rainbo (sic) in Cope, Colo., and moved to Denver. The new owner is Harry Pyle.”
Motion Picture Daily, April 7, 1960: D. L. Thomason, who operated the Rainbow Theatre, Cope, Colo., for a number of years before moving to Arizona, has returned to Colorado and plans to reopen the theatre in mid-April."
A note in the April 1, 1950 issue of Boxoffice said that the Crest was Commonwealth’s first drive-in when it opened in 1948. At the time of the article, the circuit had grown to four active drive-ins with 11 more expected to open that year.
Boxoffice, April 1, 1950: “Although crop dusting is an established practice in the agricultural south, Thomas Finin, manager of the Keno Family Drive-In near Kenosha, Wis., applied the technique to his theatre area to rid it of mosquitoes. When the boring insects made it so uncomfortable for patrons in cars they began to abandon the drive-in, Finin employed a local crop spraying form who covers the area with DDT sprayed from a plane flying some 20 feet above the ground. The treatment has proved entirely successful.”
The April 1, 1950 issue of Boxoffice ran a two-page article about the unusual steps that owner Herbert H. Hinze took in developing his 416-car drive-in, at that point about to open just outside Rogers.
“Among the innovations in the theatre is an all-steel, buckle-proof screen and screen tower, movable speaker junction posts, two back ramps designed for truck patrons and specially designed and built speakers and amplification equipment.”
The screen tower was 64x55 feet for a 60x48-foot screen with rounded corners. A T-shaped concession stand, twin playgrounds on either side of the screen, a square concrete dance floor in front, and a very narrow layout were other unusual features. Hinze was planning a contest to name the drive-in.
This is from the Better Theatres section of the Oct. 10, 1953 issue of Motion Picture Herald, which should be in the public domain.
The original caption: In preparation for wide-screen projection and also for the showing of 3-D films, the screen tower of the Gloria drive-in at Lima, Ohio, was recently redesigned and rebuilt. Remodeling, as shown in the process of completion above, included enlarging the screen to almost twice its original width and painting it with EPRAD’s “Uni-Max” paint, which is designed for both 2-D and 3-D projection. The work was done by the Theatre Equipment Company, Toledo. The drive-in also installed new Strong projection lamps and generators and new aperture plates. Over 12 other drive-in theatres have been equipped for 3-D by the same company, according to Al Boudouris, president, including the Gratiot at Detroit and the Tower, between Elyria and Lorain, Ohio.
This photo is in the US National Archives. Because it was created by the US Government, the photo is in the public domain.
Original caption: DRIVE-IN THEATER STUDY, 1949, by American Association of State Highway Officials. Drive in Theatre located at 87th & Cicero Sts. In Chicago. The Twin Air Open Theatre. Photo by T. W. Kines 7/27/48.
Kennerado is absolutely right about the Grande’s soft opening night. Here are a couple of other notes:
A “baby tornado” hit the Grande the afternoon of Oct. 8, 1959. The west wall was blown down, plenty of neon was wrecked, and the concession stand roof was “extensively damaged”. Yet “the show went on a usual” that night under the direction of 20-year-old owner-manager Tommy Shaffer.
Four years later, in October 1963, Shaffer was beaten and killed, his body found in roadside brush. A suspect was arrested in Kentucky, where he had been already wanted for an unrelated kidnapping case, and he was later tried on an unrelated murder of a St. Louis man.
Ted Siebenman managed the Grande in early 1965, and Myron Woodcock took over on July 1 that year.
I also found that photo, with a softer focus and a fuzzier “circa 1940: date, at the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri St. Louis. That page said that it’s a St. Louis Globe-Democrat photo, and UMSL would be happy to sell you reproduction rights.
This 1947 photo by Brooks Crummett can be found in the Joseph K. Redmond, Jr. Collection at the UMKC Digital Special Collections. A notice on that page suggests that LaBudde Special Collections licenses its rights.
Based on the stories and ads in the weekly Warrenton Banner, the Moto-Vu (hyphenated) opened Tuesday, Aug. 8, 1950. Its first movie was “Duchess of Idaho” starring Esther Williams.
In October 1958, Mr. & Mrs. Zimmerman leased the Moto-Vu to David Meyer of Salem MO. The lease was to be for five years. (Meyer had been running the West Quincy Drive-In.)
In March 1962, Eugene Tacke bought the indoor Vita and the Moto-Vu equipment from the Zimmermans and signed “a very long term lease on the land now occupied by the Moto-Vu Drive-In”. (Sounds like it hadn’t been completely dismantled.) Tacke reopened on May 10. “One major improvement was to widen the screen, now making the face 32' by 60' which now ranks third largest in the state.”
The Moto-Vu lasted until at least 1966, finishing its season on Oct 23 that year.
It looks like the Paul Bunyon opened a little before 1955, probably 1954. This note in the April 7, 1955 edition of the Warrenton (MO) Banner implied that the drive-in was already in operation:
“Mr. and Mrs. Gene Tacke left Sunday for St. Paul, Minn. … They own and operate a Drive-In Theater at Ericsburg during the summer months and own a four room cottage on the banks of Rainy Lake. Ericsburg is three miles from International Falls, Minn. Mr. and Mrs. Tacke expect to return to their home in Warrenton on October 1.”
The Paul Bunyon debuted in the Motion Picture Almanac in the 1955 edition, published early that year, in International Falls with an owner named “E. Tacke”.
Boxoffice, May 3, 1976: “TYLER, MINN. - Charles R. Bendler has sold his Lincoln Drive-In to Ronald Jacobson.”
The Dispatch of Moline IL reported on April 3, 1956 that earlier that day, high winds had blown down “an addition to the movie screen at the Bel-Air Drive-In Theater,” causing minor injury to 5-year-old Bradley Zoeckler, son of Bel-Air employee Richard Zoeckler.
The Dispatch of Moline IL reported on April 3, 1956, that high winds pushed the Corral’s screen forward into its playground area that afternoon, destroying the screen.
According the Berwyn IL newspaper The Life, the Bel-Air’s final movies were shown on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2000.
One screen had “Backstage” followed by “Highlander: Endgame.” Another had “Original Kings of Comedy” then “Bless the Child.” The last double-header started with “Turn It Up,” and the Bel-Air’s final movie, based on scheduled start time, was “The Cell.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 20, 1951: “DRAPER, UTAH - A fire of unknown origin swept through the Draper Theatre building early Tuesday and left the structure a complete loss. Besides the theatre, the building housed a drug store and doctor’s office. The entire operation was managed by Lloyd Iams, who had not totaled an estimate of losses. The 277-seat showhouse was beyond saving when fire apparatus reached the scene, according to firemen.”
Google Maps says that the old East Trent site at 11201 E. Trent Avenue is in Spokane Valley, Spokane’s largest suburb.
Looks like the Lassen opened in 1950, accounting for its presence on the 1951 Film Daily Year Book list. The July 15, 1950 issue of Boxoffice had a long list of open and under construction drive-ins; it included Susanville’s among the open. Then the Sept. 16, 1950 issue said that George Robinson was the manager “of the new Lassen Auto Movie.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 19, 1950: “William Padgett has sold his Mode Theatre in Cottonwood, Ida., to C. A. Ulharn, who will take over October 1.”
The Norwood Star reported on May 17, 1951, that 231 children and 50 adults watched a matinee of “Cinderella” at the Mesa. Many preschoolers sat on other patrons' laps, and the theater “was well filled.”
Boxoffice, July 20, 1959: “The Saturday Only Automovies in Salinas … has been closed by the National Theatres”
Here’s one of those transactions. Boxoffice, July 20, 1959: “Frank Barnes has sold the Elite Theatre in Crawford, Neb., to Jim Stockwell. Barnes is moving to Washington state.”
Boxoffice, March 11, 1950: “David Thomason will bring films back to Cope, Colo., by way of a new 150-seat theatre to be named the Rainbow, and replacing the Homestead which burned. The opening will be this month.”
Boxoffice, July 20, 1959: “Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Thomason have sold the Rainbo (sic) in Cope, Colo., and moved to Denver. The new owner is Harry Pyle.”
Motion Picture Daily, April 7, 1960: D. L. Thomason, who operated the Rainbow Theatre, Cope, Colo., for a number of years before moving to Arizona, has returned to Colorado and plans to reopen the theatre in mid-April."
Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 6, 1947: “Tomas Martinez is rebuilding front of El Cortez, after it was wrecked by runaway truck.”
A note in the April 1, 1950 issue of Boxoffice said that the Crest was Commonwealth’s first drive-in when it opened in 1948. At the time of the article, the circuit had grown to four active drive-ins with 11 more expected to open that year.
Boxoffice, April 1, 1950: “Although crop dusting is an established practice in the agricultural south, Thomas Finin, manager of the Keno Family Drive-In near Kenosha, Wis., applied the technique to his theatre area to rid it of mosquitoes. When the boring insects made it so uncomfortable for patrons in cars they began to abandon the drive-in, Finin employed a local crop spraying form who covers the area with DDT sprayed from a plane flying some 20 feet above the ground. The treatment has proved entirely successful.”
Boxoffice ran the same photo, cropped a little differently, in its April 1, 1950 issue, which is in the public domain.
The April 1, 1950 issue of Boxoffice ran a two-page article about the unusual steps that owner Herbert H. Hinze took in developing his 416-car drive-in, at that point about to open just outside Rogers.
“Among the innovations in the theatre is an all-steel, buckle-proof screen and screen tower, movable speaker junction posts, two back ramps designed for truck patrons and specially designed and built speakers and amplification equipment.”
The screen tower was 64x55 feet for a 60x48-foot screen with rounded corners. A T-shaped concession stand, twin playgrounds on either side of the screen, a square concrete dance floor in front, and a very narrow layout were other unusual features. Hinze was planning a contest to name the drive-in.
This is from the Better Theatres section of the Oct. 10, 1953 issue of Motion Picture Herald, which should be in the public domain.
The original caption: In preparation for wide-screen projection and also for the showing of 3-D films, the screen tower of the Gloria drive-in at Lima, Ohio, was recently redesigned and rebuilt. Remodeling, as shown in the process of completion above, included enlarging the screen to almost twice its original width and painting it with EPRAD’s “Uni-Max” paint, which is designed for both 2-D and 3-D projection. The work was done by the Theatre Equipment Company, Toledo. The drive-in also installed new Strong projection lamps and generators and new aperture plates. Over 12 other drive-in theatres have been equipped for 3-D by the same company, according to Al Boudouris, president, including the Gratiot at Detroit and the Tower, between Elyria and Lorain, Ohio.
This photo is in the US National Archives. Because it was created by the US Government, the photo is in the public domain.
Original caption: DRIVE-IN THEATER STUDY, 1949, by American Association of State Highway Officials. Drive in Theatre located at 87th & Cicero Sts. In Chicago. The Twin Air Open Theatre. Photo by T. W. Kines 7/27/48.
Here’s the link to the photo in the National Archives. Since it was created by the US Government, this photo is in the public domain.