The “Vista Vue” held its grand opening on Friday, June 29, 1956. Its ad said that its 68x120-foot screen was the largest of its kind in the West. The opening program was “Many Rivers to Cross,” a CinemaScope film with Robert Taylor, and “Men of the Fighting Lady” with Van Johnson.
At least during the 1980s when I spot-checked, the Skyway was run by Selected Theatres Mgmt. Co. The Motion Picture Almanacs included it in Selected’s circuit listing and the MPA’s annual drive-in list through the final list in the 1988 edition.
The Arrow’s Grand Opening ad in the Tri-State Daily News was on June 22, 1973. Its first double feature was a couple of oldies: Cliff Robertson in “J. W. Coop” (1971) and John Wayne in “Rio Lobo” (1970). Admission was $1.25 for adults but free for children under 12, and the ladies received free potted plants from The Flower and Gift Chalet. Clarence Cox managed the Arrow as well as the indoor Century.
Looking through back issues of the Cortez Sentinel, it appears that the Tsaya didn’t advertise regularly in 1955, though its competitors the Arroyo and indoor AnLe did. Perhaps because there was a full-page ad in the April 21, 1955 issue, the Sentinel also ran a front-page story which better answered davidcoppock’s question:
“(T)he Tsaya Drive-In Theatre southwest of the Cortez city limits … stages its formal opening tonight. Tsaya, a Navajo word, means "water under the rock,” and was the first Indian name for Cortez because of its proximity to Mitchell springs, less than two miles south of the present townsite."
The article’s headline mentioned a detail not included in the long story: “Tsaya Drive-In Theatre Stages Grand Opening Tonight After Four Nights of Operation”. That would suggest that the Tsaya had a soft open on April 17, but as I said, there were no other details about it.
Checking the Longmont Times-Call, the first Star Vu ad I could find was a “Now Open” ad on June 5, 1950. It touted “A screen as big as all outdoors” and “No walking”. That “Tonight Only” ad featured “The Return of October” with Glenn Ford, “Beauty on Parade” with Ruth Warrick, “plus short subjects”. It described its location as “¼ mile west of Johnson’s North Station on the Hygiene Road”.
On July 31, 2009, Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel (probably quoting Star owner Pamela Friend) wrote that the Star opened on April 19, 1950, showing “The Younger Brothers”. After all this time, I forgot or didn’t notice that it also quoted me as saying, “Everyone needs to experience the drive-in at least once in their life.”
When the Cinderella Twin quietly opened on Wed., July 18, 1973, its opening programs were “Pete and Tillie” with Carol Burnett and “Joe Kidd” with Clint Eastwood on Screen One, and “Showdown” with Rock Hudson and “Winning” with Paul Newman on Screen Two.
The March 16, 1957 issue of Boxoffice noted, “John Roberts has closed the Emerson, Brush, Colo., and will not open the drive-in there this summer.” But the Emerson must have reopened after that, because the Brush News-Tribune wrote on May 30, 1957 that the Brush Drive-In would reopen June 2 and the Emerson would close while the drive-in was open. As noted above, the Brush’s last show was Sept. 18, 1957.
Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel wrote on Nov. 15, 1956, “A new drive-in theater, with the largest screen on the Western Slope, is to be constructed one-half mile west of the city limits on Highway 50. Guy Carlucci Jr., of Fruita, and A. B. Moore of Colorado Springs, are partners in the new enterprise. Estimated cost of the installation will be $40,000 to $45,000. Parking space will be provided for 400 cars. The screen, 97 feet wide by 57 feet high, will accommodate wide screen pictures.”
During the two summers the Monument was open, Grand Junction had twice as many active drive-ins (four) as indoor theaters.
In a Dec. 12, 1976 retrospective, the local Daily Sentinel wrote, “West of Grand Junction on 23 Road, just off Highway 6-50, the Monument Drive-In opened in June of 1957. This theatre did not do well, perhaps because of its location, and closed early that season. In mid-1958, it opened under new management.”
That story on Grand Junction’s drive-ins got most details right, but not everything. In 1957, the Monument continued to advertise into October, closing a little earlier than the other three in town but not what I’d call “early.”
A June 5, 1958 note in the Daily Sentinel read, “Monument Theatre / Opens tonight showing Safari and Battle Stations also Cartoon. Under new management. Box office and Snack Bar open 7:15 nightly.” Its ad returned the next day, and it included the line “Under New Management”.
After July 30, the ads took a break for almost two weeks. When the Monument ad returned Aug. 9, it started with “Now open / Improved light and projection”. The last ad I could find for the Monument was Sept. 15, 1958.
I can’t find any evidence that the Chief showed movies at any time before its Grand Opening on March 21, 1952. rivest266 has the ad from that day’s Daily Sentinel, and here’s what it looked like the day before:
In a June 28, 2004 sidebar about Mike Thomason’s 2002 book “Starlight Memories,” the Pueblo Chieftain listed the following “Facts about Mesa Drive-In”:
Opened: Aug. 17, 1951.
Opening day prices: Adults, 50 cents; children under 12, free.
Owner/operator: Roy E. “Tiny” Vaughan (1951-1975).
Current owner/operator: Chuck and Marianne James (1994-present).
First features: ‘The Texas Rangers,’ ‘Icabod and Mr. Toad’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs.’
On its Grand Opening night, the South showed “Mr. Belvedere Goes to College” with Clifton Webb, the short “Spirit of ‘49” with Jack Benny, “and Color Cartoon”.
The Motorena held its Grand Opening on July 17, 1948, tied for the second Denver-area drive-in with Lakewood’s West. Its first program was just “Mother Wore Tights” with Betty Grable “Plus: Color Cartoons”.
The Grand Opening ad for the West “across from arms plant” on July 17, 1948 included “The Adventures of Robin Hood” with Errol Flynn, “All American Coed” with Frances Langford, “And All-Color Cartoon”.
The Wadsworth’s Grand Opening ad on May 8, 1954, promised a program of “Walking My Baby Back Home” with Donald O'Connor, “The Stand at Apache River” with Stephen McNally, and an unfortunately named “Kolor Kartoon Karnival”. The same program was advertised the next three days, so that’s probably what really happened.
The opening double feature for the Havana, “Colorado’s first outdoor motion picture theatre in a garden atmosphere,” on Wed., May 25, 1966 was Debbie Reynolds in “The Singing Nun” and “Promise Her Anything” with Warren Beatty.
That’s a great find! It’s available at a Tripod site dedicated to collecting issues of the Sunliner News.
Not only was it published without a copyright, the issue’s masthead specifically stated, “News material may be reproduced without permission.” That’s about as public domain as it gets!
My continuing quest to find newspaper ads for this drive-in led me to the nearby Dolores Star. My spot-checking found ads, along with the indoor AnLe, in June 1959, July 1960, and June 1961. Perhaps continuing its 1955 spelling, all three ads called it the “Arroya”.
Unfortunately, the two theaters stopped advertising in the Star after the July 7, 1961 issue. A spot check of June 1962 failed to find any theater ads.
It appears that the Skylite (built by the Sky Light Amusement Co.) didn’t run any grand opening ad in the local Delta County Independent newspaper. Its first ad was May 12, 1949, touting the May 13-14 double feature of “The Adventures of Gallant Bess” and “Gas House Kids Go West”. The ad concluded “Watch for your weekly program through the mail”.
The Northside held its Gala Opening on Friday, May 26, 1950. Its opening program was “Tycoon” starring John Wayne and “Mighty Joe Young” plus “Always a Color Cartoon”. It advertised “Picnic tables for those who want to eat their picnic dinner and see the show” along with a “New Cafeteria Type Snack Bar.”
The Aircadia, “The Theatre of Tomorrow – Today!”, held its Gala Opening on Friday, April 8, 1955. The opening program was “The High and the Mighty” starring John Wayne, plus Walt Disney’s “Stormy”. Admission was 65 cents for adults, but “kiddies free”.
The “Vista Vue” held its grand opening on Friday, June 29, 1956. Its ad said that its 68x120-foot screen was the largest of its kind in the West. The opening program was “Many Rivers to Cross,” a CinemaScope film with Robert Taylor, and “Men of the Fighting Lady” with Van Johnson.
At least during the 1980s when I spot-checked, the Skyway was run by Selected Theatres Mgmt. Co. The Motion Picture Almanacs included it in Selected’s circuit listing and the MPA’s annual drive-in list through the final list in the 1988 edition.
Note that this was just the 1950 season opener for the Motorena, not the true Grand Opening of Aug. 21, 1948.
The Arrow’s Grand Opening ad in the Tri-State Daily News was on June 22, 1973. Its first double feature was a couple of oldies: Cliff Robertson in “J. W. Coop” (1971) and John Wayne in “Rio Lobo” (1970). Admission was $1.25 for adults but free for children under 12, and the ladies received free potted plants from The Flower and Gift Chalet. Clarence Cox managed the Arrow as well as the indoor Century.
Looking through back issues of the Cortez Sentinel, it appears that the Tsaya didn’t advertise regularly in 1955, though its competitors the Arroyo and indoor AnLe did. Perhaps because there was a full-page ad in the April 21, 1955 issue, the Sentinel also ran a front-page story which better answered davidcoppock’s question:
“(T)he Tsaya Drive-In Theatre southwest of the Cortez city limits … stages its formal opening tonight. Tsaya, a Navajo word, means "water under the rock,” and was the first Indian name for Cortez because of its proximity to Mitchell springs, less than two miles south of the present townsite."
The article’s headline mentioned a detail not included in the long story: “Tsaya Drive-In Theatre Stages Grand Opening Tonight After Four Nights of Operation”. That would suggest that the Tsaya had a soft open on April 17, but as I said, there were no other details about it.
Checking the Longmont Times-Call, the first Star Vu ad I could find was a “Now Open” ad on June 5, 1950. It touted “A screen as big as all outdoors” and “No walking”. That “Tonight Only” ad featured “The Return of October” with Glenn Ford, “Beauty on Parade” with Ruth Warrick, “plus short subjects”. It described its location as “¼ mile west of Johnson’s North Station on the Hygiene Road”.
On July 31, 2009, Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel (probably quoting Star owner Pamela Friend) wrote that the Star opened on April 19, 1950, showing “The Younger Brothers”. After all this time, I forgot or didn’t notice that it also quoted me as saying, “Everyone needs to experience the drive-in at least once in their life.”
When the Cinderella Twin quietly opened on Wed., July 18, 1973, its opening programs were “Pete and Tillie” with Carol Burnett and “Joe Kidd” with Clint Eastwood on Screen One, and “Showdown” with Rock Hudson and “Winning” with Paul Newman on Screen Two.
The March 16, 1957 issue of Boxoffice noted, “John Roberts has closed the Emerson, Brush, Colo., and will not open the drive-in there this summer.” But the Emerson must have reopened after that, because the Brush News-Tribune wrote on May 30, 1957 that the Brush Drive-In would reopen June 2 and the Emerson would close while the drive-in was open. As noted above, the Brush’s last show was Sept. 18, 1957.
Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel wrote on Nov. 15, 1956, “A new drive-in theater, with the largest screen on the Western Slope, is to be constructed one-half mile west of the city limits on Highway 50. Guy Carlucci Jr., of Fruita, and A. B. Moore of Colorado Springs, are partners in the new enterprise. Estimated cost of the installation will be $40,000 to $45,000. Parking space will be provided for 400 cars. The screen, 97 feet wide by 57 feet high, will accommodate wide screen pictures.”
During the two summers the Monument was open, Grand Junction had twice as many active drive-ins (four) as indoor theaters.
In a Dec. 12, 1976 retrospective, the local Daily Sentinel wrote, “West of Grand Junction on 23 Road, just off Highway 6-50, the Monument Drive-In opened in June of 1957. This theatre did not do well, perhaps because of its location, and closed early that season. In mid-1958, it opened under new management.”
That story on Grand Junction’s drive-ins got most details right, but not everything. In 1957, the Monument continued to advertise into October, closing a little earlier than the other three in town but not what I’d call “early.”
A June 5, 1958 note in the Daily Sentinel read, “Monument Theatre / Opens tonight showing Safari and Battle Stations also Cartoon. Under new management. Box office and Snack Bar open 7:15 nightly.” Its ad returned the next day, and it included the line “Under New Management”.
After July 30, the ads took a break for almost two weeks. When the Monument ad returned Aug. 9, it started with “Now open / Improved light and projection”. The last ad I could find for the Monument was Sept. 15, 1958.
I can’t find any evidence that the Chief showed movies at any time before its Grand Opening on March 21, 1952. rivest266 has the ad from that day’s Daily Sentinel, and here’s what it looked like the day before:
Note that the opening program was “Distant Drums” with Gary Cooper, the short “Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd in Sweden,” and a Cartoon Carnival.
In a June 28, 2004 sidebar about Mike Thomason’s 2002 book “Starlight Memories,” the Pueblo Chieftain listed the following “Facts about Mesa Drive-In”:
Opened: Aug. 17, 1951.
Opening day prices: Adults, 50 cents; children under 12, free.
Owner/operator: Roy E. “Tiny” Vaughan (1951-1975).
Current owner/operator: Chuck and Marianne James (1994-present).
First features: ‘The Texas Rangers,’ ‘Icabod and Mr. Toad’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs.’
Most showings: ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968).
Longest opening run: ‘Jurassic Park’ (1993) and ‘Unforgiven’ (1993) – each six weeks.
Longest season: Year-round from April 1958 through January 1960.
Shortest seasons: Late May through late September (1997 and 2001).
On its Grand Opening night, the South showed “Mr. Belvedere Goes to College” with Clifton Webb, the short “Spirit of ‘49” with Jack Benny, “and Color Cartoon”.
Although it wasn’t its Grand Opening, the Valley first advertised on June 6, 1953, showing “Titanic” with Barbara Stanwyck and “Watusi”.
The Motorena held its Grand Opening on July 17, 1948, tied for the second Denver-area drive-in with Lakewood’s West. Its first program was just “Mother Wore Tights” with Betty Grable “Plus: Color Cartoons”.
The Grand Opening ad for the West “across from arms plant” on July 17, 1948 included “The Adventures of Robin Hood” with Errol Flynn, “All American Coed” with Frances Langford, “And All-Color Cartoon”.
The Wadsworth’s Grand Opening ad on May 8, 1954, promised a program of “Walking My Baby Back Home” with Donald O'Connor, “The Stand at Apache River” with Stephen McNally, and an unfortunately named “Kolor Kartoon Karnival”. The same program was advertised the next three days, so that’s probably what really happened.
The first double feature at the Arapahoe was Paul Newman in “Sometimes a Great Notion” and Richard Thomas in “Red Sky at Morning”.
The opening double feature for the Havana, “Colorado’s first outdoor motion picture theatre in a garden atmosphere,” on Wed., May 25, 1966 was Debbie Reynolds in “The Singing Nun” and “Promise Her Anything” with Warren Beatty.
That’s a great find! It’s available at a Tripod site dedicated to collecting issues of the Sunliner News.
Not only was it published without a copyright, the issue’s masthead specifically stated, “News material may be reproduced without permission.” That’s about as public domain as it gets!
That’s a detail from this postcard, dated 1940. It appears to have been published without a copyright notice, which would put it in the public domain.
My continuing quest to find newspaper ads for this drive-in led me to the nearby Dolores Star. My spot-checking found ads, along with the indoor AnLe, in June 1959, July 1960, and June 1961. Perhaps continuing its 1955 spelling, all three ads called it the “Arroya”.
Unfortunately, the two theaters stopped advertising in the Star after the July 7, 1961 issue. A spot check of June 1962 failed to find any theater ads.
It appears that the Skylite (built by the Sky Light Amusement Co.) didn’t run any grand opening ad in the local Delta County Independent newspaper. Its first ad was May 12, 1949, touting the May 13-14 double feature of “The Adventures of Gallant Bess” and “Gas House Kids Go West”. The ad concluded “Watch for your weekly program through the mail”.
The Northside held its Gala Opening on Friday, May 26, 1950. Its opening program was “Tycoon” starring John Wayne and “Mighty Joe Young” plus “Always a Color Cartoon”. It advertised “Picnic tables for those who want to eat their picnic dinner and see the show” along with a “New Cafeteria Type Snack Bar.”
The Aircadia, “The Theatre of Tomorrow – Today!”, held its Gala Opening on Friday, April 8, 1955. The opening program was “The High and the Mighty” starring John Wayne, plus Walt Disney’s “Stormy”. Admission was 65 cents for adults, but “kiddies free”.