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 opening date was May 5, 1950. As was later reported, the first double feature was “Jolson Sings Again” and “Riders in the Sky,” and it also included the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Long Haired Hare”.
According to a Grand Opening article, the drive-in accommodated 700 cars in its 15 acres “atop the hill at Eighth Street and Brookside Avenue”. It had a grassed-in playground, lighted speaker poles, and attendants to wipe windshields and fix flat tires.
The 8th Street had three 25-foot poles at the back of the viewing area where “moonlight” lamps were operated by dimmers. A Gazette Telegraph story said that they were “the first to be installed west of the Mississippi River and are the latest type developed for drive-in theatres.”
The drive-in was managed by Ralph Langston, who had worked as an assistant manager for the South Drive-In in Englewood CO.
The Starlight’s final ad before its screen tower was destroyed was in the Sept. 24, 1976 issue of the Rocky Ford Daily Gazette. Since that ad didn’t specify which days the shows would run, my guess for its final night would be Sunday, Sept. 26. The program was “Born to Kill” and “Jackson County Jail”.
A quick check of the July 11, 1977 Daily Gazette showed ads for indoor theaters (the Grand and the Fox), and the La Junta drive-in (which must have repaired its screen), but not the Starlight.
Boxoffice, Feb. 3, 1945: “BRIGHTON, COLO. – M. H. Philipsen of Denver has taken over management of the Rex Theatre here, replacing Duane Welch who moved to California. Philipsen managed the Santa Fe Theatre in Denver for Atlas Theatre Corp.”
Later Boxoffice notes tell this story: Philipsen moved over to manage the Kar-Vu Drive-In when it opened in April 1950, apparently replaced at the Rex by P. R. Ruddick. When the army recalled Ruddick later that year, Philipsen temporarily returned during the winter of 1950-51. In May 1951, Atlas brought in T. V. Austin from Salt Lake City to manage the Rex, freeing Philipsen to concentrate on the Kar-Vu.
The Pines’ first ad in the Fort Collins Coloradoan was May 29, 1968, featuring “The Way West” and “The Hallelujah Trail”. It ended with the note, “Drive south and save!” (The Pines charged 90 cents per adult while the Starlite charged a full $1.)
There’s a huge, detailed story about the Rio (and a few other things) by Bob Amick (is that you, rda?) in the Dec. 12, 2016 issue of the (Meeker) Herald Times. There’s even more in an accompanying PDF to the article.
The family of Don Dennis, who was reportedly a projectionist at the Valley in the late 1950s, has a huge page of photos and info about the theater.
That page said that Schumour Theaters was a division of Gibralter Entertainment, a confederation consortium of small chains in
Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado run mainly by Charles Gilmour M. C. Schulte. Schumour owned the Valley early in the 1950s, and “Mitch Kelloff owned the Valley Theater in the 50’s and into the 60’s.” There are more photos, newspaper ads, and other souvenirs than I have room to describe here. DonDennisFamily.com did a great job in assembling all of it to show off to all of us internet historians.
The (Grand Junction CO) Daily Sentinel, Nov. 5, 1947: “Craig – Construction of the new Craig theatre was started recently on the site of the old theatre which was destroyed by fire May 9. Cost of the building is estimated at $120,000. Plans include two stores flanking the theatre lobby and entrance; capacity will be 600. Schumour Theatres, Inc., which also owns the West theatre here, is building the Craig.”
In the May 2018 issue of History La Plata, Charles DiFerdinando wrote, “The Basin Drive-In Theatre opened at 2300 Main Street on June 23, 1950 with the feature film, "Oh, You Beautiful Doll”.
In the May 2018 issue of History La Plata, Charles DiFerdinando wrote, “On March 10, 1957, the Durango Herald-News announced the opening of Durango’s newest drive-in theatre, the Rocket Drive In, 3 miles south of Durango. It opened with a double feature: "To Hell and Back” starring Audie Murphy, and “Gun Slinger”. Managed by Jack Scales, the Rocket could accommodate 450 cars."
Looks like 2012 was the Starlite’s final season. The Sterling Journal-Advocate, reported on June 12, 2013 that the annual High Plains Music Fest used to be held “at the now-closed Starlite Drive In.” A check of the 2012 Fest verified that the Starlite hosted it that year.
The Greeley Daily Tribune ran a story on Aug. 9, 1948 that co-owners Emmett W. Savard and Rudolph Meyer would open a drive-in “soon,” contrasting that with the Motorena’s announced (and later achieved) Aug. 21 opening date. “The theater, which is located on 10 acres, will be equipped to accommodate 400 cars for the present, but when entirely completed will handle 800 automobiles. The screen, which is 40x60, will face to the north, away from the highway.”
The Greeley’s first ad in the Daily Tribune wasn’t until Wed., Sept. 8, 1948. It didn’t mention anything about a grand opening, but “Now Showing” was “Swiss Family Robinson” and “‘Neath Canadian Skies.”
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”.
This is the bottom half of a photo, dated Feb. 1984, that I found at American Classic Images, which claims to own the rights to it.
The opening program on Aug. 11, 1954 was “Elephant Walk” with Elizabeth Taylor and “Bait” with Cleo Moore.
The opening date was May 5, 1950. As was later reported, the first double feature was “Jolson Sings Again” and “Riders in the Sky,” and it also included the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Long Haired Hare”.
According to a Grand Opening article, the drive-in accommodated 700 cars in its 15 acres “atop the hill at Eighth Street and Brookside Avenue”. It had a grassed-in playground, lighted speaker poles, and attendants to wipe windshields and fix flat tires.
The 8th Street had three 25-foot poles at the back of the viewing area where “moonlight” lamps were operated by dimmers. A Gazette Telegraph story said that they were “the first to be installed west of the Mississippi River and are the latest type developed for drive-in theatres.”
The drive-in was managed by Ralph Langston, who had worked as an assistant manager for the South Drive-In in Englewood CO.
The Starlight’s final ad before its screen tower was destroyed was in the Sept. 24, 1976 issue of the Rocky Ford Daily Gazette. Since that ad didn’t specify which days the shows would run, my guess for its final night would be Sunday, Sept. 26. The program was “Born to Kill” and “Jackson County Jail”.
A quick check of the July 11, 1977 Daily Gazette showed ads for indoor theaters (the Grand and the Fox), and the La Junta drive-in (which must have repaired its screen), but not the Starlight.
Boxoffice, Feb. 3, 1945: “BRIGHTON, COLO. – M. H. Philipsen of Denver has taken over management of the Rex Theatre here, replacing Duane Welch who moved to California. Philipsen managed the Santa Fe Theatre in Denver for Atlas Theatre Corp.”
Later Boxoffice notes tell this story: Philipsen moved over to manage the Kar-Vu Drive-In when it opened in April 1950, apparently replaced at the Rex by P. R. Ruddick. When the army recalled Ruddick later that year, Philipsen temporarily returned during the winter of 1950-51. In May 1951, Atlas brought in T. V. Austin from Salt Lake City to manage the Rex, freeing Philipsen to concentrate on the Kar-Vu.
I found this at KnoxBlogs.com, credited to (Department of Energy archives/Frank Hoffman photograph).
The Pines’ first ad in the Fort Collins Coloradoan was May 29, 1968, featuring “The Way West” and “The Hallelujah Trail”. It ended with the note, “Drive south and save!” (The Pines charged 90 cents per adult while the Starlite charged a full $1.)
There’s a huge, detailed story about the Rio (and a few other things) by Bob Amick (is that you, rda?) in the Dec. 12, 2016 issue of the (Meeker) Herald Times. There’s even more in an accompanying PDF to the article.
The family of Don Dennis, who was reportedly a projectionist at the Valley in the late 1950s, has a huge page of photos and info about the theater.
That page said that Schumour Theaters was a division of Gibralter Entertainment, a confederation consortium of small chains in Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado run mainly by Charles Gilmour M. C. Schulte. Schumour owned the Valley early in the 1950s, and “Mitch Kelloff owned the Valley Theater in the 50’s and into the 60’s.” There are more photos, newspaper ads, and other souvenirs than I have room to describe here. DonDennisFamily.com did a great job in assembling all of it to show off to all of us internet historians.
The (Grand Junction CO) Daily Sentinel, Nov. 5, 1947: “Craig – Construction of the new Craig theatre was started recently on the site of the old theatre which was destroyed by fire May 9. Cost of the building is estimated at $120,000. Plans include two stores flanking the theatre lobby and entrance; capacity will be 600. Schumour Theatres, Inc., which also owns the West theatre here, is building the Craig.”
It amazes me how often the same theater gets sold by the same guy/company more than once.
Variety, Nov. 5, 1958: “Hugh Haynes took over the Valley, Fowler, Colo., from Schumour Corp., and will operate it five days a week.”
In the May 2018 issue of History La Plata, Charles DiFerdinando wrote, “The Basin Drive-In Theatre opened at 2300 Main Street on June 23, 1950 with the feature film, "Oh, You Beautiful Doll”.
In the May 2018 issue of History La Plata, Charles DiFerdinando wrote, “On March 10, 1957, the Durango Herald-News announced the opening of Durango’s newest drive-in theatre, the Rocket Drive In, 3 miles south of Durango. It opened with a double feature: "To Hell and Back” starring Audie Murphy, and “Gun Slinger”. Managed by Jack Scales, the Rocket could accommodate 450 cars."
Looks like 2012 was the Starlite’s final season. The Sterling Journal-Advocate, reported on June 12, 2013 that the annual High Plains Music Fest used to be held “at the now-closed Starlite Drive In.” A check of the 2012 Fest verified that the Starlite hosted it that year.
The Greeley Daily Tribune ran a story on Aug. 9, 1948 that co-owners Emmett W. Savard and Rudolph Meyer would open a drive-in “soon,” contrasting that with the Motorena’s announced (and later achieved) Aug. 21 opening date. “The theater, which is located on 10 acres, will be equipped to accommodate 400 cars for the present, but when entirely completed will handle 800 automobiles. The screen, which is 40x60, will face to the north, away from the highway.”
The Greeley’s first ad in the Daily Tribune wasn’t until Wed., Sept. 8, 1948. It didn’t mention anything about a grand opening, but “Now Showing” was “Swiss Family Robinson” and “‘Neath Canadian Skies.”