Update on the Thunderbird: This theatre (once owned by Mann Theatres) was never a two-screener, though it would have been large enough to be converted into two screens. In the final days of this drive-in, it showed Disney/family oriented films…it was truly a family drive-in right to the end of its operation. The last recorded message promised new Disney films coming the following season of 1983, but of course, there would be none, as we did not know at the time the 1982 season would be the last for the Thunderbird.
BJ Nartker (producer of “Welcome Back, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Sunrise Drive-In” documentary film) took home movie VHS footage of the drive in right as demolition had barely begun. In this footage you can see the screen still standing, the back of the screen, what was left of the box-office, the deteriorating signs, and the projection room already taken apart. The footage then fast forwards sometime later just as the final stages of demolition had begun. For what little footage there was, it is significant, and you can see it in the featurette “Remembering The Sacramento Area Drive Ins”, available on YouTube (just do a search of it).
Update on the Sunrise Drive-in: Since his last comment in 2006, BJ Nartker has finally released his feature-length documentary on the Sunrise. Titled “Welcome Back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Sunrise Drive-In”, it is available on YouTube (just do a search of it).
Although largely tailored for audiences in the Sacramento, CA area, it is recommended for all audiences. It is an excellent example and portrait on how an independent/family owned drive in was run. Most of the footage in the film was taken in 1990 during the latter days of the Sunrise’s operation. In the mid-2000s, Nartker had interviewed the two key people involved in the operation, Fred Gabriel and June Cranor, who give excellent backstories on the conception of the Sunrise and Fred’s early career working at drive-ins in the Bay Area. Some of the Cranor family appear in this piece (I wish I could identify the lady at the Snack Bar at the 23:49 mark). Anyway, Nartker spent years trying to finish the documentary. By the time he finally came back to the project, both Fred & June had passed away–that gave Nartker an even more determination to finish the film, which he finally did in 2020.
“Welcome Back…” is a great companion piece to the 1976 Columbia film “Drive-In” (itself shot on location at the now-demolished Terrell Drive-In in Terrell, Texas (near the Dallas area). Please watch the film. You will see for yourself that there was more than just visiting the drive-in.
Update on the Hi-Lander…BJ Nartker is a frequent YouTube-r who has done short documentaries on the North Sacramento area, and many years ago he did a feature-length documentary on the Sunrise Drive-in in Fair Oaks/Citrus Heights. Years before he conceived the documentary, he took home movie VHS footage of the many drive-ins in the Sacramento valley that had since closed, and the Hi-Lander Drive in was one of those drive-ins represented. You can see this footage as part of a piece Nartker did called “Remember the Sacramento Area Drive-Ins” (just do a YouTube search of it). The footage begins at 7:27 of the video, and it was taken in 1982, seven years after it closed. At the time, the deteriorating screen was still up, the marquee destroyed, and both the box-office and the snack bar/projection screen dilapitated. Again, this is a case of “picture in your mind what it was like to visit”.
No trace of the Hi-Lander remains today, as it is now an area of houses built on streets named after movie stars (a subtle reminder of what the theatre once was).
An update on this particular drive-in…this was the second drive-in theatre for the Sacramento area, not counting the El Rancho Drive-In in West Sacramento that opened before the Skyview in South Sacramento. Cinerama Theatres (a division of Pacific Theatres) was the last owner of this drive-in, and after researching advertisements in the Sacramento Bee, this drive-in continued operating way past 1979. It closed around mid- or late-1981. The last known recorded message announced it was “closed for repairs”. Yeah, right. In actuality, KOVR-TV (a local Sacramento TV station) reported the truth about the Starlite–it had closed for good, the property being sold to hotel owners. This property would eventually become a Hilton Hotel. A few years after the Starlite closed, I took a visit to Old Sacramento and an antique store, which had the neon Starlite marquee salvaged…at least at that time. I do not know what happened to this sign, or its fate today.
The KCRA archives has film of the Starlite Drive-in, circa 1970, back when it was still a single screen drive-in. It is part of a reel on Sacramento Theatres and Drive-Ins which is available on YouTube (just do a search of it and you’ll see this piece, which includes the brief footage of the drive-in in its 1970s heyday).
I too was a visitor to this drive in. I saw some Disney films, the James Bond film “Live And Let Die”, “A Piece of the Action”, and a 1979 re-issue of “Star Wars” at the Starlite. In fact, the final time I visited the Starlite was that “Star Wars” reissue with an early trailer for “The Empire Strikes Back” attached at the end.
In the last days of this drive-in, the Starlite was equipped with Cine-Fi Car Radio Sound. It was AM Mono, but still improved fidelity over your average in-car speakers.
Today, just picture in your mind driving along I-80 going past Arden Way the drive-in property, with the fence to the side of the theatre advertising movies for other sister theatres from the Blumenfeld chain (the Tower & Esquire theatres and Fruitridge Drive In). Then, coming back, imagine the back side of the Main Screen 1 with the words Starlite and below the words “where shopping is a pleasure…Town & Country Shopping Center”. The KCRA footage on YouTube shows the back of the screen with only the partially damaged Starlite logo and a separate marquee showing the attractions to come.
I wish more photos and/or film footage of the Starlite would resurface…but thankfully the existing KCRA footage is the best we have of the Starlite.
It was sad to see what is now believed to be the last photo of Sacramento’s first drive-in theatre. First time in decades I have seen at least a photo of the marquee…never forget seeing it or visiting it. I can still picture in my mind that marquee and visiting this drive-in, the one I frequently visited the most growing up in Sacramento.
Update on the founders of this drive-in…both Strawns (Gladys and Glenn) have passed away, and virtually nothing is left of this historic property, which would have been in its 77th year of operation this year. A trucking company now occupies part of the property, assuring us that this drive in will never again be in its 1960s-1972 two-screen state, though in theory the South Screen can be recreated/reconstructed.
Again, if anyone has any surviving 35MM intermission snipes/local ads that screened at this drive in, please come forward…
RIP Skyview Drive In, Sacramento’s first Drive-in theatre. 1949-1988
It has been decades since I have seen this sign anywhere…I remember vividly in my mind what this sign looked like, right down to the logo. Yes, what is believed to be the final picture of Sacramento’s first drive in theatre. The Skyview Drive In would have been in its 77th year of operation alongside the Starlite Drive-in in North Sacramento.
Update on what happened to its owners…both Strawns (the founders of this drive in) have now passed away, and virtually nothing is left of this drive in today. A trucking service now has expanded to part of the drive-in property, assuring this theatre will never be restored to its 1960s-1972 two-screen configuration, though in theory it could be restored to just the South Screen.
I will never forget going to this drive-in, the one I visited the most growing up in Sacramento.
Again, if anyone has surviving 35MM films of the intermissions/local spots that played at this drive-in, please come forward.
I did visit the Crossroads Cinema around the late 1980s when it was a sub-run theater…my late mom and I saw the two “Butch Cassidy” movies. Today, it serves as Schools Federal Credit Union branch. My sister-in-law used to work there! Coincidence…
A brief detailed history of this drive-in…it opened in 1949 as Sacramento’s first drive-in theater. At the time it opened, it was a single screen. Much later in the 1960s a second screen was added, called a “South Screen” (the original screen was labeled “North Screen”). A third screen was added in 1973 where a playground had been.
At its heyday, the North Screen had three sub-run hits for about $3.50 a car load. For a brief period in the 1970s, it ran Spanish movies. Some nights you’d get a short subject followed by two color cartoons (usually either a Disney or Terrytoons short). For intermission, you’d get those dancing hot dogs, or maybe you would have seen ads for “Federico College of Hair Styling”. Towards the end of its life, you’d see B- or Triple-Z fare (while no one remembers a movie called “The Rape Killer”, almost everyone, including myself, remembers “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”), but it did run some blockbusters (one time, they had “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters” on the same bill.
The drive in closed down in 1988, with demolishing coming soon after. Having been born and raised in Sacramento and visiting the Sky View many times growing up as a child, I remember vividly all those visits. I can still picture in my mind the snack bar. Anyway, if anyone else has vivid memories of this drive in, you’re welcome to comment. Rest in peace, Skyview Drive In.
Update on the Thunderbird: This theatre (once owned by Mann Theatres) was never a two-screener, though it would have been large enough to be converted into two screens. In the final days of this drive-in, it showed Disney/family oriented films…it was truly a family drive-in right to the end of its operation. The last recorded message promised new Disney films coming the following season of 1983, but of course, there would be none, as we did not know at the time the 1982 season would be the last for the Thunderbird.
BJ Nartker (producer of “Welcome Back, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the Sunrise Drive-In” documentary film) took home movie VHS footage of the drive in right as demolition had barely begun. In this footage you can see the screen still standing, the back of the screen, what was left of the box-office, the deteriorating signs, and the projection room already taken apart. The footage then fast forwards sometime later just as the final stages of demolition had begun. For what little footage there was, it is significant, and you can see it in the featurette “Remembering The Sacramento Area Drive Ins”, available on YouTube (just do a search of it).
Update on the Sunrise Drive-in: Since his last comment in 2006, BJ Nartker has finally released his feature-length documentary on the Sunrise. Titled “Welcome Back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Sunrise Drive-In”, it is available on YouTube (just do a search of it).
Although largely tailored for audiences in the Sacramento, CA area, it is recommended for all audiences. It is an excellent example and portrait on how an independent/family owned drive in was run. Most of the footage in the film was taken in 1990 during the latter days of the Sunrise’s operation. In the mid-2000s, Nartker had interviewed the two key people involved in the operation, Fred Gabriel and June Cranor, who give excellent backstories on the conception of the Sunrise and Fred’s early career working at drive-ins in the Bay Area. Some of the Cranor family appear in this piece (I wish I could identify the lady at the Snack Bar at the 23:49 mark). Anyway, Nartker spent years trying to finish the documentary. By the time he finally came back to the project, both Fred & June had passed away–that gave Nartker an even more determination to finish the film, which he finally did in 2020.
“Welcome Back…” is a great companion piece to the 1976 Columbia film “Drive-In” (itself shot on location at the now-demolished Terrell Drive-In in Terrell, Texas (near the Dallas area). Please watch the film. You will see for yourself that there was more than just visiting the drive-in.
Update on the Hi-Lander…BJ Nartker is a frequent YouTube-r who has done short documentaries on the North Sacramento area, and many years ago he did a feature-length documentary on the Sunrise Drive-in in Fair Oaks/Citrus Heights. Years before he conceived the documentary, he took home movie VHS footage of the many drive-ins in the Sacramento valley that had since closed, and the Hi-Lander Drive in was one of those drive-ins represented. You can see this footage as part of a piece Nartker did called “Remember the Sacramento Area Drive-Ins” (just do a YouTube search of it). The footage begins at 7:27 of the video, and it was taken in 1982, seven years after it closed. At the time, the deteriorating screen was still up, the marquee destroyed, and both the box-office and the snack bar/projection screen dilapitated. Again, this is a case of “picture in your mind what it was like to visit”.
No trace of the Hi-Lander remains today, as it is now an area of houses built on streets named after movie stars (a subtle reminder of what the theatre once was).
An update on this particular drive-in…this was the second drive-in theatre for the Sacramento area, not counting the El Rancho Drive-In in West Sacramento that opened before the Skyview in South Sacramento. Cinerama Theatres (a division of Pacific Theatres) was the last owner of this drive-in, and after researching advertisements in the Sacramento Bee, this drive-in continued operating way past 1979. It closed around mid- or late-1981. The last known recorded message announced it was “closed for repairs”. Yeah, right. In actuality, KOVR-TV (a local Sacramento TV station) reported the truth about the Starlite–it had closed for good, the property being sold to hotel owners. This property would eventually become a Hilton Hotel. A few years after the Starlite closed, I took a visit to Old Sacramento and an antique store, which had the neon Starlite marquee salvaged…at least at that time. I do not know what happened to this sign, or its fate today.
The KCRA archives has film of the Starlite Drive-in, circa 1970, back when it was still a single screen drive-in. It is part of a reel on Sacramento Theatres and Drive-Ins which is available on YouTube (just do a search of it and you’ll see this piece, which includes the brief footage of the drive-in in its 1970s heyday).
I too was a visitor to this drive in. I saw some Disney films, the James Bond film “Live And Let Die”, “A Piece of the Action”, and a 1979 re-issue of “Star Wars” at the Starlite. In fact, the final time I visited the Starlite was that “Star Wars” reissue with an early trailer for “The Empire Strikes Back” attached at the end.
In the last days of this drive-in, the Starlite was equipped with Cine-Fi Car Radio Sound. It was AM Mono, but still improved fidelity over your average in-car speakers.
Today, just picture in your mind driving along I-80 going past Arden Way the drive-in property, with the fence to the side of the theatre advertising movies for other sister theatres from the Blumenfeld chain (the Tower & Esquire theatres and Fruitridge Drive In). Then, coming back, imagine the back side of the Main Screen 1 with the words Starlite and below the words “where shopping is a pleasure…Town & Country Shopping Center”. The KCRA footage on YouTube shows the back of the screen with only the partially damaged Starlite logo and a separate marquee showing the attractions to come.
I wish more photos and/or film footage of the Starlite would resurface…but thankfully the existing KCRA footage is the best we have of the Starlite.
RIP Starlite Drive-In
1950-1981
It was sad to see what is now believed to be the last photo of Sacramento’s first drive-in theatre. First time in decades I have seen at least a photo of the marquee…never forget seeing it or visiting it. I can still picture in my mind that marquee and visiting this drive-in, the one I frequently visited the most growing up in Sacramento.
Update on the founders of this drive-in…both Strawns (Gladys and Glenn) have passed away, and virtually nothing is left of this historic property, which would have been in its 77th year of operation this year. A trucking company now occupies part of the property, assuring us that this drive in will never again be in its 1960s-1972 two-screen state, though in theory the South Screen can be recreated/reconstructed.
Again, if anyone has any surviving 35MM intermission snipes/local ads that screened at this drive in, please come forward…
RIP Skyview Drive In, Sacramento’s first Drive-in theatre.
1949-1988
It has been decades since I have seen this sign anywhere…I remember vividly in my mind what this sign looked like, right down to the logo. Yes, what is believed to be the final picture of Sacramento’s first drive in theatre. The Skyview Drive In would have been in its 77th year of operation alongside the Starlite Drive-in in North Sacramento.
Update on what happened to its owners…both Strawns (the founders of this drive in) have now passed away, and virtually nothing is left of this drive in today. A trucking service now has expanded to part of the drive-in property, assuring this theatre will never be restored to its 1960s-1972 two-screen configuration, though in theory it could be restored to just the South Screen.
I will never forget going to this drive-in, the one I visited the most growing up in Sacramento.
Again, if anyone has surviving 35MM films of the intermissions/local spots that played at this drive-in, please come forward.
The picture shows that the Manor did operate through most of the 1970s and maybe the beginning of the ‘80s. It was a porno house (XXX). Sad, isn’t it?
I did visit the Crossroads Cinema around the late 1980s when it was a sub-run theater…my late mom and I saw the two “Butch Cassidy” movies. Today, it serves as Schools Federal Credit Union branch. My sister-in-law used to work there! Coincidence…
A brief detailed history of this drive-in…it opened in 1949 as Sacramento’s first drive-in theater. At the time it opened, it was a single screen. Much later in the 1960s a second screen was added, called a “South Screen” (the original screen was labeled “North Screen”). A third screen was added in 1973 where a playground had been.
At its heyday, the North Screen had three sub-run hits for about $3.50 a car load. For a brief period in the 1970s, it ran Spanish movies. Some nights you’d get a short subject followed by two color cartoons (usually either a Disney or Terrytoons short). For intermission, you’d get those dancing hot dogs, or maybe you would have seen ads for “Federico College of Hair Styling”. Towards the end of its life, you’d see B- or Triple-Z fare (while no one remembers a movie called “The Rape Killer”, almost everyone, including myself, remembers “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”), but it did run some blockbusters (one time, they had “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters” on the same bill.
The drive in closed down in 1988, with demolishing coming soon after. Having been born and raised in Sacramento and visiting the Sky View many times growing up as a child, I remember vividly all those visits. I can still picture in my mind the snack bar. Anyway, if anyone else has vivid memories of this drive in, you’re welcome to comment. Rest in peace, Skyview Drive In.