The Lake Drive-In was located off of Ingalls Avenue and Market Street, right beside Jerry Lee’s Grocery Store. In the mid eighties, some speaker stands were still there and the grass had grown really high around it. We used it as a hangout for off campus lunch in high school in ‘84,'85,'86. After Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, it became a FEMA trailer park. So there is absolutely nothing left of it now.
The Towne Theatre was located in a strip-mall named Searstown.The biggest memories that I have of it are the 2 story Burt Reynolds stand-up outside of it at the premiere of Smokey and The Bandit in 1977 and the 2 story Jaws stand-up as well in 1975. My dad took me to see The Treasure of Matecumbe in 1976,when I was 6 years old,and we had to leave in the first few minutes because I got really freaked out by some kind of dark native ritual at the start of the movie. I don’t think the Towne lasted past 1979 or 1980 because a new theatre had opened down the street called the Twin Cinema. If I remember right, Xanadu may have been about the last movie to play there. I’m not totally sure.
I saw the last movie to play at the Ritz. It was Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno. That was around August or September of 1983. There was no word at all of the theatre closing. All of a sudden they just shut down. As far as the inside of the theatre, it did have a balcony.
From 1986 to 1988 my friends and I would go to the midnight movies on Friday and Saturday night at Akers Mill. Most of us worked next door at Toys R Us. We always had a great time, hanging out in the parking lot beforehand,etc. The Rocky Horror Picture Show played every weekend, of course. Other movies they showed quite a bit were Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Heavy Metal, Hellraiser 1&2, and from time to time a regular first run feature that was shown during normal hours. It was great to see the pictures of it on this site as I don’t live in the area anymore and probably haven’t seen that theatre in 16 years or so. They brought back alot of memories. Thanks,Jack for the photos.
Just for kicks, the last movie that I saw at Twin Cinema was “Tommorrow Never Dies”.
Allen,please contact me via email if you have anymore info on The Super Twin Drive-In that was located in Gautier. Thanks for all the info.
The only movie that I remember seeing at Cobb Centre was “Beetlejuice” on opening night in 1988.
The Lake Drive-In was located off of Ingalls Avenue and Market Street, right beside Jerry Lee’s Grocery Store. In the mid eighties, some speaker stands were still there and the grass had grown really high around it. We used it as a hangout for off campus lunch in high school in ‘84,'85,'86. After Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, it became a FEMA trailer park. So there is absolutely nothing left of it now.
I forgot to add that the whole shopping center was demolished in the early eighties with the exception of Eckerds Drugstore. However it is now closed.
The Towne Theatre was located in a strip-mall named Searstown.The biggest memories that I have of it are the 2 story Burt Reynolds stand-up outside of it at the premiere of Smokey and The Bandit in 1977 and the 2 story Jaws stand-up as well in 1975. My dad took me to see The Treasure of Matecumbe in 1976,when I was 6 years old,and we had to leave in the first few minutes because I got really freaked out by some kind of dark native ritual at the start of the movie. I don’t think the Towne lasted past 1979 or 1980 because a new theatre had opened down the street called the Twin Cinema. If I remember right, Xanadu may have been about the last movie to play there. I’m not totally sure.
I saw the last movie to play at the Ritz. It was Hercules starring Lou Ferrigno. That was around August or September of 1983. There was no word at all of the theatre closing. All of a sudden they just shut down. As far as the inside of the theatre, it did have a balcony.
From 1986 to 1988 my friends and I would go to the midnight movies on Friday and Saturday night at Akers Mill. Most of us worked next door at Toys R Us. We always had a great time, hanging out in the parking lot beforehand,etc. The Rocky Horror Picture Show played every weekend, of course. Other movies they showed quite a bit were Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Heavy Metal, Hellraiser 1&2, and from time to time a regular first run feature that was shown during normal hours. It was great to see the pictures of it on this site as I don’t live in the area anymore and probably haven’t seen that theatre in 16 years or so. They brought back alot of memories. Thanks,Jack for the photos.
The Sex Pistols played their first American gig here in January 1978.