Shepherd of the Hills Drive-In
2449 E. State Highway 76,
Branson,
MO
65616
2449 E. State Highway 76,
Branson,
MO
65616
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Unless there was another tiny Branson drive-in that we haven’t discovered, the Shepherd of the Hills opened in the summer of 1950. In its list of theater openings, the July 22, 1950 issue of BoxOffice included “Branson, Mo. – 150-car drive-in opened by Kenneth Tippet and J. W. Shinn.”
Google and Wikipedia are friends to all of us with questions.
The Shepherd of the Hills was a 1907 novel written by Harold Bell Wright based on his summers in the Ozark Mountains. It was quite popular at the time, and through the years the story was repeatedly adapted to film, including a 1941 movie starring John Wayne.
There was a community founded in the early 1900s in this area by a preacher who was looking for a better way of life. Today it is a theme park of sorts in Branson called the Shepherd of the Hills with rustic buildings and a dramatic live performance given outdoors every night.
Odd name!! Was there a shephard in the nearby hills?
The Dickinson theater chain listed the Shepherd of the Hills Drive-In in its holdings in the Motion Picture Almanac section for Theatre Circuits in the 1955-57 editions, although the drive-in itself never appeared in any of the MPA drive-in lists.
The address for this Drive-in is now 2449 E State Highway 76, Branson, MO 65616.
This is now White River Valley Electric Company. The large building north of the main building is where the theater stood.
Please update.
Or not. Here is a 1950 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/yjs4l9h
I think this was a mistake on my part. This entry should be deleted.
If Branson is anywhere close to Route 66, I will take a look when I go there this summer. I am traversing the Old Road from Santa Monica to Chicago. There should be plenty of theaters, open and closed, along the way.