Westerner Drive-In
4001 Manzanita Avenue,
Carmichael,
CA
95608
4001 Manzanita Avenue,
Carmichael,
CA
95608
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Previous Names: UA Westerner Drive-In
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Opened on July 28, 1950 with Robert Preston in “The Sundowners” & Arthur Franz in “Red Stallion in the Rockies”. The Westerner Drive-In was operated by United California Theaters in the early-1960’s. It became a UA theater on March 30, 1967. Capacity was 735 cars. It was closed on September 1, 1980 with Michael Caine in “Dressed to Kill” & Kirk Douglas in “The Final Countdown”.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Opened in 1951 and closed in 1981. 735 cars. Demolished(date unknown?). Site is now possibly a bank(Banl of the west)?
This opened on July 28th, 1950. Grand opening ad posted.
https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01110225224715029151556659536
Boxoffice, Feb. 17, 1958: “The Westerner Drive-In here has been sold by Mrs. Robert Gingerich and Ennis Ray to the Reno Amusement Co., which will open the theatre this spring.”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1958: “The Westerner Drive-In here has been reopened by new Manager Barney Warrick after extensive renovations, which include a new 50x100-foot screen, new projection and sound equipment, new snack bar and installation of about $30,000 worth of new equipment. The theatre, now owned by the Reno Amusement & Realty Co., will operate seven days per week throughout the year, according to Warrick.”
You can see the how the renovations changed the theatre on historic aerials if you look at the 1957 year then the 1964 year.
Now Carmichael Village shopping center @ Fair Oaks Blvd. Please update.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gingerich and Ennis Ray opened the rustic Westerner on July 28, 1950 with “The Sundowners” & “Red Stallion in the Rockies.” Mrs. Gingerich and Ray sold the venue to Reno Amusement Circuit in 1958 which staged a grand reopening on April 16th with a wider, 50x100' screen.
For 1963, the venue was under California United Theatres. It remained there though March 30, 1967 when that circuit name was retired in favor of United Artists Theatre Corp. The final countdown to the expiry of the UA Westerner Drive-In’s 30-year leasing agreement took place on September 1, 1980. The films were “Dressed to Kill” and “The Final Countdown.”