Pirate Drive-In
38156 Route 66 West,
Bristow,
OK
74101
38156 Route 66 West,
Bristow,
OK
74101
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The Pirate Drive-In opened on Sunday, June 28, 1953, according to a (Bristow) Record-Citizen report two days later. Because owner Henry Simpson had been uncertain whether delayed sound equipment would arrive in time to be installed for the opener, the Pirate didn’t advertise the grand opening except for “a sound truck announcement Saturday night.” About 200 carloads watched William Lundigan and Mitzi Gaynor in “Down Among the Sheltering Palms”.
So many Boxoffice notes …
A roundup in the Aug. 8, 1953 issue included: “Bristow, Okla. – The new 300-car Pirate Drive-In here has opened. It is owned by Henry Simpson, who operates the Walmur and Princess theatres.”
Jan. 21, 1963: “Mrs. Willie Wilkinson, co-owner of the Princess Theatre and Pirate Drive-In, … was found dead at her home Saturday (12). … Mrs. Wilkinson … (earlier) moved to Bristow where she was interest in the theatres there with Henry Simpson and wife. Mrs. Simpson is a niece of Mrs. Wilkinson.”
Dec. 6, 1963: “Henry Simpson (has) closed his Pirate Drive-In and did not reopen his Princess Theatre”
March 2, 1964: “The Princess Theatre has been reopened by Bill Wilkinson, manager of the Pirate Drive-In, for weekend bookings. … He also plans to operate the Pirate Drive-In again this summer.”
June 8, 1964: “Bill Wilkinson, who operates the Princess Theatre and Pirate Drive-In in Bristow, … is the son of the late Speck and Mrs. Wilkinson who operated the theatres in Rush Springs and Comanche for many years.”
Dec. 7, 1964: “Bill Wilkinson … borrowed a hay trailer from a friend and built an 8x16-foot plywood frame on it, just the right size for a 24-sheet featuring Liz Taylor and Dick Burton in "Cleopatra.” … His pickup truck pulled the mobile 24-sheet, with loudspeakers and 24x82-inch banners, all over the country. … “I’m happy to say we set new records for any show playing the same length at the Pirate Drive-In.”"
July 8, 1968: “Henry Simpson (who) was operating the Pirate … did not like the theatre business. He became a Creek County deputy sheriff … and the Wilkinsons took over the Princess and the Pirate” The article quoted liberally from a Tulsa World article, which said, “After his mother’s death, young Wilkinson bought out the other partner and has been the sole operator. … The young theatre owner will receive his law degree from the Tulsa University next December … He has stated that he would like to sell his drive-in theatre and spend all his time in the practice of law.”
March 24, 1969: “Freeman Holmes and O. D. Holt are new operators of the Pirate Drive-In, Bristow.”
Feb. 11, 1974: “Freeman Holmes, becoming so involved in selling mobile homes and cattle ranching that he decided to get out of exhibition, has sold the Pirate Drive-In at Bristow to Richard Stromme.”
A Cinema Radio ad in the Aug. 6, 1979 issue included Stromme of the Pirate as one of its delighted customers, and that was the last mention I could find of Bristow’s drive-in.
A minor fact about the former owner of the Pirate appeared in the Jan. 25, 1960 issue of BoxOffice. The widow of V. A. “Speck” Wilkinson, former owners of the Ritz in Comanche, “is the aunt of Mrs. Henry Simpson, Bristow. Simpson operates the Princess (indoor theater) and Pirate Drive-In there and is also a deputy sheriff of Creek County.”
I hope all the movies screened here were legal movies and not pirated movies!?
Early suggestion of what was coming in the May 20, 1950 issue of BoxOffice:
BRISTOW, OKLA. – H. A. Walling, local theatreman, has disclosed plans for construction of a 350-car drive-in on Route 66 west of here. A name for the open air theatre has not yet been chosen. An exhibitor many years, Walling operates the Princess and Walmur theatres here.
The 1955-56 Theatre Almanac listed the Pirate with a capacity of 150, owner Henry Simpson.
The drive-in’s first appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1960 edition, when it was listed as the “Purple Pirate” in Briston(sic), capacity 220, owner Henry Simpson. Except for correcting to Bristow, it stayed that way through 1976.
In the 1977 MPA, it changed to the Pirate, owner R. Stomme, capacity 200. That’s the way it stayed through the MPA’s final drive-in list in 1988.
Opened in 1953 and closed in 1983. 300 cars.
was still open in 1980. but it was demolished by 1995
I was the projectionist in the summer of 1965. It was a blast. Rick Lane.