Sunset Drive-In
602 E. Highview Avenue,
Frederick,
OK
73542
602 E. Highview Avenue,
Frederick,
OK
73542
1 person
favorited this theater
The Sunset Drive-In was opened by Video Independent Theaters Inc. on June 6, 1950 with Susan Hayward in “Tulsa”. It had had a 300 car capacity. The screen was blown down on August 28, 1956 and the drive-in suffered from vandalism, probably never reopened.
Contributed by
Cactus Jack
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
I found an aerial view of the Drive-In taken in 1953. http://tinyurl.com/msfyzzq
Using Google Maps, I found the former location. http://tinyurl.com/ljkcrtw
No trace of the Drive-In left. A large building currently occupies the location at N 15th & E Highview Avenue on the SE corner of the intersection.
The address is 1600 N 15th St, Frederick, OK 73542.
Today, the Bible Baptist Church occupies the property with no trace of the drive-in remaining.
http://tinyurl.com/ljkcrtw
A more accurate address for this theater is 602 E Highview Ave, Frederick, OK 73542. This points directly to the entrance road. The location and the church are correct but the entrance and exit roads were on E. Highview. You could not enter from North 15th Street.
Please update.
The Sunset’s screen “was just blown away” by a windstorm on Aug. 28, 1956, according to a story the next day in the Daily Oklahoman.
It got even worse. The April 19. 1957 Daily Oklahoman wrote that unusually thorough vandalism “precluded any possibility of reopening the outdoor movie center this season, Mrs. E. Mac Wood, local manager, said.” All the speaker stands had been toppled and cable uprooted, and the concession / projection building had been ransacked and damaged. Vandals even hit the trees and shrubbery. Video Independent Theatres, Inc. “had announced earlier that plans for rebuilding a screen torn down late last season by a tornado were being deferred until crop prospects became more certain for the area.”
The June 10, 1950 issue of BoxOffice reported that “the Sunset, a 500-car situation at Frederick,” was scheduled to open later that month.
The actual opening date is June 6, 1950 with Susan Hayward in “Tulsa” along with two unnamed cartoons. It was first managed by Paul Gay.