Little River Drive-In
1531 Old 98 Road,
Valliant,
OK
74764
1531 Old 98 Road,
Valliant,
OK
74764
2 people
favorited this theater
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Located to the west of Wright City, OK and north-east of Valliant, OK. With only a 100 car capacity the Little River Drive-In was a quite small outdoor cinema. It opened on March 24, 1959 with Randolph Scott in “Ride Lonesome” & Walt Disney’s True Life Adventure “Wild Wilderness”. Surrounding terrain was most lovely, and it has been said that this theatre reflected this fact by maintaining "wild growth" landscaping.
It was still open in 1993.
Contributed by
Jeff Chapman
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
It was called the Little River Drive-In, as it was situated on the east side of the Little River on Highway 98 (Now Old Highway 98)
34.070060, -95.044480 +34° 4' 12.22", -95° 2' 40.13" https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=34.070060,+-95.044480&aq=&sll=34.070116,-95.044817&sspn=0.003137,0.005681&vpsrc=0&t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=34.070045,-95.044484&spn=0.000784,0.00142&z=20&iwloc=A
It appears the land is now private property with a house located where the projection booth would have been and a barn or stable where the screen once stood. However, you can still clearly see the ramps and entrance of the drive-in to the property itself. http://tinyurl.com/pj8o9gk
Boxoffice of March 30, 1959, said that the Little River Drive-In had opened on Friday, March 20. Owner Bill Crosby was also the operator of Wright City’s indoor house, the Choctaw Theatre.
A closer address is E2020 & Old State Hwy 98 Valliant, OK 74764.
That puts it about as close as you can with Google.
http://tinyurl.com/pj8o9gk
A note in the May 30, 1966 BoxOffice said, “Bill Crosby and Harve Wooden operate the Little River Drive-In at Wright City.”
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Freed launched the drive-in in Valliant after their hardtop downtown theatre burned down. It opened as the Valliant Drive-In Theatre on Feb. 12, 1954 with “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” It closed for the season in 1958. New operators refreshed the venue reopening as the Little River Theatre on March 24, 1959 with a double feature of Randolph Scott in “Ride Lonesome” and Walt Disney’s “White Wilderness.”
The theater features original installations of Simplex projectors, a Translite screen, and RCA sound. It originally accommodate 100 cars but it appears that it may’ve expanded to 175.
It was still open in the 1980s, but its closing date remains unknown. A 1995 aerial view shows the theater still standing but its traces were faded, while a 1993 topo still shows that the property is still a drive-in theater.
Boxoffice, March 22, 1971: “Bill Crosby, Little River Drive-In, Wright City, has installed a one-way exit treadle which he built himself.”
A closer address is 1531 Old 98 Rd, Valliant, OK.
Google Maps has updated their addresses and this puts it right on the property.
https://tinyurl.com/bdehnv6f
The originally-named Freed’s Drive-In (once known Valliant Drive-In) on 507 Wilson Street, which already has its own CT page, was actually relocated to 1531 Old 98 Road after new operators refreshed the venue, which came right after the original location closed after the 1958 season. The Little River Drive-In here opened on March 24, 1959 and continued operating into as late as the 1980s.