Lassen Auto Movies
472-645 Theatre Road,
Susanville,
CA
96130
472-645 Theatre Road,
Susanville,
CA
96130
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Closed on August 31, 1977.
The actual address for this one is 472-645 Theatre Rd, Susanville, CA 96130.
Please update.
Looks like the Lassen opened in 1950, accounting for its presence on the 1951 Film Daily Year Book list. The July 15, 1950 issue of Boxoffice had a long list of open and under construction drive-ins; it included Susanville’s among the open. Then the Sept. 16, 1950 issue said that George Robinson was the manager “of the new Lassen Auto Movie.”
Kenmore is accurate, but I’d still list this drive-in under Susanville. The Lassen was between the two chunks of Susanville (wait, what?), and Johnstonville is merely a census-designated place, apparently without borders or governance. But it was founded as Toadtown, so at least it upgraded its name.
The Lassen’s first appearance in the Film Daily Year Book’s lists was the 1951 edition, as “Drive-In”. Its first entry in the Motion Picture Almanac was the 1951-52 edition, and the first Theatre Catalog mention was 1952.
The Lassen’s screen was still visible in a 1980 aerial photo (masquerading as a topo map on HistoricAerials.com) but as Kenmore implied, it was gone in a 1981 aerial.
The theater is actually in Johnstonville, although Google lists the address of US-395 & CA-36 as simply being in “California”.
The original road where the entrance is located is now gone. It has been replaced with another road called aptly “Theatre Road”.
The drive-in was demolished by 1981. Apart from the faint hint of ramps and the general outline, no trace of the drive-in remains.