Belmont Auto Theatre

Drive-In 54 on November 2, 2018 at 4:02 pm

From the Speaker Post on FB.

November 2, 1957

Drive-in motion picture theaters had a reputation for being ‘passion pits’ almost from the very beginning. In 1957 a bill was introduced to the Ohio General Assembly by two Montgomery County delegates to ban unmarried persons under eighteen from attending movie theaters after midnight unless accompanied by parents or guardians. The measure was sponsored by State Representative Jesse Yoder and Charles W. Whalen, Jr. Yoder told the committee he had introduced the bill because “people are disturbed by the goings-on in drive-in theaters after midnight.” Harold B. LeCrone, assistant county prosecutor, told the house judiciary committee that “illegitimate births in the county are stemming primarily from one drive-in.” He did not name the offending theater. “We know it must be happening,” LeCrone continued. “The bars close and the dregs are using the places. They go off in a corner of the drive-in and park. It’s a little cheaper than renting a motel.” Robert Wile, of the Theater Owners of Ohio, testified against the bill. “You can’t blame the illegitimate birthrate on the drive-ins because we are cheaper than motels. You should also keep eighteen year olds out of motels.” He also stated that enforcing the law would be difficult since it would take theater operators “hours to check all the cars after midnight to see if there were any minors in them.” Part of the problem was due to the fact that during the early 1950’s some of the local drive-ins began having all night movie marathons. The last movie of these ‘dusk to dawn shows’ sometimes didn’t end until 4 a.m. or later. Drive-in theater owners as far away as Troy, Miamisburg, Eaton and Springfield met at the Belmont Auto Drive-In to discuss the problem. They agreed to drop the dusk to dawn shows after November 2, 1957. “When we saw they (dusk to dawn shows) were hurting the community, we decided to stop them,” said Edward Parker, owner of the North Star Drive-In. “One of the theater operators had been holding out because he felt he was catering to a number of second shift factory workers, but we changed his mind.” The house judiciary committee shelved the bill after hearing that the number of films being shown would be reduced to three, which meant the box office closed at midnight. Owners also agreed to patrol the theater grounds for “unacceptable” activity, such as lovers and drinkers. – Text from “On This Date in Dayton’s History" by Curt Dalton