Origionally owned and operated by Jack Goldman, grandfather to current Esquire theatre operator Gary Goldman. It was part of a five-screen black theatre circuit Jack had in Cincinnati, along with the Regal and the Roosevelt downtown, the Lincoln in the West End, and the Roxy in Lockland.
This photo is a little misdirecting because the actual theatre building is not the brown complex at the corner, it’s the white-painted structure to the far right.
At some point, this building had served as a synagogue, with Hebrew text carved into its current facade. A banner hanging in front proclaims a business called “Truth Bar & Grill” Coming Soon, and looking it up shows documents drawn up in 2020, so it could be delayed by Covid or the venture aborted.
An organization called Bonekrushers National Pro Wrestling Tranining Center is listed next door at 6105 Vine Street, and passing by the location, it would appear they are using the theatre space at 6109 to train their students and present exhibition matches to the public. Their alumni apparently includes former TNA champ Abyss and WWE Diva Jillian Hall.
I was able to get a tour of the theatre from the people working on renovating it. Their plans are very ambitious, involving developing the lot next door for more arts-based activity and hosting. They’re still looking for funding, but they appear to be well organized so I think they can pull it off. Can we change the status to “renovating”?
By process of elimination, I believe this drive-in was featured in a pivotal scene in Umberto Lenzi’s 1989 kidnap thriller HITCHER IN THE DARK with Josie Bissett, which was shot around the Virginia Beach area. Amusingly enough, during the scene, the movie being screened is the Italian caveman comedy GRUNT, which to the best of my knowledge, never actually got a U.S. release.
I never got to meet Phil, but I was always grateful to him as the “silent partner” behind The Movies repertory cinema downtown. I recall he invited investors to participate in his movie projects in their calendars. He also ran April Fools Distribution, who handled the Pink Floyd at Pompeii concert film.
YOUNG GANGS FROM WILDWOOD HIGH is a retitling of TEAM-MATES.
ONE-NIGHT STAND is a retitling of PETS with Candice Rialson.
HOT AND BOTHERED is a retitling of Sergio Martino’s LOVING COUSINS (CUGINI CARNALI) with Susan Player.
Marci, if you can scan any of that material, you can upload the jpegs as images in the photo gallery. Do you have any pix of the interior during that time?
Since they didn’t list in the newspaper, did they print flyers for the neighborhood shops? Like, obviously people in the immediate vicinity would see the marquee and know what’s playing, but was that enough to draw substantial crowds for a given booking?
Nitpicky thing, especially since I’m ultimately guilty of the mistake in my initial submission, but could the listing be changed to Mt. Adams instead of the full word Mount? Seeing as how that’s the manner of spelling it was always presented in, and it would bring it in line stylewise with other Greater Cincinnati towns like Mt. Healthy. I guess I’m compulsive like that. ;/
That’s illuminating information, Mbeino - do you have any ads or other promotional material from when your dad and granddad ran it? Since they rarely did newspaper ads, I’m dying to know how they got word out about their bookings.
I did get that wrong - it was Holiday Amusements that booked the Auto-In, along with the Acme, Dent, Starlite, Hiway 28, Lake, and Mt. Healthy drive-ins. Levin Services booked the Ferguson Hills.
Both the ad for THE ROAD WARRIOR listing the Auto-In and for SWEET SIXTEEN listing it as the Captain Kidd read 2501 Anderson Ferry Rd.
I grew up in Cincinnati devouring the movie pages as a child, and I remember much fanfare in the drive-in listings promoting the “new” Captain Kidd, so that is not a misprint. Maybe they gave up the new name after one season and went back to calling the place Auto-In, but that alternate name is not a mistake.
I just finally got confirmation that in the early ‘80s, Levin Services renamed the Auto-In on 2501 Anderson Ferry Rd. as the Captain Kidd, I guess intending it as a Cincinnati cousin to this Kettering location. That’s what confused me for years, since the “new” Captain Kidd came about shortly after the closing of the Tri-County located Jolly Roger.
This is another of the Cincinnati theatres that I occasionally heard about and would have loved to visit but they never posted showtimes in the paper. Gary Goldman must have really hated the press. Can anyone approximate a list of what played here and when?
The Regal always frustrated me because they never listed showtimes in the newspaper, and only rarely even bought placement in a display ad, so as much as I wanted to visit there, I never knew what was playing. I guess they were content to cater solely to the immediate neighborhood for traffic.
If there were any way someone could compile a list of movies and playdates from its history, particularly the grindhouse days, that would be amazing.
davidcoppock: Levin Services had a similar pirate-themed drive-in in Cincinnati near the Tri-County area called the Jolly Roger, so they clearly had a theme in mind by naming this one the Captain Kidd. From the dates of the history, they were probably intended to open at the same time in a big splash, but the impedences Kettering made thwarted that plan.
I wonder if Levin Services had other pirate-themed drive-ins in Ohio?
In the 1977 sketch comedy film CAN I DO IT…‘TILL I NEED GLASSES, a scene opens outside the theatre, and the marquee is advertising the producers’ previous film IF YOU DON’T STOP IT, YOU’LL GO BLIND. Don’t know if the actual theatre interior was used for the remainder of the sketch.
Looks like they reopened again in November 2022, and as of this post, are still operating.
Screen count is down to 2 though.
The Sandrigham was featured in Colin Eggleston’s infamous 1977 ‘white-coater’ FANTASM COMES AGAIN, in a sequence featuring Rainbeaux Smith.
Origionally owned and operated by Jack Goldman, grandfather to current Esquire theatre operator Gary Goldman. It was part of a five-screen black theatre circuit Jack had in Cincinnati, along with the Regal and the Roosevelt downtown, the Lincoln in the West End, and the Roxy in Lockland.
The plot thickens - in early 1975, it was known as the Studio Theatre and indeed listed at 120 N. State St.
This photo is a little misdirecting because the actual theatre building is not the brown complex at the corner, it’s the white-painted structure to the far right.
At some point, this building had served as a synagogue, with Hebrew text carved into its current facade. A banner hanging in front proclaims a business called “Truth Bar & Grill” Coming Soon, and looking it up shows documents drawn up in 2020, so it could be delayed by Covid or the venture aborted.
An organization called Bonekrushers National Pro Wrestling Tranining Center is listed next door at 6105 Vine Street, and passing by the location, it would appear they are using the theatre space at 6109 to train their students and present exhibition matches to the public. Their alumni apparently includes former TNA champ Abyss and WWE Diva Jillian Hall.
I was able to get a tour of the theatre from the people working on renovating it. Their plans are very ambitious, involving developing the lot next door for more arts-based activity and hosting. They’re still looking for funding, but they appear to be well organized so I think they can pull it off. Can we change the status to “renovating”?
By process of elimination, I believe this drive-in was featured in a pivotal scene in Umberto Lenzi’s 1989 kidnap thriller HITCHER IN THE DARK with Josie Bissett, which was shot around the Virginia Beach area. Amusingly enough, during the scene, the movie being screened is the Italian caveman comedy GRUNT, which to the best of my knowledge, never actually got a U.S. release.
Apparently, in 1974, it was then known as the Boondocks cinema.
I never got to meet Phil, but I was always grateful to him as the “silent partner” behind The Movies repertory cinema downtown. I recall he invited investors to participate in his movie projects in their calendars. He also ran April Fools Distribution, who handled the Pink Floyd at Pompeii concert film.
YOUNG GANGS FROM WILDWOOD HIGH is a retitling of TEAM-MATES. ONE-NIGHT STAND is a retitling of PETS with Candice Rialson. HOT AND BOTHERED is a retitling of Sergio Martino’s LOVING COUSINS (CUGINI CARNALI) with Susan Player.
Marci, if you can scan any of that material, you can upload the jpegs as images in the photo gallery. Do you have any pix of the interior during that time? Since they didn’t list in the newspaper, did they print flyers for the neighborhood shops? Like, obviously people in the immediate vicinity would see the marquee and know what’s playing, but was that enough to draw substantial crowds for a given booking?
Nitpicky thing, especially since I’m ultimately guilty of the mistake in my initial submission, but could the listing be changed to Mt. Adams instead of the full word Mount? Seeing as how that’s the manner of spelling it was always presented in, and it would bring it in line stylewise with other Greater Cincinnati towns like Mt. Healthy. I guess I’m compulsive like that. ;/
That’s illuminating information, Mbeino - do you have any ads or other promotional material from when your dad and granddad ran it? Since they rarely did newspaper ads, I’m dying to know how they got word out about their bookings.
I did get that wrong - it was Holiday Amusements that booked the Auto-In, along with the Acme, Dent, Starlite, Hiway 28, Lake, and Mt. Healthy drive-ins. Levin Services booked the Ferguson Hills.
Both the ad for THE ROAD WARRIOR listing the Auto-In and for SWEET SIXTEEN listing it as the Captain Kidd read 2501 Anderson Ferry Rd.
I grew up in Cincinnati devouring the movie pages as a child, and I remember much fanfare in the drive-in listings promoting the “new” Captain Kidd, so that is not a misprint. Maybe they gave up the new name after one season and went back to calling the place Auto-In, but that alternate name is not a mistake.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/8490/photos/334715
I just finally got confirmation that in the early ‘80s, Levin Services renamed the Auto-In on 2501 Anderson Ferry Rd. as the Captain Kidd, I guess intending it as a Cincinnati cousin to this Kettering location. That’s what confused me for years, since the “new” Captain Kidd came about shortly after the closing of the Tri-County located Jolly Roger.
Apparently, the Auto-In was rechristened Captain Kidd in the early ‘80s. I found a newspaper ad and uploaded it here.
Also, the address should be changed to 2501 Anderson Ferry Rd.
This is another of the Cincinnati theatres that I occasionally heard about and would have loved to visit but they never posted showtimes in the paper. Gary Goldman must have really hated the press. Can anyone approximate a list of what played here and when?
Last year of operation was 1986.
The Regal always frustrated me because they never listed showtimes in the newspaper, and only rarely even bought placement in a display ad, so as much as I wanted to visit there, I never knew what was playing. I guess they were content to cater solely to the immediate neighborhood for traffic.
If there were any way someone could compile a list of movies and playdates from its history, particularly the grindhouse days, that would be amazing.
davidcoppock: Levin Services had a similar pirate-themed drive-in in Cincinnati near the Tri-County area called the Jolly Roger, so they clearly had a theme in mind by naming this one the Captain Kidd. From the dates of the history, they were probably intended to open at the same time in a big splash, but the impedences Kettering made thwarted that plan. I wonder if Levin Services had other pirate-themed drive-ins in Ohio?
In the 1977 sketch comedy film CAN I DO IT…‘TILL I NEED GLASSES, a scene opens outside the theatre, and the marquee is advertising the producers’ previous film IF YOU DON’T STOP IT, YOU’LL GO BLIND. Don’t know if the actual theatre interior was used for the remainder of the sketch.
Ten years later, I finally found an answer – No, it was not this American Theatre, it was the former Fox Ritz in Beverly Hills.