Following up StrangeStephen’s note, the Observer-Reporter of Greene County PA published an article on Dec 9, 2021 about the Skyview and its late owners. Elizabeth Clara Lysiane Walker, 57, died of Covid on Oct. 11. Her husband, Charles Walker III, 58, died of Covid 10 days later in the same hospital. They had owned the drive-in since 2007.
Caleb Miller, one of the Walkers' sons, told the newspaper, “We’re going to open it up next season if we can. If we can run it, we’re going to.”
I don’t want to be glib in the face of such a tragedy, but how can you tell when a seasonal drive-in is permanently closed? It’s not when it closes, it’s when it doesn’t reopen the following spring. As an optimist, I continue to consider the Skyview open.
The Arizona Highway Department commissioned this photo by Fronske Studio to document its planned property condemnation to build I-40. It’s part of the Fronske Studio Collection at Northern Arizona University, call number NAU.PH.85.3.210.109.
There was a small drive-in in Oklahoma on US 81 that was just 2000 feet south of the Kansas border. Aerial photos show that it was open by 1956 and still intact as late as 1995. It sure looks like something that someone would name the Bi-State Drive-In.
The closest little (population 12 in 2010) town to the south is Renfrow OK, about five miles away. Medford OK is about 14 miles from the drive-in.
The closest city is Caldwell KS, just two miles north. The Caldwell Golf Course across the highway from the drive-in site is private, from what I could find, unaffiliated with the city.
Since the Bi-State was an Oklahoma drive-in, I’d place it under the closest town in the state. That would be Renfrow, if you think it’s big enough, or Medford.
To amplify rivest266’s accurate closing date, Entertainment Centers of America operated the Joshua for approximately one week.
Victorville Daily Press, Dec. 19, 1982: “The El Rancho Theater and Balsam and Joshua Drive-In are now controlled by the same corporation that runs The Movies. Charly Funk, president of Entertainment Centers of America, Inc., said his company will officially begin operating the theater and drive-ins. “We will be running a total of 12 screens in Victorville this Friday (24?),” Funk said.”
The article about the Fun Lan’s closing was reprinted in the Orlando Weekly. No one’s sure who bought the place, since the City of Tampa denies rumors that it was the purchaser. “On Thursday, Dec. 2, they were told in person that Sunday would be the last business day. Their last day with a job and a paycheck is Friday (Dec. 10). In the meantime, they are assigned to work on the property and keep anyone from trespassing.”
The Feb. 20, 1960 Motion Picture Herald had a short article about Ben Poblocki, patriarch of the Poblocki & Sons sign company of Milwaukee.
“Six years ago … Ben Poblocki … decided to be an exhibitor himself. He bought the 600-seat Plaza in Burlington, Wis., and later added a drive-in at Grafton, the Highway 57, plus a drive-in restaurant adjoining the outdoor theatre. Recently he sold all of those properties … The Plaza theatre was sold to Lauren Husten, who operates the Troy in East Troy, and the Ford in Waterford, Wis.”
The Feb. 20, 1960 Motion Picture Herald had a short article about Ben Poblocki, patriarch of the Poblocki & Sons sign company of Milwaukee.
“Six years ago … Ben Poblocki … decided to be an exhibitor himself. He bought the 600-seat Plaza in Burlington, Wis., and later added a drive-in at Grafton, the Highway 57, plus a drive-in restaurant adjoining the outdoor theatre. Recently he sold all of those properties … Harry Melcher, who operates the Rivoli theatre in nearby Cedarburg, Wis., bought the Highway 57.”
The Moonlite Drive-In in Radcliff was mentioned in a July 22, 1956 ad in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The 1958-59 Motion Picture Almanacs had the Moonlite, capacity 450, owner Sailing & Danner. The 1960-65 MPAs change the owner to Rockwood Amuse. Co., but the Rockwood Amusement Company circuit list holding in the 1960-65 MPAs didn’t include it.
The 1960 (or earlier)-1965 Film Daily Yearbooks included the Moonlite Drive-In under Radcliff, but the 1966 edition did not.
The first ad I could find for the Staunton VA Daily News Leader was on June 19, 1956. On June 29, it mentioned that the North 340 was “Waynesboro’s Newest Next to Eastside Speedway”.
Aerial photos of US 340 north of Waynesboro showed a drive-in adjacent to Eastside Speedway. The drive-in was intact through 1984, and the race track is still there at 134 Al Gore Ln, Waynesboro, VA 22980.
The last movie ad I saw for the “North Drive-In” was in the Oct. 24, 1976 Daily News Leader, offering “The Filthiest Show in Town” and “Hot Times”. An Oct. 29 ad said that the North 340 was closed for the season. By 1990, the Daily News Leader was advertising Sunday flea markets at the “old North 340 Drive-In Theatre”.
I just noticed something odd about that photo - it’s flipped. As the 1952 aerial photo showed, the screen faced northeast. Route 66 ran to the north of the Bar-Len, with the train tracks farther north.
To summarize, the Basin opened on Thursday, July 24, 1952. Because that was after its planned opener, we don’t yet know what movies it showed that night. Its capacity was very likely 285 cars. The Basin closed by 1976, probably years earlier.
Boxoffice, Oct. 7, 1950: “Moses Lake, Wash. - John Lee of Ephrata, owner of Columbia Basin Theatres, … plans to acquire property for a drive-in to be opened in this area next spring … Lee said equipment for the drive-in has been ordered and is expected to be delivered in November. He said plans call for a capacity of 400 cars. THe ozoner will be located on the Moses Lake-Ephrata highway.”
Boxoffice, May 31, 1952: “Moses Lake, Wash. - The first drive-in for the Columbia basin was to be opened by late May, owner John Lee of Ephrata said … The Moses Lake situation is on the east side of town, just south of the new auto racetrack.”
Columbia Basin Herald, July 10, 1952 (quoted in the Oct. 4, 2014 Crescent Bar Chronicle): “The Columbia Basin’s first drive-in theater will open this weekend just off U.S. 10 near Moses Lake’s east city limits, according to William Daugaard, who will manage it. The theater is set up on an eight-acre tract cleared to accommodate 300 cars now and 600 when business warrants it, Daugaard said. The screen is 40 by 60 feet. The location is about three miles from the center of town. A double feature is booked for Friday and Saturday nights, but the theater may not be opened until Sunday, when the show will feature Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in "The Invisible Man” and a Roy Rogers western, the manager said. The theater will operate seven nights a week. The drive-in is owned by Columbia Basin Theaters, operated by John Lee of Ephrata, who also has the two regular movie houses in Moses Lake."
Boxoffice, Aug. 2, 1952: “Moses Lake, Wash. - John Lee opened his new airer, the Basin Drive-In, here Thursday (24). With a capacity of 285 cars, the theatre was equipped by Modern Theatre Supply of Seattle”
Spokane Chronicle, April 5, 1956: “Moses Lake, Wash., April 5 - Columbia Basin Theaters has been sold to Texan Peter Barnes, owner John Lee of Ephrata announced this week. The chain of theaters include 15 movie houses in Grant and Adams counties. Lee announced that he, however, wil retain ownership of the theater buildings. Included in the transation were the Lake and Ritz theaters and Basin Drive-In in Moses Lake; Lee and Marjo theaters and Park In Drive-In in Ephrata; Lake theater in Othello, and Warden theater in Warden.”
The 1953-56 Theatre Catalogs listed the Basin with a capacity of 284 cars, owner John Lee.
The 1953-66 editions of Motion Picture Almanac included the Basin of Moses Lake, capacity 258 cars, owner John Lee Circuit. A “Basin-258” entry continued while the MPA was on semi-autopilot during 1967-76, but when the MPA rebooted its drive-in list in 1977, the Basin was gone. My guess is that the 258 number was a typo of the accurate 285, and it stuck.
I haven’t dug too deeply into the old Rialto’s opening and closing dates. In 1985, it was apparently closed seasonally while the Tonto Drive-In was operating; the Sept. 11, 1985 ad for the Tonto noted “Rialto opens Friday (13).” Since the Tonto never reopened, the Rialto might have kept going all year. A spot check in the summer of 1988 showed the “Blair Rialto” advertising summer matinees. Here’s probably the end.
Winslow Mail, Feb. 7, 1996: “BioDome was the last movie to be shown at Winslow Rialto Theatre, prior to its closing on Jan. 31. Employees were surprised when the showed up to work on Wednesday to find the marquee taken down, equipment removed and their jobs eliminated.”
The Grizzly (Big Bear Lake) noted on Sept. 21, 1945 that “Big Bear Theatre, formerly the Grizzly,” would close for the season that month, and that owner Earle C. Strebe planned to construct a new building for the theater “on the highway next to Safeway”. “The foundation was poured and laid this summer, but actual work on the structure of the modern steel and re-inforced concrete building was delayed.”
That new building opened on April 28, 1946, “when a capacity crowd of valley residents and visitors packed the first show to see the Gary Cooper-Ingrid Bergman vehicle, "Saratoga Trunk.” … The youthful looking Strebe - he has not yet reached 40 years of age - is well known in Palm Springs theatre circles, having operated two cinema parlors at the desert spa for many years. In addition Strebe owns a theatre in Las Vegas and controls several units in the Lake Arrowhead-Crestline area."
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 13, 1956: “Earl Strebe, who operates theatres in Palm Springs and other resort towns, has announced his plans to build a drive-in in Big Bear, where he is now operating a conventional theatre.”
A nice description by Wilfred P. Smith, writing in Motion Picture Herald, June 11, 1955: “On a trip to Montana I was particularly impressed by the approaches and exits of the Sage drive-in at Billings. Along beautiful macadam drives were 8x8-ft. luminous paintings based on famous paintings of western scenes. They were spectacular. One painting was of a coyote howling in the night, silhouetted by a bright new moon; another depicted a cowboy on a bucking bronco. Paintings were used here in lieu of shrubs and trees because of the short season for plants.”
There’s more information about the long-gone Cutter-Carr airport, sometimes known as the West Mesa airport, an eight-pointed star of unpaved runways just north of the 66’s viewing field, on Wikipedia.
As noted above, the July 30, 1962 issue of Boxoffice said that while the 66 was closed, “it has been used as airport runway.”
I was reminded of that airport stuff because a better address these days for the old 66 site is 221 Airport Drive NW. That’s where the Labatt Food Service distribution center sits as I type.
The Skyview was almost exactly 3½ miles from Route 66, but Quinta Scott included a nice B&W photo from 1981 in her 2000 book, “Along Route 66.” (Highly recommended for 66 fans!) She included the following notes, based on a 1998 interview with Christopher Caporal:
Sam Kapriolotis landed in New York with his father and brother at the turn of the century. For two years, the family made their living selling fruit and gum from a pushcart on New York streets. Then, when Sam’s father and brother returned to their native Greece, nine-year-old Sam stayed. He raised himself, became a citizen, and took a new name - Caporal, the name of his favorite smoke. Young Sam Caporal drifted to St. Louis, where he learned to be a movie projectionist, and then to Oklahoma City, where he opened his first movie house in 1916. In 1948, Sam and his sons - George, Chris, and Pete - built the Skyview Drive-In.
… The Caporals … hired architect David Baldwin to design the Skyview … Baldwin gave them a reinforced-concrete, Spanish Colonial screen tower. The contractor used slip-form construction to build the tower. The process, the same that had been used in the construction of grain elevators since the turn of the century, took six days. The workers started on the ground, filled the forms with concrete, let it set, moved the forms up a bit, and poured more concrete. It was a twenty-four-hour-a-day operation. As the tower moved upward, workers installed prefabricated windows, shaped like quatrefoils and glazed with opaque glass, in the center section of the screen tower. The Caporals painted the piers white and the center royal blue and outlined the whole in neon. They installed lights behind the quatrefoil windows so that at night they glowed like large golden stars. The set SKYVIEW on top in giant neon letters and proudly placed their came, CAPORAL, on the top of the left pier.
Pinterest included the note: “Art for Terrace Drive-in Theater in Albuquerque, NM. This is a print of the original concept painting for the mural on the back of the screen. Done by Keith Kent. June 1951. Theater long closed now.”
I guess that D. Armino reopened the Sunset (if it had closed) in 1987. That’s when I started seeing English-language movie ads for the Sunset, and would account for the Motion Picture Almanac listing in 1988. The final ad I found was for “Die Hard” and “License To Drive” on Sept. 25, 1988.
An Albuquerque Tribune columnist wrote in Nov. 2, 1995 noted that the Sunset was still standing “as it had for years, though locked behind barbed wire and chain-link fence, unkempt and neglected … A plywood sign on the ticket booth said, “Open May 31.” “
The Exhibitor, Sept. 10, 1952: “Charles E. Darden, Associated Popcorn Distributors, Inc., reported that the highlight of his trip into west Texas was his stop at the Grant Drive-In, Wichita Falls, which has a second story viewing room, and which does walk-in business from a residential area."
Following up StrangeStephen’s note, the Observer-Reporter of Greene County PA published an article on Dec 9, 2021 about the Skyview and its late owners. Elizabeth Clara Lysiane Walker, 57, died of Covid on Oct. 11. Her husband, Charles Walker III, 58, died of Covid 10 days later in the same hospital. They had owned the drive-in since 2007.
Caleb Miller, one of the Walkers' sons, told the newspaper, “We’re going to open it up next season if we can. If we can run it, we’re going to.”
I don’t want to be glib in the face of such a tragedy, but how can you tell when a seasonal drive-in is permanently closed? It’s not when it closes, it’s when it doesn’t reopen the following spring. As an optimist, I continue to consider the Skyview open.
The Arizona Highway Department commissioned this photo by Fronske Studio to document its planned property condemnation to build I-40. It’s part of the Fronske Studio Collection at Northern Arizona University, call number NAU.PH.85.3.210.109.
There was a small drive-in in Oklahoma on US 81 that was just 2000 feet south of the Kansas border. Aerial photos show that it was open by 1956 and still intact as late as 1995. It sure looks like something that someone would name the Bi-State Drive-In.
The closest little (population 12 in 2010) town to the south is Renfrow OK, about five miles away. Medford OK is about 14 miles from the drive-in.
The closest city is Caldwell KS, just two miles north. The Caldwell Golf Course across the highway from the drive-in site is private, from what I could find, unaffiliated with the city.
Since the Bi-State was an Oklahoma drive-in, I’d place it under the closest town in the state. That would be Renfrow, if you think it’s big enough, or Medford.
To amplify rivest266’s accurate closing date, Entertainment Centers of America operated the Joshua for approximately one week.
Victorville Daily Press, Dec. 19, 1982: “The El Rancho Theater and Balsam and Joshua Drive-In are now controlled by the same corporation that runs The Movies. Charly Funk, president of Entertainment Centers of America, Inc., said his company will officially begin operating the theater and drive-ins. “We will be running a total of 12 screens in Victorville this Friday (24?),” Funk said.”
The article about the Fun Lan’s closing was reprinted in the Orlando Weekly. No one’s sure who bought the place, since the City of Tampa denies rumors that it was the purchaser. “On Thursday, Dec. 2, they were told in person that Sunday would be the last business day. Their last day with a job and a paycheck is Friday (Dec. 10). In the meantime, they are assigned to work on the property and keep anyone from trespassing.”
The Feb. 20, 1960 Motion Picture Herald had a short article about Ben Poblocki, patriarch of the Poblocki & Sons sign company of Milwaukee.
“Six years ago … Ben Poblocki … decided to be an exhibitor himself. He bought the 600-seat Plaza in Burlington, Wis., and later added a drive-in at Grafton, the Highway 57, plus a drive-in restaurant adjoining the outdoor theatre. Recently he sold all of those properties … The Plaza theatre was sold to Lauren Husten, who operates the Troy in East Troy, and the Ford in Waterford, Wis.”
The Feb. 20, 1960 Motion Picture Herald had a short article about Ben Poblocki, patriarch of the Poblocki & Sons sign company of Milwaukee.
“Six years ago … Ben Poblocki … decided to be an exhibitor himself. He bought the 600-seat Plaza in Burlington, Wis., and later added a drive-in at Grafton, the Highway 57, plus a drive-in restaurant adjoining the outdoor theatre. Recently he sold all of those properties … Harry Melcher, who operates the Rivoli theatre in nearby Cedarburg, Wis., bought the Highway 57.”
The Moonlite Drive-In in Radcliff was mentioned in a July 22, 1956 ad in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The 1958-59 Motion Picture Almanacs had the Moonlite, capacity 450, owner Sailing & Danner. The 1960-65 MPAs change the owner to Rockwood Amuse. Co., but the Rockwood Amusement Company circuit list holding in the 1960-65 MPAs didn’t include it.
The 1960 (or earlier)-1965 Film Daily Yearbooks included the Moonlite Drive-In under Radcliff, but the 1966 edition did not.
The first ad I could find for the Staunton VA Daily News Leader was on June 19, 1956. On June 29, it mentioned that the North 340 was “Waynesboro’s Newest Next to Eastside Speedway”.
Aerial photos of US 340 north of Waynesboro showed a drive-in adjacent to Eastside Speedway. The drive-in was intact through 1984, and the race track is still there at 134 Al Gore Ln, Waynesboro, VA 22980.
The last movie ad I saw for the “North Drive-In” was in the Oct. 24, 1976 Daily News Leader, offering “The Filthiest Show in Town” and “Hot Times”. An Oct. 29 ad said that the North 340 was closed for the season. By 1990, the Daily News Leader was advertising Sunday flea markets at the “old North 340 Drive-In Theatre”.
I just noticed something odd about that photo - it’s flipped. As the 1952 aerial photo showed, the screen faced northeast. Route 66 ran to the north of the Bar-Len, with the train tracks farther north.
To summarize, the Basin opened on Thursday, July 24, 1952. Because that was after its planned opener, we don’t yet know what movies it showed that night. Its capacity was very likely 285 cars. The Basin closed by 1976, probably years earlier.
Boxoffice, Oct. 7, 1950: “Moses Lake, Wash. - John Lee of Ephrata, owner of Columbia Basin Theatres, … plans to acquire property for a drive-in to be opened in this area next spring … Lee said equipment for the drive-in has been ordered and is expected to be delivered in November. He said plans call for a capacity of 400 cars. THe ozoner will be located on the Moses Lake-Ephrata highway.”
Boxoffice, May 31, 1952: “Moses Lake, Wash. - The first drive-in for the Columbia basin was to be opened by late May, owner John Lee of Ephrata said … The Moses Lake situation is on the east side of town, just south of the new auto racetrack.”
Columbia Basin Herald, July 10, 1952 (quoted in the Oct. 4, 2014 Crescent Bar Chronicle): “The Columbia Basin’s first drive-in theater will open this weekend just off U.S. 10 near Moses Lake’s east city limits, according to William Daugaard, who will manage it. The theater is set up on an eight-acre tract cleared to accommodate 300 cars now and 600 when business warrants it, Daugaard said. The screen is 40 by 60 feet. The location is about three miles from the center of town. A double feature is booked for Friday and Saturday nights, but the theater may not be opened until Sunday, when the show will feature Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in "The Invisible Man” and a Roy Rogers western, the manager said. The theater will operate seven nights a week. The drive-in is owned by Columbia Basin Theaters, operated by John Lee of Ephrata, who also has the two regular movie houses in Moses Lake."
Boxoffice, Aug. 2, 1952: “Moses Lake, Wash. - John Lee opened his new airer, the Basin Drive-In, here Thursday (24). With a capacity of 285 cars, the theatre was equipped by Modern Theatre Supply of Seattle”
Spokane Chronicle, April 5, 1956: “Moses Lake, Wash., April 5 - Columbia Basin Theaters has been sold to Texan Peter Barnes, owner John Lee of Ephrata announced this week. The chain of theaters include 15 movie houses in Grant and Adams counties. Lee announced that he, however, wil retain ownership of the theater buildings. Included in the transation were the Lake and Ritz theaters and Basin Drive-In in Moses Lake; Lee and Marjo theaters and Park In Drive-In in Ephrata; Lake theater in Othello, and Warden theater in Warden.”
The 1953-56 Theatre Catalogs listed the Basin with a capacity of 284 cars, owner John Lee.
The 1953-66 editions of Motion Picture Almanac included the Basin of Moses Lake, capacity 258 cars, owner John Lee Circuit. A “Basin-258” entry continued while the MPA was on semi-autopilot during 1967-76, but when the MPA rebooted its drive-in list in 1977, the Basin was gone. My guess is that the 258 number was a typo of the accurate 285, and it stuck.
I haven’t dug too deeply into the old Rialto’s opening and closing dates. In 1985, it was apparently closed seasonally while the Tonto Drive-In was operating; the Sept. 11, 1985 ad for the Tonto noted “Rialto opens Friday (13).” Since the Tonto never reopened, the Rialto might have kept going all year. A spot check in the summer of 1988 showed the “Blair Rialto” advertising summer matinees. Here’s probably the end.
Winslow Mail, Feb. 7, 1996: “BioDome was the last movie to be shown at Winslow Rialto Theatre, prior to its closing on Jan. 31. Employees were surprised when the showed up to work on Wednesday to find the marquee taken down, equipment removed and their jobs eliminated.”
This photo is © Joe Sohm and available for license from Dreamstime, which is the source of its watermarks.
This photo is © Joe Sohm and available for license from Dreamstime, which is the source of its watermarks.
The Grizzly (Big Bear Lake) noted on Sept. 21, 1945 that “Big Bear Theatre, formerly the Grizzly,” would close for the season that month, and that owner Earle C. Strebe planned to construct a new building for the theater “on the highway next to Safeway”. “The foundation was poured and laid this summer, but actual work on the structure of the modern steel and re-inforced concrete building was delayed.”
That new building opened on April 28, 1946, “when a capacity crowd of valley residents and visitors packed the first show to see the Gary Cooper-Ingrid Bergman vehicle, "Saratoga Trunk.” … The youthful looking Strebe - he has not yet reached 40 years of age - is well known in Palm Springs theatre circles, having operated two cinema parlors at the desert spa for many years. In addition Strebe owns a theatre in Las Vegas and controls several units in the Lake Arrowhead-Crestline area."
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 13, 1956: “Earl Strebe, who operates theatres in Palm Springs and other resort towns, has announced his plans to build a drive-in in Big Bear, where he is now operating a conventional theatre.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Nov. 10, 1954: “Mr. and Mrs. Lee Welch installed CinemaScope at the Sage and Sage Drive-In, Van Horn, Tex.”
A nice description by Wilfred P. Smith, writing in Motion Picture Herald, June 11, 1955: “On a trip to Montana I was particularly impressed by the approaches and exits of the Sage drive-in at Billings. Along beautiful macadam drives were 8x8-ft. luminous paintings based on famous paintings of western scenes. They were spectacular. One painting was of a coyote howling in the night, silhouetted by a bright new moon; another depicted a cowboy on a bucking bronco. Paintings were used here in lieu of shrubs and trees because of the short season for plants.”
There’s more information about the long-gone Cutter-Carr airport, sometimes known as the West Mesa airport, an eight-pointed star of unpaved runways just north of the 66’s viewing field, on Wikipedia.
As noted above, the July 30, 1962 issue of Boxoffice said that while the 66 was closed, “it has been used as airport runway.”
I was reminded of that airport stuff because a better address these days for the old 66 site is 221 Airport Drive NW. That’s where the Labatt Food Service distribution center sits as I type.
The Skyview was almost exactly 3½ miles from Route 66, but Quinta Scott included a nice B&W photo from 1981 in her 2000 book, “Along Route 66.” (Highly recommended for 66 fans!) She included the following notes, based on a 1998 interview with Christopher Caporal:
Sam Kapriolotis landed in New York with his father and brother at the turn of the century. For two years, the family made their living selling fruit and gum from a pushcart on New York streets. Then, when Sam’s father and brother returned to their native Greece, nine-year-old Sam stayed. He raised himself, became a citizen, and took a new name - Caporal, the name of his favorite smoke. Young Sam Caporal drifted to St. Louis, where he learned to be a movie projectionist, and then to Oklahoma City, where he opened his first movie house in 1916. In 1948, Sam and his sons - George, Chris, and Pete - built the Skyview Drive-In.
… The Caporals … hired architect David Baldwin to design the Skyview … Baldwin gave them a reinforced-concrete, Spanish Colonial screen tower. The contractor used slip-form construction to build the tower. The process, the same that had been used in the construction of grain elevators since the turn of the century, took six days. The workers started on the ground, filled the forms with concrete, let it set, moved the forms up a bit, and poured more concrete. It was a twenty-four-hour-a-day operation. As the tower moved upward, workers installed prefabricated windows, shaped like quatrefoils and glazed with opaque glass, in the center section of the screen tower. The Caporals painted the piers white and the center royal blue and outlined the whole in neon. They installed lights behind the quatrefoil windows so that at night they glowed like large golden stars. The set SKYVIEW on top in giant neon letters and proudly placed their came, CAPORAL, on the top of the left pier.
Pinterest included the note: “Art for Terrace Drive-in Theater in Albuquerque, NM. This is a print of the original concept painting for the mural on the back of the screen. Done by Keith Kent. June 1951. Theater long closed now.”
I guess that D. Armino reopened the Sunset (if it had closed) in 1987. That’s when I started seeing English-language movie ads for the Sunset, and would account for the Motion Picture Almanac listing in 1988. The final ad I found was for “Die Hard” and “License To Drive” on Sept. 25, 1988.
An Albuquerque Tribune columnist wrote in Nov. 2, 1995 noted that the Sunset was still standing “as it had for years, though locked behind barbed wire and chain-link fence, unkempt and neglected … A plywood sign on the ticket booth said, “Open May 31.” “
That’s the outline of the Duke City a couple of blocks south of the Circle Autoscope.
The Exhibitor, Sept. 10, 1952: “Charles E. Darden, Associated Popcorn Distributors, Inc., reported that the highlight of his trip into west Texas was his stop at the Grant Drive-In, Wichita Falls, which has a second story viewing room, and which does walk-in business from a residential area."