Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 12, 1950: “Howard Larsen, manager and co-owner of the Civic and Junior theatres at Webb City, has purchased the Dickinson theater. The Dickinson now will be known as the Larsen theatre.”
The Thomases built the N'Eastern 66, I think, and they managed the place for years, but I also think they must have sold or leased it to the Barton theater chain very early on.
Motion Picture Herald, March 10, 1951: “Three of the Barton Drive-In Theatres were formally opened March 1. They are the Air Line drive-in, N. Eastern 66 drive-in, and Barton’s 77 drive-in.”
A close look at the grand opening ad that dallasmovietheaters uploaded (thanks!) shows that the Lone Star opened on Feb. 3, 1951. That goes along with a note in the March 3, 1951 Motion Picture Herald: “E. L. Pack opened his new Lone Star drive-in theatre recently. The newest ozoner has RCA in-car speakers, and M. L. Burns is the manager.”
Google Maps says that the site is now within the Centralia city limits. Maybe that’s accurate.
Boxoffice, Feb. 17, 1951: “Ed Auer and Howard Barber, both of Seattle, have sold their Twin City Drive-In Theatre located between Centralia and Chehalis. Buying the showcase were the three Gamble brothers, Ron, Roy and Williard of Centralia, Wash. The sale price was estimated at $80,000. The outdoorer is slated to be improved and reopened in the spring”.
Motion Picture Herald, Feb. 24, 1951: “The Mayfield, owned by Westside theatres, at South Palo Alto, is undergoing complete renovation and will be renamed the Cardinal.”
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 27, 1951: “The H & E Balaban circuit purchased two drive-ins, the 600 car Hilltop at Joliet and the 750 car Robbins at Rockford.”
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 27, 1951: “The H & E Balaban circuit purchased two drive-ins, the 600 car Hilltop at Joliet and the 750 car Robbins (sic) at Rockford.”
Delayed? Or for the season? Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 13, 1951: “The Commonwealth Theatre Corporation opened a new drive-in theatre at Batesville, Ark.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 23, 1952: “Official opening of Nowata’s first drive-in theatre, the Sky-Vu, took place August 11. C. D. Hicks and J. J. Bowden are the owners.”
Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 20, 1952: “The Parkvu, Nowata, opened this week. Owner is Chester Fleming.”
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog included both. The Park Vu held 300, owned by C. V. Fleming, and the Sky-Vu on “Rt. 60” held 265, owners Bud Hicks and J. J. Bowden. US 60 is the east-west highway through Nowata.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 30, 1952: “The Bloomer Amusement Co., of Belleville, Ill., has purchased the Starlight drive-in east of Upper Alton, Ill. The sale was completed by Joe Goldfarb and Harry Beck of Alton, Ill.”
Adding a name. Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 23, 1952: “Anson Longtin is changing the name of his 467-seat Oak Park, Sacramento to the Guild and has inaugurated a foreign-pictures policy.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 16, 1952: “The 450-seat New Peralta in Oakland, closed by William Garren, June 21, was set to be reopened August 10 by Robert Wells.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 9, 1952: “The Starlite theatre, Shawnee, Okla., as an added attraction, has on display a 130 pound hard shell turtle estimated to be 300 years old.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 9, 1952: “The Barton Theatres have bought the N W Hi-Way drive-in theatre from the Sullivan Theatres of Wichita, Kan. The drive-in is the 12th theatre in the Barton chain.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 2, 1952: “Earl Young, who served as manager (of Malco theatres in Jonesboro AR) for the past three years, has resigned and gone into business for himself. He now owns and operates the Trumann drive-in at Trumann, Ark.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 2, 1952: “The Peso drive-in is the new name of the re-opened North screen of the former Twin Open Air drive-in, operated by the Harry L. Nace Theatres. South screen has been operating for some time under the name of Acres-Of-Fun.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 27, 1952: “Bailey Enterprises have sold their Capital theatre, Morrison, Ill., to LeRoy B. McMahon, who also operates the Gran in Granville, Ill.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 5, 1952: “W. A. Collins, of DeSoto, Mo., announced that he had completed plans for the erection of a 400-car open air theatre, to cost $75,000, at the intersections of State Highways 21 and 110. Construction will start as soon as permits and materials can be obtained, he said.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 5, 1952: “The Cinema Park drive-in, Phoenix, is the subject of an article in the July issue of Holiday magazine, in which this ozoner is names as one of the most best (?) open air theatres in the U.S.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 12, 1950: “Howard Larsen, manager and co-owner of the Civic and Junior theatres at Webb City, has purchased the Dickinson theater. The Dickinson now will be known as the Larsen theatre.”
The Thomases built the N'Eastern 66, I think, and they managed the place for years, but I also think they must have sold or leased it to the Barton theater chain very early on.
Motion Picture Herald, March 10, 1951: “Three of the Barton Drive-In Theatres were formally opened March 1. They are the Air Line drive-in, N. Eastern 66 drive-in, and Barton’s 77 drive-in.”
Motion Picture Herald, March 3, 1951: “Edward Terhune has bought the Fiesta theatre from Melvin B. Wilson and Harvey L. Stinson.”
A close look at the grand opening ad that dallasmovietheaters uploaded (thanks!) shows that the Lone Star opened on Feb. 3, 1951. That goes along with a note in the March 3, 1951 Motion Picture Herald: “E. L. Pack opened his new Lone Star drive-in theatre recently. The newest ozoner has RCA in-car speakers, and M. L. Burns is the manager.”
Google Maps says that the site is now within the Centralia city limits. Maybe that’s accurate.
Boxoffice, Feb. 17, 1951: “Ed Auer and Howard Barber, both of Seattle, have sold their Twin City Drive-In Theatre located between Centralia and Chehalis. Buying the showcase were the three Gamble brothers, Ron, Roy and Williard of Centralia, Wash. The sale price was estimated at $80,000. The outdoorer is slated to be improved and reopened in the spring”.
Motion Picture Herald, Feb. 24, 1951: “The Mayfield, owned by Westside theatres, at South Palo Alto, is undergoing complete renovation and will be renamed the Cardinal.”
That photo, cropped a little differently, appeared in the Feb. 3, 1951 issue of Motion Picture Herald, which should be in the public domain.
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 27, 1951: “The H & E Balaban circuit purchased two drive-ins, the 600 car Hilltop at Joliet and the 750 car Robbins at Rockford.”
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 27, 1951: “The H & E Balaban circuit purchased two drive-ins, the 600 car Hilltop at Joliet and the 750 car Robbins (sic) at Rockford.”
Delayed? Or for the season? Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 13, 1951: “The Commonwealth Theatre Corporation opened a new drive-in theatre at Batesville, Ark.”
Aha! There were two drive-ins in Nowata.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 23, 1952: “Official opening of Nowata’s first drive-in theatre, the Sky-Vu, took place August 11. C. D. Hicks and J. J. Bowden are the owners.”
Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 20, 1952: “The Parkvu, Nowata, opened this week. Owner is Chester Fleming.”
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog included both. The Park Vu held 300, owned by C. V. Fleming, and the Sky-Vu on “Rt. 60” held 265, owners Bud Hicks and J. J. Bowden. US 60 is the east-west highway through Nowata.
Same drive-in? Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 20, 1952: “Jack Butler is expanding his Ski-Way Drive-In, Danville, Ill., from 900- to 1200-car capacity.”
The Sky-Way was one of two Danville drive-ins (with the Dixie) in the 1952 Theatre Catalog. Owner Jack Butler, capacity 600.
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 30, 1952: “The Bloomer Amusement Co., of Belleville, Ill., has purchased the Starlight drive-in east of Upper Alton, Ill. The sale was completed by Joe Goldfarb and Harry Beck of Alton, Ill.”
Adding a name. Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 23, 1952: “Anson Longtin is changing the name of his 467-seat Oak Park, Sacramento to the Guild and has inaugurated a foreign-pictures policy.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 16, 1952: “The 450-seat New Peralta in Oakland, closed by William Garren, June 21, was set to be reopened August 10 by Robert Wells.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 9, 1952: “The Starlite theatre, Shawnee, Okla., as an added attraction, has on display a 130 pound hard shell turtle estimated to be 300 years old.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 9, 1952: “The Barton Theatres have bought the N W Hi-Way drive-in theatre from the Sullivan Theatres of Wichita, Kan. The drive-in is the 12th theatre in the Barton chain.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 2, 1952: “Earl Young, who served as manager (of Malco theatres in Jonesboro AR) for the past three years, has resigned and gone into business for himself. He now owns and operates the Trumann drive-in at Trumann, Ark.”
Motion Picture Herald, Aug. 2, 1952: “The Peso drive-in is the new name of the re-opened North screen of the former Twin Open Air drive-in, operated by the Harry L. Nace Theatres. South screen has been operating for some time under the name of Acres-Of-Fun.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 27, 1952: “Bailey Enterprises have sold their Capital theatre, Morrison, Ill., to LeRoy B. McMahon, who also operates the Gran in Granville, Ill.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 19, 1952: “On July 1, the 548-seat Liberty in Sacramento reverted to its former owner John DiStacio from Ray Kelsall.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 12, 1952: “The New 300-car Ocean drive-in at Crescent City opened under operation of Leech, Miller and McCuen.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 5, 1952: “W. A. Collins, of DeSoto, Mo., announced that he had completed plans for the erection of a 400-car open air theatre, to cost $75,000, at the intersections of State Highways 21 and 110. Construction will start as soon as permits and materials can be obtained, he said.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 11, 1948: “Bruce Prater has sold the Sierra Theatre, Loyalton, Calif. to Ross E. Jones of Bieber, Calif.”
Motion Picture Herald, July 5, 1952: “Leonard Massey took over the 200-seat Sierra, Loyalton, from Ross Jones.”
In between, the only theater in town in the 1950 Film Daily Year Book was the Loyalton, 196 seats.
Motion Picture Herald, July 5, 1952: “The Cinema Park drive-in, Phoenix, is the subject of an article in the July issue of Holiday magazine, in which this ozoner is names as one of the most best (?) open air theatres in the U.S.”