Daily Illinois State Journal, March 11, 1973: “A new twin-screen, drive-in theatre will open in Green Meadows Recreation Park this summer, according to Louis Jablonow, president of Mid-America Theatres. The new drive-in will be located adjacent to Skateland and International Health Spa in Green Meadows Recreation Park, now under development at Chatham Road and the South Bypass. Construction on the new 875 automobile theatre facility is underway and plans call for a two-story concession and projection building with facilities that will serve two screens showing two separate movies at the same time. Two large playground areas will be provided and all parking spaces will be equipped with in-car speaker and heater units. Cedar fencing on the perimeter of the theatre grounds will be accented by landscaping.”
Daily Illinois State Journal, June 3, 1955: (caption to illegible photo) “Workmen today are rapidly completing the expansion of the 66 Drive-In theater screen, in order to have it ready for the Sunday (5) showing of full CinemaScope presentation. Already one of the largest screens in the country, the seven story high structure is now being extended to the width of 112 feetm actually two feet longer than the Washington St. length of the entire Strand theater.”
Let me add a couple of details to dallasmovietheaters' fine work.
In its ad in the May 19, 1955, issue of the Bridgeport News-Blade, the Centre announced, “Due to weather conditions and to allow us to complete some necessary work at the theatre, we will be closed through next week and reopen Sunday, May 29”. A short article in the May 26 News-Blade confirmed the opening date, noting that Schmidt’s indoor Trail would run only on weekends.
The July 28 News-Blade said the drive-in would close as of July 30. “Mr. Schmidt states that the Trail will, from that date on, be operated full time”.
Boxoffice, Nov. 13, 1948: “LOWELL, MASS. — It took George Abdallah of Lowell two years to complete his drive-in in Tyngsboro, but if that seems a long time, consider the fact that he built every bit of it himself. He did the grading, built the stone structure and the screen, the entrances and the exits. “I had a helper once in a while when I got stuck,” he explained, “but the major portion of the project I did myself.” He owned the property which is on the Daniel Webster highway about a mile from the famous Tyngsboro bridge and decided to convert it into an ozoner. The theatre, not completely finished, was opened after Labor day and has been running successfully all summer. With luck and more hard work, he hopes to have it ready for 500 cars in the spring. He has two projectionists in the booth, but his wife is the cashier and his two cousins are ushers. “I’m the repair man, the complaint department and the booker and buyer and it’s all great fun,” Abdallah said.”
The Exhibitor, July 22, 1953: “George Abdullah, Tyngsboro Drive-In, Tyngsboro, Mass., on a rare visit to town (Boston) said that this season shapes up into being the best ever in the five years of the open-airer’s existence. This is the drive-in which he built himself with the help of his brother-in-law and one or two friends. It opened five years ago with 200 cars, but each year he has added new ramps and improvements. Today, he can accommodate 350 cars, the entire surface is hard-topped, and he has installed a new and larger concession building, which he designed himself. It is a cafeteria-style setup.”
Boxoffice, April 15, 1974: “Arthur Friedman’s Cinema Film Buying Service has added … Bud Carpenter’s Tyngsboro Drive-In, Tyngsboro, and his Chelmsford Drive-In, Chelmsford.”
Independent Film Journal, Sept. 4, 1954: “George Abdulah and his brother-in-law Sylvester Boumill, who operate the Tyngsboro Drive-In, Mass., are building a second ozoner for the 1955 season in Chelmsford on the Lowell-Chelmsford line to accommodate 1,000 cars.”
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1956: “The property housing the Lincoln theatre, Quincy Point, Mass., has been sold to George Abdullah who operates the Tyngsboro drive-in, Tyngsboro, Mass. Theatre was owned by Al Baumiere who was killed in an auto accident early this summer.”
We have overwhelming evidence that the Red Rock opened in May 1957. (kennerado, I presume you found that date in the Great Falls Tribune.) So what should we make of the aerial photo I just posted, showing a small drive-in at 190 Taylor Lane in 1956? If HistoricAerials is accurate, Herb Bonifas built his drive-in well in advance of its opening date.
And according to Google Earth, the original projection building and screen are still there.
50sSnipes, you are correct is spelling Forrest (as in Petal’s home county) with two Rs, but the drive-in advertised as the East Forrest through at least July 1961.
I went digging, and I’m not sure what to make of this Hattiesburg American note from Oct. 16, 1961: “A. L. Royal and H. E. Jackson, owners and operators of the Rebel Theatre in downtown Hattiesburg, have purchased a location at Harvey, between Hattiesburg and Petal, and will open a modern drive-in theatre Friday, Nov. 3. The new entertainment facility will be named the Royal Drive-In. Jackson, who manages the Rebel, said that the drive-in will be equipped with the latest stereophonic sound and speakers and a large cinemiscope (sic) screen.”
Don’t take my word for it. Go to HistoricAerials.com and view the many photos they have at 1300 Genting Blvd., Las Vegas NV. You’ll see the drive-in there in 1950. You’ll see it unchanged, except for the shape of the screen, through 1972. The screen vanishes in 1973, and the lot stays dormant through 1989. An 11-building motel (Budget Suites?) is there in 1990, and it stays there through at least 2006. The parking garage is there by 2010, looking the same is it does on Google Maps today.
Meridian is the seat of Lauderdale County, and I would bet that its Royal Drive-In wasn’t known as the “East Forest” the way its cousin in Petal MS was. They’ve got one important thing in common - the guy who bought Petal’s drive-in in 1962. Also, this one needs a new opening date.
The Exhibitor, May 4, 1949: “Meridian - A new drive-in is being built here by A. L. Royal, who also operates three local houses, in addition to several others around the territory. The new drive-in is scheduled to open within a few weeks.”
The Exhibitor, Sept. 26, 1951: “A. L. Royal, said that he had completed resurfacing the entire area of the Royal Drive-In, Meridian, Miss., with black top.”
Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 26, 1953: “J. E. Adams, formerly associated with Mr. and Mrs. Petrey, Starlite Drive-In, Laurel, Miss., and lately with F. W. Corbett, Dixie Drive-In, Columbia, Miss., has opened his new East Forest Drive-In, Petal, Miss.”
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 17, 1953: “J. E. Adams’ East Forest drive-in, Petal, Miss., has opened. It accommodates 300 cars.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Nov. 3, 1954: “J. E. Adams will again handle the buying and booking for tbe East Forest Drive-In, Petal, Miss., which he operates in partnership with Herbert Rushton.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, May 16, 1962: “A. L. Royal, who acquired the East Forest Drive-In, Petal, Miss., recently has renamed it the Royal Drive-In.”
If drive-in started as the East Forest, I don’t know about the East Forest/Royal that CT lists in Meridian MS.
The drive-in at kennerado’s address was at least ready open in 1960, per the aerial photo I uploaded. It’s also definitely in Petal, which is about 80 miles away from the other “East Forest/Royal” in Meridian MS.
Different initials, months-later report. The Exhibitor, Dec. 30, 1953: “H. E. Ruff opened his new Five-Points Drive-In, Five Points, Cal., booked through John Bowles.”
The Exhibitor, Jan. 27, 1954: “The Five Points Drive-In, Fuquay Springs, N. C., changed hands and now is being operated as the Cairo Drive-In, with the new owners and operators being Mack Weeks and William Lipscomb, who inaugurated extensive renovations and repairs, added a marquee and rest rooms, installed new fencing, and planted new shrubbery. The drive-in will be operated only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights until April 1.”
My guess was wrong. HistoricAerials.com added a 1956 photo of the area, and it shows that the Plaza was on the north side of US 40, not in the path of the future I-70. (Which begs the question of why it died so quickly, but I digress.)
A better address would be 201 Tremont St, near the junction of Tremont and Plaza Drive.
The Pantagraph (Bloomington IL), Jan. 18, 1949: “Purchase of the Vogue theater by Steve Bennis was announced Monday (17). M. A. Kirkhart who had owned the Vogue for the past 10 years has purchased a bowling alley in Taylorville and Mr. Bennis will be given possession March 1. Bennis who also owns the Lincoln and Grand theaters plans to continue operation of the theater.”
Exhibitors Herald, March 3, 1923: “Steve Bennis of Lincoln, III., opened his beautiful new Lincoln theatre on Lincoln’s birthday. The house represents an investment of $250,000.” So you don’t have to look it up, that would be Monday, Feb. 12, 1923.
The Daily Journal of Flat River MO ran a long article on June 11, 1995, looking back at the Corral through the eyes of former manager Dave Jennings. Highlights:
The Corral opened with a single screen in June 1949, built by Edwards and Plumlee Theaters. Jennings said the name was chosen through a contest. He became manager “around 1963” and kept that position until the Corral closed in 1984 (sic).
[However, the Corral continued to advertise in the Daily Journal in 1985.]
Kerasotes Theatres bought the Corral in 1974 and added a second screen for the 1975 season. The lot contained more than 900 speakers. “Jennings said Kerasotes considered reopening the Corral last year (1994), but opted for the four-plex in Farmington.”
Bakersfield Californian, Sept. 22, 1967: “Two ice cream bars and an unknown amount of soft drinks were taken from the snack bar of the Desert Lake Drive-In in Boron, manager Gaylen Horswill reported to sheriff’s deputies. Entry was gained by breaking some windows.”
I found some big clues in the Eureka CA Humboldt Standard. The Oct. 8, 1952 issue said the the county board of supervisors “approved plans of B.B. Byard and A. E. Vann for opening of a drive-in theatre one-quarter mile north of Garberville”
The Jan. 13, 1957 issue reported that car plunged 200 feet off US 101 “just north of Garberville”. It was believed to have been traveling north when the driver lost control “and plunged down a 200-foot canyon just north of the Garberville Drive-Inn.” The canyon just north of town is Bear Canyon, and that report places the drive-in just south of it.
Another clue in the Standard on Feb. 28, 1964. An assault victim told police “that he was sleeping in his car on the beach at Eel River, near the Garberville Drive-In Theater,” which pretty much guarantees that it was somewhere along today’s Redwood Drive.
My current guess is that the drive-in was east of Redwood Drive about where the Eel River bends farthest east. When preparing to build the modern Redwood Highway (completed between 1967 and 1969, per official state highway maps), CDOT probably bought the drive-in’s land. That would place the site just on the north side of the current US 101 intersection with Redwood Drive.
About the resident to capacity ratio, I would argue for desperation. A lot of those towns along 101 (and other towns about a dozen miles east and west of Garberville) had no theaters, and I’ll bet TV reception was difficult. I’m not saying the Garberville sold out every night, but maybe the developers saw that the incremental cost of the last 100 speakers was worth not having to turn anyone away on a busy weekend. OTOH, we are talking about a drive-in that died within 15 years - sometimes developers made poor choices. (See the Sands in Needles CA.)
More date clues: A 1953 aerial photo of the site showed an empty field, photos from 1964 and 1978 showed the Alvarado intact, and a 1980 photo showed it already replaced.
Irwin Joseph passed away in 1964. His widow briefly retained the Hilltop, then sold it before the 1965 season to something called “Joliet View Corp., headed by G. J. Shimbach” (per Boxoffice). L&M Theatres, or L&M Management, acquired the Hilltop in April 1967.
The Motion Picture Almanac listed the L&M Management circuit, with the Hilltop as one of its holdings, through the 1986 edition. The MPA’s drive-in list kept the Hilltop one more year, but it dropped out in the 1988 edition. This is a strong indication that the drive-in was closed for a few years before Saul Ornelas and Adrian and Arturo Contreras bought it in 1995 (per edison’s post above).
A letter to the editor of the local Herald News, published July 15, 2001, said, “On July 1, when there was no sign of a movie starting by the customary 8:30-8:45 p.m. time, several cars began to honk their horns. A bit annoying, yes, but pretty normal behavior for a drive-in theater. One of the employees of the Hilltop stepped out of the projection room and loudly yelled a string of profanities at the crowd … If this is the way that the Hilltop is going to be managed, with a total lack of professionalism and customer courtesy, it is sure to be nothing more then a memory in the very near future!” That author was right.
Boxoffice, April 14, 1975: “PERRYVILLE, MO. - Kerasotes Theatres has acquired the Mercier Theatre and Hilltop Drive-In from the Mercier family and assumed operations Sunday, March 30 … Kelly P. Fulton will remain as resident manager and the theatres will be under the jurisdiction of district supervisor Sam Sheridan, Poplar Bluff, Mo.”
This appeared in the Feb. 7, 1953 issue of Boxoffice, which is in the public domain. The original caption:
Video Theatres, Oklahoma City, have made special use of changeable copy display boards to promote the circuit’s drive-in theatres. Free-standing, illuminated panels are being installed at road intersections a considerable distance from the drive-ins themselves, with some located directly across from competition. This installation is for the Hill Top Drive-In, Henrietta (sic), Okla. Wagner porcelain steel enamel panels and slotted letters were used.
Daily Illinois State Journal, March 11, 1973: “A new twin-screen, drive-in theatre will open in Green Meadows Recreation Park this summer, according to Louis Jablonow, president of Mid-America Theatres. The new drive-in will be located adjacent to Skateland and International Health Spa in Green Meadows Recreation Park, now under development at Chatham Road and the South Bypass. Construction on the new 875 automobile theatre facility is underway and plans call for a two-story concession and projection building with facilities that will serve two screens showing two separate movies at the same time. Two large playground areas will be provided and all parking spaces will be equipped with in-car speaker and heater units. Cedar fencing on the perimeter of the theatre grounds will be accented by landscaping.”
Daily Illinois State Journal, June 3, 1955: (caption to illegible photo) “Workmen today are rapidly completing the expansion of the 66 Drive-In theater screen, in order to have it ready for the Sunday (5) showing of full CinemaScope presentation. Already one of the largest screens in the country, the seven story high structure is now being extended to the width of 112 feetm actually two feet longer than the Washington St. length of the entire Strand theater.”
Let me add a couple of details to dallasmovietheaters' fine work.
In its ad in the May 19, 1955, issue of the Bridgeport News-Blade, the Centre announced, “Due to weather conditions and to allow us to complete some necessary work at the theatre, we will be closed through next week and reopen Sunday, May 29”. A short article in the May 26 News-Blade confirmed the opening date, noting that Schmidt’s indoor Trail would run only on weekends.
The July 28 News-Blade said the drive-in would close as of July 30. “Mr. Schmidt states that the Trail will, from that date on, be operated full time”.
Boxoffice, Nov. 13, 1948: “LOWELL, MASS. — It took George Abdallah of Lowell two years to complete his drive-in in Tyngsboro, but if that seems a long time, consider the fact that he built every bit of it himself. He did the grading, built the stone structure and the screen, the entrances and the exits. “I had a helper once in a while when I got stuck,” he explained, “but the major portion of the project I did myself.” He owned the property which is on the Daniel Webster highway about a mile from the famous Tyngsboro bridge and decided to convert it into an ozoner. The theatre, not completely finished, was opened after Labor day and has been running successfully all summer. With luck and more hard work, he hopes to have it ready for 500 cars in the spring. He has two projectionists in the booth, but his wife is the cashier and his two cousins are ushers. “I’m the repair man, the complaint department and the booker and buyer and it’s all great fun,” Abdallah said.”
The Exhibitor, July 22, 1953: “George Abdullah, Tyngsboro Drive-In, Tyngsboro, Mass., on a rare visit to town (Boston) said that this season shapes up into being the best ever in the five years of the open-airer’s existence. This is the drive-in which he built himself with the help of his brother-in-law and one or two friends. It opened five years ago with 200 cars, but each year he has added new ramps and improvements. Today, he can accommodate 350 cars, the entire surface is hard-topped, and he has installed a new and larger concession building, which he designed himself. It is a cafeteria-style setup.”
Boxoffice, April 15, 1974: “Arthur Friedman’s Cinema Film Buying Service has added … Bud Carpenter’s Tyngsboro Drive-In, Tyngsboro, and his Chelmsford Drive-In, Chelmsford.”
Boxoffice, March 17, 1975: “Cinema Radio sound system … ©onversion installations currently in progress include … the 450-car Tyngsboro Drive-In, Tyngsboro, Mass., (Bud Carpenter) and the 660-car Chelmsford Drive-In Screen II, Chelmsford Mass.”
Independent Film Journal, Sept. 4, 1954: “George Abdulah and his brother-in-law Sylvester Boumill, who operate the Tyngsboro Drive-In, Mass., are building a second ozoner for the 1955 season in Chelmsford on the Lowell-Chelmsford line to accommodate 1,000 cars.”
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 6, 1956: “The property housing the Lincoln theatre, Quincy Point, Mass., has been sold to George Abdullah who operates the Tyngsboro drive-in, Tyngsboro, Mass. Theatre was owned by Al Baumiere who was killed in an auto accident early this summer.”
We have overwhelming evidence that the Red Rock opened in May 1957. (kennerado, I presume you found that date in the Great Falls Tribune.) So what should we make of the aerial photo I just posted, showing a small drive-in at 190 Taylor Lane in 1956? If HistoricAerials is accurate, Herb Bonifas built his drive-in well in advance of its opening date.
And according to Google Earth, the original projection building and screen are still there.
50sSnipes, you are correct is spelling Forrest (as in Petal’s home county) with two Rs, but the drive-in advertised as the East Forrest through at least July 1961.
I went digging, and I’m not sure what to make of this Hattiesburg American note from Oct. 16, 1961: “A. L. Royal and H. E. Jackson, owners and operators of the Rebel Theatre in downtown Hattiesburg, have purchased a location at Harvey, between Hattiesburg and Petal, and will open a modern drive-in theatre Friday, Nov. 3. The new entertainment facility will be named the Royal Drive-In. Jackson, who manages the Rebel, said that the drive-in will be equipped with the latest stereophonic sound and speakers and a large cinemiscope (sic) screen.”
Maybe Royal and Jackson purchased the East Forrest as a “location” and refurbished it? Anyway, the “brand new” Royal opened on Nov. 3, 1961.
Royal Drive-In grand opening ad 02 Nov 1961, Thu Hattiesburg American (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) Newspapers.com
Don’t take my word for it. Go to HistoricAerials.com and view the many photos they have at 1300 Genting Blvd., Las Vegas NV. You’ll see the drive-in there in 1950. You’ll see it unchanged, except for the shape of the screen, through 1972. The screen vanishes in 1973, and the lot stays dormant through 1989. An 11-building motel (Budget Suites?) is there in 1990, and it stays there through at least 2006. The parking garage is there by 2010, looking the same is it does on Google Maps today.
Meridian is the seat of Lauderdale County, and I would bet that its Royal Drive-In wasn’t known as the “East Forest” the way its cousin in Petal MS was. They’ve got one important thing in common - the guy who bought Petal’s drive-in in 1962. Also, this one needs a new opening date.
The Exhibitor, May 4, 1949: “Meridian - A new drive-in is being built here by A. L. Royal, who also operates three local houses, in addition to several others around the territory. The new drive-in is scheduled to open within a few weeks.”
The Exhibitor, Sept. 26, 1951: “A. L. Royal, said that he had completed resurfacing the entire area of the Royal Drive-In, Meridian, Miss., with black top.”
Motion Picture Herald, Sept. 26, 1953: “J. E. Adams, formerly associated with Mr. and Mrs. Petrey, Starlite Drive-In, Laurel, Miss., and lately with F. W. Corbett, Dixie Drive-In, Columbia, Miss., has opened his new East Forest Drive-In, Petal, Miss.”
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 17, 1953: “J. E. Adams’ East Forest drive-in, Petal, Miss., has opened. It accommodates 300 cars.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Nov. 3, 1954: “J. E. Adams will again handle the buying and booking for tbe East Forest Drive-In, Petal, Miss., which he operates in partnership with Herbert Rushton.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, May 16, 1962: “A. L. Royal, who acquired the East Forest Drive-In, Petal, Miss., recently has renamed it the Royal Drive-In.”
If drive-in started as the East Forest, I don’t know about the East Forest/Royal that CT lists in Meridian MS.
The drive-in at kennerado’s address was at least ready open in 1960, per the aerial photo I uploaded. It’s also definitely in Petal, which is about 80 miles away from the other “East Forest/Royal” in Meridian MS.
Different initials, months-later report. The Exhibitor, Dec. 30, 1953: “H. E. Ruff opened his new Five-Points Drive-In, Five Points, Cal., booked through John Bowles.”
The Exhibitor, Jan. 27, 1954: “The Five Points Drive-In, Fuquay Springs, N. C., changed hands and now is being operated as the Cairo Drive-In, with the new owners and operators being Mack Weeks and William Lipscomb, who inaugurated extensive renovations and repairs, added a marquee and rest rooms, installed new fencing, and planted new shrubbery. The drive-in will be operated only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights until April 1.”
My guess was wrong. HistoricAerials.com added a 1956 photo of the area, and it shows that the Plaza was on the north side of US 40, not in the path of the future I-70. (Which begs the question of why it died so quickly, but I digress.)
A better address would be 201 Tremont St, near the junction of Tremont and Plaza Drive.
The Pantagraph (Bloomington IL), Jan. 18, 1949: “Purchase of the Vogue theater by Steve Bennis was announced Monday (17). M. A. Kirkhart who had owned the Vogue for the past 10 years has purchased a bowling alley in Taylorville and Mr. Bennis will be given possession March 1. Bennis who also owns the Lincoln and Grand theaters plans to continue operation of the theater.”
Exhibitors Herald, March 3, 1923: “Steve Bennis of Lincoln, III., opened his beautiful new Lincoln theatre on Lincoln’s birthday. The house represents an investment of $250,000.” So you don’t have to look it up, that would be Monday, Feb. 12, 1923.
The Daily Journal of Flat River MO ran a long article on June 11, 1995, looking back at the Corral through the eyes of former manager Dave Jennings. Highlights:
The Corral opened with a single screen in June 1949, built by Edwards and Plumlee Theaters. Jennings said the name was chosen through a contest. He became manager “around 1963” and kept that position until the Corral closed in 1984 (sic).
[However, the Corral continued to advertise in the Daily Journal in 1985.]
Kerasotes Theatres bought the Corral in 1974 and added a second screen for the 1975 season. The lot contained more than 900 speakers. “Jennings said Kerasotes considered reopening the Corral last year (1994), but opted for the four-plex in Farmington.”
Bakersfield Californian, Sept. 22, 1967: “Two ice cream bars and an unknown amount of soft drinks were taken from the snack bar of the Desert Lake Drive-In in Boron, manager Gaylen Horswill reported to sheriff’s deputies. Entry was gained by breaking some windows.”
I found some big clues in the Eureka CA Humboldt Standard. The Oct. 8, 1952 issue said the the county board of supervisors “approved plans of B.B. Byard and A. E. Vann for opening of a drive-in theatre one-quarter mile north of Garberville”
The Jan. 13, 1957 issue reported that car plunged 200 feet off US 101 “just north of Garberville”. It was believed to have been traveling north when the driver lost control “and plunged down a 200-foot canyon just north of the Garberville Drive-Inn.” The canyon just north of town is Bear Canyon, and that report places the drive-in just south of it.
Another clue in the Standard on Feb. 28, 1964. An assault victim told police “that he was sleeping in his car on the beach at Eel River, near the Garberville Drive-In Theater,” which pretty much guarantees that it was somewhere along today’s Redwood Drive.
My current guess is that the drive-in was east of Redwood Drive about where the Eel River bends farthest east. When preparing to build the modern Redwood Highway (completed between 1967 and 1969, per official state highway maps), CDOT probably bought the drive-in’s land. That would place the site just on the north side of the current US 101 intersection with Redwood Drive.
About the resident to capacity ratio, I would argue for desperation. A lot of those towns along 101 (and other towns about a dozen miles east and west of Garberville) had no theaters, and I’ll bet TV reception was difficult. I’m not saying the Garberville sold out every night, but maybe the developers saw that the incremental cost of the last 100 speakers was worth not having to turn anyone away on a busy weekend. OTOH, we are talking about a drive-in that died within 15 years - sometimes developers made poor choices. (See the Sands in Needles CA.)
More date clues: A 1953 aerial photo of the site showed an empty field, photos from 1964 and 1978 showed the Alvarado intact, and a 1980 photo showed it already replaced.
Irwin Joseph passed away in 1964. His widow briefly retained the Hilltop, then sold it before the 1965 season to something called “Joliet View Corp., headed by G. J. Shimbach” (per Boxoffice). L&M Theatres, or L&M Management, acquired the Hilltop in April 1967.
The Motion Picture Almanac listed the L&M Management circuit, with the Hilltop as one of its holdings, through the 1986 edition. The MPA’s drive-in list kept the Hilltop one more year, but it dropped out in the 1988 edition. This is a strong indication that the drive-in was closed for a few years before Saul Ornelas and Adrian and Arturo Contreras bought it in 1995 (per edison’s post above).
A letter to the editor of the local Herald News, published July 15, 2001, said, “On July 1, when there was no sign of a movie starting by the customary 8:30-8:45 p.m. time, several cars began to honk their horns. A bit annoying, yes, but pretty normal behavior for a drive-in theater. One of the employees of the Hilltop stepped out of the projection room and loudly yelled a string of profanities at the crowd … If this is the way that the Hilltop is going to be managed, with a total lack of professionalism and customer courtesy, it is sure to be nothing more then a memory in the very near future!” That author was right.
Boxoffice, April 14, 1975: “PERRYVILLE, MO. - Kerasotes Theatres has acquired the Mercier Theatre and Hilltop Drive-In from the Mercier family and assumed operations Sunday, March 30 … Kelly P. Fulton will remain as resident manager and the theatres will be under the jurisdiction of district supervisor Sam Sheridan, Poplar Bluff, Mo.”
This photo ran in the Dec. 4, 1948 issue of Boxoffice, which is in the public domain.
This photo ran in the Dec. 4, 1948 issue of Boxoffice, which is in the public domain.
This appeared in the Feb. 7, 1953 issue of Boxoffice, which is in the public domain. The original caption:
Video Theatres, Oklahoma City, have made special use of changeable copy display boards to promote the circuit’s drive-in theatres. Free-standing, illuminated panels are being installed at road intersections a considerable distance from the drive-ins themselves, with some located directly across from competition. This installation is for the Hill Top Drive-In, Henrietta (sic), Okla. Wagner porcelain steel enamel panels and slotted letters were used.