Sooner Drive-In
10991 US-69,
Miami,
OK
74354
10991 US-69,
Miami,
OK
74354
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 19 comments
MichaelKilgore - You are right, the cast does not match the movie. Only Gloria DeHaven was in “Two Tickets to Broadway”, a film that came out in 1951.
It seems they mixed in the cast of “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine” which includes Mayo, Morgan, and Nelson and also came out in 1951.
Belated thanks for that note, Kenmore. I understand much better now.
And hey! Newspapers.com finally digitized the 1953 News-Record. As I mentioned earlier, the cast in the ad doesn’t match the movie.
The creek and river are relatively close by, but the drive-in is still a good half-mile to mile away from each.
There are businesses on the site. Including a One Stop convenience store and several businesses just across the road. If the area was flood-prone, those buildings would not be there. That tells me the ground in its natural state becomes a big mess when wet.
Sounds like from the story you posted earlier, the ground itself needed to be paved or properly reinforced and that was not worth the cost. A high water table combined with soft ground would turn the land into a mucky mess without necessarily flooding it.
I live about 30 miles south and on my property are areas that are “swampy”. There are no nearby creeks or standing water, but the ground is mucky because the soil and rocks below keep the moisture near the surface.
Seems the same thing is true about the drive-in. If it was built during a drought which it seems it was (1953 was a pretty hot and dry year), then it might not be noticed until the rain returned.
Kenmore, you’re much better at reading these maps than I am. Looking at the elevation maps and seeing Coal Creek to its west and the Neosho River to its north and east, I can’t see any indication that the original Sooner site wouldn’t be flood prone. (Then again, my experience is tainted by my visit to Miami OK in 2019 during a serious flood.) What are you seeing?
A 1958 aerial shows the drive-in to be intact. It doesn’t seem that the area is flood prone, but it may be that the ground was unsuitable for parking vehicles when wet (not that uncommon in this part of the state).
By 1980, the screen and projection booth/concession stand were gone.
Today, the drive-in is completely overgrown with trees. The only remaining indication is a few feet of the entrance road still visible next to Route 66.
Thanks to a visit to the Miami Public Library’s microfilm collection of the Miami Daily News-Record, I now know that the original Sooner opened on July 2, 1953.
I’m not sure which was the first movie it showed, because its ad that day promised the 1951 flick “Two Tickets to Broadway” … “starring Virginia Mayo, Gloria DeHaven, Dennis Morgan, Gene Nelson”. Except that none of those performers were in that movie; they were all in the 1951 film “Painting the Clouds with Sunshine”.
Although I love the idea of the flooded Sooner’s last show being “Take the High Ground,” it actually continued to advertise through Friday, June 18, when it added, “Notice To Our Sooner Drive-In Patrons! Due to heavy rains and damage to drives and ramps surfaces, the Sooner Drive-In will be closed after last show Saturday (19) for resurfacing of parking area, and will remain closed until all repairs are complete! Attend the Tri-State Drive-In for the Best Movies Under The Stars!”
Assuming it never reopened, the Sooner’s final movies were “Titanic” (1953, Clifton Webb) and “Roar of the Crowd” (1953, Howard Duff).
The Sooner Drive-In was damaged in a rain storm and appears to have been closed following the June 12, 1954 showing of Richard Widmark in “Take the High Ground!” An ad lists the theatre as closed indefinitely until the screen and the ramps can be repaired. Those repairs do not appear to have occurred and the sign was moved a decade later to the Tri-State location.
From the August 12, 1953 issue of The EXHIBITOR: “Video Independent Theatres opened the Sooner Drive-In, Miami, Okla., and the Airline Drive-In, Ponca City, Okla.”
It’s true. This Dotyville Sooner is what I’d call Sooner #1, not #2, since it was a Sooner first.
Just so I’m clear on this.
The drive-in that was originally named the “Sooner Drive-In” is listed here as “Sooner #2 Drive-In”. While the Tri-State Drive-In that was renamed after the original one closed is listed here as “Sooner Drive-In”.
Yup, clear as mud. ;)
Aha! Thanks to the excellent notes at MiamiHistory.net, I have a better explanation for the confusion. The original Sooner opened “a mile south of town, on 66.” Miami History claims that site was prone to flooding, and anyway “At some point between 1961 and 1965, the Tri-State was renamed to the Sooner. According to historian Fredas Cook, it was to take advantage of the much nicer Sooner sign formerly used south of town. Fredas also points out that the original Sooner was a traffic hazard due to its screen facing the highway, that may have contributed to its being closed shortly after opening.”
Where was that short-lived original Sooner? Looking at the maps and photos at Historic Aerials, I’ve found a good candidate in an otherwise unaccounted for drive-in at Dotyville, just southwest of Miami. It’s on the northwest corner of US 59 & Old Route 66 – Google Maps calls it 10991 US-69. The drive-in was on the 1963 topo map, and the ramps were still visible in 1980, but there appears to be no trace of it now.
For the 1952 Theatre Catalog, the Sooner (referred to as #2 D. I.) was under construction. Both the Sooner and the Tri State were listed in the 1955-56 Theatre Catalog. The Sooner’s capacity was 300; Tri State was 400.
For some reason, it’s much easier to find ads for the Tri State in the Miami Daily News-Record than for the Sooner, though the Sooner was included in prizes for the first baby of 1954.
When did it close? In July 1984, the Joplin Globe wrote about alleged bicycle thieves who were “cornered on foot at the Sooner Drive-In theater on North Main Street.”
There’s a good photo from 1985, showing the back of the screen in need of some repair, at American Classic Images.
Boom tisch!!
TLS YOU’RE FUNNY! HEE!!!
Walmart is on the site of the Tri-State Drive-In, a different drive-in which was located on the north end of Miami on Hwy 69.
The Sooner Drive-In was about .5 miles southwest of Miami, also on Hwy 69.
Sooner or later Walmart takes over.
There appears to be a Walmart on the site now.
For vintage views of this, and other theaters in Ottawa County (Electric, Glory B, Grand, Opera House, Plaza, Ottawa, and Roxy) click now;
http://www.homestead.com/schehrer2/