Auto-See Drive-In
929 Market Street,
Yuba City,
CA
95991
929 Market Street,
Yuba City,
CA
95991
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Redwood Theatres Inc., Robert L. Lippert Theatres Inc.
Nearby Theaters
The Auto-See Drive-In had a soft opening on May 11, 1949 with John Wayne in “Tycoon” & Veronica Lake in “Isn’t It Romantic”. The offical grand opening was on May 13, 1949 with Dick Powell in “Station West” & Sonja Henie “The Countess of Monte Cristo”. It had space for 500 cars. In 1955, the Auto-See Drive-In was operated by Redwood-Lippert Theatres and was still operating in 1959. It was closed around 1984.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
The Auto-See Drive-In was opened by 1949. According to the November 12, 1949, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, the Yuba City city council received complaints from many citizens about the 600-car operation, citing “…uncontrolled noise, traffic hazards, and the nuisance of scattered trash from the theater.”
There is a circa 1960s ad for the Auto-See on this page:
http://tinyurl.com/lbojo8
Works for me.
Another great name for a drive-in.
The Film Daily Year Book first included the Auto-See in its 1950 edition; with Joe Vogel’s note, that suggests a 1949 opening.
The Auto-See was still outlined in a 1983 topo map, and the ramps were in decent shape in a 1998 aerial, but its final appearance in the Motion Picture Almanac’s drive-in lists was the 1984 edition.
Grand opening was on May 11, 1949. Opening features were “Tycoon” starring John Wayne and “Isn’t It Romantic” starring Veronica Lake.
Now Ampla medical center @ 929 Market St, Yuba City, CA 95991.
This points directly to the entrance road (now 7-11!)
Please update.
The last newspaper mention I saw of the Auto-See was in September 1976. On the other hand…
Boxoffice, May 7, 1979: “Gene O'Neill … will oversee operation of … the Yuba City Drive-In (formerly Auto-see) and the Marysville Drive-In (formerly Sierra).”
Boxoffice, March 10, 1980: “Lippert Theatres … (f)uture projects include triplexing of the circuit’s drive-ins in Marysville and Yuba City.”
Marysville-Yuba City Appeal-Democrat, April 9, 2005: “The area’s other drive-in theater, the Yuba City Drive-In, shut down in 1980.”
The Auto-See’s official Grand Opening was with “Station West” and “The Countess of Monte Cristo” on Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, 1949. That’s according to its two-page Grand Opening ad in the May 12, 1949 issue of the Yuba City Independent-Herald.
OTOH, the previous week’s newspaper had a front page story and a single full-page ad promising a grand opening set of “Tycoon” and “Isn’t It Romantic” on May 11. That followed an invitation-only night on May 10.