South Philadelphia Drive-In
S. Broad Street and Hartranft Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19145
4 people favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Redstone Drive-In Theaters
Previous Names: South City Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
It used to be on S. Broad Street at Hartranft Street to the north of Pattison Avenue, above the naval base, around where the sports complex now stands. The South City Drive-In was opened June 2, 1950. By 1955 the South City Drive-In was operated by Charles Goldfine. In May 1958 it was taken over by Redstone Drive-In Theaters. It was later renamed South Philadelphia Drive-In and closed in 1966. Demolished soon after to make way for the stadiums.
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Here is a 1952 sketch from Temple U:
http://tinyurl.com/yg2vvxx
Approx. location for this drive-in was S Broad St & Hartranft St, Philadelphia, PA 19145.
It was demolished to make way for Veterans stadium the Phillies/Eagle stadium shich has since been demolished. It had a huge screen. I remember in 1966 they were playing Elvis Pressley Girl Girls Girls.
Ground breaking for Veterans Stadium was 10 April, 1967 so 1966 would have been the last year for the South City Drive-In.
The drive in was actually named the South Philadelphia drive-in
My first experience with PIX mosquito repellant. The films were “Imitation of Life” with Lana Turner and “Raisin in the Sun” with Sydney Poitier. I mostly slept in the back seat.
June 2nd, 1950 grand opening ad
All references in Film Daily Yearbook and International Motion Picture Almanac call this South City Drive-In. The grand opening ad indicates it was called South City Drive-In. The signage in the photo uploaded on the photo page also points toward this drive-in being called South City.
I Know that in 64 it was the South Phila Drive In. I remember as it was the only time I was at the theater. It would be interesting to see fi someone can find when it changed names. To my knowledge it was operated by George Hamid who operated all the Atlantic City theaters and built the Stadium theater across the street which is now demolished.
Boxoffice, May 12, 1958: “The 1,400-car South City Drive-In has been purchased by Redstone Drive-In Theatres of Boston.”