Highway 65 Drive-In
1600 N. Ash Street,
Buffalo,
MO
65622
1600 N. Ash Street,
Buffalo,
MO
65622
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Buffalo Autoscope Drive-In
Nearby Theaters
The Buffalo Autoscope Drive-In was the second autoscope drive in, and opened on August 1, 1954 with Marlene Dietrich in “Rancho Notorious”. It was originally owned and operated by Tom Smith of Urbana, who opened the first (much smaller) Autoscope in nearby Urbana in 1953. Both Autoscope’s were open in 1954, but then the Urbana Autoscope closed. This drive-in had space for 122 cars, and operated as an Autoscope for about 20 years, which I think is the longest any drive-in ever operated as an Autoscope.
Eventually in the 1970’s, it was converted to a conventional drive in with space for 250 cars, and was renamed Highway 65 Drive In, which closed in 1997.
Contributed by
Bob Brown
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
The October 23, 1954, Boxoffice article about the Buffalo Autoscope Drive-In that I linked to in an earlier comment has been moved. Here are current links:
First page
Second page
Third page
My grandpa, Elza Jackson was third owner with Bert Croley and Tom Smith. My dad, Jim Jackson,said he worked there and helped build and maintain it.
When it reopened as Highway 65 Drive-in, it had 250 cars.
i just uploaded a very very cool aerial of ir from 1959 from historic aerials.com
The address for this theater is now 1600 North Ash Street, Buffalo, MO 65622. This points directly to the entrance and exit roads which are still there.
Please update.
a closer address is Autoscope Rd Buffalo, Missouri
To re-emphasize Joe Vogel’s excellent post, in the Modern Theatre Buyers' Directory section of the Oct. 23, 1954 issue of Boxoffice, there was a three-page article about the Autoscope. It included plenty of photos including an aerial view (uploaded here), closeups of the projection setup, and a shot of the central concession / projection building.
Boxoffice, April 29, 1974: “BUFFALO, MO. - The Autoscope Drive-In on U.S. 65 north of here, recently acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Robert DeJarnette from Mr. and Mrs. Bert Croley, opened Friday (5) on a weekends-only policy. The Croleys had been associated with the airer since it started operation approximately 20 years ago. The DeJarnettes have moved to Buffalo from Minneapolis, where Bob was a distributor for United Artists for more than 17 years. The Autoscope Drive-In will be open to moviegoers ever night during summer.”
Joe’s links to the Oct. 23, 1954 issue of Boxoffice are no longer working. The article starts on page 16 of “The Modern Theatre Section” and the magazine is available online at https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/27007049/boxoffice-october231954
Thanks for the update, stereo3d. Here is a clickable link to the October 23, 1954 issue of Boxoffice.