Bar-Len Drive-In
Lenwood Road and Main Street,
Lenwood,
CA
92311
Lenwood Road and Main Street,
Lenwood,
CA
92311
1 person
favorited this theater
Located in Lenwood, near Barstow. The Bar-Len Drive-In was opened on December 29, 1948 with a capacity for 500-cars. It was part of Western Amusements in 1955. It was closed on September 15, 1968 with Walter Brennan in “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band” & Walt Disney’s “Bambi”.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
The “Bar-Len” was listed in Lenwood in the 1964 Film Daily Year Book. It was also listed, with a capacity 460 cars and in Barstow in the 1972 International Motion Picture Almanac, so it survived until at least 1971. By the 1984 edition, it was gone.
A 1963 Barstow High School yearbook photo calls it the “Bar Len,” though the poster uses a hyphen.
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/mojavegirl1216/4300343906/
For the clincher, this Flickr user posted “A single frame from the policy trailer shown at the Bar-Len Drive In.” It clearly shows a hyphen in the name.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23731559@N07/4357654129/
I can’t tell which city it belonged in, but I think the name really ought to be hyphenated.
Odd name!!
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Barstow+Transfer+%26+Storage/Crest Theatre.8710937,-117.1188704,515m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c47ed38970b30b:0x44c2c98e50998007!8m2!3d34.8712906!4d-117.1202499
what is left.
The Bar-Len first appeared in the Film Daily Year Book in the 1950 edition. It was also in the first Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list, the 1950-51 edition, and the second Theatre Catalog list, 1949-50.
Motion Picture Almanac drive-in list mentions:
But the “Barlen” was still included in Western Amusement’s holdings in the MPA’s Theatre Circuit section through 1984.
Boxoffice, Feb. 21, 1953: “Dave Peterman succeeds Joseph James as manager of the Bar-Len Drive-In in Barstow.”
clove this theater
(Barstow) Desert Dispatch, Dec. 30, 1948: “Barstow’s new $90,000 Bar-Len drive in theater opened December 29. Visitors will see a screen stories high and an auditorium capable of holding 500 cars.” No grand opening ad the week before, unfortunately. The front-page article mentioned a snack bar, in-car speakers, and regular double features.
Newspaper listings for this drive-in stopped in 1968 in the Desert Dispatch.
To amplify that excellent catch, the Bar-Len’s final performance was on Sunday, Sept. 15, 1968, when it showed “The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band” and “Bambi”. Subsequent ads were “Closed for the winter”.
I think the Bar-Len was owned by the same people who owned the Barstow Theatre as they shared ads in the 1965 & 1966 Barstow High School yearbooks.