Arbuckle Drive-In
S. D Street and Swanda Road,
Davis,
OK
73030
S. D Street and Swanda Road,
Davis,
OK
73030
1 person
favorited this theater
Nestled within a winding valley of the beautiful Arbuckle Mountain range, the Arbuckle Drive-In was surrounded by fragrant cedar trees, making this outdoor theatre a most pleasant setting in which to watch a double feature.
The Arbuckle Drive-In was opened on September 18, 1951 with Joseph Cotton in “Untamed Frontier” & Tom Ewell in “Finders Keepers”. It was operated by W.T. Kerr. It was still open in 1960.
Contributed by
Jeff Chapman
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Found it! Approx. location for this drive-in was on S. D St (US Hwy 77) just north of Swanda Rd. on the east side of the highway.
the concession stand remains!
“W.T. Kerr and wife Janice are operating the Arbuckle Drive-In, Davis, with one girl at the concessions stand. Kerr runs the machines; Mrs. Kerr sells tickets. Sunday-Tuesday they show the biggest and best picture they can buy from Warner and Fox. Thursday-Saturday they show a double feature, one picture of which much be western. They have tried to run without a western on this change but when they do, business drops off 50 per cent. The Kerrs close on Wednesdays and Waite takes off early in the morning for one of the numerous nearby lakes and usually comes back with a fine string of fish.” — Boxoffice, June 27, 1960
Boxoffice, Aug. 5, 1963: “W. T. Kerr, Sulphur, who owns the Arbuckle Drive-In, Davis, reports that J. C. Drake, who had the drive-in leased for the past several months, is no longer connected with the drive-in. Kerr was on the (Oklahoma City Film) Row recently and brought along with him Clay Pitchford, Mistletow Express agent of Davis, who also owns a flower shop. Pitchford will operate the Arbuckle Drive-In for Kerr and they were setting future bookings, as this is Pitchford’s first venture in the motion picture theatre business. He did operate the drive-in for a short time while Drake had it under lease.”
The Arbuckle Drive-In opened its gates on September 18, 1952 with Joseph Cotton in “Untamed Frontier” and Tom Ewell in “Finders Keepers” with no extras. The Arbuckle name came from a theater naming contest led by manager Walter T. Kerr. The second and third place names went with “77” and “Moonlite”.