Comments about Corral Drive-In in Pawhuska, OK

50sSNIPES on May 8, 2024 at 3:25 am

Video Independent Theaters opened the Corral Drive-In’s gates on April 28, 1951 with a one-day showing of Audie Murphy in “Sierra” along with two Disney cartoons (an unnamed Donald Duck cartoon and an unnamed Pluto cartoon) before the feature and a fireworks show after the feature. It was first managed by Fred Brewer.

On April 11, 1956, the Corral Drive-In became statewide headlines following an unexpected attempted robbery. Two armed men (one armed with a sawed-up shotgun and the other armed with a German Luger pistol) drove up in a stolen car to the ticket booth where employee Bud Curry was inside. The man with the shotgun got out of the car and ordered Curry to give him the theater’s receipts, while the man with the pistol remained inside the car while pointing his pistol to the employees. As the man on foot reached inside the opening in the box office window to seize $10 to $20, he accidentally tripped and his weapon discharged on the bandit, wounding his left arm. The wounded man ran back to his car and took off, but it wasn’t long until two deputies shot out the rear window of the stolen car they were in. The car was found abandoned near a Ralston cemetery with its front seat being completely saturated with blood, as both men were believed to be headed across the fields to the Arkansas River bottoms. Various departments from Osage, Pawnee, and Kay Counties joined the search, including K9s being sent out.

The Corral Drive-In was still open in the 1980s and was still standing in the 1990s, but the screen was removed by the early-2000s. As of 2024, the concession stand/projection booth still stands, and Google Earth view still demonstrates its traces but was faded.

Kenmore on February 12, 2024 at 3:28 am

It does appear that the concession stand/projection booth is still standing.

The owner has put a cattle pen in front of it complete with roof. But thanks to new Google Street Views from January 2023 (a first), the concession stand/projection booth appears to be intact.

jwmovies on February 23, 2019 at 9:35 am

A more accurate address for this theater is 1292 Old Highway 99, Pawhuska, OK 74056. This points to the residence next to the exit road. Both entrance and exit roads though barely visible are still there.

Please update.

Kenmore on June 10, 2013 at 3:03 am

A recent Google Maps satellite photo shows that the screen is gone and very little appears to be left of this drive in.

kencmcintyre on July 12, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Here is a 1995 aerial view:
http://tinyurl.com/lgsfr6