South Drive-In

davidcoppock on June 23, 2023 at 6:45 pm

400 cars.

Kenmore on June 22, 2023 at 6:13 pm

The drive-in was still intact in 1982. By 1994, it had been completely demolished.

Today, it is an open field with no trace of the drive-in remaining.

hsc on April 19, 2013 at 10:46 am

The South originally showed mainstream releases, possibly in second-run (though I’m not sure that there was that much of a distinction in Danville, which tended to get movies quite some time after they opened in the major cities).

By the ‘60s, however, they had become an “Adults Only” theater showing softcore films, and by the '70s were showing hardcore.

The ad above from 1973 shows a softcore film “Trader Hornee” second-billed to an R-rated action film. This was a brief period of showing softer material, but hardcore films crept back in and continued for years.

The North had a similar fling with “Adults Only” fare as “The North Art” for a few years, but by 1973 was “The North ‘Action’ House” showing horror and blaxploitation and martial-arts films.

The North and the South were Danville’s equivalent to 42nd St. “grindhouses” at one point.