Cape Drive-In

The Cape Drive-In opened August 12, 1949, featuring the 1948 Western “Red River” with John Wayne, Montgomery Cliff, Walter Brennan and Joanne Dru. “Red River” was filmed in 1946 but not released until September 30, 1948. The drive-in was built and operated by Cape Drive-In Inc., which was a partnership of Carl Milne, Howard Bates and William Hipes. In May of 1954, they would open the Sky-Vue Drive-In in Cape Girardeau. The Cape Drive-In had a parking ramp that could hold 500 cars with in-a-car speakers. Movies were screened on a 60 ft. high and 48 ft. wide screen tower.

Milne reported that on the opening show on Friday night had 700 people in attendance. Attendance grew from Friday to Sunday with the Sunday night attendance reaching 1,800 people, which did not include the small children. Bloomer Amusement Company from Belleville, Illinois, bought the Cape Drive-In and the Star-Vue Drive-In on May 9, 1957, and took over the management of both. The Cape Drive-In closed on November 30, 1957, for summer season. Bloomer contemplated reopening it for only Fridays, Saturday and Sundays for the 1958 summer season. They never did and the drive-in was demolished.

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