Lucky Drive-In

MichaelKilgore on January 23, 2025 at 3:13 pm

Modesto Bee, April 30, 1956: “The Lucky Drive in Theatre on Fulkerth Road near Highway 99 north of Turlock has been purchased by chain theater owners Lippert & Mann and is undergoing a remodeling program. Former owner was Bud Klint of Hilmar, who operated the theater the past four years.”

MichaelKilgore on March 2, 2021 at 3:34 pm

I couldn’t find many mentions of the Lucky. The Sept. 22, 1951 issue of Boxoffice noted that Clayton Gran had obtained a building permit for the drive-in, which was “expected to be completed within six months.”

Boxoffice, June 28, 1952: “Co-owners Clayton Gran and Fremon Klint have opened their new $55,000 drive-in on Fulkerth road north of the Stanislaus district fair grounds. The theatre was named the Lucky Drive-In and it has a self-service snack bar.”

The Lucky was still operating in July 1967, when “The Weird World of LSD,” a black-and-white film directed by Robert Ground, had a record-breaking run there.

The 1978 Motion Picture Almanac, which tended to be reasonably accurate, still included the Lucky, run by R. Laykin. In the 1980 edition, the owner changed to Maestri, which is how it stayed through its final MPA appearance in 1982.