Corral Drive-In

1899 US-54 Business,
Eldon, MO 65026

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Eldon Drive-In

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Corral Drive-In

The Eldon Drive-In was opened in 1947. The car capacity was 275. The theatre was owned by James Fleener. Around 1953 it was renamed Corral Drive-In and was still listed as open in the late-1970’s.

Contributed by Chris1982

Recent comments (view all 6 comments)

Kenmore
Kenmore on November 17, 2014 at 5:41 pm

Found it. The Drive-In was located just south of town on Business US 54 just north of W 19th Street. You can still see the outlines of the ramps. https://goo.gl/maps/XOf4k

jwmovies
jwmovies on December 5, 2016 at 9:19 am

The address for this Drive-in is 1899 US-54 BUS, Eldon, MO 65026.

Where the screen was located is now Eldon Bowling Lanes.

Burlingame Road is the entrance road. West 19th Street is the exit road.

Please update.

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on May 16, 2019 at 11:27 pm

Eldon’s “Drive-In” made its first appearance in the Film Daily Year Book’s 1947 edition, one of only four drive-ins in Missouri. But it didn’t show up in the Theatre Catalog until its 1952 edition, listed with a capacity of 300 and owners Tom Edwards and Frank Plumlee. By the 1955-56 edition, the name had changed from the Eldon to the Corral.

The Motion Picture Almanac, often slow to notice change, only began including the drive-in in the 1953-54 edition and switched from calling it the Eldon to the Corral in its 1960 edition. All MPA drive-in list mentions:

  • 1953-66: 200, T. Edwards
  • 1967-76: 200 (no owner info)
  • 1977-82: 275, J. Fleener
  • 1983-84: 1 screen, J. Fleener
  • 1985-88: 1 screen, J. Siler
MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on June 23, 2019 at 11:20 pm

The name change must have happened by 1953, based on this note from the Aug. 15, 1953 issue of BoxOffice: “Word comes from Eldon, Mo., that Mr. and Mrs. Bill Fitchpatrick have assumed their duties as managers of the Corral Drive-In and Ozark Theatre in the city for Tom Edwards. They are successors to Bill Smith, who resigned recently to take his family to California.”

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on August 14, 2019 at 3:24 am

Corral owner Tom Edwards had a side hustle, as noted in this June 6, 1960 note in Boxoffice: “Larry Bichele of American International Pictures called on Tom Edwards at Eldon, Mo., and found Tom getting his Monkey Jungle, which he operates in connection with his drive-in theatre and gift shop, ready for the tourist season.”

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on October 1, 2019 at 5:06 pm

Wow, that took forever! The Dec. 10, 1962 issue of Boxoffice included an announcement that the Corral Drive-In of Eldon MO had finally joined the Theatre Owners of America. “The Corral Drive-In is owned and operated by Tom E. Edwards of Eldon.”

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