UA Starlite Drive-In

Opened November 11th, 1949. Grand opening ad posted.

At age 4 or 5 I saw my first movie at the Starlite! They showed the original 101 Dalmatians (1961) sometime around the summer of 1968 or 1969. My parents packed the station wagon with snacks and my sister (2 years my junior) and we proceeded to have the time of our young lives watching Cruella DeVil get her comeuppance at the paws of those cute little puppies. Later we repeated the experience with The Nutty Professor (1963) and the unforgettable Son of Flubber (1963). How cool it was to have seen those comedy classics at a quintessential drive-in like the Starlite?! Of course we “graduated” to more daring fare during our high school years (1978-1982) when our movie ticket stubbs “proved” to our parents we actually went to the drive-in. They probably knew we drank our share of beer and steamed the windows of our cars while “watching” the movies, but they were drive-in veterans, especially my mom who grew up in “American Graffiti-era” Modesto, CA. I tip my cap to all of you who got to experience this time-honored cinematic tradition, and to the great Joe Bob Briggs, who kept us all abreast on the gradual decline of drive-ins all over America.

Here is the marquee:
http://tinyurl.com/24lmcr8

The sign mentioned above is exactly identical to that of the Starlite Drive-In in Watsonville, demolished in the 1980s.