Sutton Motor-In

110 Worcester Providence Turnpike,
Sutton, MA 01590

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sutton motor in, 2012

Originally opened on May 16, 1947 with The Marx Brothers in “A Night in Casablanca” & James Cagney in “Great Guy”. The Sutton Motor-In was a drive-in located on the main highway between Worcester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. It was closed on August 4, 1996, and much of the 10-acre property (now for sale) is thickly overgrown with weeds and brush, giving the place a “haunted-drive-in” look.

The marquee over the entrance was still there, albeit with broken glass and some loose lettering. Walk through it and you can see the original ticket booth, the large single CinemaScope-ratio screen, and the projection booth on the right in the distance.

The screen tower was destroyed by fire on May 2, 2022. The remainder of the drive-in was demolished in April 2024.

Contributed by Gerald A. DeLuca

Recent comments (view all 24 comments)

neenwatson
neenwatson on November 25, 2015 at 4:16 pm

I took my daughter here yesterday and it really broke our hearts to see the condition it was in. One quick question….what is the story behind the dam/waterfall in the woods behind the screen? I couldn’t find any info online. Aside from that the place is trashed. So sad the town did this to such an amazing place. I got a TON of great pics regardless. Just wish the town would stop being d-bags and let it open. Real potential and great place to keep kids out of trouble!

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on November 17, 2018 at 2:23 pm

well drive-in theater preservation society i hate that the sutton police wouldn’t allow the state police to direct traffic for free. ti’s rude and correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t that illegal. state police officers have more power than municipal police officers. also the raising of the price due to retail interest was a bunch of crap. they were doing that so it wouldn’t reopen.

KenLayton
KenLayton on May 24, 2020 at 9:11 pm

With the coronavirus these days, it would make sense to open this theater again.

naperson01
naperson01 on December 28, 2021 at 4:29 am

12 minute video, published October 24, 2021, on the ‘Jason Allard’ channel documenting it’s history and current condition. Dave Lounder (commenter above and former operator) assisted in the research.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcldt51aB5E

dansdriveintheater
dansdriveintheater on December 28, 2022 at 12:13 pm

Google maps aerials show the screen as gone! It was either torn down or what I believed happened fell down everything else is still there though.please update

Dave Lounder THE DRIVE-IN THEATRE PRESERVATION SOCIETY TheDriveInGuys.com
Dave Lounder THE DRIVE-IN THEATRE PRESERVATION SOCIETY TheDriveInGuys.com on December 28, 2022 at 1:48 pm

Dan - Arson. Grass fire caught screen tower. The intense heat crumpled the inner, pre-scope screen structure. Also, fairly recently, the A-frame box office (not original) blew over in a wind storm. - Dave Lounder (Last operator, 1996)

Kenmore
Kenmore on December 28, 2022 at 4:03 pm

The screen was still standing as of July 2021, but by September of 2022 it was gone.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on December 28, 2022 at 6:45 pm

The Sutton Motor-In closed for the final time on August 4, 1996 due to nonpayment of a $2,692 bill for police details.

rivest266
rivest266 on April 27, 2024 at 4:32 pm

It opened on May 16th, 1947. Grand opening ad posted.

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