Movie theaters and drive-ins from the past that are now gone . . .

[The Burgomaster]

I thought it would be a good idea to share some stories about movie theaters and drive-ins that you enjoyed going to years ago, but are now gone (demolished and replaced by larger theaters, shopping malls, or whatever).  Unfortunately, I just thought of this idea and I need to go to work now, so I'll post my stories later!

[pjpants]

im almost thirty and there never were any drive-ins by me. atleast any that i have been old enough to remember, my mother told me she took me to one when i was a baby that was demolished some years later. i feel the same way about arcades... they used to be a part of the places to go when i was a teen and now, all gone, none of my students even know what they were like

[moman]

I don't know if they ever had drive-ins in England, never heard of any. If I am every rich I am going to have one in my garden 

[Menard]

We've had quite a few that have since gone away.


The Family Drive-In and Circle 25 were in Lexington itself, both on the outer loop and near across from each other. The Circle 25 became an industrial park and the Family Drive-In, just some businesses. The Family Drive-In generally stayed true to that theme, particularly as you could see the screen from New Circle Rd. itself. I had seen the Michael York The Four Musketeers as well some Disney films at the Family Drive-In; I never had gone to the Circle 25.

The Southland 68, Lexington Drive-In, and Sky-Vue Drive-In were all three border drive-ins; being that they targeted the Lexington area, but all three were just over the county line in another county (Lexington has never been very business friendly unless you were of the right family, affiliation, or politics).

The Sky-Vue Drive-In is still in business and I live less than a mile behind it. Unfortunately, in order to survive, they show nothing but mainstream new releases. They are owned by a larger conglomerate which also owns the multi-plex in town, and a few others. I originally saw Ghostbusters, and the original Michael Keaton Batman there.

The Southland 68 eventually became an adult movie drive-in as their screen could not be seen from the road. Like any blond in a porn movie, they eventually went down, about the mid-80s. I had seen movies like Dawn of the Dead, Zombie, Revenge of the Dead, The Creeper,and a few other slasher movies and even an adult movie or two there.

The Lexington Drive-in was my favorite. They often had horror movie weekends showcasing 4 or 5 movies; their dusk till dawn nights. You could get in for $3. They went out of business not long after the Southland 68. The drive-in was used for a car lot for a while, then it just became part of an industrial strip collectively known as the drag strip, ahem, because there also used to be a race track there. I believe that the Boot Store is on what used to be the drive-in lot. Movies I had seen at the Lexington Drive-In are numerous, including Evil Dead, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, Horror Hospital, and frankly too many slasher movies to list.

[RCMerchant]

The small town rinky dink Strand Theater in Paw Paw (built in the 1920's,I believe) is STILL operating ! The last movie I saw there was ANACONDA....perfect fare! I stook my kids who were scared witless at the time! (Heh Heh!)

I saw WILLARD,RACE WITH the DEVIL,PSYCHIC KILLER DR.PHIBES,DRACULA AD 1972,CLASH of the TITANS,tons of disaster movies,the first real 'blockbuster' summer films of the era-JAWS,KING KONG,STAR WARS,....and (insert Peter Lorre voice here) .... FOR the LOVE of BENJI!   
Have a fond memory of seeing a special Halloween Matinee of KING KONG ECSCAPES!!!

I loved the double features they had on Saterdays. You could even pop your own corn at home and bring it inna paper bag. All for 75 cents!!!

[CheezeFlixz]

I think we've had a thread about this about a year ago ... but oh well there are new folks here now that might not of be in the loop.

There are a few, very few benefits to living in an area that is called decades behind the times. We still have drive-ins and downtown movie theaters, you know the ones with the balconies that were built in the the 40's and 50's. But only one where I grew up is still around.

As a kid I went to a theater call "The Kraver" ... it was you typical downtown theater with balcony and art deco decor and it played a matinées every day they played 2 movies every afternoon and in the late 60's and early 70's I could watch 2 movies after school for 25 cents, my Dad would give me 50 cents which would cover the cost of the movie and the cost os snacks. This was back in the day when you could get out of school walk 10 blocks down town as a 6 or 7 year old and not worry about being abducted by someone. They'd show a old comedy and a western normally they were always old films that had been out of decades most of the time.
Since a friend of mine and myself went nearly every day after school we got to know the people that worked there and we would hang out in the balcony even though it was roped off and we were allowed in the projection room to see how things worked. It was a big treat to flip the switch on the other projector when you saw the dots on screen to signal reel change. I had dreams of being the projectionist when I  grew up as a kid. But when I was about 18 the theater closed and a sat empty with the influx of the mall and multiplex, and in a few years it was gone. (I need a moment alone now.)

As far as drive-ins go there was the Starlite Drive-In where we when as teenagers ... being a teenager at the time who knows what movies they played. But what little a remember of the movies they were you garden fair 70's horrors and slasher flicks. We'd sneak in the movies in trunks and under blankets in the back of trucks, I think they knew but didn't care because we'd at least buy concessions. I haven't been to the Starlite in years as it's in the town I grew up in and I no longer live there, but when I went they have those crappy little window speakers and a playground in front of the screen for the kids that didn't want to watch the movie ... again back in the day when you could let a kid go unsupervised and not worry about it. The world really sucks now ... so thanks a lot for having me stroll down memory lane and remember how much safer and nicer the world was ... great now I'm depressed. Thanks a lot.

The Starlite is still there and still shows movies but the Kraver has been a bank parking lot for well over 20 years now. I remember when they tore it down and it was a very sad day in my life. It is likely why the movie "Cinema Paradiso" is so good to me.

[Trevor]

In my home town of Gwelo, Rhodesia, we had one cinema called the Embassy and a drive-in theatre called the Flamingo where you still had those speakers you hung in the window. I left home in 1987 and by that time, the country had changed its' name to Zimbabwe, the town to Gweru and the Flamingo had vanished: as far as I know, the Embassy is still going.

The Gweru Theatre also doubled as a cinema: this is the place where I saw Gymkata, Goodbye Bruce Lee, First Blood and the immortal Russian film Pirates of the XXth Century.

In Pretoria, the multiplexes (or should that be 'multiplexi'?) have taken over completely: all the many single cinemas have vanished completely and believe me, there were plenty of them, many drive-ins too. The only drive in in Pretoria is the one here www.menlynpark.co.za which is situated on top of the roof of that mall's seven storey parking garage. Having a few drinks and going for a walk is not advised there, believe me. 

It is likely why the movie "Cinema Paradiso" is so good to me.

Me too, Cheeze. 

[The Burgomaster]

Here are a few from my youth:

* Granada Theater (Malden, MA) - This was an old "movie palace" type theater.  Originally, it had a balcony.  However, they renovated the theater and converted the balcony into a separate upstairs theater.  When I was a kid in the 1970s the theater was basically a weekend evening hang-out for junior high and high school kids.  They had arcade games (like Pac Man and Space Invaders) in the lobby.  The theater didn't enforce minimum age requirements for R-rated and unrated movies, so I saw DAWN OF THE DEAD and some other movies there when I was under age.

* Revere Drive-In Theater (Revere, MA) - After they tore this down, they built a huge multi-plex theater on the site.  I saw IRON MAN there last week.  Back in the drive-in days, they had an area near the screen with swing sets and other stuff for kids to play on.  I saw some great movies there, including THE EXORCIST; DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY; VANISHING POINT; and some wonderful triple features like DR. NO; FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE; and GOLDFINGER; as well as DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT; THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED; and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.

* Saugus Drive-In (Saugus, MA) - Just a couple miles north of the Revere Drive-In.  It is now long gone and has been replaced by a strip mall.

* Saugus Cinema (Saugus, MA) - A 2-screen theater that sat behind a shopping center.  The theater and the shopping center were torn down and replaced by a large mall.  I saw many movies in that theater, including WILLARD; BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID; THE STING; BLAZING SADDLES; STAR WARS; MEATBALLS; THE FURY; LOGAN'S RUN; RACE WITH THE DEVIL; W.W. AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS; FUTUREWORLD; MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN; LIVE AND LET DIE; YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN; and dozens of others.

* Medford Drive-In Theater (Medford, MA) - I didn't go to this one much until I was in high school.  They had 3 screens and one of them always showed "adult" features (not hardcore - - just stuff like CALIGULA (edited version); KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE; CHERRY HILL HIGH; ALICE IN WONDERLAND (edited version), etc.)  Not sure what is there now . . . probably a shopping center or a car dealership.

* Lynn Open-Air Theater (Lynn, MA) - I didn't go to this one very often because Saugus and Revere drive-ins were closer and had fewer broken speakers.  I think there is a car dealership on the site now.

There were some others, but this should give you a flavor of what was in my area "back in the day."

[peter johnson]

Almost too many to list --
In Kilmarnock, Virginia, I forget the name of the drive-in there, but I did see "Lady and The Tramp" there in a driving rainstorm, first-run.  Speakers on the outside of the car, too, so we didn't hear very well with the windows rolled up!
It being the American South in the late '50's/early '60's, there were 4 restrooms due to the segregation requirements.
The Fairfax was too small-town to even have a balcony, but they had a huge greasy butter-embalmed popcorn-making machine.  It was made in the early 1930's, and looked like part of a railway engine.
I saw "Rasputin The Mad Monk", "The Reptile", "Kiss of Evil", "The Wicker Man", "The Devil's Bride", "The Oblong Box", "The Conqueror Worm", "Witchfinder General", "Five Million Years to Earth", and "Ghidhra:  The 3-Headed Monster", all there/all first-run.  5 of us went to see "The Reptile" as a group, and spent most of our 9-year-old time hiding behind the seats and yelling how not scared we were & how fake the monster was.  We were petrified.
Otis, the town cop, would come around and smack your feet with this billy-stick if you put them up on the seats in front of you, and flip your hat of your head if you were wearing one.  I wish modern theatres had Otis . . .
An odd local quirk:  The theatre would, during the course of the year, show every available Elvis Presley movie as well as a bad, redneck stock-car racing film called "Fireball 500" at least 3 or 4 times, as there was a market for these films, and they would always pack the theatre.  From the time I was 6 until I moved away at 17, I recall always seeing the same old poster for "Fireball 500" all the time I was growing up.
The Art Cinema on The Pearl Street Mall, here in Boulder, Colorado, where I took my wife on our first date, is now an alpaca sweater store.  We watched a Canadian Animation festival.  The Boulder Theatre still shows quirky & offbeat films on its big screen, but it's now a bar and a music venue mainly.  Very palatial Art Deco, original to 1933 & beautifully restored.  Yes, they have an ENORMOUS balcony, with its own bar and snack counter!! They show "The Big Lebowski" on the big screen every year, along with Phish documentaries & things like "Pan's Labarynth" every other month or so.
peter johnson/denny crane

[hellbilly]

As a military brat I grew up in Europe or wherever the Army put my father on duty. When we lived in Germany we used to spend our summer vacations in Spain, Rota at the U.S. Naval Station. They had a pretty neat place for camping and much to our surprise, a Drive-In theater. Needless to say we spend almost every evening at the Drive-In watching classics like Fright Night, The Funhouse, Poltergeist, Friday The 13th 4, Body Double, The Visitor (1979) and many more.
We haven't been to Rota in a long time but I heard they still have the Drive-In theater going, the only one still in existence on any military base worldwide.

[asimpson2006]

There was one I used to go to a few times when I was younger.  It was the Silver Springs Drive in, in my hometown of Mechanicsburg PA.  It was torn down for a Kohl's store to be put in.

There is still one a few towns over, but I haven't been there in a long time.  The drive in that still remains shows recent films, I wished it showed some older films, I would probably go to it more often if it showed some older films.

[skuts]

The RKO Keiths in Flushing, NY was one of the last of the old time movie palaces complete with fountains, stained glass windows, gold baroque filigree, and a fountain in the lobby. Lots of big stars played there during the vaudeville days, including the 3 Stooges. In the eighties, Koreans bought it, closed it, looted it of anything valuable like the massive solid brass doors and stained glass chandeliers, and finally burned it down to build a crappy shopping plaza.

[Classic Camp]

I remember Presque Isle Drive In where I grew up in Erie, PA. I saw Blazing Saddles there when I was very young with my family. The only "B" movie I ever saw there was The Pit, which I saw with some friends. My friends had older brothers who would drive us places, so the older kids would hang out and the younger kids would hang out separately. The older kids would drink, and we would play in the playground. Then when I was a teenager, I saw Home Alone there and had a few drinks. Today, that Drive-In is the Tom Ridge Nature Center. Ridge is a fellow Erieite, and before he was Secretary of Homeland Security, he was a Pennsylvania governor.