I'm actually stunned that I even found this pic online. I'm always searching for snapshots of my past of when I was a kid. My story about Fine Arts is that it's use to be right down the street where I live. Fine Arts Theater has a pretty interesting history. It started off as a legit Movie House (from what I can remember) and then somewhere along the way, early 70's it became and Adult Theater. I was around 6-7 years old when it was still an active  P o r n  palace and on the wall outside they had full One Sheet Posters in Light Frame Boxes of what was playing at the time and what was coming soon. It was really strange, even as a kid to see stuff like this. To get from my Grandparents house to Newberry, we (as in me and my Grandpa) would have to walk pass it and the theater just looked so cool and larger than life.

But seeing half naked chicks on the Posters with my Grandpa along side of me made me feel uncomfortable. A few years later, they changed it back to an Art House (thus the name Fine Arts) and one of the last movies they showed there was The Gods Must Be Crazy, which my Mom went to see. They never really closed the theater itself, but demolished the entire building. I'm still  p i s s e d  off that it's gone....for a lot of reason. I think the above pic is around 76-79.

I will search for more pics of the other 2 theaters we had back in the day and post.

The Roxy Theater, where the post office is today, opened on Dec. 16, 1943 as a proud member of the Fox-West Coast theater chain. Many of the Pacific Beach kids who remember Saturday matinees at the Roxy are grandparents today. Scott Shore purchased the building in 1977 and booked live shows and art movies. I took this photo in September of 1980, when “Caligula” was the featured film. It featured Malcolm McDowell, John Gielgud, Peter O’Toole and Helen Mirren. The post office announced, on March 2, 1981, that it had spent $1.1 million to purchase the property. The theater was demolished three months later.

I was pretty sure that it closed in 1980, my first year playing Little League Baseball because I wanted to go see a movie there. But we never did.

Jun 6, 1933:
First drive-in movie theater opens




Note Google Doodle today

On this day in 1933, eager motorists park their automobiles on the grounds of Park-In Theaters, the first-ever drive-in movie theater, located on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey.

Park-In Theaters--the term "drive-in" came to be widely used only later--was the brainchild of Richard Hollingshead, a movie fan and a sales manager at his father's company, Whiz Auto Products, in Camden. Reportedly inspired by his mother's struggle to sit comfortably in traditional movie theater seats, Hollingshead came up with the idea of an open-air theater where patrons watched movies in the comfort of their own automobiles. He then experimented in the driveway of his own house with different projection and sound techniques, mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car, pinning a screen to some trees, and placing a radio behind the screen for sound. He also tested ways to guard against rain and other inclement weather, and devised the ideal spacing arrangement for a number of cars so that all would have a view of the screen.

The young entrepreneur received a patent for the concept in May of 1933 and opened Park-In Theaters, Inc. less than a month later, with an initial investment of $30,000. Advertising it as entertainment for the whole family, Hollingshead charged 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person, with no group paying more than one dollar. The idea caught on, and after Hollingshead's patent was overturned in 1949, drive-in theaters began popping up all over the country. One of the largest was the All-Weather Drive-In of Copiague, New York, which featured parking space for 2,500 cars, a kid's playground and a full service restaurant, all on a 28-acre lot.

Drive-in theaters showed mostly B-movies--that is, not Hollywood's finest fare--but some theaters featured the same movies that played in regular theaters. The initially poor sound quality--Hollingshead had mounted three speakers manufactured by RCA Victor near the screen--improved, and later technology made it possible for each car's to play the movie's soundtrack through its FM radio. The popularity of the drive-in spiked after World War II and reached its heyday in the late 1950s to mid-60s, with some 5,000 theaters across the country. Drive-ins became an icon of American culture, and a typical weekend destination not just for parents and children but also for teenage couples seeking some privacy. Since then, however, the rising price of real estate, especially in suburban areas, combined with the growing numbers of walk-in theaters and the rise of video rentals to curb the growth of the drive-in industry. Today, fewer than 500 drive-in theaters survive in the United States.

Found another article on Fine Arts. Now I can give credit to the photographer that took the pic. I think. Anyway, it's John Fry. Gonna try and get in touch with him. Sent him an email. Want to see if he has any more pics of not just the movie house, but some of the other prominent places in town. Hopefully he has a pic of our Drive-In Theater which I still can't find anywhere online.

Just outside of our town in the adjacent town they had a strip that had at one time 6 Drive-Ins's next to each other. Meaning it was a Screen, then a parking lot, then another screen, parking lot......As it became obsolete, it was down to 3 and then eventually 0. Bah!!!! But it was really cool when my Mom would drive by at night time and I'd see these huge screens with movies showing. There was no hiding it, even though it was enclosed behind walls. Still trying to find pics of those theaters that don't suck.

very cool.

not sure we'd make it down this weekend...but I'd for sure keep my eyes peeled for future shows.

Danika broke her arm last night at her grandparents...so she's kind of on the mend right now

Well, I just got back from checking out opening night for FullMoonDrive-In theater and I gotta say that I was impressed by how organized they were and the massive turnout as well. I was expecting maybe 30 cars total and maybe a few walk-ins. Not the case here at all. A lot of people showed up and the staff did a great job in getting the cars into their respective spots. Since I won't be driving because I'm only two blocks away, I will always be doing the walk-in personally. I liked how they have it set up for those that choose not to drive. They have  a few rows of reclining style seats up near the front.

Also, I was wondering what the PA System would be like. Reading FullMoon's FAQ, I was under the impression the audio would be through the radio only. Nope. They have a PA System set up in the front for those without cars and it was louder than I expected it to be. Personally I want it even louder than that!!!! So, what about the screen? It was big. Much bigger than I even thought it would be. I was expecting it to be half the size. Hell man, I could see the screen from my house. So, this is only a partial review because I have yet to experience a movie and give my thoughts on how that plays out. But I can say just by my initial curiosity look into this, that it's gonna be very successful for the long run. But that of course will be dictated by what they decide to play. I'd like to see both T2: Judgement Day and Aliens sometime this summer there for sure. I'd buy my tickets for those right now if they said they were on sale.