Belmont Auto Theatre
Maxwell A. Milbauer and his wife, Emma, enjoyed entertaining children in the Belmont area by showing 16 mm movies on a large sheet that hung in their back yard. On one particular evening Elvin Doll, and his wife Edith, came over to watch a movie. Max and Elvin, who worked together at the Hyland Machine Company, had talked a few times before about beginning a business of their own, but hadn’t really thought of any venture that suited them yet. Edith remarked that perhaps they should open an outdoor theater where people could watch a movie in the comfort of their car. The two men agreed that this was a good idea and brought in another co-worker, Joe Flory.
“But when they built the Belmont Auto they got into trouble quickly, declares Elvin and Edith Doll’s son, Alan, who was general manager of B.A.C. Theatres from 1966 to 1979. “Miller Brothers (Excavating) was out there building for them and they just practically got into a monsoon. They had a terrible time trying to build that place. They about went out of business before they even got started because the weather wasn’t on their side. The weather was really bad, they got stuck in the mud, literally, and they had to bring in another partner, which was Al Foor. And they were trying to make a go of it and they just couldn’t do it and ran out of money. They’ve got Miller out there with that big equipment. So they brought in Kenny Curp. Next thing you know they still didn’t have enough so they brought in Bill Swaney.” This was the beginning of the Belmont Amusement Company, later to be known as B.A.C. Theatres.
“We built the business on a shoestring, and did a lot of the work ourselves,” laughs Joe Flory. This included mixing the concrete for the bases of the speaker posts, as well as pouring and finishing the floor of the concession stand.
Finally, as the theater neared completion, August 6, 1947 was chosen for the grand opening date.
“We even sent out invitations,” says Flory. “Unfortunately, up came a big storm. Dayton Power and Light didn’t have the electricity hooked up yet, we were running that close to getting open. They came out and it was lightning and thundering. They didn’t want to go up the pole and I didn’t blame them so we had to cancel the opening night.”
The Belmont Auto Theater finally opened at 2060 County Line Road in Dayton, on August 7, 1947. The Belmont would become the first drive-in in the area to introduce stereophonic sound, car heaters, 3-D movies and CinemaScope, and one of the few one-screen theaters to offer two concession stands. One sat in the middle row and another was placed in the back.
In 1954 the Belmont added new sections to its original screen to make a CinemaScope screen 96’ wide and 65’ high. It was the second largest in the country at the time, surpassed only by Sherwood Twin’s new 100’ x 65’ screen. Belmont’s projection screen was nearly three times as wide as the CinemaScope screens in downtown Dayton’s indoor theaters, which averaged thirty-five to forty feet across.
To celebrate the new screen the owners booked a new 3-D Rita Hayworth movie entitled ‘Miss Sadie Thompson’, “which, to say the least, should bring out all the young lady’s advertised dimensions”, noted Journal Herald’s film critic A. S. Kany.
Since the 3-D process needed two projectors to run at the same time, an intermission was usually needed during the film so that the projectors could be reloaded to show the second part of the movie. According to Alan Doll, Max wanted to be able to show a 3-D movie without any interruptions.
“Max was a fellow who wanted do to everything and do it right. So Belmont because the first drive-in to be able to do a 3-D change over without intermission. They had four projectors rather than just two.”
At first Twentieth Century Fox, which controlled the new CinemaScope process, refused to release C-Scope films to any drive-in that did not have a stereo sound system. Such a setup was an expensive investment, since it would entail a two box speaker system that allowed a patron to have a speaker for each side of the car. Seeing how well the CinemaScope films were being received in downtown theaters, the Belmont purchased stereophonic sound equipment.
“In order to have stereo you couldn’t just have two speakers per car,” says Alan. “That really didn’t give you stereo. You had to have special equipment inside the concession stand, there in the projection booth. They had all that. It was true stereo. They were the only drive-in I know east of the Mississippi that had stereo.”
The first movie to be shown was CinemaScope’s ‘Beneath the 12-Mile Reef’ on May 23, 1954. Unfortunately, Twentieth Century Fox soon changed its mind and began allowing drive-ins without stereo systems to show C-Scope movies and Belmont’s monopoly of this type of movie came to an end.
The Belmont eventually became a year-round drive-in. It was the first in the area to offer car heaters for use in the winter.
“When you entered the Belmont Auto you went to the box office. But, also, as you went through, there was a garage to the left. That’s where they gave out the heaters,” Alan Doll recalls. “Then as you exited the theater you had an office where you dropped off the heaters. And then during the day the maintenance man would move them all back to the other building. In the heyday of the Belmont there would be snow out the kazoo and that place would be packed. I remember as a kid handing those things out. It was exciting.”
In 1977 the Belmont brought back stereo sound with the showing of “The man Who Fell to Earth” and “Zardog”. The stereo system had not been used for a number of years, but after investing $30,000 to rebuild the system it was good as new. At the time it was reported as being the only known drive-in to still have stereophonic sound.
The last few years the stereo speakers were replaced with newer technology. Patrons tuned in their car radios to an AM frequency to listen to the movie. The car heaters were also gone, being too expensive to maintain.
In 1983 the Miami Valley Research Park bought the land from B.A.C. Theatres as part of a future plan to build a 1250 acre research park. The drive-in was operated for them by the Chakeres Theaters throughout he 1997 season.
Unfortunately, as is happening more and more, the land became too valuable to keep as a drive-in. In the spring of 1998, even as I was finishing the final draft of the first edition of this book, the Belmont was being torn down. Many will miss it.
Sidebar comments in book about the Belmont:
The original screen tower burnt down in 1948. “We had our office under the tower,” says Joe Flory, who arrived at the scene dressed only in his trousers. “I had a key to the door in my hand and was started toward the office door when the whole front of the screen tower blew off. I remembered that while we were building it a piece of the cement board got away from us and fell down, hitting a 2x4 and almost cutting it in two. That was in my mind as the boards started popping off the front of the screen. I just turned and got out of there.”
The Belmont Auto could be a very busy place, according to Joe Flory. “Once we showed ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’. Before the movie ever started, we were filled up. Traffic was backed up from the theater all the way down Patterson Road. All we could do was wave them on past.” Although speakers were available along the side fences, there were times when patrons waiting to see the second show had to park in a nearby field until the first movie was over.
This sign above the ticket booth was left from the days when electric car heaters were offered to patrons of the Belmont theater. The heaters allowed the Belmont to be open year round. Unfortunately, they were expensive to run and maintain, so theaters did away with them. Gone were the days of cuddling together on a December night while watching a romantic movie under the stars.
The Belmont Auto eventually expanded to thirteen rows. The theater had two concession stands, something rarely done at a drive-in with only one screen. In the 1950’s a large box was attached to a three-wheeled Cushman motor scooter, which was used to deliver sandwiches, popcorn and other items on the menu to patrons in their cars. Popcorn was a favorite item, says Zelma Flory. “We used to stick free passes to the theater in the popcorn boxes every so often as we filled them. One season we put three tons of raw popcorn through the popper.”
In 1977, a 30th anniversary celebration of the theater was held. Maxwell Milbauer, who had passed away, was honored by Alan Doll. A sculptured bust of Max was unveiled, the memorial reading ‘A leader in showmanship whose insight made this theatre possible.’ A drawing for a stereo set (to remind everyone that the Belmont had been the first theater to offer stereo), and a fireworks display were next, followed by a special triple feature of ‘Freaky Friday’, ‘Gus’, and ‘Bite the Bullet’. “Max was big on Walt Disney and westerns. He didn’t appreciate X-type movies,” stated Alan during the celebration, a policy that he followed as well during his thirteen year tenure.
Belmont Auto Theatre’s first newspaper ad invited the public to watch ‘Three Little Girls in Blue’. A map to the drive-in was important since the Belmont was not located on a main thoroughfare.
Captain Kidd Drive-In Theatre
Early in January 1965 over 100 acres of land were bought between Hempstead Road and the Washington township line. Before long it was discovered that Levin Theaters was involved in buying the land, and that they intended to build a drive-in theater on the property. A protest meeting was organized by a group of Kettering citizens that lived near the area of the proposed drive-in.
Before the month was over, Kettering city council passed ordinances designed to try and stop the drive-in from opening. The city planners had hoped that an industrial park would be built on the site, which would have provided the city with a larger tax base and more jobs than a drive-in, which operated only six months of the year.
After years of debate, Captain Kidd finally opened at 1500 Hempstead Road on May 2, 1975, at a cost of one million dollars. No expense was spared in constructing one of the most beautiful and unusual drive-in theaters in the Dayton area. The pirate ship decor, which included a ship’s steering wheel, anchors and port holes drew people into the concession stand. The atmosphere was fun and entertaining no matter what movie was playing on the big screen.
The Captain Kidd did have its share of rowdy patrons. In a 1978 interview John Seitz, manager of the Captain Kidd at the time, stated that he sometimes had trouble dealing with some of the kids who frequented the theater.
“My worst nights are when a whole high school class decide to all come here on the same night. We’re all jumping then. People who never drink come out here to do their drinking... we had a guy breaking bottles out in back, and he dented a guy’s car and cut another guy’s elbow up.”
“We’re the biggest under-21 bar in town” added the assistant manager, Kim Young.
The Captain Kidd closed its gates on May 30, 1988 with a showing of ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’.
“(The owners) told us the land has just gotten to be too valuable to keep it as a drive-in movie,” stated Gay Castle, manager of the Captain Kidd at the time that it closed.
VRG Corp., a New Jersey land development company, purchased the land to develop an industrial and office park. A General Motors Corporation satellite plant for GM’s Delco Products division and a plant Amco Products Inc. was built. Twelve tracts of land were later auctioned off in 1990 when VRG decided to liquidate the property so it could concentrate on its East Coast operations.
“It’s unfortunate our location wasn’t the best,” stated Castle the night of the Captain Kidd’s closing. “We always getting people who are shocked at how nice the place is. They say they never knew we were here.”
Sidebar comments in book about Captain Kidd:
The Captain Kidd, with its pirate ship decor, had one of the fanciest concession stands ever. “All along the wall they had portholes that came out of ships,” says Fred White, long time maintenance man for the Levin company. “They had lights behind them, with pictures. It looked pretty sharp.”
The marquee was eye-catching, the two swords that made up the K in Kidd glowing bright red in the night, promising both parents and kids that they were in for an adventure.
The wooden shingled ticket booths looked like small island huts from the South Pacific. The pirate ship decor included wooden paneled walls, round timber poles shaped like sailing masts and unusual ceiling beams. The concession stand carried a variety of treasures in the form of hot-dogs, hamburgers and popcorn, as well as video games for the kids. The pirate decor extended outside as well. Short wooden beams surrounded the concession stand, with a rope running between them, giving the appearance of a boat dock.
Captain Kidd was the first in the area to introduce a new sound process, called “Cinema Radio” by its inventor, Fred Schwartz. This innovation eliminated the need for the familiar window hanging speaker. Cinema Radio operated through a special cable installed just beneath the surface of the drive-in parking area. The movie soundtrack was transmitted through the cable, which broadcasted a frequency that could be picked up by the patron’s car radio.
“But it didn’t work too well,” says Fred White. “There were too many radio stations around. There was a station down in Kentucky that was coming in too strong. So they went back to speakers. It was a waste of a whole lot of money.”
Cinema 35
Cinema 35 originally opened as the Cruise-In Auto Theatre. Located on U. S. Route 35, two miles east of Eaton, the 600 car capacity drive-in was owned by brothers Dave and Lou Clemmer, who also owned the Miami Cruise-In located in Miamisburg. Although heavy spring rains delayed the theatre’s grand opening, the Cruise-In finally opened on April 17, 1948, with a showing of ‘The Shocking Miss Pilgrim’ starring Betty Grable.
The concession stand was located in the center row and offered a large variety of items, from hamburgers and ice cream bars to coffee and cigars. The Cruise-In also offered a “Catering Service”. Attendants were ever alert to the sound of a car horn, which meant a patron wanted something from the snack bar.
In the beginning, only children under the age of six were allowed in for free. Within a month, however, this was raised tot he age of twelve. Swings, sandboxes, teeter totters and a trapeze were located at the playground and free pony rides were given to children who arrived an hour before show time.
In 1971 the theater’s name was changed to Cinema 35. As attendance began to decline, first R-rated, then X-rated, movies began to be shown.
In April 1975 complaints from nearby neighbors prompted Preble county Sheriff Jan Spitler to obtain a warrant to close the theater. Two films were confiscated, “Deep Throat” and “The Devil in Miss Jones”. Unfortunately, neighbors behind the theater could see the films. H. Chester Hartman, and his wife Beverly, wrote a letter to the newspaper explaining their views.
“The screen is clearly visible to most homes on the street (Woodside Drive). Front yards, back yards, living room and bedroom windows are exposed to the sexual activity on the screen. Many children are not allowed to play outside in the summer evening due to these movies... This is a violation of our rights and of our children’s rights. If these movies must be shown, they should be shown indoors...”
The charges against the theater were thrown out in Eaton court when it was learned that the judge who had issued the warrant had not viewed the films in question. A previous ruling by the U. S. Supreme Court required that a judge had to view the alleged obscene films before a search warrant could be issued. The day after the verdict the films were again being shown.
As the cost of VCR’s came down and the accessibility to X-rated tapes became easier to buy or rent, many of Cinema 35’s patrons elected to watch this type of film at home. Cinema 35’s last season was in 1986. A restaurant and storage facility now occupy the site.
Dayton East
Dayton’s first large scale drive-in theater opened at 2700 Valley Street on Friday May 1, 1942. Herbert Ochs, who had already opened several of the eighty-nine or so drive-ins operating in the country at the time, was owner of the theater.
The new ‘Drive-In Theater’ was “particularly suitable for shut-ins and for defense workers,” stated Herbert Ochs during an interview with a Dayton Daily reporter, “for here each automobile is your private box from which to see your favorite picture show.”
Movies were changed three times a week and midnight shows were held every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for ‘victory workers’. Special emphasis was placed on showing Technicolor films on the 52’ x 60’ projection screen.
“The result of this type of operation is that we are bringing people to motion pictures who haven’t even been tapped by the indoor theater,” stated Ochs in an interview with Boxoffice magazine field representative Charles Irwin. “We have checked our patrons. Not five percent on any given night are people who would have gone to an indoor house.
“Our crowds are made up of couples who can’t find anyone to stay home with the babies, so they bring them in the car. We get invalids who return as many as four times a week; people who otherwise would never see a picture. Among our regulars are two fat ladies who do not go to indoor theaters because they don’t fit into regular seats. No sir, not five percent of our crowd is a potential indoor theater crowd.”
In fact, in Och’s opinion, many of the patrons who visited the Valley were not interested in what picture they were seeing. They merely wanted to enjoy the outdoors and some form of entertainment.
“As a test,” he related, “we have sometimes ran ads in which we didn’t even name the picture that was playing. The number of telephone calls that come in on those occasions is no greater than when we print the title of the picture.”
The Drive-In Theater’s name was later changed to Drive-In East when Ochs built a new drive-in at 6500 West Third Street and called it the Drive-In West. It again changed names a few years later, eventually being called the Dayton East Drive-In.
The last owner of the Dayton East was Levin Theaters. The theater’s last season was in 1982. The picture screen was torn down in 1990. Dayton Demolition, using cable wires and a bulldozer, pulled the screen over on its face. “It went down real easy,” said one of the workers afterwards.
Sidebar comments in book about the Dayton East:
“Patrons who arrive early at the outdoor theater may dance to recorded music on the large terrazzo floor just in front of the screen,” wrote Dayton Daily News columnist Evelyn Hart, in her column “Down The Aisle” on May 1, 1942. “The theater is so arranged that 700 cars can be accommodated conveniently and the occupants of each car can see and hear without interference.” Uniformed attendants directed patrons to their parking space so that as many cars as possible could be gotten on the lot. Lawn chairs set up near the front of the screen could accommodate about 300 walk-in patrons.
Technology had not caught up with the drive-in yet. As with most early drive-in theaters the sound for the movie came from a large central speaker, which was essentially a bullhorn. James Guarino, who had opened the Weymouth Drive-In Theatre in Weymouth, Massachusetts, stated that the speaker worked too well.
“You could hear all right - everyone in town could hear. In Westerns, when there was a lot of shooting, people used to call the police department and say there was a murder going on here.”
The Dayton East, originally called the Drive-In Theater, opened on May 1, 1942. It is a wonder that the Drive-In was built when it was, with the building restrictions imposed during World War II that prohibited unnecessary construction. Film Daily reported only four drive-ins were built between January 1942 and January 1945.
The concession stand was a cement block building according to Fred White. “It had two lanes in it for waiting on you at the counter. “During intermission, they would play music,” recalls Fontelle Presley, who worked in the concession stand in 1949. “The one people enjoyed the most was ‘Mule Train’. They would honk their horns continuously until it was played.”
Daytonians flocked to Ochs theater despite gasoline rationing, daylight savings time and round-the-clock work in the city’s war plants. Soldiers on leave during World War II got in for half price. Patrons got their money’s worth. A typical night consisted of a color cartoon, one or two short subject films, a first-run news reel (usually about the war) and a full length feature movie.
Mary Helm remembers going to see movies at “The Valley” as it was known in the neighborhood. “I think it cost a nickel to get in and for that you got to see one full-length movie, a cowboy serial and a cartoon. Quite a few people brought orange crates and put them on the ground so they could have something to sit on while watching the movies.”
Dayton West
The Dayton Drive-In West, located at 6500 West Third Street, was open on August 1, 1946. This 900 car theater was originally operated by Herbert Ochs. It provided individual car speakers instead of the ‘central sound’ of Ochs’ other theater on Valley Street.
The theater was hard to miss. “Watch for the Neon 6500” and “The Drive-In with the Illuminated Glass Towers” claimed the theater’s gala opening ad.
“The whole front of it was made of glass block, and they would have the whole thing lit up,” says Fred White, who maintained the drive-in after Levin Theaters bought it in the 1950s.
The ‘ultra-modern’ theater was equipped with the largest sound and projector equipment available from RCA at the time. Each individual speaker had a volume control knob. The Gala Grand opening was celebrated with a spectacular fireworks display and a local radio broadcast described the wonders of the new theater. The program that night included the Fred MacMurray movie “Where Do We Go From Here”, being shown in ‘gorgeous Technicolor.’
“Truly nature’s own healthy air-conditioning high above the downtown elevation with a free flow of fresh, country air,” stated the theater’s ad. “Entertainment for the entire family and ideal for shut-ins.”
By 1948 the drive-in began advertising as the Miami Drive-In. That same year patrons of the theater were introduced to a new form of entertainment. In addition to the movies being shown, they were offered a new game called Wahoo. Patrons were handed a Wahoo card at the ticket office, one for each occupant of the car, as they paid their entrance fee. Wahoo cards were similar in appearance to a bingo card. After the first feature was over, a dial similar to a compass would appear on the movie screen, while over the speakers a voice would give instructions on how to play the game.
The arrow would be spun on the dial. The number pointed to by the arrow would be called off. Patrons finding that number would punch out a perforation below it. To win, the numbers had to be in a straight row across or up and down or diagonally, just like conventional bingo. When someone would win he or she would beep the car horn twice. Prizes and money of various amounts were given, with jackpot payoffs sometimes reaching a thousand dollars or more. To win the jackpot a person had to Wahoo on the first five numbers called. If no one won, the jackpot grew.
In 1954 the Sherwood Drive-In’s Wahoo jackpot had grown to $1,975. When the fifth number was called a patron began honking their car horn. Two women and a man then went to the concession stand to claim their prize. Sam Levin became suspicious when he noticed a difference in the texture of the ‘winning’ Wahoo card and legitimate cards furnished by the theater. Further examination revealed that the numbers on the card did not correspond to an identifying serial number on the card’s lower right corner.
The police were called. A search of the trio’s car revealed an ink pad, ruler and torn numbers. The arresting officer, Deputy Sgt. Mike Longo, said that a fourth suspect had escaped with most of a card marking kit as soon as the others claimed the jackpot. A similar attempt had been made at a drive-in theater in Springfield the week before.
On July 1, 1960 Mathias H. Heck, Montgomery County Prosecutor, ordered a crackdown on owners of drive-in theaters who continued to offer Wahoo to their patrons. In a letter to the owners Heck wrote “...The sheriff of this county has been informed of our decision that the operation of this scheme of chance is in violation of these (gambling) statues and has been instructed to begin an enforcement program...”
The penalty for violating the law was a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500, and imprisonment of not less than ten days nor more than six months.
The playing of Wahoo at the drive-in came to an end for awhile, but was later revived.
By the late 1950’s the Miami began advertising as the Dayton West Drive-In Theater, probably to avoid any confusion with the Miami Cruise-In in Miamisburg. Dayton West thrived, even with the competition from the Sherwood Twin Drive-In that was located just a few blocks away. Unfortunately, on November 27, 1964, after the theater had closed for the season, vagrants started a fire which destroyed the picture screen, causing $36,000 worth of damage.
The Dayton West never reopened. Now nothing is left but an open field and a few metal posts set in concrete blocks. A new entrance ramp for Interstate 35 is now on what was part of the theater’s land.
Sidebar comments in book about the Dayton West:
Drive-ins began to sprout up all over America after World War II ended. By the end of 1946 more than 25% of the nation’s total drive-ins were located in Ohio. Ten years later the Dayton area had more drive-ins per capita than any other city in the world. Today Ohio ranks second in the nation for total number of drive-in theaters still open.
Ed Parker (man in the suit standing at the microphone) watches the picture screen with a Wahoo contestant at the North Star Drive-In. The contestant held a button that spun an arrow on a dial. The dial was projected onto the movie screen by a Wahoo machine, with the contestant winning the amount the arrow pointed to. What were the odds of someone winning the Wahoo jackpot? In 1948 the Dayton Daily News reported that a mathematician associated with a Dayton industrial firm had figured that for any person playing in a given evening, the chances were about 500,000 to one. If 1,500 people were present at the show, the chances of anyone winning the jackpot that night was 300 to one. And since Wahoo was usually only played twice a week, the jackpot could possibly not pay off for as long as three years.
The architecture of Dayton’s West screen tower and ticket booth was common in drive-in theaters built in the Miami Valley during the mid to late 1940’s, the same design being used by the Dayton West, Millers Grove and the Stardust in Springfield.
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