And 75 years ago today, the Tower Drive-in opened. Here's the Grand Opening ad that appeared in the Lorain Journal back on May 20, 1950.
The ad makes it sound pretty modern and nice. It notes, "A new advancement in sound engineering and speaker construction will bring you for the first time a tone quality and fidelity never before achieved in an Auto Theatre.
"A newly designed speaker post provides you with your own parking light. A small lamp concealed in the plastic top of the post casts a soft mellow glow to aid in replacing the speaker and a small white spot light up the base of the post for greater ease in parking.
"All ramps are scientifically designed for perfect visibility in any part of the theater."
"For the first time anywhere in the world you will see a screen image, of this tremendous size, three times more brilliant than before."
Here's an ad for the theatre that ran a few days later.
May 26, 1950 Journal ad
By June, Tower Drive-in movie ads had adopted the flower logo that would adorn its ads for decades.
Regular readers of this blog know that from time to time, I post Journal movie pages from fifty and sixty years ago. The ads provide a nice snapshot of cultural tastes, and reveal what society found entertaining at that time.
Since the fifty-year perspective (and 1970s films in general) can be somewhat depressing, leave us turn back the hands of time, and see what was on area screens sixty years ago.
Back on the Journal movie page of October 1, 1962, we see that the classic Hollywood star system was in decline, with less star-driven pictures. Popular actors and actresses were taking more control of their careers, with many producing their own films. Of course, this meant that they could get the credit (or blame) if the movie was a dud.
Alan Ladd's team produced the crime film 13 West Street, which was showing at the Tivoli, with The Hellions as the second feature.
Sadly, Alan Ladd passed away in January 1964 at the age of fifty, with the cause of death (according to his Wiki page) of "an accidental combination of alcohol, a barbiturate, and two tranquilizers."
At Amherst Theatre was Hell is For Heroes, starring Steve McQueen in one of his early films. The Journal movie ad was pretty stark – all bland lettering – compared to the movie poster.
Also featured in the war flick was Bobby Darin, Fess Parker, and Bob Newhart.
Over at Avon Lake Theatre, John Wayne was starring in the action film Hatari, directed by Howard Hawks. Hawks helmed five of the Duke's pictures, including Red River, Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Also on the bill was The Music Man.
Lorain Drive-in was catering to filmgoers (gentlemen?) who preferred blondes and brunettes, preferably from Europe. Gina Lollobrigida and Ernest Borgnine were starring in Go Naked in the World. (I hope the title wasn't referring to Mr. Borgnine's attire in the movie.) Brigitte Bardot was the star of the second feature, the truth.
I wonder what kind of reception these two films received in Lorain, where only a few years earlier, Bowery Boys movies seemed to be perpetually airing on various screens downtown?
Tower Drive-in had a double feature of Splendor in the Grass and September Storm. September Storm looks pretty good, predating Jaws by many years. Plus it stars Joanne Dru, who was in Red River and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon with the Duke. Now those are some good credentials in my book!
Lastly, at the Palace – the only movie house that is still around in some form today – a jolly double feature of The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus and The Manster (half man, half monster) was lighting up the screen.
At least a Merrie Melodie Cartoon was included on the bill.
Here’s yet another vintage newspaper page, this time from the May 4, 1956 edition of the Lorain Journal. No front page this time; it’s the page with all the movie listings and restaurant ads, and there’s plenty of fun stuff to look at for longtime Lorainites.
Drive-ins were big back then, and all of the local ones were showing historical action movies.
At the Carlisle Drive-in there was John Wayne and Lauren Bacall in Blood Alley(1955). The second half of the double feature was Fort Yuma(1955) with Peter Graves.
At the Lorain Drive-in, Burt Lancaster was starting in The Kentuckian (1955), with Jack Webb in Pete Kelly’s Blues as the second feature.
And over at the Tower Drive-in on Lake Avenue, The Warriors (1955) a late entry with Errol Flynn, was finishing its run.
Who would have guessed that in 2020, the one local drive-in still around – Aut-o-Rama– would be enjoying renewed popularity, thanks to the coronavirus and the necessities of social distancing? (I wrote about my trip to Aut-o-Rama back here.)
Courtesy Aut-o-Rama website.
Hey, that’s a commercial for Pic on the screen!
Anyway, back to the ads.
The one big ad that stands out on the page is for a movie I’ve never heard of: On The Threshold of Space starring Guy Madison, Wild Bill Hickok himself. It was showing at the Tivoli in Downtown Lorain.
There’s lots of other stars represented on the page, including Audie Murphy in World in My Corner(1956) at the Ohio Theater, and good ol’ Randolph Scott in Thunder Over the Plains (1953) about to open at the Palace as part of a children’s matinee. (I’ve seen so many Randolph Scott westerns on GRIT that he’s become somewhat of a favorite.)
I know I’ve been doing this blog for a long time when I see that I’ve written about most of the restaurants and businesses on this Journal page, including the Pueblo, the Showboat, Ben Hart’s, Evan’s Grill, Crystal Beach Ballroom and 4-Winds Drive-in.
Back when drive-in movie theaters were young, it was apparently a big deal when they reopened for the season. Ads like the one above for the Tower Drive-in – which ran in the Lorain Journal on March 4, 1955 – were pretty common.
March 4th seems kind of early to kick off the drive-in season.
I posted the Tower Drive-in's 1956 Grand Reopening ad here.
That's a pretty unusual double feature – Women's World (1954) and Siege at Red River (1954). Something for both sexes I guess.
If you've got the time (and some popcorn) you can watch Siege at Red River right now below, courtesy of YouTube. It stars Van Johnson and Joanne Dru, who was in another similarly named movie – Red River – with John Wayne.
Siege at Red River has some great artwork during the opening credits.
At the Tower Drive-in on Lake Avenue– the Best Show Bargain in Town – there were three big pictures in the line-up.
Perennial Lorain favorites the Bowery Boys were starring in Jail Busters(1955).In this one, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Satch (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the Boys (in this case, that means Butch) get themselves arrested and sent to prison as part of some undercover work for a newspaper story on prison corruption. Wacky hijinks ensue when they get double-crossed, and as a result become real convicts temporarily.
The third movie in the triple feature was an oater called The Silver Star (1955), which starred Edgar Buchanan (Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction) and Lon Chaney Jr. Jimmy Wakely sang the movie's theme song.
Courtesy www.movieposter.com
Over at the Lorain Drive-in on Lake Road, Commanche! (1956) with Dana Andrews was just wrapping up. The film also introduced Linda Cristal.
Also on the bill that night Gentlemen Marry Brunettes(1955), starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain. The film was a sequel of sorts to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (which also starred Jane Russell). Gentlemen Marry Brunettes also featured Alan Young (Wilbur on Mr. Ed) – who, happily, is still with us.
The third feature that night was another Bowery Boys classic, Master Minds (1949). It was one of their best. In this one, Sach has the ability to predict the future, which attracts the attention of a mad scientist. The mad scientist actually succeeds in temporarily swapping Sach's brain with that of a vicious hairy monster!
The attractions for Sunday night sounded pretty good too.
First up was a Cartoon Carnival consisting of 6 color cartoons. That drawing of Donald Duck in the ad, though, is one of the worst I've ever seen, with his gargantuan duck head and tiny hands. Definitely not the work of Carl Barks!
The first feature for Sunday night was the creepy science fiction B-movie World Without End (1956) which takes place in the futuristic year of 2508. It features Rod Taylor and a race of violent (and hairy) one-eyed mutants, not to mention some space-babes.
Lastly was – what else? – another Bowery Boys hit: Dig that Uranium (1956)!
Here's a preview clip (sorry, no trailer available for this one).
Dig that Uranium was actually quite topical, with the Bowery Boys trying to strike it rich by prospecting for uranium. (It was a very lucrative enterprise back in the 1950s; click here to find out more.)
Well, yesterday you saw what a Lorain Drive-in ad announcing its March 1963 seasonal reopening looked like. Here's the same type of ad, this time for the Tower Drive-in on Lake Avenue in March of 1956.
It's actually a pretty nice ad, with great typography, as well as some great graphics explaining the reasons to go to a drive-in movie.
Of course, here's the trailer for Blood Alley (1955) starring the Duke (below). Strangely enough, I've never seen this one. Guess it's time to head to the library for the DVD, although I'd rather see John Wayne on a horse than as the captain of a ship.
And here's the trailer for the "second action thriller" – Stranger on Horseback featuring Joel McCrea (below).
It would be a couple of years before in-car heaters would eventually be featured at the Tower Drive-in.
This ad, which ran in the January 16, 1958 edition of the Lorain Journal – 55 years ago this month – explains how it was that the Tower Drive-in on Lake Avenue in Elyria Township could stay open in the winter months. The very next day the theater offered its patrons in-car heaters for the very first time.
Even with the piped-in heat, though, winter drive-ins are still a strange concept to me. What if it was snowing? It's bad enough when it rains at the drive-in, but it's hard to imagine looking at the screen with the fluffy white stuff coming down. Plus, who wants to risk getting stuck in a snowbank while trudging to the concession stand?
Maybe global warming will eventually make it possible to go to the few remaining drive-ins year-round again.
Anyways, while we're waiting for the Aut-O-Rama Twin to reopen in early April, here's a classic 1950s intermission ad to put us in the mood for some good old concession goodies.
Stock music aficionados (like me) recognize the background music in the animated commercial as "The Cheeky Chappy" by Phil Green. It was used in a couple of Quick Draw McGraw cartoons.
While doing my blog series on local and regional drive-in theaters a few weeks ago (which all started back here), I never got around to driving over to where the old Tower Drive-in used to be on Lake Avenue so I could take a few photos. I finally did this past weekend.
Judging by the above 1974 movie ad, it looks like the Tower Drive-in was one swinging place!
The Tower Drive-in is one of the 'forgotten' Lorain County drive-ins, along with the Lorain Drive-in and the Carlisle Drive-in. A 2005 Chronicle-Telegram article by Steve Fogarty mentioned that the Tower Drive-in had gotten into trouble back in 1961 "when the theater was shut down by the Lorain County Sheriff's Department over complaints lodged against films that contained 'scenes of nudes of both sexes' and 'suggestive dialogue.'
Fogarty's article also said that in 1970, "50 mph wind gusts ripped the movie screen down", and that a quick replacement screen was installed. He adds that the drive-in closed in 1985.
I can remember going to the Tower Drive-in back in 1984 mainly because the movie that was playing was so lousy: Top Secretwith Val Kilmer, brought to you by the same writer/directors who created Airplane!
Anyway, here's what the Tower Drive-in marquee looks like today, as part of the R&M Tower Storage complex. Like I said back here, drive-in theater properties seemed to make good storage facilities.
You can see the tower in the background that I assume the drive-in was named for.
And here's a shot of the screen, way off in the distance, now converted to a sign.
