Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1963)

JUNE 10, 1963 D RIVE-IN theatres throughout the United States continue to flourish as centers of entertainment for the whole family, as well as the dating crowd, and many more are being built, ranging in size from the small 200 to 300-car operation to the big 1,500 to 2,000-car layouts. And in these new theatres, just as in those already established, more and more attention is being given to landscaping, bright and colorful buildings and to the children's playgrounds. Many drive-ins also provide adult play facilities, such as driving ranges, miniature golf courses, shuffleboard courts, etc. Where the drive-in is fortunately located near a lake or river, fishing and swimming are often available. All of these extras help to lure the patrons to the theatre early, quite some time before the pictures are shown. The early arrival is an important factor in making the concessions service pay off in a big way. And everyone knows that the drive-in cafeteria is a big operation which, if it offers quality food and drinks in clean and sanitary surroundings served by well-trained attendants, plays an important role in the overall profit take. There have been some new developments in drive-ins, such as the indooroutdoor operation related and pictured on pages 4 and 5 in this issue. This type of theatre is an outgrowth of the original indoor viewing rooms which faced the drive-in screen but goes further in that the indoor theatre is a complete entity in itself. It is interesting to note, too, that drive-in theatres are becoming more popular in other countries — to the north, in Canada, for example; and to the south, in Mexico and Puerto Rico. The story of the first drive-in theatre in all of Japan is told on page 6 of this section. contents ☆ Indoor-Outdoor Theatre Combo Gains in Favor 4 American Builds First Japanese Drive-In 6 Roof-Cooling System Reduces Power Load for Mechanical Equipment Siegfried Ruppright 8 A Clear Picture on Drive-In Screen Even During Blizzard 10 New Core-Lite Arc Lamps Installed in an Indoor House and a Drive-In 1 1 Keys to Volume Concessions Sales Robert L. Stone 13 NAC President Schmitt Suggests Aggressive Merchandising Techniques 17 Rectifiers Offer Reliability and Minimum Maintenance Wesley Trout 20 Skouras Remodels Another Theatre 22 Closed Small-Town Theatre Now a Family Bowling Center 24 Young Projectionist Devises System to Burn Carbons Down to Only "Nubbins" 25 Engineer Makes Adaptations of Pulse-Lite to Achieve Even Greater Ease of Operation 26 Foyer and Both Auditoriums Below Ground in New Twin Theatre in Toronto Center 28 Carbons, Inc., Will Distribute Italian-Made Xenon Lamphouses ... 31 ☆ DEPARTMENTS: Drive-In Theatres 4 Readers Service Bureau 35 Refreshment Service 13 Advertisers' Index 35 Projection and Sound 20 About People and Product 36 New Equipment and Developments 29 ☆ I. L. THATCHER, Managing Editor The MODERN THEATRE Section of BOXOFFICE is included in the first issue of each month. Editorial or general business correspondence should be addressed to Associated Publications, 825 Van Brunt Blvd., Kansas City 24, Mo. Wesley Trout, Technical Editor; Eastern Representative: D. M. Mersereau, 1270 Sixth Ave., Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y.; Central Representatives: Louis Didier, Jack Broderick, 5809 N. Lincoln, Chicago 45, III., Western Representative: Wettstein, Nowell & Johnson, Inc., New York Life Bldg., 2801 West Sixth St., Los Angeles 57, Calif.