The Bend Drive-In Theatre opened on July 6, 1950, with an opening night screening of "Chain Lightning" (Humphrey Bogart) and "Red Canyon" (Howard Duff). (1) The theater was owned by brothers Albert and William Forman, who also owned two of Bend's most popular indoor theaters, the Capitol Theatre and the Tower Theatre. Ten acres of land were graded to accommodate 400 cars, a 60-by-60-foot screen, a modern projection room, a snack bar, and a playground for children beneath the screen (1).
The construction of the Bend Drive-In was a community effort, and the theater's opening-day advertisements in the Bend Bulletin made a point of acknowledging every business involved (1). General contractor A. Wilson Benold, operating out of his Cable Building office, oversaw the placement of the screen, the speaker poles, the fencing, and the concession building. Deschutes Electric handled the electrical work throughout the property, and McLennan Plumbing Co. supplied the plumbing. The projection room was outfitted with high-intensity RCA equipment, and individual RCA speakers mounted on poles beside each parking space replaced the cruder broadcast systems that earlier drive-ins had relied upon.
The theater closed temporarily a year after opening and advertised a grand re-opening in April 1951, before a 35-year run as the only drive-in theater in Bend (2). Under the management of Arthur E. Hile, the theater became a member of the Nor Cal Theatres Inc. chain, along with Bend's Fine Arts Theatre and Encore Theatre (3). There were a limited number of sources I could find about the financial state of the Drive-In, when its ownership changed, or the circumstances of its closing.
Programming leaned toward action and comedy, broadly family-friendly films that suited the drive-in's outdoor, communal atmosphere, though the theater also occasionally screened French imports and other international films, a curiosity that spoke to the ambitions of its programmers (4). In its early years the theater operated seven days a week during the summer months, always presenting a double feature. Beginning in 1954, the schedule shifted to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday only, a change that reflected the economics of exhibition (5). Gates opened at 7 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. depending on the time of year, and new double features rotated on no fixed day. Programs changed week to week, keeping audiences returning to check what was playing. As for pricing, adults paid 55 cents, children 20 cents, and those under ten were admitted free.
The Drive-In was designed as a destination for the whole family, with various features aimed to support parents with their children. The theater's playground allowed kids to run off their energy in the lot before the picture began. This was a common feature in drive-ins at the time and was frequently advertised as the solution to "the babysitter problem" (1). For families with infants, the snack bar offered a bottle warming service. On Friday nights the theater hosted a Cartoon Carnival, pairing animated shorts with foot-long hot dogs from the snack bar. These features show that the Bend Drive-In developed their business to be something bigger than just watching a movie for two hours then leaving.
Beyond the films themselves, the drive-in cultivated a lively event culture that distinguished it from the indoor theaters the Formans also operated (4). Friday nights featured a Cartoon Carnival, complete with foot-long hot dogs for sale at the snack bar. Greased pig contests drew crowds into the lot to watch participants chase down an oiled pig. On the Fourth of July, fireworks were set off on the property. On Mother's Day, mothers over the age of 60 were admitted free of charge: a gesture that underscored the theater's role as a neighborhood institution rather than merely a commercial venue.
In 1979, Craig C. Coyner acquired the drive-in from Jim Hutchens, continuing its operation through the first half of the 1980s (2). The Bend Drive-In held its last screening on August 4, 1985. A 2010 interview with a former owner theorized that rising land prices were the main factor leading to its closure: zoning laws required drive-ins to occupy commercially designated land, which carried higher property tax burdens that the seasonal, weekend-only economics of a drive-in could not sustain (6)
