Wasn't the name of that drive-in the Aircadia, you know, 'cause it was an "open air" theater? I remember my brothers took me to see a Sidney Poitier double feature there once -- "Lillies of the Field" and "A Patch of Blue" -- that I thought were both very cool.
Cinema 70 was a real nice, BIG theater that opened back when folks would dress up to go to a movie. I think one of the first big-event movies they showed was "Doctor Zhivago," but I could be wrong. I saw any number of movies there -- "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" "Cold Turkey," Fellini's "Amarcord" ... lots of 'em. I particularly remember going there with a friend to see Richard Harris and Alec Guinness in "Cromwell" one hot summer afternoon. Not a great movie, but not bad either. But it was annoying that every time a reel was changed there was a loud "Pop!" on the soundtrack. We were about the only people in that cavernous space and, afterward, on a lark, I asked if we could see the projection room. The manager led us up there where we met the nice projectionist and saw the whole layout -- two huge projectors with blinding-white lights and sorta noisy when the reels ran. Behind him, arrayed against a wall, was a bank of what seemed like about 40 car batteries. Turns out they were off the power grid for some reason and were running the projectors off the batteries -- hence the "Pop!" every time there was a reel changeover.
