Ashmun Theatres Caro MI. R.J. & R.D. Ashmun Owners
Theatres: Auto Theatre/Saginaw -- Bel Air Drive-In/Saginaw -- Caro Drive-In/Caro -- Crest Drive-In/Okemos
M-53 Drive-In/Bad Axe -- Northside Drive-In/Lansing -- Starlite Drive-In/Bay City -- Sunset Drive-In/Midland
Tawas Drive-In/East Tawas -- Tuscola Drive-In/Bay City -- Twilite Drive-In/Saginaw

BUTTERFIELD CIRCUIT (1975) DETROIT MICH. M.F. GOWTHORPE, PRES.
OPERATING: W.S. BUTTERFIELD THEATRES INC. - BUTTERFIELD MICHIGAN THEATRES CO.
B. & J. THEATRES INC. - CARLEY AMUSEMENT CO. - J.R. DENNISTON THEATRE CO.
THEATRES: UNIVERSITY DI/ANN ARBOR - AUTO DI/BATTLE CREEK - WEST POINT/BATTLE CREEK - NORTHLAND DI/FLINT
SOUTH DORT DI/FLINT - WESTSIDE DI/FLINT - VISTA DI/GRAND RAPIDS - STARLIGHT DI/HOLLAND - DOUGLAS DI/KALAMAZOO
PORTAGE DI/KALAMAZOO - LANSING DI/LANSING - STARLITE DI/LANSING - DENNISTON DI/MONROE

COMMUNITY THEATRES (1975) DETROIT, MICH IRVING, ADOLPH & FREDRICK S. GOLDBERG
THEATRES: BEL AIR TWIN DI/DETROIT - GRAND RIVER DI/FARMINGTON - GRATIOT DI/ROSEVILLE

COOPERATIVE THEATRES OF MICHIGAN INC. (1975) SOUTHFIELD, MICH.
IRVING BELINSKY, PRES. WILLIAM WETSMAN, TREAS.
THEATRES: SKYWAY DI/CORUNNA - FORD WYOMING DI/DEARBORN - UNIVERSITY DI/BIG RAPIDS
ALBION DI/ALBION - COMMERCE DI/WALLED LAKE - WALAKE DI/WALLED LAKE - MAPLE CITY DI/CHARLOTTE
BELTLINE DI/GRAND RAPIDS - PLAINFIELD DI/GRAND RAPIDS - WOODLAND DI/GRAND RAPIDS -AUTO DI/MUSKEGON
GETTY DI/MUSKEGON - NORTH DI/MUSKEGON - IONIA DI/IONIA - GREENVILLE DI/GREENVILLE
55 HI DI/HOUGHTON LAKE - MT CLEMENS DI/MT CLEMENS - STURGIS DI/STURGIS - LAKESHORE DI/PORT HURON
PLEASANT DI/PLEASANT - COLDWATER DI/COLDWATER* - SKY HI DI/GAYLORD - SUNDOWN DI/ROSEBUSH
M-60 DI/MENDON - NORTHLAND DI/PETOSKY - MARYSVILLE DI/MARYSVILLE -THUNDER BAY DI/ALPENA
ALPENA DI/ALPENA - M-104 DI/SPRING LAKE - SUNSET DI/LAPEER - NORTHSIDE DI/LANSING
HILLSDALE DI/HILLSDALE - GALAXIE DI/MIO - PINE AIRE DI/BALDWIN - FAMILY DI/ST. JOHNS
CHIPPEWA DI/MANISTEE - NORTHLAND DI/CLARE

GENERAL CINEMA CORP. (1975) (FORMERLY GENERAL DRIVE-IN CORP.) RICHARD A. SMITH, PRES.
THEATRES: EASTSIDE DI/DETROIT - WESTSIDE DI/DETROIT - DEARBORN DI/DEARBORN
YPSI-ANN DI/ANN ARBOR - WILLOW DI/BELLEVILLE - SCIO DI/ANN ARBOR

JACK LOEKS THEATRES (1975) GRAND RAPIDS,MICH.
THEATRES: BELTLINE DI/GRAND RAPIDS - PLAINFIELD DI/GRAND RAPIDS - WOODLAND DI/GRAND RAPIDS
AUTO DI/MUSKEGON - GETTY DI/MUSKEGON - NORTH DI/MUSKEGON

GOODRICH THEATRES (1985) KENTWOOD, MI ROBERT GOODRICH, PRES.
THEATRES: UNIVERSITY DI/BIG RAPIDS - CADILLAC DI/CADILLAC - CHIPPEWA DI/MANISTEE

MESCOP INC. (1975) MILWAUKEE WISC. FRED FLORENCE, PRES, & BUYER
THEATRES: EVERGREEN DI/ISHPEMING - HILLTOP DI/ESCANABA - CINEMA II DI/MANISTIQUE
STARLITE DI/SAULT STE MARIE - TRI-CITY DI/IRON MT. - AIRPORT DI/NEGAUNEE

Mid States Inc. (AKA VIP Theatres) Harry Mohney, Pres.
Theatres: Albion Drive-In/Albion - Alpena Drive-In/Alpena - Blue Sky Drive-In/Caseville - Crest Drive-In/Okemos
Galaxy Drive-In/Mio - Northside Drive-In/Lansing - Seaway Drive-In/Algonac - Sceen Drive-In/Durand
Scio Drive-In/Ann Arbor - Starlite Drive-In/Bay City - Sunset Drive-In/Lapeer - Thunder Bay Drive-In/Alpena
University Drive-In/Ann Arbor - West Point Drive-In/Battle Creek - Willow Drive-In/Ann Arbor - Ypsi-Ann Drive-In/Ann Arbor

Outstate: Breezeway Drive-In/Clinton, IN - Cinema 40 Drive-In/Greencastle, IN - Maplecroft Drive-In/Clayton, IN
Rockville Drive-In/Rockville, IN - South Drive-In/Anderson, IN - Starlite Twin Drive-In/Osceola, IN
Wabash Drive-In/Attica, IN - Western Drive-In/South Bend, IN - Cinema 35 Drive-In/Eaton, OH

NICHOLAS GEORGE THEATRES NICHOLAS GEORGE, PRES.
THEATRES: MICHIGAN DI/WYANDOTTE - FORT GEORGE DI/SOUTHGATE - JOLLY ROGER DI/DEARBORN
GALAXY DI/MADISON HGHTS - COMMERCE DI/WALLED LAKE - HOLIDAY DI/TRENTON

WAYNE AMUSEMENTS WAYNE MICH. MARTIN & CHARLES SHAFER
THEATRES: FORD-WYOMING DI/DEARBORN - DEARBORN DI/DEARBORN
WILLOW DI/BELLEVILLE - WAYNE DI/WAYNE - ALGIERS DI/WAYNE

WISPER & WETSMAN INC. (1975) BIRMINGHAM MICH. WM. M. WETSMAN, PRES.
THEATRES: WALAKE DI/WALLED LAKE - MARYSVILLE DI/MARYSVILLE - GREENVILLE DI/GREENVILLE
IONIA DI/IONIA - M-104 DI/SPRING LAKE - M-60 DI/MENDON - PLEASANT DI/MT PLEASANT
SUNDOWN DI/ROSEBUSH - NORTHLAND DI/CLARE - MAPLE CITY DI/CHARLOTTE

NORTHEAST THEATRE CORP. (1975) BOSTON MASS.
MICHAEL REDSTONE, CHMN. OF THE BD. SUMNER REDSTONE, PRES.
THEATRES: BEL AIR DI/JACKSON - JACKSON DI/JACKSON - WATERFORD DI/WATERFORD
MIRACLE TWIN DI/FLINT - CASCADE TWIN DI/GRAND RAPIDS - M-78 TWIN DI/EAST LANSING
MIRACLE MILE DI/PONTIAC - PONTIAC DI/PONTIAC -BLUE SKY DI PONTIAC - UNIVERSITY DI/ANN ARBOR

The NORTHEAST THEATRE CORPORATION, now known as NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS, was founded in 1936 by Michael Redstone. National Amusements is now part of media-giant VIACOM. Viacom's television presence includes CBS, MTV, CMT, UPN, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, Comedy Central and 39 U.S. television stations. Also under the Viacom umbrella is Infinity Broadcasting, Paramount Studios, Paramount Theme Parks, Blockbuster Video, Simon & Schuster publishing, Viacom Outdoor advertising and Famous Players, an 87-theatre circuit in Canada. Viacom employs over 120,000 employees. Chairman and CEO Sumner Redstone got his start working in the snack bar in his fathers drive-in, the Sunrise Drive-In on Long Island, supposely the third drive-in built in the U.S. according to Redstone. Redstone went on to become a lawyer and served in WWII. He left his law practice in 1954 to work at his fathers National Amusements, eventually taking the helm and aquiring Viacom in 1987. Along the way he built or bought, and then dismantled some 60 drive-in theatres, usually building indoor multiplex theatres on the sites. Like so many other former National Amusements drive-in sites, an indoor mutiplex now stands on the grave of Redstones first drive-in, the Sunrise. Today, National Amusements has nearly 1,400 screens in the U.S., U.K., and Latin America. In the U.S. they currently have theatres in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Virginia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Incredibly they have three drive-ins left, the Miracle Twin in Burton Michigan, the Oakley in Cincinnati Ohio, and the Kenwood in Louisville Kentucky. So, out of 1,400 screens, a total of four of those are drive-ins. Oddly enough, you'll find no mention of these drive-ins on National Amusements website. We have compiled a working list of National Amusements drive-in theatres.

"I [have] never been a dismantler; I've been essentially an acquirer and I did not
want to part with assets that I consider critical." - Sumner Redstone "A PASSION TO WIN"

When asked in a CBS interview if he thought drive-ins will ever come back, Redstone responded with;
"Not a chance....it's never gonna come back...it's part of history....but it's gone.... it's gone forever...like the buggy whip."
Read a portion of the interview here.

"I have a personal sense of satisfaction, which I hope is understandable, when I think that I started with
about three drive-in theatres -- and that has become National Amusements, Viacom and Paramount."
Sumner Redstone in a 1994 Boxoffice Magazine interview.

Read more about Redstone here, and here.

Updated 3-25-06

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