posted 01-23-2012 09:38 AM                    

quote: reminise.com

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Autoscope drive-in movie had a screen for every car

March 2, 2011

By Shirley Triplett, Pleasanton, California

The Autoscope in Buffalo, Missouri.The Autoscope in Buffalo, Missouri opened August 1, 1954, the summer after I graduated from high school. It was a revolutionary idea, with 118 screens set up like a giant wheel, instead of one big screen.

The cars were parked in a circle, each facing its own 30- by 60-inch screen. The film was projected from a building in the center of the circle.

It was still a real drive-in, though, outdoors and under the stars.

My future husband, Paul, and I went to the Buffalo Autoscope in 1954. He even sneaked a kiss from me there.

We moved from Buffalo in 1955 when we married but moved back with our family in 1963 for about 4 years, so our children have memories of this unique drive-in.

Our son Randy remembers a time at the Autoscope when he was 6 or 7. He went to the snack shack at the center of the circle of screens, and when he came out, he was confused about where our car was parked.

Randy walked around the circle of cars until he spotted our Corvair, but when he opened the door, he found another family in the car. Someone else in town had a Corvair just like ours.

I’m not sure how successful the Autoscope was, or if it ever caught on elsewhere.

I do know the Autoscope was a real boon to Buffalo, and it served the community until 1976.

Last fall, while visiting Buffalo, we drove out Highway 65 to see the site of the Autoscope. Nothing remained of it or the single-screen drive-in that had later replaced it.

Progress had put an end to our nostalgic wanderings, but my family and I still have fond memories of our nights at the Autoscope.

About the Autoscope

The Autoscope, billed as the “world’s first private screen theatre,” was designed and built by two Dallas County Missouri men, Tom Smith and Bert Croley.

The Autoscope drive-in was built in 1954 on Highway 65 on the north edge of Buffalo, Missouri. It featured 118 30-by-60-inch screens, one for every car. The screens were arranged in a circle, the center of which contained the projection house.

The projector was made up of a “fly’s eye lens,” which was a cluster of small lenses. The film was beamed through the lens, then reflected off mirrors and through portholes in the building and onto the individual screens by rear projection.

The Buffalo Autoscope was actually the second one that Smith and Croley built. The first was a 54-screen experimental theater near Urbana, 18 miles north of Buffalo. When the men saw that their idea worked, they built the bigger drive-in in Buffalo.

The Autoscope was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Rober DeJarnette in 1974. They ran it for 2 more years, then replaced it with the more common single big screen.

There were two Autoscopes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the early 1960s. They survived only a few years.

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posted 01-23-2012 11:06 AM                    

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin

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how could they have put out an acceptable picture?

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posted 01-23-2012 04:04 PM                    

quote:

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(And notice it used two projectors. - No platters!)

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That would be insane. Look at the pictures. First off they are using large reels. Second TRY AND IMAGINE THE HELL of setting up TWO of that mess for a second projector!

I still want to see a PA35 loop ran through those.

posted 01-24-2012 09:33 AM                    

quote: Brad Miller

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That would be insane. Look at the pictures.

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