Cinema: Wide Open

In the six-month period ending in May, 580 regular movie theaters closed down. But open-air drive-ins, offering such tempting summertime extras as car washing, shuffleboard courts and miniature zoos, are enjoying their greatest boom.

Last week the trade magazine Boxoffice reported that after putting up 859 “ozoners” in 1949, exhibitors’ were spending an estimated $87,154,000 on 924 for this year’s drivers. By fall, the drive-ins would be taking care of more than 20% of the total U.S. movie audience.