The Admiral’s orders

Where the drive-in culture meets the digital age

The Admiral Twin drive-in and Tulsa go way back —all the way back to a time when Tulsa was a leader in the post-World War II aviation industry, to the decade when TIME dubbed Tulsa “America’s Most Beautiful City” and American teenagers first fell in love with cars.

The Admiral Twin has a rich history in Tulsa and it’s as much a part of this town as are the people who love it. Nearly every Tulsan, native or transplant, has a story to tell about our piece of classic Americana, which seems oddly appropriate for a place so steeped in nostalgia.

Tulsa native Hailey Henson remembers how much fun she had with her family sitting on the tailgate of her father’s truck. Many have similar stories of family, but if you ask around enough, you might be lucky enough to find someone who remembers when the Admiral Twin first opened.

Though the concept of drive-ins had been around elsewhere for nearly two decades (the first was introduced in Camden New Jersey in 1933), it was still relatively new to Tulsa when what we know now as the Admiral Twin arrived on the scene in 1951.

In its original incarnation it had a single screen and operated under the name “The Modernaire.” The Modernaire soon came to be known by the name the Admiral Drive-in, reflecting its location just off of Admiral, and with the addition of a second screen in 1953, it took on the name it would bear for the next 60 or more years.

The Admiral Twin, or just “the Admiral” as owner Blake Smith affectionately calls it, is one of the last operational drive-ins that can boast an association with the Mother Road. The official Route 66 Travel Guide features the Admiral Twin as one the places to see on the Oklahoma stretch and also as one of only “a handful” of operational drive-ins located off of Route 66, one of only four listed in the guide.

In 2005, the Admiral Twin was titled “America’s favorite landmark” in Hamptons Inn’s “Save A Landmark” campaign by process of online voting. In addition to the title, the theater was awarded $20,000 and a team of volunteers to assist with the renovations. 

Unfortunately, the benefits of the renovations were short-lived. Just five years after the Drive-in’s facelift was complete, the 80-foot double screen was destroyed in a fire. The structure consumed with flames was visible to drivers on Interstate 244. Patrick Parker recalls being one of the drivers to witness the fire, describing it as “surreal.” The 2010 fire caused the Admiral to miss out on the 2011 season. Smith says he believes the fire was due to electrical problems.

In the months following the fire, the future of Tulsa’s Admiral Twin was uncertain, and rumors that there were no plans to rebuild began to spread. The community responded and organized a fundraising effort that supplemented the loans needed to fund the rebuilding process. In 2012 the Admiral Twin was finally reborn as a 9-story steel reincarnation of its former self.

While the fire recovery efforts launched the Admiral Twin back into the news, albeit in an unpleasant way, its real claim to fame has always been its cameo as the drive-in featured in Frances Ford Coppola’s 1982 film “The Outsiders.” Coppola, like many Tulsans, clearly recognized the fact that the Admiral Twin epitomized the nostalgia of the 1950’s iconic culture. Smith says that “The Outsiders” continues to be our calling card, even more than 30 years later, and “we still have hundreds of folks come to the drive-in just to see where the movie was filmed.” The scenes from the film not only helped to immortalize the Admiral Twin but, according to Smith, they “laid the groundwork for the Admiral to become a landmark in the community”.

Not only is the theater an established landmark now, it’s a survivor, too. The Admiral Twin made it through a fire and then went on to muscle its way through Hollywood’s switch from film to digital format for movie distribution, and its ability to do so put it in the minority. For many of the smaller theaters across the country, the switch to digital was a death sentence.

After all the ups and downs spanning the nearly seven decades that the Admiral Twin has been a part of Tulsa, it’s still going strong and bringing the drive-in culture into the digital age.

If you’re planning to catch a movie at the Admiral Twin, be sure to arrive early— tickets are first come, first serve, and because the Admiral is still a cool place to see and be seen, the lines get long closer to show times. Tickets are sold only at the box office. Prices for ages 3-11 are $3; ages 12 and up are $7 for a double feature.

Be sure to switch on your FM radio to pick up the audio. Check out selectcinemas.com and click on the Admiral Twin link for shows and show times.

Camille Rutherford is a photographer and contributing writer for the TCC Connection. She is a native Tulsan and an active part of the local art scene.