Remembering the 41 Twin, Milwaukee’s Last Permanent Drive-In

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Photo via Yance Marti

41 Twin Outdoor

41 Twin Outdoor

It’s been 20 years since the double-sided screen tower of the 41 Twin Outdoor Theater (known to most Milwaukeeans as the 41 Twin) tumbled down as developers made way for a sparkling new Northwestern Mutual campus on 27th and Drexel, in Franklin.

The 41 Twin opened July 1, 1948, and was the second drive-in theater in Wisconsin. (The first was Bluemound Drive-In, on 161st and Bluemound, Brookfield, which operated from 1940 to 1981.) The 41 Twin boasted a two-sided screen tower configuration. Only the south screen was completed in time for the grand opening showing of Four Faces West. The north screen was finished the following season. An additional movie screen was added to each lot in 1981, bringing the number of outdoor screens at the theater to four.

During the 41 Twin’s 53 year-run, car styles became more compact, Hollywood got more extravagant and concession snacks expanded beyond popcorn and Dots. Yet the experiences stayed reassuringly familiar—climbing onto the hoods or the tops of vehicles to get a better view, setting up lawn chairs around the car, or ignoring the “no alcoholic beverages on premises” sign posted at the entrance. Impatient viewers honked their car horns if intermission ran too long, and who could forget that whimsical intermission bumper featuring the animated hot dog jumping into a bun?

Drive-in Historian’s Labor of Love

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Photo: Charles Bruss - drive-inthruwisconsin.com

Charles Bruss at the 41 Twin Outdoor

Charles Bruss at the 41 Twin Outdoor concession stand in 2001

Drive-in theater historian Charles Bruss worked at the 41 Twin from 2000-2001 as part of his research. His documentary, 41 Twin Outdoor Theater: Starry Skies & Silver Screen Memories, chronicles the drive-in throughout its years. He wrote the text on a historical marker dedicated to the drive-in that’s displayed on the Northwestern Mutual campus.

The drive-in would end up rolling its last credits Sept. 16, 2001, but Bruss recalls that an employee-only party at the end of the 2001 season left workers under the impression that the drive-in would reopen the following year. It never did.

The 41 Twin had various owners over the years and had been for sale for about a decade. Land in rapidly developing Franklin became increasingly valuable. The 41 Twin was last owned by restaurateur Paul Bouraxis, whom Bruss says sold it to Northwestern Mutual. In February 2002, Bruss noticed large construction equipment on the property. Soon after, the perimeter was enclosed by orange fencing.

Although Bruss had a gut feeling that the end was coming sooner or later, he hoped it would stay open for at least a few months so employees and fans could bid a final farewell. He has an original speaker pole from the drive-in, which is in his backyard.

Bruss has plenty of stories. He and his co-workers had to clear the lots after the movies had ended. “Once there was a lone van sitting there. When we approached it to tell the occupants they had to leave, two people popped up, and neither one had any clothes on.”

And then there was the tornado that plowed through southeast Wisconsin on July 2, 2000. “I remember looking west and I could see the worst black clouds I’d ever seen. There was a huge squall coming at us like a train. I got the popcorn started like I normally would, but around 6:30 p.m.—in July—it got as dark as nighttime.”

Most of Bruss’ co-workers were teenagers that quickly panicked. Bruss instructed everyone to take shelter in the freezer. The tornado tore off a small piece of the screen and knocked a lighting rod loose. All of the marquee letters blew off and were strewn about. “We closed that night, but we opened the next day.”

Bruss later documented the final demolition of the drive-in. The screen panels had to be carefully removed one by one because they contained asbestos. Bruss’ boss at his full-time job agreed to let him leave work to film key parts of the demolition. Bruss captured the tear-down of the concession stands and the marquee.

Capturing that money shot of the main screen tower demolition proved more difficult. “The crew agreed to tell me when they would tear down the main screen tower. Every day after I left work, I came to the peak of a hill and could always see the top of the screen tower. I knew they were getting close because the panels were off,” he says. He regularly drove to the site during his work breaks to check.

“One day after work, I headed over there. When I got to the top of the hill, I noticed that I couldn’t see the screen tower anymore! I was so mad.”

When an upset Bruss confronted a crew member that knew how badly he wanted to film the demolition for his research, the worker calmed him down and said he took a series of three videos on a small camera. Those are available in Bruss’ documentary and on YouTube.

Bruss regularly visits the nine remaining drive-ins in Wisconsin to continue documenting this pivotal part of Americana. He consults the Wisconsin Historical Society’s newspaper archives and the International Motion Picture Almanacs, which lists information about indoor and outdoor theaters. He’s currently working on documentary about the Keno Family Drive-In, which was in Kenosha and closed at the end of the 2014 season.

Despite that there’s only 300 or so drive-in theaters left in the country, Bruss is optimistic they’ll always be around. “People want to reminisce and feel like kids again, so I think drive-ins will always be popular,” he says. “People that went to drive-ins as kids want to take their kids to the drive-in. It becomes full circle.”

Renewed Interest?

Social distancing required during the COVID-19 pandemic helped propel a renewed interest in drive-in movie theaters. The two closest drive-ins to Milwaukee are the Highway 18 Outdoor Theater, in Jefferson, and the McHenry Outdoor Theater, in McHenry, Ill., about an hour drive from Milwaukee. Door County is home to the Skyway Drive-In, in Fish Creek.

Many pop-up drive-ins like the Milky Way Drive-In, in the Ballpark Commons in Franklin, opened during the pandemic and became so popular that it has opened each summer since 2020. It shares the Ballpark Commons with the Milwaukee Milkmen baseball team.