This concept drawing, probably executed before World War II, uses simple curved forms of Streamline Moderne in the building. A huge sign with a spiral or helix-shaped tower dominates the façade
The drive-in theatre concept was first tried in the mid-1930s but only after World War II did the idea gain widespread acceptance. Lee designed several drive-in theaters, a type especially suited to the mild climate and car-dependent economy of Southern California. The drive-in allowed the whole family to go to the movies in the family car, with no need for a baby-sitter. It also proved especially popular with dating teen-agers, who found drive-ins the ideal refuge from watchful adult eyes. The drive-in was also cheap to build. A large piece of land, a structure to display the screen and smaller buildings for tickets, refreshments and the projector were all that was needed. The parking lot was usually graded to provide the parked cars with a good angle for viewing the screen, and each space was equipped with a speaker that could be hooked to the dashboard to bring the sound into the car.
Simple curving lines and a sumptuously draped curtain suggest an understated elegance. The wall pilasters conceal indirect lights. Large round translucent glass discs in the ceiling diffuse the light over the space.
Lee's renderings for the Edwards Drive-In in Arcadia (1948) show both a perspective plan (1) and a perspective from the road (2). The theater was planned in conjunction with Arcadia's Royal Oaks subdivision, hence the image of the oak and the reference to oaks in the original scheme.
A grandiose Art Deco Baroque design frames the entrance to the auditorium. The center panel appears to be leather or fabric, with a design of three maidens flying through the air, bearing bouquets of flowers. The foyer walls are wood veneer, with the flitches laid on in a mirror pattern, making long vertical stripes on the walls.
The drawing style, with its curving frame, the simple swept lines of the box office, and the abstract lines on the lobby floor, which use motifs drawn from contemporary painting, all bespeak the era of the 1930s and 1940s.