The Drive-in....I never knew ye.

[KYGOTC]

Ah, the drive-in. Where else can you find scratchy cheesy awesome to the MAX movies? Its the ONLY way to see your favorite b-movie of choice! Or so I've heard....


Unfortunatly, Ive never been able to experience the awsomeness that is the drive-in. Not many exist anymore. I dont evenknow if theres any around where I live. It's really sad. I wonder why they're so scarce nowadays? I dunno. maybe I didn't miss anything. It was before my time.

[CheezeFlixz]

Well I remember the Drive-In and the there are a couple around here that only show movies on the weekend and only in the summer. The Multi-Plex killed the Drive In with their THX dolby digital surround sound and comfy seats. Unlike the theater of my youth with the hard wooden seats and mono sound.

The Drive-In was not so much for watching movies as it was for necking and hanging out, kids snuck in by hiding in the trunk and it was only like 25 cents a head, so often one person would drive in and pay and the rest would hope the fence and meet you on the back row. You'd have the crappy little speaker you'd put in the window and some of them even broadcast the movie on the radio.

And if the kids got board there was a play ground right down in front of the screen were the kids could play, back in the day when you could let you young kids go play alone and not have to worry about if they'd return or not or if some prev was waiting for them.

And don't forget the concession stand up by the projector room (where kids would try to jump up and get their shadow om the screen) They had everything you needed, hotdogs, hamburgers, popcorn, candy, smokes and the one we went to had beer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW1VluGucyI
	Small | Large

Oh those were the days ... and if you never had the funny of hanging out at the drive (and sometimes waking up in one  which was a flea market by day) then yeah, I'd have to say you missed out. I have tons of fond memories of the drive in and watching crappy double features. The Drive In is not gone, but it's on life support. Much like many of the old downtown theaters they to are fading away and but some are still around. The world is a changing place and it's not always for the better.

[Justy]

There are still a few near where I live. They certainly have gotten scarce over the last few years. It's been a long time since I actually went to one though that's more a factor of where I have to drive to get to one. I remember loving the experience of going to the drive-in as a kid in the early 80's.

I really wish that they would make a comeback but the demographics are against them. However, I think those demographics hurt mom & pop establishments with little management experience.

Personally I enjoyed the drive-in more than the theater. In your car you could bring your own food, throw back the seat and relax. Modern cinema seating arrangements have much to be desired. It feels like flying coach. All are packed in tiny seats with no room to spread out. Give me that outdoors open-air experience.

[RCMerchant]

Theres a few left around here-one in Hartford,the 3-Mile Drive In.

The first movie I saw at a drive in was NOT a cheezy flik...it was 2001:A SPACE ODDESSY! I dumped a soda pop in Deads rear window radio speaker...boy was he p**sed!!!! the last drive in I went to was ion Long Island NY...saw RETURN of the LIVING DEAD with my brother Glen,while sitting onna hill outside of it...drinking Jim Beam and smoking ciggerettes.

 Like cheezy said...the small town movie houses are going out too. Happily-the rinky dink one in Paw Paw,the Strand,is still with us. I seen MANY double features there. Lotsa good times...they even have a balcony! It's not open now...in bad shape...and kids (like me once) usta throw popcorn down at people on occasion...

[The Burgomaster]

I dunno. maybe I didn't miss anything. It was before my time.

Unfortunately, you missed a lot.  Drive-ins were wonderful.  There are still a couple in my area (about 1 hour drive from my house), but they aren't the same as they were years ago.

Most of them closed because the property was too valuable to devote to a business that was only open at night and (in my area, New England, could only be open a few months during the year when the weather was favorable).  Also, current audio technology is difficult to reproduce through car stereo speakers, so the sound is better in a theater than at a drive-in.

But I wish they would make a comeback.

[Jack]

The only problem with drive ins was that I rarely remember the movies.  Darned girls    You basically parked and made out.  And drank and got high.  I honestly have no idea what movies were playing.  But I have memories of other things 

When I was a little kid (before girls) I remember going to a lot of them with my parents.  The Poseidon Adventure, The Graduate, Clockwork Orange, etc.  I loved that metal speaker you'd hang on the window.  What high fidelity!  The one in our town closed a looooong time ago.  The old theater closed a long time ago too, now it's a pizza place and the local DFL political office.  All replaced by the multiplex.

[nada]

We used to have a drive-in a few streets away when I was a kid. I could actually see the screen from my house ... at an angle and through a tree.

It closed down when I was very young but I still went a few times. The screen and all the poles with speakers on them sat around abandoned for years. I wish it was still there. Would be great to take a laptop and a portable projector to 

[trekgeezer]

I had many good times at the drive-in in Malvern Arkansas where I grew. Our folks used to take us there. When I was in high school and started driving it was pretty much every weekend thing.  I saw Night of the Living Dead, The Wild Bunch, and numerous hell angels sagas there.

A few years later when I got out of the Navy, I worked as the cashier there while going to electronics school.  By this time they had started occasionally running X-rated marathons.  Sometimes we ran out of speakers and just sold parking spots. For some reason the patrons didn't seem to mind.

[Sister Grace]

I would love to go to a drive-in. My dad tells me when the shining came out, i was there in the back of a van in a playpen..but never got to go when i got older. Recently it came to my attention though, that in the town of Waverly, TN, there is a drive in that is open during the summer months. Its about a two hour drive from here, but its definitely on my to-do list this summer. I just hope they play something that is drive-in worthy.
Speaking of drive-ins, I love the movie Dead End Drive-In, too bad they wont be showing it..  i love the pure cheese of it..

[CheezeFlixz]

I would love to go to a drive-in. My dad tells me when the shining came out, i was there in the back of a van in a playpen..but never got to go when i got older. Recently it came to my attention though, that in the town of Waverly, TN, there is a drive in that is open during the summer months. Its about a two hour drive from here, but its definitely on my to-do list this summer. I just hope they play something that is drive-in worthy.
Speaking of drive-ins, I love the movie Dead End Drive-In, too bad they wont be showing it..  i love the pure cheese of it..

Waverly, TN? That's not far from here. In what direction are you away from there? There is also 2 drive-in's Memphis and a few others around TN, KY, AL, MS, AR, and GA.

Oh I think there is one in Dickson TN too ... Broadway Drive-In Theatre.

[ulthar]

Ah drive-ins...the quintessential American movie experience.  If you've never been, then yes, you have missed out.

For teens, the advantages need not be mentioned.

For adults with children, they are better than a regular theatre.  We go a few times a year to the one about 1 hour away.  If either of the children start to get fussy, they pretty much disturb only us.

The social aspects before the show are a lot of fun.  Folks play frisbee or football, there is a playground, a fair amount of tailgating and well, everyone is JUST FRIENDLY.  It reminds me of how neighborhoods used to be and how I wish mine were today.

One thing I don't get, though, is all the comments that the demographics are not there.  The one we go to generally fills up or very nearly so.  They are open Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the summer.  Sometimes the line to get in is about a mile long.  Last summer, they added a second screen.  It is in a rural location not particularly close to any big city.  It is by far the cheapest way for a family to go see a movie, and it is just a TON more fun than regular movie houses.  (Note on cost: they show double features on BOTH screens every night...so for LESS than you pay at a regular movie for ONE flick, you get TWO at this drive-in - on holidays like Labor Day, they show triple features, for the same entrace fee!!).  Like us, a lot of folks make the drive to this out-of-the-way place.

By the way, I HATE multiplexes.  HATE them.  I feel too much like a sheep herded in by corporate bean counters whose interest in me ends the moment I buy the ticket.  I don't get this at the drive-in.  It's very friendly, the folks that run it are very cool, and believe me, it is the personal touch.

So, do some research - find one.  An hour drive or even more is NOTHING to give for the experience.  Support any drive-in you can find to keep this bit of Americana alive.  It will be worth it.

[Allhallowsday]

When my brothers and sisters and I were very young we went to the DRIVE-IN as a special treat, wore our pajamas, brought our pillows, drank lemonade or soda, ate chips and hot dogs.  We rarely watched the movie, though I do remember seeing LT. ROBIN CRUSOE, U.S.N. (1966) CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG(1968) (you can guess what my Dad called that one...) COLD TURKEY (1971)... funny, my parents must have been assuming any DICK VAN DYKE movie was family friendly.   

Years later, I nearly lived at the DRIVE-IN in Union, New Jersey in my youth.  Last time I saw a film at that (or any) drive-in was at least 25 years ago, probably a year or two more.  The last pic may have been, believe it or not, STAR WARS, 4 or 5 years after it had been first released, so 1981 or '82.  It was the first time I had seen it (had not been interested at all up to that point, but loved it immediately.)  It was the Summer or two before JEDI opened up, there was a preview for REVENGE OF THE JEDI (yeh, before the name changed - I remembered that tidbit because I was so buzzed to see the "final" film that I made a point to see EMPIRE while it was in re-release shortly after I saw STAR WARS.)

We saw so many wretched movies, sometimes more than once (like STROKER ACE, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT III, METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED SIN...)  We drank, smoked dope, ate junk food. 

I can relate to all of the memories cited, the playground, the refreshment stand, the crappy speakers (once I was too buzzed to drive so my date drove, prob'ly more wasted, and neglected to remove the speaker.  She hit the accelerator and ripped the damned thing right off...  ) 

[Rev. Powell]

Like some others of my age group, I have fond movies of dressing up in pajamas, playing on the playground, and easting hot buttered popcorn in the backseat of my parents car.  Usually, the first feature was some adult themed (yet PG rated) movie of no interest to an 8 year old boy, so me brother and me usually paid no attention and were already zonked out by the time the 2nd R-rated feature started.  The only film I remember actually watching and enjoying at the drive in was YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974): and boy, did that leave an impression!

By the time I was a teenager we'd moved from South Texas to the Northeast, where drive-ins were not prevalent.  Still, we managed to do the usual teenage drive-in activities in parked cars, just without the aid of a movie or hot buttered popcorn.   

If you're thinking of going to one of America's few remaining drive-ins, you owe it to yourself to read Joe Bob's Impeccable Guide to Drive-In Etiquette first.

[Scott]

The movies I remember most in our drive-in were JAWS, MAD MAX, THE BLUES BROTHERS, THE GONG SHOW: THE MOVIE, and many more. They also had films from dust till dawn, but we were driven home once the films became a bit to risque later in the night. They also had swing sets and playground under the big screen where kids would play.

Found this picture of one of the many Drive-Ins that I use to go to in the Elmira, New York area when I was a kid. Their was actually a river behind the screen at the one in the photo below. People would fish before the sun went down while the cars where still coming in. Not sure when the photo was taken, but last I knew it was still open.



Elmira Drive-In

[KYGOTC]

I've missed so much. This summer, i'm hunting down a drive-in and enjoying the hell out of it.