|
Drive-In Theaters -- Whatever Happened to Them?
by Wyatt Newman
With more Americans driving cars, whatever happened to the cultural
entertainment mode of the drive-in theater? I can only surmise that
with the coming of cable TV, videos and contemporary teens
preferring partying in large groups rather than being cooped up in a
car, that the time has passed. Parents no longer have to take the
family to drive-ins to save money or let the kids be kids because of
home videos.
Looking back, I think I went to drive-in theaters more than the
downtown ones. In a drive-in, one could talk or plain mess around,
and that would not be acceptable in a theater, where "hush
up" rules were strictly enforced and obeyed. But would I go to
one today? Heck no!
Who wants to sit in a car where the window steams up and needs use
of the defroster, which requires starting the engine?
Who wants to freeze on those late fall evenings, requiring use of
precious gas and the risk of polluting the environment again?
Remember going to the refreshment stand or latrine and trying to
find your car in the dark? A challenge like finding your way through
a maze.
Did you enjoy the snack bars, with cement floors, litter and noisy
chaos as opposed to the well-lighted, colorful, better-behaved
clientele at the indoors? Not likely.
Did indoor movie patrons clap their hands and stomp their feet if
the second feature didn't seem to get started? No, but did impatient
drive-in drivers hesitate to join the horn riots when the same thing
happened? Drive-ins seemed to invite misbehavior.
Ever leave the drive-in with the speaker, then feeling guilty for
the innocent vandalism? Not the same as leaving your coat at an
indoor, was it?
Attempts were made sneaking someone into a drive-in in the trunk or
covered up on the floor in the back seat. While such couldn't happen
at a downtowner, such petty criminal behavior would make one feel
like a current day coyote sneaking an illegal immigrant across the
border.
It didn't really matter what was showing at a drive-in. The
admission was cheaper. Being with friends or cuddling up with a date
were more important. Meeting or seeing people in the snack bar at
intermission was as much a social event as being at the Panda, which
usually followed anyway, to make the evening complete. Many of the
films shown at drive-ins were really crummy, movies such as Lash
LaRue westerns or silly comedies. What about those crummy Frankie
Avalon and Annette Funicello beach blanket movies? They were so
corny I never went to one. So how do I know they were corny?
Supposition...pure supposition.
Of course, who can forget the audience participation game of
"Spotty," the newer version of follow the bouncing ball,
except Spotty was a cartoon figure that bounced around the screen,
and those who had spotlights could try to put the spotlight on
Spotty. I never got to play. I lacked the essential device...a
spotlight. My 1950 Chevy was stripped down basic. Actually, I think
it was silly, but I still watched the spotlighting skills of those
half-dozen who played the game.
I've driven by old drive-ins in my travels. They look so forlorn
it's hard to imagine how popular they were. They really deserve to
be recognized as historical sites. The screen about to fall down;
weeds covering the parking spaces; posts standing where speakers
were once attached; a concrete block building in the middle of the
parking area that looked like an abandoned bunker from WWII. On the
highway outside the theater is a sign, hardly readable, with a name
such as "Skyview" or more likely appearing as "Sk
vie," various letters having been washed away by time.
Drive-ins weren't around long, I'm guessing from the early 50s going
out in the early 70s, about twenty years. But as popular as they
were, they don't get much mention in the social histories, not as
much as the rock 'n roll music heydays, spiffy cars, clothing
fashions or even 3-D movies.. only a few of them, but they always
get mentioned in the history books. They sure were big to our
generation, though.
Just what is the name of our generation? We aren't war babies, baby
boomers, generation X, Y or Z. I suggest we be called the Drive-in
Generation. From grade school years, high school and beyond into
parenthood, we were there, whether we drove in, rode in in the
shotgun seat or in the trunk. We can remember what the experience
was like, but do you remember what you saw? No? Perhaps you were
distracted.
- Wyatt |
