Drive In Theaters

Anyone still have any of these around.... I remember growing up in Chicago that we had quite a few of them while I was growing up... In recent years they have all mostly faded away. Names like Stardust, Twin, Sheriden, still sound so familiar.

I was lucky to move South to Tennessee recently and low and behold there are three outdoor Driv In Theatres locally... ok all within an hour.... I heard near Woodbury they opened a brand new theater, Now I frequent the Pink Cadillac...

Off topic, not really, some of the best hamburgers, hot dogs, and chili could be found at the snack bar....

Top it off with a malt or sundae and ya had the best entertainment.

Anyone else have an Drivin In's still near them, Pictures would be nice...

We've got the Starlight Six here in Atlanta, doing good business. The owners put on special occasions now and then - old beach movies, monster movies, and a Labor Day weekend live music/cult movies/hot rod show I never miss. No pictures, but they do have a website.

The Newberg Drive-In in Newberg, Oregon(25 miles from Portland)is still going strong.

We have three of them still doing business in the Pittsburgh area. The Kane drive-in is in Hopewell, Beaver County. The Pioneer Drive-in is just outside of Butler. And open all year long (and my favorite) is The Dependable in Moon Twp., real close to the airport.

http://www.dependabledrivein.com/

My hometown of Rome, New York has a twin screen drive-in that is still operation. The first movie I ever saw there was "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". My parents took my sister and I there as kids and I remember being scared to death by it! I used to go there all the time in high school and college. They don't have the speakers on the windows anymore, but they may still have "carload night" where you payed one price regardless of how may people were in your car. I think it was $8 or$10 last time zi checked. Here is the website: www.westromedrivein.com. Enjoy!

BillyBoy,
My first teaching job was not far from Rome and we did most of our shopping there. My family used the West Rome Drive-In many times in the 1968-72 period that we lived in the area.

Here in Southern Indiana we have several drive-Ins still in business. Last summer we attended a wedding reception for a neighbor in Georgetown IN at the local Optimist Club Hall. I found it pretty funny to step out of the reception during the evening to be confronted with a big-screen facing the building (from across what I thought was an open field)and huge horror-scenes from Texas Chain Saw Massacre appearing from 'no-where'! The drive in was showing a fright-nite special and the cars were jammed into the place. Hoosier Drive-ins seem to be a lot more casual that the SoCal ones I recall from my youth... Lots of lawn chairs and kids in PJ's laying on blankets...no fences, so some of the reception-goers walked over to talk to friends parked in the Drive-In. A real community happening!!

My favorite Drive-In story comes from Clarksville, Indiana, about 15 miles from my current location. Clarksville had a Drive-In...Named the "TRIPLE XXX" which should give you a clue as to the type of award-winning' films it screened. It was located on US 31...between the U S Highway and the Interstate 65, about 6 miles north of Louisville. The Screen faced 'west' which meant that it was facing the Interstate (especially the Northbound lanes). They had contructed a large plank fence to disrupt the 'view' from the highway, but the fence seemed to fall down 'a lot'. It was a common event, as one drove north on the Interstate at night, to see traffic slowed or 'jamming up' as you neared the 6 milepost. Trucks would double-park, sometimes sitting on the shoulder with their trailers sticking out into the right lane of the Interstate, while the drivers watched the 'movies'! The police would clear the area frequently, but as soon as they left a new group of Looky-Lous would pull in.

Mr. Mayor,

In the 70s there was a double-screen of that sort off the Southeast Expressway, the busiest artery in and out of Boston, where traffic backs up daily. So it was frequently hard not to see all the action.

The Welfleet Drive-in on Cape Cod is still going strong, with the same kiddie playground they had in the early 60s. They have a popular flea market during the season. Some years back they built a small multiplex to keep the business going. Now, the drive-in is keeping the multiplex afloat.

quote:

Originally posted by PepperPhilOff topic, not really, some of the best hamburgers, hot dogs, and chili could be found at the snack bar....

Top it off with a malt or sundae and ya had the best entertainment.

I pack a cooler with some dogs and burger patties, another with ice cream, and bag up some condiments and buns. I'm not partial to pickle relish, not even the neon green stuff on Chicago Style Dogs (all apologies to our fellow poster), but they and the mustard and ketchup (if you must) and tomatoes (which are getting JUST RIGHT when the drive in's open) and pre-chopped onions can go with the ice cream for obvious reasons. Sundae toppings go in a grocery sack. The only problem is I have to clean out the car the next day. I also have some of those baby wipes you get at dollar stores for, um, drips and the like. We also pop our own corn. A bag of microwave kettle corn is the perfect dessert, even after ice cream!

The real benefit of drive ins is this: I can bring the nine year old puppy! I usually bring an empty pop cup for biff breaks (the dog's, not mine or the wife's. We do that in the time honored fashion). The need to take her out and exercise her makes for parking in the back row, which this checker of credits (especially when I sorta kinda recognize an actor, or it's animated and I want to know who did which character's voice) doesn't appreciate, but I can always check them out on http://www.imdb.com after the fact. Ah, better living through technology!

I'll post some shots of a couple I've frequented that are still open in the Chicago area (actually in McHenry, IL and Kenosha, WI) when I take them. Sorry to keep you waiting.

We jave one right down the road from us in Wintersville, Ohio, that has multiple screens, I think. We've not gone there yet, but I do want to check it out next summer.

There are 8 in Alabama and none in Louisiana.

We spent many a weekend at the one in my hometown that is now defunct. The very first movie I remember seeing was Race with the Devil in 1975 with Peter Fonda. I was six and it scared the crap outta me. What was my mother thinking? It was a huge thing to go when I was teenager. Then again your only other option was cow tipping or driving the backroads in the search of some non existent party.

I used this place to find one closer to me, has listings of open and closed ones with pics of some of both.

http://www.driveintheater.com/index.html

Only one left in San Antonio is the Mission Drive In on Roosevelt and so named because it is near the old spanish Mission San Jose which is a national historical site as are all the old spanish missions here in town.They still are active catholic churches after some 200 or more years.
There was the Starlite Drive In here in Schertz when we returned back to Texas.It closed I think in the late 1980s. Now the property sites empty. don't know if anyone will do anything with the land.

Here is a website that I think might have a more accurate list of Drive-Ins still operating:

http://www.driveinmovie.com/

Funny thing. I fondly remember drive-ins and the opportunities they provided for a great movie outdoors. However, I don't remember ever watching more than at most more than the first 15 minutes of any movie. My car windows kept getting fogged up. Curses to the humidity! I especially liked the double feature presentations... Did anyone else here suffer from that same affliction?

quote:

Originally posted by 6star

Here is a website that I think might have a more accurate list of Drive-Ins still operating:

http://www.driveinmovie.com/

Great website!!

Thanks for sharing!!

The Oakley drive-in in Cincinnati is no more. There are two about an hour away, but that's too far for me, lest someone else does the driving.

Ahhh...the passion pits. The Sunset Drive-In on McCormick in Skokie brings back the great memories of my first car, my first kiss, and my first
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3N_ELRw7ZI&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP6TxSH_pSM&NR original 10 minute intermission version

CSD

The Century drive-in in Morningside Park,CA did fine in the landing pattern for LAX in the days of the Prop airliners, but when the Jets, and especially the bigger jets, began coming in low and loud, It just couldn't keep an audience.

The Twin Screen Joshua Drive in on Bear Valley between Victorville and Hesperia, CA was shut down for years before the VV Walmart was built on the site.

We have drive in here in osgood, Indiana
It still does a good business during the summer.

We try to get out there once or twice a summer.

Luckily, we still have 2 twin-screen drive-ins here in the Flint, Michigan area... both of which are within 15 minutes from me! Miracle Twin and US 23 drive-ins. I love taking a big bag of goodies (concession food, uhhhh...not so good), a cooler and chairs & sit ouside of the car. The social aspect of it is appealing to me also!

We still have 2 in the area around Poughkeepsie NY. One is on Rte 9 across from FDR's home and the other is on Overlook Rd. There is a broken down one on Rte 9W Just north of Newburgh. Kind of a shame to see it just falling down.
Mike

quote:

Originally posted by 6star

Here is a website that I think might have a more accurate list of Drive-Ins still operating:

http://www.driveinmovie.com/

Much better link. I updated my bookmarks, thanks!

Louisiana still don't have any

Great Link 6star.....Thank you

Like Billyboy, I grew up in Rome N.Y and would go the West Rome Drive in at least once a week all summer long. I started going in the 50's til I moved in 98. At one time we had besides the one in Rome, The Kallet between Rome and Utica, The New Hartford in New Hartford N.Y.,a suburb of Utica, The Skyler just east of Utica and the Super 12 just north of Utica. THe rest are gone. Now I live in Texas and we have the Granbury in Granbury Texas and the Ellis 4 screen in Ellis Texas. Also I want to add my Aunt and Uncle owned one til his death in Unadilla N.Y. that is still there and my absolute favorite is the Midway Drive in between Fulton and Oswego. www.midwaydrivein.com. 3 features nightly and dusk to dawn on holiday eves. Also in Ft Lauderdale the swapshop drive in, 13 screens. www.floridaswapshop.com The world's largest swap shop by day and drive in by night.

Growing up in the late 50's & 60's on Long Island, we had the Westbury Drive-In and the 110 Drive-In. Always a treat to watch a movie in the car in our pajamas, on a hot summer night. I remember hiding our friends in the trunk, once we were old enough to drive there ourselves. And I remember the last movie I ever saw in a drive-in: REVENGE OF THE BLOOD FARMERS.
Somebody would always drive away without taking the speaker out of the window; eventually they started to broadcast the sound over FM radio. So there were always plenty of dead batteries & folks needing a jump-start at the end of picture.
But the better story comes from a teenage roadtrip in the early 70's, below the Mason-Dixon Line.
We certainly saw ourselves as NY wiseguys (not the Goodfellas kind), and we always thought southerners were genteel. So what a surprise, while barreling down some night-time North Carolina highway, to see quite clearly from the highway a drive-in movie screen showing DEEP THROAT. There was a small fleet of cars that had obviously run off the road, scattered all down the shoulder for a few hundred yards.

There's a classic one in Orefield PA a mile or two from my house. They show current movies with a family-oriented movie as the first of a double feature. A lot of classic car clubs rendezvous there on weekends too. Here's a link. Be sure to check out the photo gallery and snack bar menu.

http://www.shankweilers.com/

We used to go to the one in Danbury CT...long gone now. The real fun part was sneaking someone in...in the trunk of the car, or under someone's legs....

The snack stand still lives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBkmKt_0LBU

Grew up with the Summer Twin Drive-in in Memphis.
The Cascade drive-in, in West Chicago IL is still operating.
The best was the Starview drive-in, in Elgin IL. They showed XXX movies that you could clearly see from the road! Back in the late 70's- early 80's.

There was a drive-in in Groton, CT that showed XXX movies. If you drove around to the back of a strip mall and climbed a small hill you got the freebie. Discovered this one December while stationed at the submarine base. About 10 minutes of free movie was enough at night during a Connecticut winter.

The Highlite 30 in Aurora IL also had a XXX Drive-In but was not visible from the street.

Another drive-in theater in the Pittsburgh area is coming back to life. The Twin Hi-Way Drive-In theater on Rt. 60/Steubenville Pike between Robinson Twp. and I-79 interchange (airport area) is supposed to reopen this year after a 13 year hiatus.

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen


The Century drive-in in Morningside Park,CA

Boy do I remember that one.