Drive-In theaters, bad food and America

I did something last night that I’ve not done in 15 or 20 years. I went to a drive-in movie theater. In the city where I am living, there remains a two-screen theater in the south part of town. It is a theater I remember going to when I was just a teenage kid. This theater has survived somehow for all of my years and probably for a few years before I was born. As I drove in, the memories came flooding back and experiences I had – bad and good – came right to the forefront of my thoughts. The girls I had dated at this theater, how well those dates went.. or not. Fights, drug induced trips and alcohol infused time-wasting from the ‘70’s – it all came rushing back. I pulled up to an empty spot (with only a few other cars in attendance that night there were plenty of open spots), lifted the speaker from its perch – still the same crappy speakers that were always there – placed it clumsily on my dash and watched as the ads urging me to go buy some refreshments came on the screen. I must admit that for an old drive-in theater, the screen was very bright and focused fairly well. What can I say? I pay attention to these things - it's in my line of work.

These ads were the same ones that used to run on the screens back in the late 1960’s and ‘70’s. Used nowadays, I’m sure, in an attempt by the proprietor to try and preserve the feeling of drive-in days gone by. Animated drink cups, hot dogs and ice cream treats danced their way around the screen with a small animated clock that would remind the audience of the few minutes before the show was to begin. Letting us all know that there was still time to go to the snack bar and stock up! As the clock wound down to show time and the movie previews began, I slid down in my seat and thought again of just how long it had been since I was at a drive-in theater.

The opening scene of a movie came on the screen and I knew right away that the ticket taker had told me the wrong directions and I was at the wrong movie. My movie had started a few minutes earlier at the other screen. I unhooked the speaker and drove to the other screen, set everything up again and, albeit a few minutes into the show already, slid down into my seat for a few hours of visual entertainment. The movies "The Other Guys" and "Salt" sucked – both of them – so I didn’t the experience as much as I could have – but the little things that evening are what I found to be very special indeed. The speakers used were still the same ones from “back in the day” and rough, beat-up dented things metal with volume knobs that no longer worked at all. I was to hear the sound at full blast or not at all. At the beginning of the experience a message appeared informing me that, should I choose to do so, the sound was also available on an FM frequency of my car stereo. I dialed the frequency in and sure enough, the audio was there – just as crappy as the sound coming out of the smashed metal box hanging from my dashboard. I opted to turn the car off and suffer with the old school way of hearing a movie at a drive-in.

Knowing that it may be a while before I return to a drive-in, I just had to get some bad drive-in food to accompany this experience so off to the snack bar I went. One corn dog, cheeseburger, hot dog and cotton candy later ($14.50 ?!) I returned to my car and began the feast. I cannot really explain why but bad food and bad films just seem to go together very well. I sat and watched the screen as I noticed an older man coming towards my car. He passed me and went to the speaker stand a stall or two to my left. He had a small tool belt on and it became obvious that he worked for the theater. I began watching him rather than the bad movie because he looked like the personified example of an old drive-in theater. Withered, slightly bent and crooked but still functional. He disassembled the speaker boxes with confident familiarity and looked as though he had been doing so for many years. I began formulating an idea for filming a documentary about the demise of the drive-in movie theaters in America and decided right then to have this gentleman be the focus and central unifying figure in my film. He must have seen it all, this nameless man, as he was many years older than I and clearly the captain of this old drive-in ship. Having him tell the tales of his experiences and offer his opinions of what has transpired over the last 60 years would anchor my film and bring a face to the history. The he pulled out his cell phone and everything sort of dissolved away.

Those speakers. I must have seen three or four types of them hanging off of the speaker poles close by my car. Speakers are speakers and in the Midwest, nothing is replaced with new if an old one will do the job. For some reason the speakers held my attention more than anything else about the theater or the experience that evening. I simply must go back and take one from that theater for preservation and posterity. I could search the internet for pictures of those kinds of speakers but it wouldn’t be the same. These are special and there can only be so many left in this country.

After the films ended, I didn't hurry to the exit but waited and watched as the other cars left. For both screens on a Wednesday night there were only about 10 or 12 cars - hardly enough to fall into a profit zone for the theater. I can remember when this same drive-in was packed and it took 20 minutes just to wait in line to exit the place. Back then, that was a great time to socialize and try to find a car load of girls to follow for the rest of the evening. But for tonight, if the other people bought stuff at the snack bar like I did, the theater made their money the old fashioned way - through the sales of over priced, chemically enhanced, nitrate laden "refreshments".

I have many questions now. Questions about drive-in movie theaters and their state – past, present, and future. So many questions that I think I’ll film a documentary about it all. If I could only find the right face to put on this American history… and have him turn his cell phone off while we’re filming.