# Let's talk about going to the drive-in movie theater **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2019, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094 "2019-05-17T02:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/81 "2019-05-20T00:04:12Z")
The only story I can relate without fear of banning is this one time we went as kids, and I wanted to hit the snack stand ahead of the crowd in between films. So, while the credits were rolling for the first film, I take of at a full run through the rows of cars towards Pop-Corn Nirvana. Now, usually, you pull the car up with the driver’s window next to the speaker. You don’t run down the driver’s side of the cars, you run down the passenger side. Except this one car. Pulled in and took the speaker from the _right side_ and hung it in the passenger side window. Well, in the dark, I caught that wire about chest high and blew that window out, ripped the speaker off the pole. It was pretty exciting! I hauled major ass and hid out in the bathroom for a while. I managed to sneak back to our car, sans pop-corn and keeping a very low profile. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/82 "2019-05-20T01:57:59Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > And if the Lakewood PD is to be believed, much of the rest “fell off a truck” somewhere. Well, they’ve been told that by some very upstanding citizens so it must be true. ---
**Author:** ![jadielyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jadielyn/32/8808_2.png) [@jadielyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jadielyn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/83 "2019-05-20T17:17:50Z")
There’s one about an hour and a half drive away, we make the trek some weekends when there’s a good double feature playing. Two screens, one currently has Detective Pikachu and Avengers. Concessions are pretty good, but they seem to have dropped the arcade. 😒 > **[Ocala Drive In](https://ocaladrivein.info/)** > > Open Wednesday through Sunday ( Subject to change during school breaks and special features ) Two Great Movies for One Low Price, Adults $6 Children (6-12) $3 Children 5 and Under FREE ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/84 "2019-05-20T17:47:18Z")
When I was little in the '70s we’d go to the drive-in in 2 cars. 25 years later we took our kids to the same drive-in along with their cousins. One of the movies I remember watching with the kids was Arachnophobia. Half-way through the movie the film melted. The weather has not been cooperating otherwise the Mister and I would have went to see Detective Pikachu. It’s been playing for 2 weeks now and the line cars starts at 5pm and stretches from the pay hut to the highway. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/85 "2019-05-20T17:47:46Z")
There’s still one near me. I like to go at least once or twice during the summer. > **[Mayfield Road Drive-In Theatre, Chardon Ohio](https://funflick.com/mayfield/)** > > Mayfield Rd Drive-In Theatre, Chardon Ohio, showing double features and hosting events during fair weather months. Admission is one price by the carload, so load up the family and friends. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/86 "2019-05-20T18:22:55Z")
My first drive-in movie was _Shane_(spoiler-He doesn’t come back). My last drive-in movie was a double feature-_Halloween_ and _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_(spoiler-Nobody wants it to come back). ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/87 "2019-05-20T19:10:40Z")
This may be your first (and only?) _British_ drive-in memory. Thirtyish years ago friends moved to upstate NY for a year. We (Mrs Trep and I) flew out to spend a couple of weeks with them, and they took us to a drive-in because, obviously, you would. I remember we saw The Blob - the remake was made in 1988 (says Wiki) so that sounds about right. Tedious film, but then we didn’t go for the film particularly. (Perhaps I should explain, given the above accounts of what happened in these places, we went for _the American Cultural Experience_.) What I remember most about the experience is that part-way through the film a skunk walked past the car. I had never seen a skunk before, and I was entranced - so I followed it through the lot. I suppose (given the accounts above) this may have perturbed the occupants of some of the cars; but I had no idea at the time. Also, coolly reflecting later, it was a pretty stupid thing to do. But hell, nobody died. j ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/88 "2019-05-20T19:23:17Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I go once or twice a year: [https://redwooddrivein.com/nowplaying/friday/#c](https://redwooddrivein.com/nowplaying/friday/#c) WOW! I didn’t know any still existed. It sounds pretty sophisticated. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/89 "2019-05-20T20:11:56Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Thirtyish years ago friends moved to upstate NY for a year. We (Mrs Trep and I) flew out to spend a couple of weeks with them, and they took us to a drive-in because, obviously, you would. I remember we saw The Blob - the remake was made in 1988 (says Wiki) so that sounds about right. Tedious film, but then we didn’t go for the film particularly. (Perhaps I should explain, given the above accounts of what happened in these places, we went for _the American Cultural Experience_.) The Blob is exactly the sort of campy, low budget horror movie that is typically associated with American drive-ins, so I say you made the right choice if you were looking for the “American Cultural Experience”. On that note, I’ve heard that drive-ins were the origin of the term “B-movie”. Back when drive-ins typically showed double features, they’d have the main attraction that got top billing, and the other movie was the “B-movie” (like the B side of a record), which was typical some sort of low budget horror or sci-fi movie. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/90 "2019-05-20T20:25:42Z")
Pretty sure “B-movie” predates drive-in movies. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/91 "2019-05-20T20:30:15Z")
Correction: looking at Wikipedia suggests 1) drive ins started a lot earlier than I thought, but 2) B movie had to do with double features whether or not they were happening in a drive in Now I’m wondering if B-movie (the term) predated “B side” ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/92 "2019-05-20T21:03:22Z")
I have two drive-ins still open within 20 minutes of me. We go to the closer one regularly. We support its ongoing existence by visiting the concession stand religiously when we go. It’s inexpensive, good food. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/93 "2019-05-20T22:05:36Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The Blob is exactly the sort of campy, low budget horror movie that is typically associated with American drive-ins, so I say you made the right choice if you were looking for the “American Cultural Experience”. I remember going to see _The Green Slime_ at a drive-in at Big Bear Lake, California in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![Mea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e79b87/32.png) [@Mea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mea)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/94 "2019-05-20T23:18:08Z")
I’ve been to a drive-in just a handful of times but the only time I remember was a first date. The movie was “Lady Sings the Blues” which means 1972 and I was 17. I met the guy a few nights before at a Allman Brothers concert. I knew nothing about him except he was cute and seemed nice. At first I didn’t think much when he picked me up in a van. Hippie vans were still common and popular. But after we arrived at the movie I glanced in the back and saw it was clearly a party room complete with a mattress. I felt sick and asked him to take me home. He did, without hesitation, and I felt fine shortly after he left. We dated a few times after, but this is the only memory I have of him or being at a drive-in. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/95 "2019-05-21T00:01:44Z")
In the first or second grade I went to a Jerry Lewis double feature with a classmate and his family. I don’t remember the title of the first movie but the second was _Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the Water._ That title always stuck with me partly because the drive-in was right next to a bridge over a river but mainly because the title sounded so absurd to 8-year-old me. Heck, it sounds absurd to much, much older me, too. But, hey, Jerry Lewis. That theater died in the early seventies, as I recall. Don’t know why as other drive-ins in the area were still going strong. It stood abandoned for several years before Boeing bought the property and built an office building there. They thoughtfully put in a nice walkway alongside the river for their employees to use. In high school, a friend of mine bought a car. (Ford Pinto. Woohoo! :rolleyes: ) We were tootling by another drive-in one night when they were showing _Carrie._ We didn’t want to go in because it had already started so we pulled into a gas station parking lot, where you could see the screen at an angle. We couldn’t hear it, of course, but I was hoping to see the famous bucket o’ blood scene. It was too early, though, and my friend wanted to get going so I had to wait until it was on TV several years later. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/96 "2019-05-21T06:26:31Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Drive-ins require a substantial amount of land. In most places the land could more profitably be used for something else. Yet many,(most?) of the old drive-ins are not an undulating parking lot, or weeds. At least around here. Of the 7 drive-ins that we used to go to, 2 are now fleamarkets. 1 has turned into a warehouse-style shopping center. And the other 4 are just sitting there. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/97 "2019-05-21T13:43:07Z")
The last time I saw a drive-in movie it was “Meatballs” on Long island in 1979. I thought the movie sucked ass, mostly because I could not relate to it, never having gone to sleep-away camp. The shitty experience soured me on the concept. Still, the place lasted until 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/98 "2019-05-21T14:30:38Z")
A double feature of \*Westworld \*and _Soylent Green_ at the Fort Twin Drive In outside Lynchburg, Va, in the early seventies. College guys, drugs, beer. Good times. The old Red Run Drive In outside Waynesboro, Pa showed hard core porn at least into the early eighties. Uh, so I’ve been told. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![ohiomstr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/82dd89/32.png) [@ohiomstr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ohiomstr2)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/99 "2019-05-21T16:38:24Z")
There was a spot off the Appilacian Trail in Maryland where, off in the distance, where you could see one of the last drive ins in the state. When I was in high school and broke we used to sneak up next to the fence and watch the movies, you could hear the sound from the speakers ( the kind that hung on the door of the car) just fine. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094/100 "2019-05-21T17:05:59Z")
As a little kid in the Intermountain area, drive-ins always fascinated me. The giant screens, the signs, the remarkable remoteness of some of them. The earliest sign I remember was for _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof._ Some discussion among the adults when they saw that about whether such a racy movie should be playing in a drive-in. But didn’t go to any of those. There was one near us when we moved to civilization. But, again, no one took us to see that one when I was a kid. Later converted to a multiplex. On a trip back I saw _Mystery Men_ at the plex. Now even that’s closed. I think the first movie I saw in a drive-in was _Help!_ thanks to an older sibling. (Who also took me to see _A Hard Day’s Night_ in a theater.) I think it was oon a double feature about a guy named “Noah” (?) leading an African tribe, etc. to new digs due to the construction of a dam. (Ring any bells?) Finally, in late teen years starting to go to drive-ins, but not that often, for the usual reason. Typical low-budget horror/action double features. **Mrs. FtG** and I went to a drive-in or two when we dated and then once in a great while after that. I know we took the kids to maybe a couple movies at the area drive-in but can’t remember which movies. That drive-in also became a multiplex and is still open. (So I’ve seen films at two locations in both drive-in and theater formats.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-going-to-the-drive-in-movie-theater/834094.md?page=6)