Is there anything more American than
the "drive-in"? The "drive-in" or
"drive-thru" is part of America's twentieth century culture; and no
"drive-in" in more classically American than the drive-in movie
theater. But for years, the number of drive-in theaters in the USA has
been
falling. How long will they last?
They were a
cultural icon, a classic product of
twentieth century lifestyle; movie theaters where you just drove up,
paid a few
bucks,
parked facing the screen, relaxed in your car, and waited
for the movie to begin.
In the mid fifties, when
drive-in theaters were at their most popular, there were over 5000 of
them
spread all across the USA. It was the age of the American Dream, of
James Dean
and the young Elvis Presley, a time before anyone had heard of Vietnam,
smog,
inner cities or color TV.
The "automobile" was
king, a symbol of the new-found freedoms of the great American middle
class.
The American dream was to live in a nice house in a friendly suburb,
with a
large comfortable automobile or two parked in the driveway;
and
the automobile was there to be used.
Drive-in movie theaters
originated in the eastern USA in the 1930's; in those days the quality
of
movies was not terribly polished, so people tended not to worry about
poor
quality sound and images that flickered
on the vast outdoor
screens in front of them. Often, it wasn't much better in indoor movie
theaters. Moreover the drive-ins had advantages that indoor theaters
did not
have; you didn't get disturbed by the person next to you, and you could
go as
you pleased. In those days, people dressed up to go to the movies in
town;
there was no dressing up for drive-ins.
From the end of the Second World
War, until the mid sixties, drive-ins lived their glory years. They got
bigger
and smarter, and the sound quality improved
markedly. In the
early years, the sound had come from huge loudspeakers placed below the
screen;
by the fifties, the system of individual sound for each car had become
the
norm, and all you had to do was to roll down the window and hook the
small
loudspeaker over it. If there were too many mosquitos,
you could
even pull the speaker right into the car, and roll the window up again.
Movie theaters
were changing;
but so was American society. By 1965, the American Dream was beginning
to show
some cracks. Once color television arrived, the writing was on the wall
for
thousands of U.S. movie-theaters, both drive-ins and indoor cinemas.
With an
escalating crime rate and rising
fears of violence, more and more
Americans decided that it was better not to go out in the evening at
all.
Drive-in movie
theaters were
also suffering from commercial pressures; some went out of business,
unable to
compete with the flexibility and comfort of new suburban multiplex
cinemas - but many profitable theaters closed too. As towns and cities
expanded, large suburban sites became valuable real
estate, and
few owners could resist multi-million dollar offers to sell out to
supermarket
chains or business corporations. Over 1,000 drive-ins closed during the
1970's;
over 2,000 followed in the next decade; by the time 1990 arrived, there
were
less than 1,000 drive-in screens across the USA, and few people thought
that
there would be any left at all by the end of the century.
Yet
things have not happened
that way. Today, in 2009, there are still almost 500 drive-in theaters
in the USA; only about 100
screens disappeared in the 1990's, and new
screens are
now appearing, particularly in states where suburban real estate values
have
not escalated too far. Ohio, for
instance, still has almost over 30
drive-in theaters!
Today's theater
owners have
learned to market their assets
more effectively; instead of
remaining empty during the day time, theater parking
lots are now
used for flea markets, open air
sales, and other activities.
Technology has
come to the
drive-in too; the modern drive-in uses a low-frequency FM radio sound
system,
and viewers simply tune their car radio to the right channel, and
listen to the
soundtrack using their own hi-fi system. Given the quality of the sound
systems
in some cars these days, there is a new breed
of drive-in theater
fans who come along to enjoy their own in-car sound systems. Watching
the
recent movie Twister with the advantage of a
quadriphonic megawatt
in-car hi-fi was, it is said, quite an experience - especially on a
windy night
with lightening flashing in the distance!
Many
movie-goers, however, come
along just for the fun, or the nostalgia, of watching a movie in a
different
sort of environment, under a star-lit sky, and in the comfort of their
car!
They can smoke if they want to, drink coffee, or order a pizza or a
burger;
food and drink are available in today's drive-ins, providing another
plus that
indoor theaters cannot offer... and that too is helping drive-ins to
survive.
It is still possible to visit a drive-in movie theater in the USA,
but how long will they last? Watching a move from the
back of a 1962 Cadillac convertible was one thing; doing so from the
back of a Honda Civic is not the same experience !
WORDS:
buck: dollar - smog: a mixture
of smoke and fog,
pollution - driveway: access to a
house - flicker: jump around
- improve: get better
- mosquito: insect that
stings - rate: level - multiplex: with
several screens - real
estate:
land,
property - escalate: rise, go up
- asset: something
that is positive - parking
lot: car
park - flea
market:
place where
people sell old
things they don't want - breed:
race -
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