The Rise And Fall Of The Drive-In Theater - Cheddar Explains
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- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2020
- Drive-in theaters were a staple of American culture for the better part of the second half of the 20th century. But now, there are fewer than 300 remaining in the United States. So what happened? Advancements in technology like the television and VHS tape are partially to blame, but there’s more to the story. This is the rise and fall of the drive-in theater.
SOURCES:
History.com
Driveinmovie.com
Smithsonian
New York Film Academy
ThoughtCo
Quartz
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Coronavirus: I’m tired of ending careers. I’m about to restart this man’s whole career!
Corona doesn't wanna be the bad guy anymore
Spash _ lies coronavirus is real
@@wiktorzmarz you're a hoax
Spash _ And soon, you will be too
That's what I was thinking that the 🍺 virus will bring Drive Ins back in style. But they will probably look very different as well given how much technology has advanced since the 1950s.
Kind of sad I didn't know my city had one until this year.Been twice now and enjoyed a safe date night while watching some classics.
Why? You don’t have to be. It’ll be back with Covid. There’s like ten by me now after having none for decades lol.
@@nmarkert01 yeah, no
ciga rette yeah no what....? Lol there’s a bunch near me now idk what to tel you. I’m in MA near NH and ME as well 🤷🏻♂️
@@nmarkert01 k
@@nmarkert01 yea drive in theaters have been doing alot better thanks to covid
Drive-Ins, are honestly much more fun than "normal" theaters
IKR?
I agree, you bring your own food such as a whole family-size pizza box into drive-ins and you can freely make funny remarks to your friends about the movie without worrying about disturbing others. But that's my own personal opinion.
Get yourself some inebriation of your choice, some food, and a good sound system in your car. Can't beat it
@@dynomar11 I mean.. You probably shouldn't be getting drunk if you have to drive home, but yea
I wouldn't really know, but it sounds like it could be fun! Drive-ins died way before my time, and there just aren't any active ones anywhere near my area.
Honestly we really don’t need daylight savings anymore, they really should just scrap it
Arizona is the only state who doesn't count daylight savings I believe.
@@joelcarmen6963 also probably the only state that doesn't observe MLK day!
@@stevethepyro420 are you serious
@@joelcarmen6963 it's taught in schools.
@@stevethepyro420 which school elementary, middle/junior, or high school.
I want drive-in theaters to make a huge comeback :)
2020: Drive-In's Make A Comeback
Idk bro the virus may take 1 or 2 years
@@frololal6142 Which will give the drive-in theaters plenty of time to really come back in style!
@@nancyomalley9959 10 years seems the minimum.
@@chickeninabox There are exceptions and Covid definitely could be an exception to that rule
Nope
There used to be a drive-in theater about a mile away from my house, but it close down 20 years ago. How could they have known that drive-ins would be big business in the age of Covid?
I wish I could have experienced this when I was younger. It just feels like one of those iconic pieces of classic americana, you know?
That's funny. When I moved to the US, when family visited from England, I tracked down drive-in theatres so they could experience it. American movies made it seem like something you guys do but I was surprised how hard it is to find. Land is generally too expensive for most of the British Isles to do this.
They're still around. Especially with the current state of society they're coming back. We have a pretty large one here in Montreal, most movies are in French though, but its still an experiance.
We've still got an active drive-in theater in Tulsa. In fact, Garth Brooks recently put on a couple of small concerts at that theater. It's called The Admiral Twin (two screens).
Same in Port Townsend, Washington
We have one near my town in Strasburg, Ohio. And it's the oldest one in our state.
@@ErinS06
The Starlite.
We have Hulls in Lexington Virginia.
A great documentary! However you should have mentioned about the playground equipment that often was in front of each screen. Us kids (in the '60s) could hardly wait for our family to get to the drive-in early so we could go play with all the other kids before the show started! It was such fun!
I knew drive-in theatres were a bit scarce, but I didn't know they were rare. It just makes me appreciate the one I live close to during the summer a lot more. Every year when I go to stay with my family in Alabama for the summer (and occasionally on holidays), we usually always go to our local drive-in theatre every so often. It's called the 411 Twin Drive-In located on route 411 in the southeast. We've always have a great experience regardless of what movie is on. Plus the concessions are absolutely superb. Plus they don't charge high way robbery prices like so many other theatres do. If anyone is ever passing through northern Alabama on 411, I highly recommend trying it out.
Beginning in the late 50s, many movies were released having stereophonic sound. Those speaker boxes that the drive-in patrons were not able to accommodate stereo, as these was one speaker in the box. Two or more speakers are needed for stereo.
My hometown, the San Fernando Valley used to have a handful of drive-in theaters, but by the 1980s and 1990s, they closed them all down, demolished them, and now their land has been repurposed into new public school buildings, a parking lot for public transportation (Sepulveda station on the Metro Orange Line), and other commercial and residential development projects. I was born in the early 1990s BTW.
I was conceived at the Buffalo drive-in movie theater during Saturday Night Fever my parents get drunk and tell me this story every year on my birthday. I'm very happy we still have a drive-in theater here in Buffalo I think everyone should never have that experience taken away from them hope they preserve it
Luckily I have a twin screen 3 miles from my house. We go a few times each summer.
What you didn't mention is the huge cost of updating projectors to digital. That was the most recent death blow.
Indeed. The drive in here had to convert one screen at a time to spread out the cost.
When I was a kid, there were three separate drive-in theaters within about a mile of each other - two were right across the street from each other! And I'm not talking the 1950s, I mean the 1970s to early '80s.
Now, all three of those are closed, and the only one left "in town" is in a suburb on the far other side of town.
There is a Drive-in theater in the city of Brasília, where I live. The last one operating in Brazil, as far as I know. Only a year ago there were online campaigns and events encouraging people to go, as it was on the verge of going bankrupt and closing. And now it was, for a good couple of months, the only movie theater allowed open until shopping malls started setting up their own drive-ins.
Now that’s a good comeback story.
I first remember seeing drive-in movies as a kid in the 1960s such as some kind of Disney film and ON A CLEAR DAY, YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. It was a big thing later when they replaced the audio speaker box with a wire that you hung on your almost-closed window with picking up an unused FM radio frequency, since by then no one would be caught dead without glorious stereo FM sound in their case, as movies became stereo and beyond.
My closest drive in in Santa Barbara reopen, and you know what funny is we came on the last day because it was free movie night not knowing it was closing for good until the next day after. I'm so happy it back open.
I've grown up with one just outside my town my whole life. It really surprised me that there are only 300 left!!
This could be a solusion to social distancing at Cinema...
It might cause a slight surge in drive-in theaters popping up, but I doubt it will be significant. One thing this video didn't mention that also contributed to the decline in drive-in theaters is the weather. In colder climates, one has to run the car for heat or AC in hot climates during the summer. Nobody wants to leave their car idling for 90+ minutes if they don't have to, especially with so many other more convenient ways to watch a movie.
Not to mention in the age of smart devices, streaming, and ridesharing, younger generations probably won't find drive-in theaters as appealing as youngsters did in the 20th century.
So funny this was posted just 2 days after I went to my first drive in showing with my crush at a local theater. It was a double horror feature of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream. Perfect first date!
Aw, hope you had a good time!
@@starsiadraws it was amazing :)
Did you get lucky??
6:25 Show a Sony Betamax system then talk about VHS. You need an older editor.
likely licensing of a VHS footage not avail.
Kevin shut up I will report u
@@NightSociety No since they showed several clips with VHS's
@@Ok-fj4mv ?
@@kevinconrad6156 I will report u
Drive in's seem to be making a comeback with the pandemic. The challenge they have is summer nights mean the sun sets very late. Parents need to get their kids to bed early. When the sun sets earlier, then it's normally colder then and possibly too cold for many people to want to stay in their car. Personally I love drive in theatres.
Oh man... Those were cool. I wish I had a chance to watch something at one of those!
They're still around
@@mr.b3168 In my country, there's a total of 1. On the exact opposite of Poland than me.
@@wojciechmuras553 leave
Drive in movie theaters are still a thing, they just don’t have as many as they did before. I have one 15 minutes away from me
Only been to a drive-in theater once in 1999, when my parents and I were camping out for Labor Day Weekend. First watched "The Parent Trap" with Lindsey Lohan and then "The Mask of Zoro." It was fun. Unfortunately I don't live in the middle of nowhere to be able to enjoy it.
The drive in near me ( transit drive in Lockport, NY). Has been running since 1957 and going strong. They’re having a rock concert series this summer.
We need this back .So we can also show of our cars
imagine looking to your right and seeing a modified jdm car and looking to your right and seeing a Italian supercar
Good news! The rebirth of drive in theatres were actually announced probably months ago.
imagine seeing the pornhub community Car behind you with a camera crew lol
Excellent video. I'm old enough to vaguely remember going to the drive in as a kid, but not what I actually saw.
How about a follow up on indoor movie cinemas? One screen neighborhood houses to the rise of mall multiplexes, second-and-third run shows (my personal favorite!), revival houses, movie pubs, the current generation, the future?
The background music:
"You're the greatest, nearby! Nothing's gonna keep you occupied"
So glad there's still a Drive-in in Sterling IL. It's so much more fun than going to the regular indoor theater even if it doesn't have the same variety of films.
Im in London and recently watched back to the future at a drive in cinema. One of the most entertaining times I've had watching a movie.
Drive-in theaters are popping up and making a comeback because of the current situation. NYC, Long Island, Westchester, and I'm glad there's a revival. I like drive-ins and learning what it was like to watch movies back in the day compared to the modern-day movie theater experience
I'm from Queens, NY and I miss the free outdoor screenings at Astoria Park and Bryant Park
I never thought about daylight savings time, but it's true. Our local drive plays 2 movies a night. The first one starts at 9:30, and the second one (which typically the "good" movie) doesn't start until closer to midnight.
This sounded really muffled 🙃
Simulates the crappy sound from the typical drive-in window speaker..
Pun intended?
Did you say that drive-in movie theaters used to screen adult films? That sounds awkward on just every imaginable level.
I saw "Swinging Cheerleaders" at a drive-in while I was in college. Good times.
I actually have one in my town. It's just a fun experience and especially nice to go see an old movie during the Covid.
Shout out to Skyview Drive In
I still go to the drive-in; I love it! There used to be one in Sackville, where the Atlantic SuperStore is now; it closed in September, 1984, I think. Fortunately, there is one in Cambridge, and it is still open.
I work at the last drive in movie theatre in Arizona! The West Wind Glendale 9 Drive in and Swap Meet! Locations been here for 41 years and still going strong! 9 screens, double features. Fully stocked snack bar. All digital projectors, and sound plays via your cars stereo on FM radio frequencies.
I was in the movie theatre business for over 30 years and at drive ins most of that time. This hit the nail square on the head by pointing out that Daylight Saving Time was the first major death knell for the drive in. In the summer, we would start the show at 9:20 and sometimes it was still a bit too light out to see the picture on the screen well. HEY POLITICIANS: IT"S SUPPOSED TO BE DARK AT NIGHT!
About 5 years ago they opened up a drive in near me. Or, rather, tried to. When I found out, I thought this was perfect! We just had a kid, but could not take her to a movie because she would not sit still or stay quiet, but if we were in a car, we wouldn’t be bothering anyone. It took them several years to open due to excessive rain. You see, property values were indeed a problem, so they built it in a flood plain near a dump. I had often wondered if it smelled to those who attended, but could never get an answer. I know on certain says you can smell it driving near by.
Anyway, by the time it finally opened, our daughter was old enough, and already going to regular theaters. This town, BTW, already had 3 before the drive in opened. Honestly though, they once had 5, 6 if you count a previous failed drive in. Anyway, I remember finally asking if we should go, just to experience it. My husband did not want to, because even at night, it was 80-90 degrees out, and as mentioned, the starting time. It would be past 11 once the movie was over, meaning by the time we got home, it would be midnight. The drive in closed later that year. I don’t know if it even lasted two year. It’s still there though. Whoever owns it now should consider reopening. It’s needed. How much damage could 1-2 years of abandonment cause?
We still have a few drive-ins in the area. They're so much fun. I hope it becomes more of a thing for other areas
The only drive-in in my city made ends meet by operating as a driving range during the day and showing movies at night. Even then it closed a couple years ago, the cost of upgrading from 35mm to digital just wasn't worth it for them and now they only operate as a driving range.
There’s a relatively new drive in (6 years old) near my house that the pizza place opened up since they had so much space. My biggest pet peeve with them is that they feel the need to show a kids movie EVERY NIGHT so that by the time the good adult movie starts it’s like 10:30
There’s like 3 or 4 drive ins in my area. Me and my boyfriend go every week! They’re so fun and it’s nice to have some privacy and bring your own food. It’s awesome!!
Interesting history! Going to a drive in this weekend in Somerset, KY.
there is a drive in theatre in my home town. I have been going there since I was a kid (born in 2000) and they have reliably shown new movies when they come out. It only has two screens but they show a total of 4 movies a night. 2 on one screen, 2 on the other. Usually each screen will show similar movies. For example, next week they are showing Nightmare on Elm Street followed by Friday the 13th. Tickets are $26 per car which is a little pricey but that boils down to 2 movie tickets to up to six people
You reminded me that I have always wanted to go to one. But I have never had a chance and I don't even think there are any in my country.
What is the name of the music that is playing in the background
I only go to the drive in. I’m lucky enough to have one in my town, two actually in Riverside, California. I haven’t been to an actual theater in YEARS. I like to take my ‘85 white el dorado to the drive in on weekends. They even play new releases here at Mission Tiki and the Van Buren Drive-in.
The place where I live still has one. I go there sometimes, they still play old advertisements and some black and white short films. It's pretty cool
I remember the Belknap drive-in in Haltom City. There was a painted on Buffalo kicking a football on the street side of the screen.
If you remember that, what about Barbrook?
The good old times
Ah....one of my all-time favorite topics!
When he opened his drive-in theater,the very first,Hollingshead told reporters that he predicted that it would be one of the most successful businesses of the century. His theater closed three years later.
The thirties definitely wasn't the greatest era for those,what with the depression. And the next decade would see the U.S. enter WWII; during this period,a few drive-ins remained open all night,for the benefit of those who worked in civilian defense plants.
From the mid-50's to the late 60's,they took off like gangbusters,Hollingshead's prediction off by some twenty-odd years. In the days before restaurant franchising,it was one of the first places one could get take-out pizza. Many had playgrounds,petting zoos,amusement park rides...one guy even built a drive-in motel.
As the 70's began,their glory days were over. Because of the movies they were now showing,many became the outdoor equivalent of the grindhouse theater. A few even risked the wrath of local law enforcement by resorting to pornography. All this disappeared from the drive-ins by the mid-80's,as many copied another type of movie theater that emerged at that time...the dollar theater.
I go to Shankweilers in Pa.,oldest in country and it is awesome. 309 before rt.873. 2 screens. Try it, damn place is addictive. If you have to travel to get there, get a room and leave in the morning. Very friendly. See you there, have fun.
I think that nostalgia is making a comeback in general. It seems that so many yearn for a simpler time. I sure do!
I should mention the one that was near me in the Bronx: the Whitestone. It was in one of the last swamps being filled in in the east Bronx (draining into Westchester Creek), and sited so that practically nobody had a free view of the screen from a parking space on a street. What you did get was a FLEETING view (unless you were stuck in a jam) from the Hutchinson River Parkway or Bruckner Boulevard, which served as advertising. It was flanked by an industrial area. Just perfect siting for such a thing in a big city. See, siting an outdoor movie is a problem that goes well beyond simply the amount of land.
Now it's a multiplex indoor theater with a huge parking lot and a billboard advertising it where the screens were.
I love my nearby drive ins. They're always packed these days but its worth it.
The VanBuren drive-in in Riverside, CA has been around since t 60s n is still going strong currently. In fact, i think im gonna go see a movie tonite! 🥰🥰🥰 Also open Rubidoux drive-in! Woooo! Love them!
I was always excited about going to a drive-in movie until I did. It was miles from anything, and it simply couldn't compete on audio or visual quality of a good cinema or home theater. In addition to the land cost and only being able to show 2 movies a day, what took me back was the manpower required. There were perhaps 10 or 20 people working to guide cars in to the right spots, enforcing that headlights were off, and keeping things safe. Ingress and egress times were long too, you absolutely needed to get there a half hour early. It's fun, but the excitement of seeing a movie outdoors wouldn't be as repeatable.
East of Lansdale Pennsylvania (intersection of rt. 63 and 309) used to be a drive-in theater (where I saw the first Star Wars movie in 1977). In the same space that back then held two drive-in screens (I think there were two...) is now a whole shopping center and also an AMC theater with 9 screens. That, in a nutshell, is why drive-ins only survive where real estate is very inexpensive. An indoor theater is much more profitable per square foot than a drive-in.
The one in my town in upstate NY got bought by a car sales company thankfully the car company owner decided to sell cars during the day and have the drive in at night so they kept it open!
I’ve been going to the San Jose Drive inns for the past 7 years . Best way to watch a movie . Bring in food , snacks, . And best part privacy in your own car .
I'm going to my first Drive-In movie next month! One of the big outdoor concert venues near me (Red Rocks if anyone knows it) usually does outdoor movies in the venue when they aren't hosting concerts, but, you know, COVID. So they're doing a socially distanced drive-in instead
Watching this before I head off to the Wellfleet Drive in (Massachusetts). Double feature of Grease and Dirty Dancing.
Oh snap, my parents live in Dennis and usually when I visit we would go see whatever was playing in the art house theater there, but the last two times I've been there we obviously couldn't. I should suggest this for Labor Day weekend if the cinema is still closed. (Dirty Dancing also happens to be my mom's favorite movie, so it's too bad we missed it!)
They need to bring these back widespread globally ❤️
Drive-in's are awesome; its nice to see them thrive again!
I was thinking about this recently, what a perfect business to resurrect during a pandemic!
I've been to Starlight in Christiansburg Virginia and Goochland Drive In in Virginia bas well... Love em!
We have Hulls Drive in here in Lexington Virginia.
There was no mention about the sound of the movie. Sound is as important as light in the movie.
They used to have you tune into a certain AM frequency, and your car radio was the speaker.
Some had radio and some had aux cords to plug into your car
I live next to one of the only drive in theatres in Australia that never shut down. You can connect your car radio to the right frequency for the sound and it's usually decent quality. I prefer to reverse my Ute in, sit in the tray and use my battery powered work radio though
Get a quality sound system in your car, they're cheap these days
They used to have speakers you hang on your window, but so many people stole the speakers the theaters changed to having people tuning your car radios to certain frequencies.
The content on your channel is so interesting! As a small creator who also makes content about interesting facts, I am inspired!
I'm about to watch the Spiral at a drive-in theater in Forth Worth, Tx
Hopefully drive-ins will make a comeback long-term!
There is still a operating drive in at Lancaster Ohio on rt 22 open through the summer. With CV-19 it's a great way to watch a movie.
I still have one near me thats very populated, and I prefer the drive in. But the struggle is that it is a lot of property that you can only use for less than half of the year in the midwest. I hope they stay around for a while though.
The best way to go see a movie while social distancing...the drive in!😎❤️🍕🍿🥤
we have one 40 mins away from melbourne. near the cost at the frankston location
i legit just got back from our drive-in lmao ours is still alive and thriving! its so damn popular and im so grateful its as popular as it is. its such an experience.
It’s not totally dead. In Rehoboth Beach they opened a new Drive In Theater and it’s open every Saturday or Sunday I think!
Anyone else notice the B roll clip at 4:03 hit the poll on its right as it pulls in
I grew up with 2 drive ins 20 min away and another one about an hour and a half away. All three are still in operation today.
I live about 45 mins from one in northern illinois. We have 2 in the state i believe. Ill be upset to be away from it when i move to KC!
O wow I've lived in haltom City before that's CRAZY he mentioned it
Hey there, the Drive-In theater's coming back to the Syracuse.Ny area and in some Walmart Parking lots
Walmart, whose logotype resembles a buffering/loading symbol, launched drive-in screenings while "cinemae" were closed last year due to COVID-XIX.
As a boy in the 60's nothing was more satisfying than enjoying the perfect timing of driving past a 30 foot breast from some R rated movie.
So happy my town in ontario still has an active drive in with 3 movies a night 8-1030 -1230 somthing so cool about being the last 20-30 cars left when the 1230 show starts
Oakville?
@@kutter_ttl6786 london was born is oakville tho :) they also have one
@@ryangarcia6475 ah, neat :) I'm in Toronto, there used to be one downtown but it closed a couple years back. Have to head over to Oakville now for the experience.
Let’s all be nice to each other.
(This includes comments and replies.)
*Tom Universe* 🙈😏😈 maybe I will, maybe I won’t
*each other
Thank you Tom.
@@TomUniverse You're welcome.
How does sound work in a drive in? Do they have large speakers or do you tune in to it via the car's radio? Legit question because they aren't and have never been a thing where I live.
You tune it with the car radio
I think right now would be a great time for drive ins because it would allow people to social distance in there cars while safely watching movies
Plus it's a good way to create a lot Corona boomers too
@@karlsmith2570 what do you mean by "create a lot of Corona boomers" ?
@@truckrobo147 drive-in theaters were also pretty notorious for people getting a little "Freaky Deeky" in the backseat
If you follow my meaning
@@karlsmith2570 mmm I get your meaning 😏
We have a drive-in theater less than a mile away from our home. Before the coronavirus it was open and thriving. Now that the coronavirus is here ironically it is actually been closed because of the coronavirus.
wow 300 so there is like 4 pre state i did not now there was so many , This is so great more people should know there is so many left. I did think there was only 40 left at like 3 hours apart but seems it more like 1 hour apart.
In my city there was not any drive-in, now with corona there are 3 on closed malls parking lots
rember the misquito incentense & the heaters then came AM broadcast on your radio for better sound then tryin to see how far you could be from the drive-in & still receive it
I miss the drive-in , They did build huge apt building around it and did remove the speakers going to radio , Was so sweet you could sit and watch movies for free. the most funny thing ever was in the USA where the media did cry about 50 shades of grey in drive-in and how kids could see 7.5 sec of it as they did pass on the highway lol.
Drive in theaters are way better than indoor theaters.
There used to be two drive in theaters in my area.
One shut down when I was a kid and is now an elementary school (the school's is actually named after the drive-in theater). The other? Shut down in 2007-even had a chance to go to it when it operated (and we totally snuck someone in because that's a part of the drive-in experience). The screens are down, but it's still an empty lot that's used for a flea market. It's now owned by the neighboring hospital who wanted to use the lot for future expansion (they let the flea market continue operations in the meantime).
That being said, a drive-in is less about the movie and more about the experience.
I saw the Simpsons movie at a drive in just to see what they were like. With all the kids running about, I felt like I'd watched a movie in someone else's living room that I'd like to watch again properly sometime. That it was invented by a guy sharing the car with his mother just makes the experience more creepy.
We have 2 in CT and they're awesome
I was just at a drive in last night. We go every Friday. It’s our things to do. Can’t beat 2 movies for $14 total for 2 people.