Niagara Falls Reporter | GREAT AMERICAN DRIVE-IN EXPERIENCE SURVIVES AND THRIVES IN NIAGARA COUNTY

GREAT AMERICAN DRIVE-IN EXPERIENCE SURVIVES AND THRIVES IN NIAGARA COUNTY

By Frank Thomas Croisdale

There was a time in America when drive-in movie theaters were king. The first drive-in was opened in June of 1933 in Camden, N.J. Richard M. Hollingshead hung a sheet for a screen in his back yard and began parking cars in his driveway. Both automobiles and talking pictures were relatively new inventions in a country exploding with industrial growth. Hollingshead believed that there was a natural marriage between the two, and it turned out that he was right, as his experimental theater soon became a national craze.

By 1958, there were nearly 5,000 drive-ins from coast to coast. Going to the drive-in became a summer ritual for families and a rite of passage for hormonal teenagers looking for a bit of privacy with their Hollywood fare. Most theaters had perfected the experience based on Hollingshead’s early experiment. The sheet of paper was now a towering screen. The radio for sound was now speaker boxes that affixed to the car windows. The staggered parking Hollingshead had toyed with had become slightly elevated rows set up in an arced pattern.

The theaters of the 1950s also added two new staples of the drive-in experience. The first was a playground housed below the big screen. Now families could show up early, and the kids could tire themselves on swings, monkey bars, slides and hand-pushed merry-go-rounds before the first movie even began.

The second innovation was the development of the theater snack bar. Pre-movie and intermission became times for all-out snacking. Returning WW II servicemen had introduced America to pizza, and it, along with hamburgers, hot dogs and buttered popcorn, became as much a part of the drive-in experience as the movie itself.

The dawn of the 1960s saw the beginning of the demise of the drive-in theater. Standard theaters became increasingly competitive and high-tech. By the end of the 20th century, there were only some 800 drive-ins left. It seemed as if drive-ins were poised to go the way of the Teletype and the rotary-dial telephone.

But something strange happened on the way to the funeral. The 800 number stood firm. It seemed as if the drive-ins that remained were there for the long haul. Also, some old moth-balled theaters were refurbished and reopened. Some drive-ins added screens, and there were even some brand new drive-ins erected.

One place where drive-ins have always been popular is right here in Niagara County. Military Road was the site of the old Starlight drive-in, and right through the 1970s there was a second drive-in on Route 31 in Sanborn. It was a common tradition for families to go to Henry’s Hamburgers across from the Starlight and load up on burgers and their “pound of French fries” before heading in to catch a double feature.

Today, Western New York features four drive-ins. It’s one of the highest concentrations of the cinemas anywhere in the country. The Transit Theater in Lockport is doing gangbuster business. With four screens, each showing two movies and sometimes three, the Transit is a summer must in Niagara County.

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to take in a movie at another Niagara County gem: the Sunset Drive-In in Middleport. I took my son, Ryan, to see the latest “Shrek” offering, and we were accompanied by my old friend Kenny Levy and his granddaughter Katelyn. Ryan is 8 and Katelyn is 7, so the kids were the perfect demographic for Mike Meyer’s green alter-ego.

The first thing one notices about the Sunset is the price, and it is a pleasant observation. Adult tickets are $8 and kids $3, which made the total bill for everyone a paltry $22. The food at the concession stand wasn’t much more either. A jumbo bucket of popcorn, enough to feed everyone, was only $5.50. The admission came with a coupon that garnered a free pop as well.

Once inside, the kids were immediately drawn to the playground, and I was amazed at the ingenuity of the swings. They look to be from the ’50s and feature arm bars that make it possible for kids to quickly and effortlessly get up to top speed. I’d never seen anything like it before and couldn’t comprehend why they hadn’t swept the nation. I can report that the crowd loved them and there wasn’t one left open for more than a couple of seconds for an entire hour before the movie began.

The appeal of the Sunset is that everything there is straight out of the ’50s. The bathroom sinks have modified handles that look like someone raided the toilet flushers from the stalls. The ice cream shop has prices too cheap for today’s standard. There are even two dogs with their own dog cottage that folks can pet while waiting for their order.

Kids love the drive-in today as much as the boys and girls of the ’50s and ’60s did. Families routinely bring blankets and pillows, and many in the Sunset crowd watched from the grass next to their cars.

Katelyn had never been to the drive-in before and seemed pretty awestruck at the massive screen. Ryan loved the rides and made it through three-quarters of the movie before falling asleep.

Drive-ins come with a few minuses. Rainy weather can cancel the entire night or can just take away from the experience when the droplets are sporadic. Of course, winter is out, and even late spring and early fall showings are often in jeopardy of being beset by severe weather. When the first movie begins, it often isn’t dark enough for optimal viewing.

Those small drawbacks are easily overshadowed by the many pluses of the drive-in experience, the privacy of one’s own car being the biggest advantage at drive-ins. The shushing that goes on at traditional theaters when a young child talks inappropriately is unnecessary at the drive-in. Also, some theaters, the Sunset being one of them, will let patrons move to another screen for the second feature. It’s possible to bring in your own food and drinks to a drive-in.

Before summer comes and goes, make a point of getting out to see a movie at one of Niagara County’s drive-ins. It’s a great piece of Americana that can be shared with new generations, and you’ll be ensuring that your kids’ kids will someday be drive-in enthusiasts as well.