Boston Public Radio discusses New England drive-ins

Saco Drive-In ticket booth

Saco Drive-In, photo by Joe Shlabotnik

We do love our video here, but Carload also appreciates hearing great audio. Boston Public Radio station WGBH hosted a 14-minute interview with film critic Garen Daly to discuss drive-in memories and the outlook for drive-in theaters in the future. You can listen to it here.

Yet another feature of this New England drive-in roundup is a list of all the surviving drive-ins in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, along with the dates they were born.

One thing that often strikes me is when someone, as during this interview, brings up the movie American Graffiti when discussing drive-in theaters. The centerpiece of American Graffiti was a drive-in restaurant, but there were no theaters depicted in that movie. Anyway, despite that minor irritant, I think you ought to go listen.

Southington DI savior is Person of the Year

Old map of Southington CTThe Record-Journal of Meriden CT printed an article about annual community awards this week. Person of the Year honors went to Anthony Denorfia, who purchased the former Southington Twin Drive-in property, allowing the city to preserve and run the drive-in with proceeds going to charity.

“Denorfia said he lives by three guidelines: to work hard, be the best person he can be, and to always give back.” Those are good guidelines for us all. Congratulations.

This is the same Southington that was going to be the subject of a drive-in documentary filming during its Halloween celebration. I can find lots of references to that as an upcoming event, but nothing that says how it went. But I did find a link to the video that the RJ shot on opening night. Enjoy!

Someone is filming a documentary at Southington

Old map of Southington CTAccording to The Record-Journal of Meriden CT, a film crew is going to be filming a documentary in late October at the Southington (CT) Drive-In. More about that film crew in a moment.

The history of the Southington is a great story, especially considering the number of drive-ins that face hostile, not supportive neighbors. I can’t write it better than the RJ did: “The drive-in opened in 1955 and closed in 2002. Two years later, the town purchased the property to preserve the site. In 2010, the Southington Drive-In Committee was formed and worked to re-open the drive-in.”

During the upcoming Halloween Festival at the drive-in, folks from Enormity Pictures will be filming and interviewing for its new TV series, “The American Drive-In.” Sounds like a great show, if it ever makes it to the screen. The article says the producer doesn’t have a commitment to air, or any particular channel to air it. Enormity Pictures has a light footprint on the internet, and its move to crowdsource (pdf) some of the editing on a movie last year leaves me skeptical about its ability to land a big deal. Here’s hoping, I guess.