Author Archives: mrdrivein

Shortest double feature ever?

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Ad for Epic and 42, showing at the Redwood Drive-InHere’s a tiny anecdote that doesn’t really mean anything. I noticed that over at the Redwood Drive-In (West Valley City UT), they’re showing Epic followed by 42 as one of their double features. That’s six characters. Has there ever been an actual drive-in movie double feature with fewer than six characters in the titles?

(And another thing, why does the Redwood 6’s web site show just four screens active without mentioning the number 6? Google’s aerial view clearly shows six screens, and its Street View shows six double features on its understated sign as of August 2011. Did the Redwood take down a couple of screens? Will it ramp back up to six shows later in the summer? But I digress.)

Now don’t just send me any two titles or speculate that somebody somewhere showed Mud with 42. (For some reason, Mud didn’t show up on a lot of drive-in screens I keep track of.) Earlier this year, we had Argo and Mama at drive-ins but no one-character movies to go with them. If you want to research some old newspapers or some old page at the Internet Archive, you might try to find something to go with:

  • Pi (released July 1998), not last year’s Life of Pi, this was an oddball film about a math genius.
  • 54 (released August 1998), the disco-era retrospective with Ryan Phillippe.
  • O (released August 2001), the modernized version of Shakespeare’s Othello with Julia Styles.
  • P (released February 2005), an art-house horror movie directed by Paul Spurrier.
  • R (released June 2011), an art-house prison drama starring Pilou Asbaek.

Were there any three-character titles in the summer of 1998? Did some drive-in show a short-titled film with O or one of those art-house movies with ozone-friendly themes? If you find a shorter double feature, leave a comment here with a link to the proof. Start digging!

Peoria drive-in returns for second season

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If you remember way back in September, we talked about the Landmark Cinemas in Peoria IL. It’s an unremarkable indoor movie house, but it had the great idea to add a seasonal drive-in to its overflow parking lot. (Which means that even during its busiest times of the week, it needs something better to do with that lot. But I digress.) Now comes the good news from the Peoria Journal Star that this permanently makeshift drive-in will reopen this weekend for the summer season.

I can call it permanent because it gained a permanent permit from the city of Peoria last fall after operating for a little while with a temporary permit. I call it makeshift because, well look at the Google Street View photo from September 2011; it was just a parking lot. I doubt that it looks a whole lot better now, but feel free to take a photo of the Landmark and add it to the Carload Flickr pool so we’ll all know.

Anyway, the drive-in is starting with just weekends, but “Landmark Recreation Center general manager Bill Lanzotti said they will consider adding weekday screenings if attendance is robust.” For a couple of photos, a map, and a few more details, you really ought to read the article.

Joy-Lan shows you can’t be too old to go digital

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Joy-Lan Drive-In marquee

photo by Earl Leatherberry, used by permission

The Tampa (FL) Tribune gave us a piece of good news this week. The Joy-Lan Drive-In of Dade City has made the conversion to digital projection thanks to its owner, 83-year-old Harold Spears.

You really should read the article for its full collection of quotes and wisdom from Spears, who’s been in the drive-in industry for almost 60 years. For example, he recognizes that the appeal of the drive-in is its general relaxed atmosphere. He also notes that the Joy-Lan used to attract more teenagers than it does now.

Spears, who also owns the Silver Moon Drive-In (Lakeland), recognized that his only choices were converting to digital or closing. “The business that we do really didn’t justify the investment, but I like this business,” he said. “I enjoy this business. I would certainly hate to have to close it up.” Let’s offer our thanks to Spears for keeping his drive-ins alive and to the Tribune for writing about it.