It’s been over a year since I made my virtual visit to the Silver Moon Drive-In Theatre in Lakeland FL. Such innocent times! It was the first week of my Drive-in-a-Day odyssey, back when I was still skimping on historical details, and I hadn’t yet noticed how cool it is to embed a video with my visit report.
Today I’ll correct that last omission. Here’s a YouTube video describing a typical night at the Silver Moon, supplemented by old photos and video clips. Enjoy!
In mid-2016, when I first compiled my full database of active drive-ins in the United States, I was initially undecided on the status of the Pine Hill Drive-In in Piedmont MO. I collected the Google Maps Street View (which showed it still active as of December 2015) and Google Maps’ satellite view (which still shows all the pieces looking good). Ultimately I went with Cinema Treasures‘ explanation that the Pine Hill had closed after the 2015 season, citing vandalism, though I would expect some digital projection issues in the mix.
Here’s a YouTube video posted in August 2017 and probably shot around then which shows that the drive-in still looks like it’s in pretty good shape. I especially like the way the ground naturally slopes toward the screen, and the drive-in speaker hanging in the open-air ticket booth. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone wanting a drive-in to reopen would stumble across this post and start in on an Ozark Mountain restoration? A Facebook post this week says it still hasn’t sold, so go check it out!
Here’s a treat for you to start off the new year. In his documentary short Twisted, Jay Cheel dissects the urban legend that in 1996, a tornado demolished a drive-in screen as it was showing the movie Twister, which included a sequence of a tornado demolishing a drive-in screen. Thanks to Vimeo, you can watch the whole thing here.
I wrote a little about this last August when I virtually visited the Can-View, the drive-in with the kernel of truth from which this legend sprang. It’s nice to see that someone else thought the topic was worth talking about. Enjoy!