Here’s how to listen to the Bourbon Drive-In

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Bourbon Drive-In marquee and screen next to railroad tracks

photo by Bill Eichelberger, used by permission

Brenna Angel of National Public Radio member station WUKY presented a nice report this week about the Bourbon Drive-In near Paris KY. It’s always nice to get the sights of the drive-in (and there’s an excellent, unrelated drive-in photo on WUKY’s page), but it’s a rare gift to be able to hear the sounds of the drive-in. There was a film projector tick-a-ticking, a 57-year-old popcorn machine popping, and co-owner Patricia Earlywine talking about getting the drive-in spirit “in your blood”.

There’s a short clip of D. Edward Vogel, board member of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association and owner of Bengies Drive-In of Maryland. (Good thing Angel did that over the phone and not at Bengies or she’d be in trouble.) Angel mentions a studio program to reimburse some costs for converting from film to digital projection, but that the Bourbon couldn’t use it because it requires a high-speed internet connection. That’s the first I’d heard of that; I’d think that dishNet satellite broadband might work.

At the end, Angel shows that she gets it. “Going to a drive-in movie theater isn’t really about the movie,” she says. “It’s about the experience of being there.” Amen to that! So go over to that WUKY page and don’t read the report, click the play button and listen to the sounds of the drive-in.

Is this the best online virtual drive-in?

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In general, I don’t get too caught up in drive-ins of the past or virtual drive-ins of the present. Carload is meant to celebrate and promote real, living drive-in theaters, where you can go to form real memories of snack bars, gravel parking lots, cool summer breezes, and movies under the stars. But I know that some of the visitors here can’t make it to a real drive-in as often as you’d like.

For the folks without a nearby drive-in, and for folks who want to remember what they were like 40-50 years ago, the best virtual drive-in experiences I’ve found are the Shocker Internet Drive-In series of videos hosted at the Internet Archive.

In the episode embedded here, the Shocker folks run an unusual double feature of two US movies that reused footage from the Soviet sci-fi movie Planeta Bur. Roger Corman went first with 1965’s Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet, followed here by the 1968 Peter Bogdanovich remake Voyage To The Planet Of Prehistoric Women. Add in a Droopy cartoon plus plenty of movie trailers and drive-in interstitials, and you’ve got three hours of nostalgia at the click of a mouse.

Most of the Shocker series are a little more gory or R-rated than I’d want to embed here, but this episode is pretty tame. To stream or download more of them, go to Archive.org and search for “Shocker Internet Drive-In”.

Finally, I ask you readers for help with two questions. Do you know of any other virtual drive-in sites or videos? And I’m also curious whatever happened to the folks who lovingly assembled these Shocker episodes; their web sites all appear to be dead now. If you know something, please share it with us by leaving a message. Thanks!

Another reason to love drive-ins: Dogs

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Hot dog in bun

Not this kind of drive-in dog

Pet360.com reminded me recently of yet another reason why drive-ins can be more fun than indoor movie theaters. With drive-ins, it’s okay if you bring your dog to watch with you.

The uncredited author talked with Don and Susan Sanders, who wrote the book The American Drive-In Movie Theater. One of them (perhaps both in unison?) was quoted as saying, “Dogs help us to meet people. People take their dogs to the drive-in and socialize with others who have a pet.”

According to Cindy Deppe of Becky’s Drive-In (Berlinsville PA), a growing number of customers are bringing dogs. “Fido can relax next to their owners instead of staying home alone,” she said.

The article’s a fun, offbeat look at drive-ins and dogs, so you ought to go read it. But ignore the suggestion to rely on DriveInTheater.com for the latest drive-in list. I love that site, but I don’t think it’s been updated for 10 years. Am I wrong?