The Drive-In: America’s Most Nostalgic Kind of Theater

Drive-In Theaters are such a part of 50s culture that even fantasies like “Grease” understand how integral that are to the identity of that time period.

The idea of the drive-in theater is so ludicrous that only a decade like the 1950s could have cooked it up. You drive up to a screen in a car and watch a film from your car. In an age where the whole country was in denial of how depressing America was during the height of the Cold War, Americans craved distractions and nearly all of them revolved around the classic muscle cars. 

Donning leather, slicking your hair back, cruising on Main Street and going to the drive-in restaurant where your malts and burgers were served by someone on roller-skates all were stereotypical activities of the 50s “cool crowd” that would be appropriated in “Grease.” But the biggest tradition that is still a phenomenon of today’s culture is the drive-in movie theater.

While popular in the 1950s and 60s, the drive-in theater has lasted for so long, not just out of nostalgia, but because of how good of an idea it actually is. One of the worst parts about going to a movie theater is the other people texting or talking but with a drive-in, everyone is in their own contained bubble but watching the same film as a large group of people. While seeing a film in a car is odd, since most drive-ins broadcast the film’s sound through a radio frequency, it also gives the viewer control over the sound, which I like to be loud.

But yes, the nostalgia of a decade that I overshot by 50 years is a major factor. For instance, a few nights ago I saw “Jaws” at the Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In in Gibson City, IL which actually has two screens so that they can show two films at once. While I could watch “Jaws” on my HBO Max account, seeing it on the same screen that 1975 audiences saw it on gives me a great deal of cinematic joy. 

While I enjoy seeing a recent film at the drive-in, watching classic cinema is even better because it draws me closer to how these films would have been screened. Among my favorite films I’ve seen at the drive-in include “The Goonies,” “Jurassic Park,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”

However, I do not prescribe to every element of drive-in culture specifically the idea of making out during a film. While I’ve not had many movie dates, I can safely say that I would be paying very close attention to the movie and not making out because I get too invested. Even an awful film still has me wanting to see the end just so I can safely say that it’s bad.

For me, making out in a movie theater would be like making out in a church, it just seems like the wrong place to do something like that as someone who loves movies. If I was asked to “Netflix and Chill,” I think I could get on board with the Netflix part but the Chill would have to wait until the film was finished because I want to watch the film. And that includes watching all of the credits because it’s the least I can do for the filmmakers. 

I’m actually amazed why more people don’t watch the credits at the drive-in. While people are trying to desperately get out of the theater, here you’d be paying respect to the filmmakers as well as having fewer cars to maneuver around. 

Not only do I love the films drive-ins typically show, but I also love the overall atmosphere. This includes all the classic advertisements that play during the intermission, the classic rock music that plays before the film and, of course, the food. Hot dogs, popcorn, pizza, cotton candy, funnel cakes, corn dogs, soda, candy and more are available for my mouth’s pleasure and my stomach’s chagrin (Thank God for Tums right?). 

The drive-in theater is, without a doubt, a nostalgia vehicle for those that love classic films and might also want to explore new films in a format other than watching it on a streaming service. It’s been around for the better part of a century so I guess this type of theater is doing something that people find entertaining and a good reason to get out of the house and experience cinema.