All This, and Movies Too

Within the year, U.S. drive-in theaters had doubled; more than 1,000 sprawled under the sky in 45 states, and, with at least 100 more on the way, the sky seemed to be the limit. Last week, while indoor exhibitors gloomed over a 20% drop from last year's box-office take, Variety reported a 10% boost in drive-in business.

Drive-ins, which the trade calls "ozoners" and "airers," could also point to a recent triumph over man and nature. In Denver last fortnight, a once skeptical Hollywood had staged its first world premiere at an ozoner. Heavy rain lashed at the arena, but to see a Warner western called Colorado Territory (see below), 7,000 of the faithful waited for two hours in 1,500 cars.

Barbecue & Bingo. From their modest start in Camden (NJ.) in 1933, the drive-ins have grown too big to be dampened by rain. They woo the family trade with an imposing sideshow of picnic areas, merry-go-rounds, dance floors, shuffleboard courts and bottle-warming, car-washing and laundry service. Among the latest gimmicks, planned or already drawing customers to the airers: nightclubs, golf-driving ranges, Shetland ponies, barbecue pits and motorized bingo (the jackpot goes to the right speedometer mileage).

All this, plus the movies, takes as big an investment as a regular cinemansion; one 2,000-car ozoner near Cincinnati cost $750,000. But the payoff is heavy and swift. Example: the atmosphere under artificial moonglow whets appetites so keenly that popcorn, hotdogs and hamburgers sell about four times as well at ozoners as in theaters. Some drive-ins can pay all expenses with the receipts from munching.

One outdoor impresario estimates that 80% of drive-in fans are not, and never have been, regular indoor moviegoers. The best customers are 1) moderate-income families who bring the children to save on babysitting, 2) the aged and physically handicapped and 3) farmers and factory workers ducking the ritual of dressing up to go to a movie in town. The drive-ins are also popular with young neckers, but exhibitors deny that their places are, in Variety's phrase, "passion pits with pix." Their righteous defense: nothing happens that doesn't go on in a balcony.

Growing Pains. Most ozoners get by nicely with old movies, but many are clamoring for a chance to show the latest pictures: four Illinois drive-ins are suing for earlier showings. Another growing pain: at least three state legislatures are talking about regulating or taxing the drive-ins, and some local officials have banned them as road hazards because they disgorge hundreds of cars at once.

The battle against the elements is progressing. Airers have found a glycerine compound which is sprayed on windshields to drain off the downpour in transparent sheets instead of driblets. Steel reinforcement keeps 60-by-50-feet screens from toppling in high winds. For mosquitoes, there are DDT foggings. Against fog, filters have been devised to help projectors lay the picture on the screen clearly and sharply.

Though the weather holds most ozoners down to a 30-week season, except in such places as California and Florida, some install portable electric heaters in each car. This season an engineer has stepped forward with the last word--an air-conditioning scheme that will keep the cars not only cozy against wintry blasts but cool and dry in the August heat.

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