What started as a genuine novelty in 1933 has taken on new importance as the only opportunity for a traditional theatrical entertainment experience in the lower Hudson Valley during the novel coronavirus outbreak: drive-in movies.
Before any of the 10 regions of New York state were cleared to begin the multiphase process of business reopening, statewide approval was granted for the 27 drive-in movie theaters in New York to reopen.
Isolation from strangers that is part of watching movies at a drive-in fit perfectly with the need for social distancing to help prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus.
First to reopen in the Lower Hudson Valley on May 15 were Orange County”™s Warwick Drive-In on Warwick Turnpike and Dutchess County”™s Four Brothers Drive-In on Route 22 in Amenia.
Two other drive-ins in Dutchess, the Overlook at 126 Degarmo Road in Poughkeepsie and the Hyde Park on Route 9, just across from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, had scheduled their reopenings for May 22.
The Fair Oaks Drive-In, a two-screen theater on Bloomingburg Road in Middletown in was scheduled to open May 22. It said that because of the extra spacing necessary due to the virus, its screen #1 would be limited to 120 cars and 80 cars would be allowed for screen #2. All of the theaters, in fact, have reduced their capacity for now.
IT ALL BEGAN IN NEW JERSEY
It was in 1933 that a New Jersey native, Richard Hollingshead, opened the world”™s first professional drive-in theater in Camden. He had been experimenting for a few years by showing movies in his driveway on bedsheets tied between trees. He even used a lawn sprinkler to simulate rain so he could see whether all-weather operations would be possible.
Hollingshead and three others formed a company and built the Camden Drive-In that had spaces for 400 cars. Unlike the individual speakers subsequently developed for hanging on car windows and modern day FM stereo heard on car radios, the sound back then came from three large loudspeakers mounted next to the 50-foot-wide screen and could easily be heard by people outside of the theater”™s perimeter.
Drive-in theaters did not exactly spring up around the country at first, in part because Hollingshead had patented the invention. There was tepid growth through World War II, and by 1947 the number of drive-ins had grown to only about 155. It took the post-war baby boom and the rise of the automobile to result in the number of drive-ins in the U.S. reaching almost 4,100 by 1958.
Westchester at one time had three drive-ins: the Starlight Drive-In in Croton-on-Hudson that opened in 1948; the Hollowbrook Drive-In in Cortlandt dating from 1950; and the Elmsford Drive-In that also opened in 1950. Now it has none.
“In the ”™50s and ”™60s people enjoyed coming out in their vehicles,” Jim Kopp, administrative secretary of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association in Stephens City, Virginia, told the Business Journal. “People feel safe now being able to get in the car and drive down the road and go to the drive-in. They can stay in the cars or get out and in some cases sit in front of the vehicles.”
Kopp said that the association represents about half of the 305 drive-ins operating in the U.S.
“We haven”™t seen this kind of attention in a long time,” Kopp said. “We have a lot of people who are coming out for the first time to a drive-in. I”™m a drive-in theater owner in Virginia and I can tell you that many folks who have come had never experienced a drive-in. They say, ”˜This is a great option.”™ We would just love to have people come out, enjoy movies under the stars and experience a drive-in.”
THE DRIVE-IN ”˜EXPERIENCE”™
At the Four Brothers Drive-In in Amenia, moviegoers at the May 15 opening were able to also experience takeout offerings from Four Brothers Pizza and Restaurant. As a company, they operate a dozen restaurants plus lodging establishments in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
“It couldn”™t have gone better in terms of safety and in terms of people”™s excitement although we limited our capacity so we didn”™t have any crowding,” John Stefanopoulos, a son of one of the four brothers, told the Business Journal. “People were able to sit outside if they chose to on the bed of their truck or if they had a hatchback, at least until we had a downpour at one point.”
As is typical for drive-ins, the Four Brothers Drive-In showed a double feature: “Birds of Prey” and “Trolls World Tour.”
“Currently we”™re in the stage of booking exactly what was out as soon as COVID broke out and everything had to shut down so it”™s not as if we”™re playing pictures people all have seen. Some people might have, some people might not have,” Stefanopoulos said. He explained that the movie studios have temporarily stopped releasing new movies to theaters and likely won”™t resume until there”™s been more progress in reopening the economy.
“I”™m not clear on how the lineup and inventory will go but we plan on showing some independent films, some throwback classics and a mix of whatever the film studios can provide,” Stefanopoulos said.
“Drive-ins are able to show off their unique capability of being able to bring people together but separately,” Stefanopoulos said. “The drive-ins are not just about movies: they”™re about the experience.”
He believes that the experience just might be expanded beyond movies. He said that they”™ve been contacted about possibly bringing live comedy, live music, fundraising and private parties to the drive-in. On June 22, a graduation ceremony for North Salem High School is scheduled to take place at the drive-in.
The Four Brothers Drive-in is relatively new, having opened in 2015.
“Drive-ins are really a unique place that people can come together, even while staying separated, including your pet. People with disabilities, people of all ages can enjoy time here and create your own night and you can”™t do that anywhere else in the movie business,” Stefanopoulos said.
”˜CELLULOID”™ HEROES
The Warwick Drive-In, which has three screens, ran double features on each screen at the May 15 opening. Warwick”™s COVID-19 guidelines for patrons were consistent with what other drive-ins were requiring. All customers were required to wear face masks when outside of the vehicle for any reason and were required to maintain six feet of social distancing space. They could remove masks if sitting outside the vehicle and at least six feet away from others. Masks were not required if sitting inside a vehicle with the windows up. There were other requirements for visiting the concession stand and restrooms. The theater”™s concession stand employees were required to wear gloves and masks.
The Hyde Park and Overlook theaters are under common ownership and Charles Smith, the digital media operations manager, told the Business Journal that drive-in theater owners and operators across the country may see a turnaround.
“We might be the hero in allowing people to go out while still maintaining separation. Now more than ever drive-ins can gain popularity again,” Smith said, who has been in the movie exhibition business, both indoor and outdoor, most of his life.
He explained that drive-in operators took a financial hit a few years ago when the movie studios switched to digital distribution instead of the 35mm film that had been used since the silent movie days. They faced the choice of spending from $50,000 to $100,000 for digital projection equipment or shutting down.
All of the remaining drive-ins in the Lower Hudson Valley now use digital projectors with the sound transmitted by low-power FM radio transmitters so patrons can hear the movie on their car radios or on a portable radio rented or borrowed from the theater.
“I started as a youngster replacing speakers in the field. It was my first job. They would send me out with a screwdriver in the morning because cars the night before would rip speakers off the posts. They hung on the car window or door with the window rolled down and some people would forget to put it back on the post and then drive away,” Smith said.
He said that from their earliest days, drive-in movie theaters were popular with families and even today the theaters make it a practice when running a double feature to show the film with the most appeal for families and children first.
“If you”™ve got a great combination of movies people will come and they like the idea of a double feature,“ Smith said. “For your admission price you”™re getting a free movie, basically. You can come for one or you can come for the two. In the summer, you want to play family-oriented films first if you can; you see your Disney movie first. The children can come in their jammies and go to sleep in the back of the car while mom and dad watch the second feature.”
