At The Drive-In

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Copies of this volume are available in the DVD sections of both Denison and Sherman libraries.

Denison: DVD 791.4309 AT

Sherman: 384.85 AT

 DVD: At the Drive-In:

This is a documentary that centers around the 2016 season of the running of a drive-in movie theater in Pennsylvania.  Some of the film gives a brief background of the owner of the theater, a man named Jeff Mattox.  Mattox's interest in the film industry began when he was in the Armed Services and ran films for his local service personnel. After his service, he began working at the local drive-in theater, and eventually became the owner.

Some of the story involves his trials and tribulations at keeping his theater in the black financially.  At the outset of the film, however, the theater is on the verge of having to close down if it doesn't turn a profit. One of the turning points of the film is the fact that the theater needs to upgrade it's equipment if it is going to show current movies.  But this is a bit expensive, so he and his crew decide to continue with showing what movies they can, which are all older movies.

For instance, the first double feature the theater shows are The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (and this pairing eventually becomes their annual starting pair of movies each new season).

The dedication of the people involved really shines through.  Not only that of the ones who help keep the theater running, but also those regular faithful customers, many of which are interviewed over the course of the film. Imagine being so dedicated that you drive 7 hours one way to be a part of the events (which one guy actually does).

I highly recommend this to any one with memories of those old drive-ins of bygone times. (If you have been a long time resident of the area, you may have fond recollections of The Twin Cities Drive-In and/or The Sher-Den Twin Drive-In, both of which were situated at the intersection of Highway 691 and Highway 75.)

Until next time, happy library browsing.

Quiggy

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