The Drive-In Movie

I heard on the radio that it is the 75^th anniversary of the drive-in movie. A drive-in theater is hard to find these days, but they were an important part of my growing up. Our hometown drive-in was on the outskirts of town, far away from the “brilliant” lights of our little community of 7,000. Parents were too busy taking their turn at the irrigation water or filling a church farm assignment to take their children to movies. As children we swiveled our necks back and forth longingly whenever we drove by the big outdoor screen, but I saw only a few movies as a child. But when we turned sixteen and could drive and date, the drive-in became a magical part of our summers. That’s where I saw Pat Boone in April Love. Yes, I was a member of the Pat Boone Fan Club, and my membership packet included three or four 8x10 black and white glossy photos which I pinned to my bedroom wall. Pat Boone was not only handsome and cool, he had a great voice and he represented the best of Christian values. In my fan club materials he said that he would never kiss a woman on film because that would be compromising the vows he had made with his wife. In April Love he comes very close to kissing Shirley Jones, but the moment is miraculously interrupted. Whew! (Does anybody remember if Pat Boone ever kissed a woman on film?)

Drive-in movie dates were late since you had to wait until 9:00 for it to get dark. The tickets were priced either individually or per car, so it was economically advantageous to fill a car full of teenagers at the per car rate. Lots of fun memories, like filling the bed of a pickup with folding chairs to accommodate a bigger group. Typically you didn’t accept a drive-in "date" unless it was somebody you really liked. It was the day of bench seats, and it was well understood that watching a drive-in movie meant sitting close with the guy’s arm around you, and you could pretty well depend on the fact that somewhere in that movie, he’d try to steal a kiss. Magical! Innocent! Memorable!