Keeping the drive-in dream alive

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, June 26th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: rolling back the reel.

Drive-in movie theaters have been a hallmark of Americana since the 1930s, reaching their heyday in the ‘50s and ‘60s as the family car became a fixture of American life. Outdoor screens lit up summer nights across the country.

ANNOUNCER: It’s intermission time, the show starts in 10 minutes. Yes, folks, it’s intermission time.

REICHARD: Young couples, noisy families, popcorn, those crackling speakers! For years, their towering screens were a summer staple.

ANNOUNCER: Three minutes till show time…Why not add to your enjoyment with a delicious confection and drink at our attractive refreshment stand?

But then came cable TV, VCRs, and binge-watching in pajamas. Most drive-ins faded to black. Today only about 300 remain.

BROWN: WORLD’s Grace Snell takes us to a New York drive-in that’s still going strong—and still full of surprises, 75 years after its first showtime.

LOREN KNAPP: This was what we used to listen to all the time and all the projectionists knew what was going on…

GRACE SNELL: Loren Knapp’s 1950s movie projector whirs to life with the flip of a switch. Everything’s been digital at his theater for a long time now, but he still keeps the old contraption for nostalgia’s sake. His weathered hands remember exactly what to do.

SOUND: Projector whirring…

Knapp stoops over—and gestures to a red-tinted ribbon of film flicking through the reels. Twenty-four frames per second.

KNAPP: If you look right there through the framing, see the little picture?

Squinting, I can just make out a tiny cartoon figure dancing from frame to frame.

KNAPP: The light would come through, shine through the lens to the screen.

[Bell ringing…]

KNAPP: That’s telling me you’ve got about a minute left…

The film era may be long gone, but the Black River Drive-In is still alive and well. Knapp makes sure of that.

Every weekend, big block letters alert passersby to what’s showing on the big screen.

Knapp’s theater was built in 1950—the golden era for drive-ins. Back then, over four-thousand debuted across the country from New York to California. They were especially popular in the Midwest where the strip malls hadn’t yet encroached and cheap land abounded.

The Black River Drive-In changed hands several times across the decades. Then, a fire in the 1980s shut things down.

KNAPP: That’s where the theater sat for about 20 years…

The drive-in lay in ruins—until Knapp’s old boss decided to buy it. He asked Knapp to partner with him. Knapp was an experienced drive-in projectionist, so he knew his way around the business.

KNAPP: We had to rebuild the screen … Part of the snack bar had been burned off when it had closed.

The two men had to jump through all kinds of hoops: from zoning changes to state inspections. But, eventually, they reopened the theater on August 18, 2006.

Today, the gates open around 7:30—about an hour before sunset.

Minivans and pickups start rolling up, and kids jump out to set up camp chairs and wait for dusk to fall. Knapp almost always runs double-features. Tonight, the first show starts at 9:00 p.m.

It’s a scary movie for an older audience, paired with the Mission: Impossible finale.

But Knapp says action films aren’t his usual blockbusters.

KNAPP: Family movies absolutely do the best. Lilo and Stitch came out from Disney, and we did super with that.

That, despite a series of rainy weekends. Knapp says picking the movies is always a gamble. How to Train Your Dragon is playing next week. To get the contract, Knapp had to book it for two weeks—and theater season is only 26 weeks long.

KNAPP: I expect How to Train Your Dragon to do very well. But if you pick another movie and it’s kind of a flop, you’re stuck with it two weeks so…

It’s especially hard to compete in the era of Netflix. Movie studios keep narrowing the window between theater releases and streaming debuts.

But Knapp says drive-ins like his still have something unique to offer. Not just a movie, but an experience.

KNAPP: Here, you want to get mustard all over your own car. That’s your business, and we’ll sell you the hot dog to do it.

The snack bar is the heart of Knapp’s operation. Movie posters adorn the walls and the smell of butter hangs heavy in the air.

SOUND: [Popcorn popping]

Popcorn explodes from a giant metal hopper. A dark-haired teenager scrapes up the fluffy kernels and shoves them into colorful paper bags.

ARTHUR: Thank you very much…How ‘bout some paper plates?

Next to the checkout counter, a little old man huddles beside a landline phone. Art is 87 years old, and he used to be manager here. Today, he helps greet customers and manage orders.

ARTHUR: Anybody that’s in this business, and they stay with it, they gotta love it. It’s a lifestyle, really, the smells, the popcorn, the onions cooking on the grill…

Art started working in the drive-in industry when he was fourteen…back in the 1950s when stars like Roy Rogers and Marilyn Monroe graced the silver screen.

At the time, drive-in movies seemed almost like magic.

ARTHUR: We didn’t know how it worked. It was a big mystery for those that did it. Didn’t tell anybody how we did it….

Things are a lot different now. People can access a universe of streaming options without even getting off the couch. Drive-ins have to offer top-notch snacks and service to compete.

Art heads home at 9:45 p.m.

Outside, the first movie is less than halfway done.

Knapp says Hollywood has started making movies a lot longer than they used to be.

KNAPP: Our second feature this evening is just shy of three hours long, so tonight, we’re getting out about three o’clock in the morning.

Knapp’s partner died in 2017. He and his wife are the sole owners now. Thanks to the drive-in business, they haven’t had a summer weekend to themselves since high school.

KNAPP: You’re always at the theater working…

He and his wife are both in their 70s now and looking to retire. But if no one wants to buy the place, Knapp says he’ll keep it open as long as he can.

But, the people here today—sitting in their trunks huddled around static-y radios—are blissfully unaware of all that. They’re just here for a good show.

SOUND: [Crickets]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Grace Snell, in Black River, New York.

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