It was June of 1949 and people were all abuzz about an upcoming event that promised to usher in a new era of entertainment
Everywhere local residents turned, it seemed, there were announcements about the impending grand opening of the revolutionary Mountain Drive-In , the county’s first drive in movie theater.
Although the nation’s first modern drive-in theater had opened for business on June 6, 1933 in Camden, New Jersey, Sullivan County was really not that far behind the times. By 1940 there were still only 18 drive-ins in all of America, and by 1942, still fewer than 100. While there were still fewer than 1000 drive-in theaters in the country by the time Mountain Drive-in opened, the boom was underway, and more than 4,000 drive-ins would be constructed throughout the U.S. before the end of the next decade.
The Mountain Drive-In was the brainchild of Dr. Luther F. Grant, a prominent Liberty physician with a flair for the dramatic. Grant formed a corporation called Mountain Drive-In Theater, Inc. and hired D. Fred Hoffmann, a veteran movie house manager from Baltimore, to oversee the operation.
The Mountain Drive- In was originally designed to accommodate about 520 cars and between 250 and 300 walk-ins, who were able to watch from a separate area. A state-of-the-art sound system was installed that provided for a speaker in every car, each with its own volume control. Admission was 60 cents per person, which included ten cents federal tax.
It wasn’t until less than a week before the grand opening that a feature film was decided upon. In fact, one of the last press releases issued by the theater company touting the opening admitted that no film had yet been picked.
“The county’s first drive-in theater, an outdoor arena in which you may sit in your car and view a movie with your own private amplifier, will open on Saturday of next week, it was announced today by D. Fred Hoffmann, who will manage the theater, Just what feature will be shown on opening night Mr. Hoffmann was unable to announce, as arrangements for this are still in process.’
On Thursday, June 16, just two days before the grand opening, the Register ran a large ad announcing that there would actually be “two glorious Technicolor features” shown on opening night. The inaugural film would be “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” with Maria Montez, Jon Hall, and Turhan Bey. And that would be followed by Claude Rains, Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster in “Phantom of the Opera.”
Few if any filmgoers that first evening would ever realize that though it was totally coincidental, it was a tad ironic, that a Jon Hall film would help make history. The handsome leading man who was born Charles Felix Locher had a few years previously spent time at the nearby Loomis Sanatorium recovering from tuberculosis.
After a three day engagement, the initial two films were replaced the following Tuesday by the already nearly seven year old John Wayne movie “Pittsburgh” with Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott, as well as the even older Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. adventure, “Green Hell.” The theater’s second weekend would feature Abbott & Costello in the 1942 comedic romp, “Pardon My Sarong.”
It has not been recorded how many people turned out to watch movies “rain or moon” those early days at the Mountain Drive-In, but it was probably substantial, or at least satisfactory. The concept of watching a movie from the privacy of your own vehicle really caught on all over America during the 1950s, and Sullivan County was no exception. While indoor movie theaters were losing favor with the American people—5,000 of them closed down between the years 1948 and 1958—drive-ins were not only becoming more numerous, they were getting bigger, too.
Mountain Drive-In was fairly good sized for a rural area when it opened, but within a few years more and more drive-ins would open that could accommodate thousands, not hundreds of cars. Of course, most of those were in more urban areas, and none were larger than the Troy Drive-In in Detroit, Michigan, which could service up to 3,000 cars. There were two drive-ins on Long Island in the 1950s that could handle 2,500 cars each, one of which covered 28 acres, featuring an indoor viewing area, a full restaurant, a cafeteria and a playground, as well as a shuttle train to ferry customers from one area to the other.
Drive-ins in more rural areas were far less exotic, and were typically built more along the lines of the Mountain or Sullivan County’s only other such venture, the Rock Hill Drive-In, which opened in July of 1950.
“Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, the first movie ever shown at the Mountain Drive-In
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Man I'm old I remember those so well,lots of fun times.
Please unhook speaker from window before moving vehicle.
Never went to one with radio connection.
All that equipment , couldn't they sell or donate it such a waste.
Hi Mike, Laurie
Such a shame that so many Drive In Movie Theaters have gone away and left like this one to rot away! Scary thing is that indoor Movie Theaters will most likely have the same fate with current events as they are! Nice job Mike capturing what is left of this one!
Cool video! Surprised at all the stuff left behind. Brought back memories of my high school days sneaking into the drive-in. I didn't have a car. We used to walk in through a hole in the fence. The owner was cool. He never called the cops.
We had a Drive in theatre here last Summer w the Pandemic.
I hope they do it again
I had never been.
Through the radio thank God
98° Recently 😲
Yes I have had that happen trying to film my cousins outdoor Wedding. 85 at 10am in NH
This video was well put together
Thank you for going down memory lane we went to the driving almost every weekend with our pyjamas on my brothers and I in the back seat of the station waggon lol fighting for a comfort spot Back in the 1960s. Playing in the playground waiting for the movie to start all those Vincent Price movies
And the crawling hand. I should have been traumatised as a child actually I waz. L o l
I remember those commercials on my God it just brings you right back in time thank you so much Mike and Laurie. When they were simpler times. The best times going through life with our eyes closed. Blessings you guys
That ninja turtle game is a classic
Lori was right it's the light bulb I had a projector and 8 mmeter camera back in the seventies Michael had one in the fifties and they get very hot to almost burning your film if it gets stuck itll catch fire
Thank you for taking me back to my happier days…….I can almost smell the fresh popped corn!! <3 Stay safe you guys!!
Thanks for the awesome explore Mike. This brings back old memories. Always enjoy your epic adventures. 😃👍
Wow Mike this video took me back to when I was a young mom and we used to take the kids to the drive in here in Ontario Canada. There used to be a small play area for the kids to play before the movie would start so they could wear off some of that energy and be ready to sit still and watch the movie. Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Just think of all the memories from all the people who went there all those years!……Thanks for the great video…..
Cool exploration Mike. I use to sneak into a local drive in (back fence) on bicycles, me and a couple buddies would do that twice a month, till I got my driver's license. Lots of fun times then. Thanks for sharing this and enduring the bees and heat. 👍
Loved the way you put this video together Mike. All the old clips and then the old postings at the end. Awesome!
OMG that day was so hot… I remember wiping myself down with baby wipes after every place we visited 😂
I like all the vintage ads you put in the video! Seems like eons ago…
I grew up in Erie; I think there were about 3 drive-ins. The one closest to my house is now a subdivision. One by the peninsula is still there. I forget where the other one was. I never went to the drive-in; I'm sad that I didn't get the opportunity. Maybe with COVID there will be a resurgence in drive-ins!
Great place & area. That drive in is classic old school. Loved seeing it again. Nice showcase.
Great video Mike! It's sad to see drive-ins closed up!
We still have two drive in theatres and a seasonal pop up drive in theatre. Unfortunately my favorite one in Lewisville closed down. Enjoyed your video, Mike!
I am old enough to remember going to a drive in theater and actually working in one, in Kingman, AZ back in the day. Great improvement on the audio, by the way. You never wanted to eat the hotdogs because they were left over from days ago and had already turned brown from cooking too long on the weeny roller, we used to dip them into some red liquid to turn them pink again and people thought they were fresh!! And yesterdays popcorn was always mixed in with the fresh stuff, it was awful!
Bro it's awesome you are making these videos I'm the guy that bought that Sega off of you a while back. That tmnt cabinet would be worth a ton right now if it wasn't destroyed !
This came up in my recommended, good to see you're still uploading . Been awhile since price chopper, hope you're doing well
Man I miss going to the Drive in