On Friday night, we definitely had a special experience. We went, along with the whole family (the BFFs, and the “niece” and “nephew”), to the Summer Drive-In. As you can see, our double feature for the evening included WALL•E and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
The first time I went there, with my parents, it was still the “Summer Twin”, with only two screens. It opened in the late ‘60s with one screen, and by 1985 had expanded to four screens, two of which had traditional speakers, and two of which worked with short-range FM broadcasts for sound. I think the first movie I saw there was Star Wars, but I definitely remember seeing Grease there, too. Later, as a teenager, I remember going there with friends to see Dirty Dancing (with the same aforementioned BFF — one of three times we saw it at the theater) and on a date, to see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Things have changed a lot since then. Once one of two drive-ins in Memphis, the Summer is now the only drive-in left in all of West Tennessee. (According to driveinmovie.com, Tennessee is still one of the best states for drive-ins, although as of their writing, 14 of 15 operational drive-ins in the state were in Middle and East Tennessee.) Known as the “Summer Four” in its glory days, screen 2 was lost last year in a fire. Only its skeleton remains, and owner Malco has no plans to rebuild:
But many things are still the same. (And not just the asphalt, which I’m pretty sure hasn’t been re-paved since the first time I was there, in the ‘70s.) The Summer still hosts rows and rows of families, sitting in their cars or outside them in lawn chairs with their picnic coolers. Parents still feel safe enough to let their kids (at least the bigger ones) run back and forth to the concession stand on their own. Intermission still brings the series of goofy nature pictures which has nothing to do with anything. And a lot of the kids still fall asleep before intermission (or “halftime”, as the princess called it when she woke up as we were packing up to leave, wondering how she had missed so much).
All in all, it was a great, relaxing evening. We saw two good movies, and it was very comfortable and breezy, despite the Memphis summer heat. Sure, there were a few minor issues, all having to do with being around other people, some of whom were apparently not raised right. You know who you are — the people next to us who left your empty soda cans rolling around on the ground, for instance. Or the people next to us whose exhaust fumes we had to smell when they kept their engine running for twenty minutes. Or the people who didn’t know you were supposed to have your lights off the whole time. (Thank you, though, for finally turning off your parking lights after we asked.)
Despite the minor irritations, it was a night I wouldn’t trade for anything. Going to the drive-in is a quintessentially American experience, and a part of our history that is slipping away as more and more of these theaters close. Honestly, I’m not sure how the Summer Drive-In stays in business — they charge only $7 for a double feature, kids are free, and the concession stand can’t be all that profitable with everyone bringing their own food with them. I count myself lucky, not only that I can still enjoy the drive-in myself, but that the Summer Drive-In stayed open long enough to share that part of my childhood with the kids.
Summer Drive-In
5310 Summer Avenue
Memphis, TN 38122
901-767-4320
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