Think the Drive In movies are merely a nostalgic memory? Think again!
Can you believe there are 19 operating Drive In Theaters in the state of Texas, and two of them are in the Houston Area???!!!
The Duncan Team made a recent trip to Hockley, Texas to check out the Showboat Drive In! Owners Johnny and Chris Rumfolo dubbed their Drive In in honor of an old operation in Houston that was owned in the 50’s by their grandfather. They carved out an area on 34 acres of farmland and started construction in 2005. They opened in 2006 with a huge 40′ X 80′ screen and a concrete block projection house with snack bar and bathrooms. In 2007 they added a second screen.The parking area accommodates 400 vehicles and is undulated in order to give your car the proper angle for viewing. Patrons tune their car radios to FM 88.1 for the audio portion of the movie. We paid $5 each for a double feature.
OK, I gotta admit, it has been more than 30 years since I’ve been to a Drive In Movie, and to be honest, at that time I gave no consideration to how it was unique. The popularity of the Drive In, (aka “Ozoner”) was at a peak way back in 1958 with more than 4000 Drive In’s across the U.S. This success was despite snubs from movie industry which allocated the venues only second run and second rate movies. America was in love with it’s automobile and Drive Ins capitalized on that. Also, the American baby-boomers loved the concept of a night at the movie’s without paying a babysitter as their pajama clad offspring nested in the back seat.
However, the success slowly dwindled through the 70’s when the only draw was the thrifty fare. The demise of the Drive In is blamed largely on television as families could now stay home and watch the same second run movies. The last drive in I visited in the 70’s was a decaying teen hang-out that featured Slasher movies. Ozoner popularity decreased as Movie viewing further evolved in the 80’s with the introduction of VHS and Cable TV which amplified the choice of movies that could be viewed at home.
Drive Ins seemed destined to be phased out into extinction.
And now, a revival. Besides a nostalgic trend of re-opening old theaters, there have been a handful of newly built venues like the Showboat in Hockley. What has changed that may make this revival work? A big difference is that Drive Ins are no longer treated like a red headed stepchild by the movie producers. We watched the new release of Pirates of the Caribbean. (ahhhhh, Johnny Depp on the big screen!)
The audience in at the Showboat was largely families and many had their dogs. It’s a paradoxical blend of a social gathering iced with the privacy afforded by one’s vehicle. While waiting for sunset, children romped on the playground and teens flirted by the concession stands. Some vehicles backed in and opened their tail gate while some viewed thru the windshields. I noted the convenience for one family in their handicap-equipped van with their son with a disability; they were liberated from schlepping the paraphernalia for a person with a disability into a theater! Drive Ins are dog-friendly, so we brought our Chocolate Lab, Roux on our excursion. We sat on lawn chairs outside the Buick where the sound of our radio (movie audio) melded with the other radios around us making a very cool “surround sound” type effect.
The Showboat is a 25 minute drive from the City of Katy on back roads through rice farming territory. It is open year round. The concession menu would not be condoned by the American Heart Association, but we bought their plastic insulated souvenir mugs and enjoyed our favorite beverage as we watched the movies. We were pleased that mosquitoes were not a problem, and surprised that despite high’s in the 90’s during the day, the night air had a nice chill to it! The best part was the romance of sitting beneath a star-lit Texas sky. It just doesn’t get better than that!
