Looking for a little retro fun? Take in a drive-in movie—who cares what’s playing?

IT’S A SUMMERY Saturday evening on the Island, and the crickets are chirping in the crisp North Shore air. A group of up to 350 vehicles—ranging from cars, vans and pick-up trucks—has gathered on a sloping property for a double bill of movies at the Brackley Drive-In, in Brackley Beach. People of all ages wait patiently in their cars for dusk to take over the evening sky and finally, as the silence of the night sets in, the five-storey-high screen lights up. It’s show time.

You set your radio to 99.1FM for the sound, but there are also concert speakers outside, so you have the option of sitting outside to watch the movie, mosquitoes or black flies notwithstanding. Between shows, you can enjoy the 1960s-style cartoons (which feature a dancing hotdog), chat with folks while waiting in the canteen lineup to get some hot food, popcorn or a drink, or check out the 1950s theme of the building and the rest of the grounds, with their neon lights and antique cars.

Bob Boyle, owner of the Brackley Drive-In, says the 1950s theme was envisioned by his father, who wanted the property to be a throwback to a time when drive-in theatres were an iconic slice of 50s Americana. “Everyone thought Dad was crazy for buying a drive-in,” Boyle said. “It just didn’t seem to be a viable business plan.”

The first drive-in theatre was opened 80 years ago, in June 1933, by auto-parts salesman Richard Hollingsworth Jr. of Camden, New Jersey, who started experimenting with the idea in his own yard by putting together a make-shift screen on a tree and seeing where he could position cars.

They became a novelty. Mom and Pop didn’t have to dress up to go out; the kids could wear their pyjamas (and be carried into bed afterwards if necessary). Teenagers could do what teenagers do. People could smoke.

This wasn’t about highbrow culture: it was an affordable escape in the form of a horror, sci fi or family flick—usually a B movie. In some cases you might have a hot dog from the canteen or a picnic from home with your neighbours, so it was a community event, especially for the regulars. If it was raining, it added that much more ambience to the space alien movie plot.

Edward MacDonald, who teaches Island history at the University of Prince Edward Island, says he saw his first movie at Kingsway Drive-In in Pooles Corner, PEI, while growing up.

It was the 1969 production The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. His older sister and her boyfriend took the then 11-year-old to the show for a treat. Later, in his teen years, he would go with friends. He remembers the drive-in as an exciting place.

“My father had a truck and there were nine kids, so we never got dragged around very far,” MacDonald says.

“There was a certain romance about the drive in. You could make as much noise as you wanted in your own car and not bother anyone.”

MacDonald says that part of why drive-ins were popular in Atlantic Canada was because everyone knew everyone.

“A lot of people would take the long route on the way back from the canteen to see who was there and who was on a date with who,” he says. “Generally you’d see the families parked up close, and the young people and the people on dates parked towards the back.”

But for all their charms, drive-ins declined for several reasons. Some say the price of land was a factor, in that the theatres would crop up in fields on the outskirts of town, and then the town would grow. Another factor was that they were often mom and pop businesses that the kids did not want to take on.

Bob Boyle says community drive ins began to decline when VCRs started to become popular, in the 70s.

A change in attitudes about transportation also contributed to their decline. “Charlottetown wasn’t really that far physically but psychologically it was very far away,” says Edward MacDonald. “You wouldn’t have considered driving 45 minutes to Charlottetown to have fun.”

Now, the traffic is reversed: with Brackley being the only drive-in left operating on the Island, a stream of cars makes the 20-minute trek from Charlottetown to its rural home.

“There was a resurgence in interest in drive-ins in 1995 or so, when they hit classic car status,” Boyle says.

Why does he think his business is busy? “The drive-in experience is unique... there’s a nostalgia factor. Many people feel it’s a community event. You can sit in your car and turn the volume up and snuggle up with your favourite blanket or pillow. You may get a few looks bringing your own pillow to a movie theatre but here it’s the norm and it’s encouraged.”

Of course, the equipment has changed over time. The small, tinny-sounding radios that hung on your window to broadcast the movie switched to AM radio in the 1970s, then to the FM signal in the 1990s.

In the past year Hollywood started sending their movies in digital format rather than in 35mm film. To adapt, drive-ins have had to buy digital projection systems at a cost of upwards of $120,000. The businesses that could not afford the switch have closed down, but those that funded the new equipment should have no trouble surviving for another 20 years, Boyle says.

“It’s a difficult business to be in.”

Before the financially straining conversion to digital, Boyle remembers his most trying time operating the drive-in was in 2003, when Hurricane Juan hit the province.

He woke up that morning at his home, next to the drive-in property, and noticed he couldn’t see the screen through the trees. He drove over to witness the screen toppled over and broken beyond simple repair.

Thankfully, he was able to purchase a replacement from the then-defunct Starlite Drive-In, in Summerside.

Unlike most drive-ins, Brackley operates seven days a week in the summer season. The reason being, Boyle says, is that the local crowd comes out on the weekend, while the Island’s tourist population frequents the property on weekdays.

“For many people we’re something different on their trip to PEI,” Boyle says, adding the local fan base adds value to the outing. “I see people come here an hour before the movie starts and play crib or toss around a football.”

Wayne Young grew up in western PEI, frequenting the Princess Pat Drive-In in Cascumpec in his teens in the 1970s. “In our part of the country the Princess Pat was pretty well supported,” Young says.

He recalls seeing the 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre there—perhaps a poor choice to show in a rural, isolated area. “That left quite an impression on me,” Young chuckles. “Outdoors on the big screen it was definitely memorable!”

Those memorable experiences are now being passed on to new generations, Boyle says.

“They’re making their own nostalgia… I’ve seen it in the 20 years I’ve been here. People came here as kids with their parents, and now they’re grown up and bringing their own children.”