Drive-In Movie Memories

This one-hour documentary special is a film celebration of America’s greatest icon of youth, freedom and the automobile. What began as an auto parts owner’s business venture to make some easy money accidentally became a magical place where romance, fun and a sense of community flourished. This film chronicles the drive-in’s birth and development, its phenomenal popularity with audiences of all ages, its tragic decline, and its inevitable comeback as a classic form of Americana. Drive-In Movie Memories includes photos and footage from the mid-1930s until today, a powerful original music score, and lively interviews with such notables as Leonard Maltin, Barry Corbin, Burton Gilliam, Beverly Garland, Samuel Arkoff, and John Bloom (aka Joe Bob Briggs). Drive-In Movie Memories covers every aspect of the drive-in movie-going experience: early outdoor projection, the marriage of the car and the movie, architects and drive-in construction, sound projection solutions, food trailers and concession stands, families and entertainment, teenagers and passion, church services, celebrity appearances, exploitation films, the effects of television and the VCR, and the drive-in’s decline and comeback. Drive-In Movie Memories was an Official Selection at both the Chicago International Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival, and won the Gold Award at the Houston World Fest. During its film festival tour, it played in over 40 festivals across the nation. Drive-In Movie Memories was produced by Don and Susan Sanders, and directed and edited by Kurt Kuenne, who also composed the musical score.