The Mahoning Drive-In Theater (Lehighton, PA)

The Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA (visit their website and Facebook page for more information) is celebrating its 69th anniversary this year (2018). It was built 70 years ago in 1948 and began operating in 1949. That's a pretty amazing feat. And what's been going on at the Mahoning for the past few seasons has been an even more amazing story. Let's talk about both of those things...

The Mahoning certainly wasn't the first drive-in theater by any means. We just recently celebrated the 85th anniversary of opening of the first true drive-in back on June 6th. That one opened in 1933. But to be able to say that the Mahoning has been in operation since 1949 is indeed quite impressive. At 120 feet wide, it features the largest CinemaScope screen in Pennsylvania. For the first 65 or so years of its existence the Mahoning operated pretty much like most of the other drive-ins around the country. But then something happened that changed the course of the Mahoning and made it something even more special than "just another drive-in" (and I pretty much believe that EVERY drive-in that has managed to simply survive these days is something special).

The golden age of drive-ins in was in the 1950s and '60s. A their peak there were some 4,000 drive-ins across the country. Drive-ins started to decline in the 1970s and '80s (around the time that I first started attending local drive-ins during my youth in Massachusetts). The numbers eventually dwindled from around 4,000 to less than 400. Many factors went into this decline, but drive-ins really became an endangered species. As if things weren't bleak enough, the digital revolution of the past decade ended up putting many drive-ins that had somehow managed to survive out of business. Hollywood had decided to make a full switchover from film prints to digital projection. While a major change for the industry, and an expensive investment for theaters, this didn't really pose too much of a problem for the big multi-screen megaplexes that feature multiple blockbusters on a weekly basis. But single-screen and two-screen drive-ins were already finding it difficult to survive, and to suddenly have to invest about $70,000 per screen to convert their projection booth(s) for the new digital format was the final nail in the coffin for many drive-ins. That's why I believe that ALL the remaining drive-ins are pretty special and it also brings us to the Mahoning's own amazing story.

The Mahoning was one of many drive-ins that struggled with the digital conversion dilemma. They basically had two choices: somehow find a way to raise the money to go digital or shut down. So which choice did the Mahoning make? Neither! Instead they made the bold move of refusing the industry's digital demand and decided to make the switch to (or actually remain) an all-film based business model. This was previously the standard and now it would be the exception. Since the new films from Hollywood would only be available in a digital format the Mahoning went all-retro, showing 35MM prints of older films. Starting with the 2015 season the Mahoning began featuring great themed shows and weekends built around some great, fun and rare 35MM film prints. The idea was kind of slow to catch on at first, and pretty much all the money raised by those early weekends was put directly back into the theater to continue improving all aspects of the business. The dedication, commitment and hard work of the small Mahoning staff has paid off and it has now become a true destination for fans of movies, drive-ins and all sorts of different genres that the Mahoning has spotlighted over the past few seasons. The crowds have steadily grown over the years and it now has a great group of regulars, as well as new people who continue to find it based on an interest in drive-ins as well as all the varied shows they put on. There really is something for everyone!

They even have started a new tradition (2018 marks the fourth year) of starting the season off with a family-friendly double feature of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". Those are two great films (and personal favorites), but not really what many of the new followers of the Mahoning might expect from the theater (they're both classics, but a little on the mainstream side). Still, it's a great way to celebrate the start of a new and hopefully successful season (and don't forget, they're not DVDs projected onto the huge screen, they're actual 35MM prints)! There are other family-friendly shows that allow parents to bring their kids to the drive-in and share some of the magic they remember from when they were kids themselves. And there are also shows that are decidedly NOT so family friendly. But there's always a lot of thought and preparation put into all the shows and there is a lot of variety as well. It's not like they only show old 1970s horror films that would have been seen at the drive-ins of those days. They're likely to have a weekend or two like that, but they will also have weekends dedicated to directors like Martin Scorsese and John Carpenter. And other weekends will be filled with films from franchises like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or featuring the works of Bill Murray. In this 2018 season they have already had some of those shows and others like "Home Run Weekend" (with "A League of Their Own" and the original "Bad News Bears"), "Vampyrty 2018", "Zombiefest IV" (yes, the FOURTH edition!) and a weekend celebrating the works of Italian horror director Umberto Lenzi.

April-June 2018 schedule

A great example of how varied the shows are is this weekend's offering (July 6-7). It's the second installment of the "Drive-In VHS-Fest". Not only will they be featuring six rare horror movies over the two nights, but they will be movies that were mainly released on the defunct technology of VHS videotapes. Remember how I said that the Mahoning was dedicated to screening all kinds of great, fun, old and schlocky movies in 35MM? Well, for this weekend they'll let their classic 35MM projectors take a break and will fill that 120 foot screen with...projections of VHS tapes from an old VCR! In addition there will be an onsite VHS and cult cinema flea market with vendors set up on the drive-in's grounds!

I'm particularly excited about this show because it will be the first time this season I've been able to get to the Mahoning (I live in Massachusetts). In fact it will only be my third visit there and first since October of 2016. The two previous shows I attended were an Indiana Jones double feature in August of 2015 and an awesome six-film "Bigfoot Weekend" in October 2016 (see this post for more information about that show).

I have a friend who lives even further away from the Mahoning than I do (New Hampshire) who's so dedicated to it that he not only takes the drive down to Lehighton most weekends, but he also mans the ticket booth and snack bar while he's there! He has graciously offered to take me along once again for this weekend's show and I can't wait!

Finally, it's very much worth mentioning that the Mahoning's story is so amazing that it has actually been the subject of an award-winning documentary called "At the Drive-In"! I have not had the opportunity to see it yet, but I hope to soon!

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DRIVE-IN THEATER!

*Photos used in this post are borrowed from the Mahoning's website and Facebook page and the "At the Drive-In" Facebook page.