“Motion pictures! Music! Muscle cars!”
That’s the tagline on the Facebook page and giveaway poster promoting a special event set for Saturday, July 30, at the Malco Summer Season Quartet Drive-In.
Other blurbs provide likewise balanced examples of ballyhoo, in the drive-in custom. “Cruise-in at the Drive-In!” guarantees one. “Automobiles Under the Stars!” proclaims another.
The buzz is for a program that combines classic cars with classic car motion pictures.
On the screen will be a double feature, starting with “Corvette Summer” (1978 ), starring Mark Hamill and Annie (“Ghostbusters”) Potts, followed by George Lucas’ “American Graffiti” (1973 ), with a soon-to-be-all-star cast that consists of Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers and Harrison Ford.On the drive-in tarmac itself, in a designated location, will be as many Corvettes, muscle cars and trucks(Firebirds, Mustangs, etc)and “timeless”vehicles as Memphis-area collectors care to drive to the” cruise-in,”which starts at 5:30 p.m. (Inevitably, the Facebook page for the occasion also features the motto:”Calling All Vehicles!”) BAZ LUHRMANN: The’Elvis’ director discuss the King,’Kane’and the Colonel
TELEVISION NEWS:‘ Young Rock’in Memphis: NBC television series to film 3rd season in the Bluff City Rather than a”vehicle program,”a”cruise-intypically doesn’t have prizes or anything like that,”said event co-organizer Shawn Brereton, a classic automobile collector and promoter who runs several podcasts and clubs dedicated to vintage vehicles.” It’s just an invite for everyone to appear and flaunt your vehicle. Just hang out, and chat about the vehicle with whoever’s interested,”he stated.”Their vehicle is their infant, they like the opportunity to show it off and talk to individuals about the history of it. It’s a passion for many people.”Malco Summer drive-in’s history Obviously, “Cars Under the Stars” is not simply a slogan: It’s the whole point of the drive-in, which offers an online forum for the
watch-a-movie-through-your-windshield experience promoted throughout the post-war Baby Boom era, from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Throughout the drive-in boom of the 1950s, as numerous as 5,000 drive-ins operated in the U.S., according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association, a not-for-profit trade group that keeps tabs on the industry. Now, about 318 drive-in theaters exist in the country, with 571 overall screens, states the association. The Malco Summer season drive-in at 5310 Summertime Ave. is among those survivors.The Summertime opened on Sept. 1, 1966. To contrast the theater with the 20 approximately other drive-ins operating at the time in the greater Mid-South location, newspaper ads boasted that the Summertime was”As Modern as Tomorrow,”with “Modern Self Service “and” 23 Paved Acres-No Gravel, No Dust or Mud.”Initially a two-screen outdoor theater, the Summer expanded to 4 screens in 1987. It’s continued to adapt. Recently it has worked as an area for live concerts and funny programs; as an Indie Memphis Movie Festival place; as a Sundance Film
Celebration”satellite”site; and as the place of the popular regular monthly “Time Warp Drive-In” program of cult films, now in its ninth year.Most just recently, the drive-in on July 8-10 hosted “Joe Bob’s Jamboree,”which attracted hundreds of horror fans from across the U.S. for films hosted from a large stage by Shudder streaming-service personality and self-styled “drive-in film critic “Joe Bob Briggs. ‘THE GRAY MAN ‘: The man behind’Gray Guy ‘: From books to Netflix, Memphis author Mark Greaney is a force’ELVIS’MOTION PICTURE:10 Memphis moments in ‘Elvis’: Beale Street, Graceland, Russwood Park and more Car culture in Memphis The other organizer of the”Cars Under the Stars”event is Memphis filmmaker Mike McCarthy, who also co-created the “Time Warp Drive-In
“with Matt Martin of Black Lodge, the motion picture rental/performance area at 405 N. Cleveland. In addition to motion pictures, McCarthy is adding music to the occasion: Prior to the movies, the regional band Uptown Punk will play two mini-concerts of Ramones covers, bookending an efficiency by another Memphis band, the Markdowns.”I constantly believed it would be cool to show
‘Corvette Summertime’at the Summer season drive-in,” McCarthy said.He included that”Star Wars “fans ought to particularly value the double costs, because” Corvette Summertime”stars Mark Hamill and “American Graffiti”– directed by George Lucas, whose next project was”Star Wars”– offers a small role to Harrison Ford.”What is’ Star Wars ‘however racers in outer space?”McCarthy asked.” Which falls back to the biographical nature of the movie and’American Graffiti, ‘due to the fact that he was deep into cars and truck culture.”Brereton– whose own classic automobiles consist of a 1955 Chevrolet and a 1966″supercharged” Ford Fairlane– said Memphis is a historical and still active center of cars and truck culture. The city is home to a variety of routine occasions(such as the monthly” Racers on Beale “and” Vehicles and Coffee “meetings )and to a wide variety of Facebook pages(Memphis Classic Chevys; Mustangs of the Mid South; Mustangs of Memphis; ShowStoppers Corvette Club of Memphis, and so on). In addition, Brereton and other regional enthusiasts/experts host a number of podcasts on the subject, consisting of “Racer Blues,” that is available on Spotify and YouTube.” A lot of individuals do not understand that outside of Southern California, Memphis was a hot bed for hot rodding,”Brereton stated. “Memphis was a great conference spot in between the East and the West, “and the old Lakeland International Raceway drag strip was well-known sufficient to be showcased in the 1971 movie “Two-Lane Blacktop.”If you want to know more, Brereton said, “I’ll tell anybody who’s interested all about it, if they come to the drive-in.”‘ Cars Under the Stars’at the Summer Season Quartet Drive-In Saturday, July 30, 5310 Summer season Ave.Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Music is at 6:30 p.m.” Corvette Summertime “is at 8 p.m., with “American Graffiti “at 10 p.m.Designated parking lot for Corvettes and traditional cars.Admission:$ 25 per carload. $15 for classic automobiles.$10 for Corvettes.Visit malco.com.