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Photographs by Byron Kerman
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You have to feel warm and nostalgic—and maybe a little frightened—about the last remaining exemplar of a species. Belleville’s Skyview Drive-In, the sole operating drive-in cinema in the entire metro region, is old-fashioned fun that does the soul good; and along those lines, we sincerely hope it never perishes to the land of the soda shoppe, the pinball arcade, and the tabletop jukebox.
It’s understandable to worry—this is a place where ancient things teeter on the edge of extinction. The rudimentary playground at the base of the main screen is older than most of the parents who unleash their kids upon it. The price of admission is an old-fashioned bargain: $10 for a double feature, with two children admitted free for each adult. The original 1949 projector is still in use, showing current films like The Avengers and Men in Black 3.
The place may be an anachronism, but each night, the public is primed and ready for the drive-in experience. Many if not most customers arrive in SUVs, minivans, and trucks, and back into the designated slots. They proceed to open their rear doors and tailgates to create a mobile rec room that opens out to face the movie screen. Lawn chairs, blankets, sleeping bags, coolers, food, booze, kids, and dogs spill from the cavities of trucks and cars.
Noshing, drinking, and goofing around—and playing cribbage, for one anachronistic father and son on one recent night—fill the time before darkness descends and the previews begin.
The sound for the movies comes through each car’s radio. It just makes more sense than using those old-timey speakers that rest on the edges of car windows. It’s simpler and less expensive to do it this way, these days.
The drive-in itself is a paragon of simple, inexpensive pleasures. From the entry— when your car tires make popping noises over loose gravel—to the pre-show chill-out whereby each of your neighbors has created a self-contained party on wheels, to the big show finally unspooling under the stars, it’s an event.
Skyview Drive-In, 5700 North Belt West, Belleville, Ill., 618-233-4400, skyview-drive-in.com. Open seven days a week in the summer.
