McHenry Outdoor Theater & drive in

McHenry Outdoor Theater

View showtimes (815) 385-0144 1510 North Chapel Hill Road, McHenry

The McHenry Outdoor Theatre (frequently called the McHenry Drive In), located ½ mile north of Route 120 at 1510 North Chapel Hill Road, has a single screen and is open seasonally May to September.

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McHenry Downtown Theater

McHenry Downtown Theater

View showtimes (815) 578-0500 1204 North Green Street, McHenry

 

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Why do we love to go to the Movies?

At the cinema, there are no distractions as there would be at home (OK, sometimes there is that annoying person who talks through the whole movie, but hopefully that doesn't happen too often).  There's no phone (you did turn off your cell phone, right?), no doorbell, no internet, no commercials - it's a much different experience!  With the advent of cable TV, the DVD player, and movies by mail, it's easier than ever to catch your favorite flick.  But there's just no substitute for watching a movie in a real cinema with the lights down.

It's a break from the world, a chance to slip away into a world of imagination that unfolds before you easily and without effort.  After watching a great movie that totally absorbs your attention for two hours or so, it's like waking up from a dream, refreshed and ready to face the world.  For me, that's one of the biggest reasons to go see a movie in a theater rather than at home.

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DRIVE IN theaters: A CULTURAL PHENOMENON

Drive-in theaters operate today in nearly every U.S. state and Puerto Rico. Illinois had more than 120 outdoor theaters in its heyday in the late 50’s but only 12 remained continuously open, with two reopening after the year 2000.

The first drive-in theater was invented by Richard Hollingshead who tested a Kodak projector on the hood of his car at home and nailed a bed sheet to trees in his backyard, putting a radio behind the screen and testing sound levels with the windows of the car up or down. The inventor simulated rain with a lawn sprinkler and tested other weather conditions that would affect sound quality.

Hollingshead had the first patent on August 6, 1932 and a year later the first drive-in opened in New Jersey. The inventor advertised that “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are!”

At a minimum, a drive-in has a large screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a parking area for the cars. Originally, sound was produced by speakers on the screen, but later on, an individual speaker was provided for each car, hung from the window of each car. Finally, technology enabled the soundtrack to be broadcast on the AM/FM radio waves to be picked up by the radios in the cars.

During World War II building of theaters was very slow, but Baby Boomers after the war filled the theaters in throngs. A staggering 600 were built between 1946 and 1948. One of the largest was the All-Weather Drive-in in New York, with parking for 2,500 cars and an indoor seating area for 1,200 that was heated and air conditioned. A shuttle train took customers around on the 28 acres.

With continued success in the 1950’s, many theaters opened playgrounds for children to enjoy before the movie started. Mini trains, pony rides and restaurants were all part of the fun at some drive-in theaters. However, the 1960’s and 70’s turned their target audience to teens and adults, pulling out their playgrounds since fewer families were attending.

The 80’s brought cable TV and VCRs so people stayed at home and attendance dropped at the drive-ins, which closed by a staggering figure of 3000 with only 500 rem aining nationwide. However, baby boom nostalgia for the drive-in has created a nationwide upswing to the extent that many drive-ins reopened in the 90’s and some owners ran out of parking space. Even further, twenty new drive-ins were built in the U.S. between the summer of 2005 and the summer of 2006. A cultural phenomenon, the drive-in theater proves it is here to stay!