'An experience all in itself': Manitoba's drive-in theatres still going strong

Summer movie season is in full swing, and many Manitobans are still choosing to see new Hollywood releases like Barbie and Oppenheimer at one of the province's three remaining drive-in theatres.

At Flin Flon's Big Island Drive-in, owner Dawn Hlady said it’s the only place in town to see the latest Hollywood blockbusters as they are released. "Here in Flin Flon, we don’t have a movie theatre, and the closest one is four hours away," said Hlady.

Advances in technology have made it easier than ever for remote theatres like Big Island to screen the latest films. "I can just literally download it from a link off the internet that they send me," said Hlady.

Once the digital movie file is downloaded, the studio sends Hlady an encrypted key to unlock the film and play it, but it only works for the theatre's agreed-upon run time of a few days.

While digital technology has made life easier for some drive in theatres, it's proven to be an obstacle for the Shamrock Drive-in in Killarney, Man.

The southern Manitoba theatre started its season with a projector malfunction. "It was very disheartening," said co-owner Joanne Struss. "My husband tried working on it all night to see what he could come up with, and at 4:30 in the morning he informed me we couldn’t play Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, so yeah, we disappointed a whole lot of people that day."

Their specially-encrypted digital projector needs a replacement part that has proven difficult to find.

Until they do, Struss has shifted back to screening "retro" movies, which she did exclusively during the pandemic.

"My Fair Lady; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; Kelly's Heroes with Clint Eastwood, who doesn't like Clint Eastwood?" she said.

Struss said the drive-in offers moviegoers more freedom while watching the latest films.

"Parents can bring babies and let them sleep in the back seat, or on their lap," she said. "People bring their dogs, you can't do that in a regular theatre.

"You can have discussions with the people that you're with, and you're not disturbing anybody."

Meanwhile, in Morden, Man., the Stardust Drive-in Theatre is showing No Hard Feelings, the new Jennifer Lawrence comedy.

Co-owner Marlene Nelson said they've been having a great summer so far.

"We started off our first night with the northern lights dancing across our sky…that was just a great way to kick off our season," Nelson said.

The Stardust Drive-in in Morden started the season with northern lights dancing across the sky. (Source: Stardust Drive-in)

She added they were also the perfect place to watch fireworks on Canada Day. Nelson said Mother Nature often adds to the drive-in experience.

"You can sit outside under the stars, and that's part of it. People have to remember to take in their surroundings," she said.

Struss agrees, remembering a screening of Twister at the Shamrock with thunderstorm activity happening all around them. "We had lightning shows going on - we weren’t being rained on - they were just lightning shows off to the north and south and east, every direction."

Big Island just had its screen re-painted for the first time in 20 years, so the picture will look better than ever. "It's a much brighter, sharper picture. It's a special screen paint you have to use so it's specifically for outdoor movie theatres," said Hlady.

She thinks people come to the drive-in for something unique. "The drive-in brings an experience all in itself, so it truly is different from the movie theatres," Hlady said. "I find it doesn’t really matter what I show, I'm still going to get a turnout."

Big Island attracts people from all over Manitoba.

"I have people coming from Thompson, I have people coming from The Pas who are literally turning around at 2 a.m. and driving back home," she said.

Nelson said a lot of people come from Winnipeg and further away to watch movies at the Stardust. "We actually get people who are travelling across Canada," said Nelson. "They'll say 'you know we made Morden a stop on our travels because we knew you were here.'"

Audiences were mostly teenagers during the drive-in theatre's heyday of the 1950s and 60's. These days Struss says it's become more of a family outing.

"Grandparents bringing in children, parents bringing their children, young couples going on a date night," she said. "Those tend to be the people that love coming to the drive-in."

Though projector issues have forced Struss to play older films for the time being, she will go back to playing new Hollywood releases as soon as her projector is fixed.

Nelson hopes it happens soon for the Shamrock, saying the theatres do stay in touch with each other.

"When there's three of you in all of Manitoba, you're very glad to have each other and support each other."

She believes drive-in theatres will be around in Manitoba for a long time.

"Once you've experienced it, it's something you want to keep alive."