Coldwater’s Capri Drive-in will finish its yearly season in just three weeks, and students might not want to miss the rare and waning chance to experience this part of American history.
Drive-ins are a phenomenon from the 1950s. Families and friends would load up their cars with snacks, chairs, blankets, and games for a night under the sky while watching a double-feature of Hollywood’s best films on the big screen.
What used to be communities’ social spaces have mostly become overgrown gravel lots with battered screens, run-down reels, and dismantled signs. Across America, states have watched the number of drive-in theaters decrease by 90 percent, according to Drive-InMovie.com, a website that tracks each of the remaining drive-in theaters.
The Capri, however, has fought to be one of the prized remaining few – only 10 of 166 drive-ins in Michigan are still in business. The Capri has even been resilient enough to earn the award “One of Ten Drive-In’s Worth a Detour” from both USA Today and The New York Times.
It has been a family endeavor ever since John Magocs decided to leave his electronics and service business in Detroit in 1964 for a more flexible schedule outside of the city. This past August, Thomas Magocs and his wife Susan — the current owners – celebrated the Capri’s 48th birthday.
Susan Magocs, who manages the concessions, said that they have had to work to keep up with the movie industry. In the next couple of years they will update from film to digital formatting.
But the quality of technology is not what draws people in, she said. It is the atmosphere.
“It’s not like coming to a movie; it’s more like an event – like tailgating,” Susan Magocs said. “People start lighting up and getting their Frisbees and footballs [before the movie]. No one is going to worry about what they are going to do when they get home. You get a full night – a really affordable night for the whole family.”
Susan Magocs grew up in a large family, but she said she always enjoyed a night at their local drive-in.
“My memories of going were always fond. I remember my parents loading us up in a car and my mom popping a big bag of popcorn and a jug of Kool-Ade and off we’d all go. When you think of summer, you think of this kind of summer fun. The same reasons drive-ins are popular now are the same reason they were popular.”
Only a small number of Coldwater residents actually attend the drive-in. Instead, the Capri draws people from a 150-mile radius, Susan Magocs said. Last month they even had a group from England come while they were visiting relatives.
“I think we get people to come for our novelty, and that is something I didn’t see 10 or 15 years ago,” she said. “They are just coming out for the novelty now. Thank goodness for the Internet. How we have survived is the Internet and Facebook.”
Jamie Waller, administrator of the Branch County Area Chamber of Commerce, said they market the Capri in visitor’s welcome packets especially.
“We have the drive-in here and we go to it every now and then, but the people that come visit are actually in shock to hear that we still have a drive-in,” Waller said. “Not many cities in Michigan have a drive-in anymore. It is a big eye-catcher for the town and a great thing that our community has to draw people into the community.”
Junior Katie Nolan, who had gone to an Indiana drive-in a few times when she was young, decided to check out the Capri last spring with some friends and saw “The Avengers” and “The Five-Year Engagement.” She said she enjoyed it because of the freedom and affordability.
“I like to talk a lot during movies, which is not really ideal in theaters. I need to comment on the movie, otherwise I will self- destruct,” Nolan said.
Nolan said she would have brought more blankets and perhaps some chairs to sit in outside of the car. Magocs also suggested that people bring portable FM radios to hear the audio of the movies – although they do rent them out for $2. Nolan said that it was still worth the effort.
“There is more work to it, but it is also a lot more fun,” Nolan said. “It was nice to be outside and have an entire night of it. It was worth the drive and we went to Dutch Uncle afterwards because it was after two, and who doesn’t want donuts that late.”
Susan Magocs said there isn’t anything else like it:
“If you come out on these fabulous summer nights, I’ll stand there with you and let you look at these people sitting in their cars, and this big huge screen, and then we will lift our heads and look up into the night sky, and we’ll smell that air, and we’ll look at those stars and we’ll see that movie. And we’ll say: ‘where else can you get this?’ That’s just the most amazing thing to me. It just smells good. It just feels good. And then I get to watch a movie on top of all that. You just can’t beat that.”
The Capri Drive-in now only has one of its two screens open, and is showing “Looper” and “Evil Goes Global.” The theater will be open until October 20, when they will be hosting a Halloween party.