Drive-In (1976) Online

In the mid-1970's the Texas Film Commission provided considerable assistance to local filmmakers in an effort to grow the in-state film industry. One benefit of this was a little film appropriately titled "Drive-In"; a feature about drive-in movies meant to be shown at drive-ins. Although set in a small town outside Dallas, it could be Anywhere, USA; or at least any place where teen entertainment is centered around a town's roller skating rink and the drive-in theater.

If "Drive-In" was nothing more than a loving look at drive-ins and a time-capsule of the mid-70's it would be a treat, but this film is actually very well made. I originally saw it at a drive in Orange County, CA a few months after moving there from Texas. Although most of America's drive-ins have vanished, the entertainment aspect of this film has held up very well.

Don't go looking for a lot of familiar faces in the cast, part of the film commission's mission was to utilize local talent so you will see a lot of Texas folks getting their first and last screen credits. You might recognize Engelberg (Gary Cavagnaro), the fat catcher from "The Bad News Bears"; and character actor Glenn Morshower but the rest of the cast are folks like Michelle Franks, a local beauty who just acts natural.

The main story involves the efforts of the town's hottest girl (Glowie played by Lisa LeMole) to convince nice but very shy Orville (Morshower) that she is sincerely interested in him. But the film is loaded with side stories that weave into and around the main story. These include two wimpy teen gangs, The Widow Makers and The Gear Grinders who have a mild fight witnessed by a couple of outlaw bikers who comment: "Gang violence, its frightening". There are a couple of bumbling small time thieves who attempt to rob the theater box office. There is an auxiliary sheriff with gun rack and right-wing bumper stickers who shuts up his nagging mother by smoking a joint with her. There is an engaged couple having second thoughts about getting married, especially after the guy gets a look at Michelle Franks at the concession stand.

Much of the humor comes from "Disaster 76", a movie within the movie. It is being screened at the drive-in and there are frequent cuts to the action on that screen. It is a nice spoof of a whole group of disaster flicks including "Airport", "Jaws", and "The Towering Inferno". Current viewers will be shocked when a 747 crashes into the side of a skyscraper in a manner almost identical to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Obviously this idea has been around for a long time although apparently no one in the FBI ever viewed "Drive-In", wonder if it got any play in the Middle East?

There is also a television show within the movie as The Widow Makers spend their downtime watching "Ozzie and Harriet" reruns on the television set in their van.

At one point Engleberg refers to Oklahoma as Baja Arkansas and says "reasoning with a woman is like eating soup with a fork". Glowie turns down the offer of a ride home from a guy hitting on her with the immortal line: "I'd rather have a nonspecific infection".

Fans of classic country music will love the soundtrack featuring Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Jerry Lee Lewis. "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott?" by The Statler Brothers is the theme song.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I saw this movie at a drive-in back in the summer of 1976 in rural Wyoming, not Texas, but it still seemed pretty close. It was the second feature to another movie that I cannot even remember. I was with my big brother and his girl friend, and so this movie just seemed to fit us. I remember we were belly-laughing through the whole thing. Saw it later on someone's VHS. Didn't laugh as hard, but it sure brought back memories. And this movie does catch that part of small town life dead on--a summer night when everyone gathers at the drive-in.

Of course, the best thing about this movie was the movie within the movie--"Disaster '76." With it's "macho" hero delivering lame disaster movie lines while encountering situations out of the "Airport" movies, "Towering Inferno," "Earthquake," and "Jaws," it was a send up of just about every disaster movie made at that time. And this still a couple of years before "Airplane." I still laugh just thinking about it.

I caught this movie quite by accident on a cable system in 1976, and immediately fell in love with it! DRIVE-IN, featuring character actor Glenn Morshower in his movie debut, is an entertaining comedy about teens (and adults) gathering at a drive-in movie in a small Texas town in the mid 70's. Lisa Lemole is wonderful as the femme fatale who switches romantic partners mid-movie. DRIVE-IN features romance, gang violence, wonderful moments between two brothers, and enough slapstick comedy to satisfy almost anyone! And, let's not forget the movie-within-a-movie, "Disaster '76". which is the movie that's playing at the...DRIVE-IN! Highly recommend this one!

I think I first saw this made-for-TV movie by accident. Luckily I had a VCR and recorded it so I could watch something else on another channel. I can't even remember now what the other title was but glad now I recorded Drive-In as it is one of my all-time favorites for re-watching ever so often. As one old enough to remember drive-in theaters, this movie brought back many, many memories. I loved the weird characters and the even weirder flick supposedly playing on the screen that night. The disaster spoof could have been a great vehicle for Leslie Nielsen or Lloyd Bridges! This is just another one that definitely needs to be on DVD, though I doubt it ever will. In the meantime, I'll enjoy it the best I can on VHS even though I have to flip through countless commercial messages and station breaks.

I take pictures of Drive In Theatres so I mainly got this movie to see the Drive In Theatre that was shown in this movie. This was filmed at The Terrell Drive In. A small suburb outside of Dallas Texas. Some or most of the actors are I believe local folks from around the area. Some real good footage of the Terrell Drive In not to long before it was closed. But after watching this movie, I thought it was really a cute and funny show. Very enjoyable! There is romance, a little Mild gang violence, and a little slapstick type comedy. Just some kids, and "big kids" having a time at the Drive In. The movie showing at the Drive In is "Disaster '76". A spoof somewhat like that of "Airplane". So this is somewhat a movie within a movie. If you get the opportunity, have a look. I think you will enjoy it. I've watched it 4 times already and I've only had the video for 3 months!! Enjoy! Randy Carlisle

I have not seen this film since its cable run in the mid-1970s, but I still occasionally enjoy a private laugh when I think about it. The filmmakers clearly had a good eye for the details of small southern towns (the setting was Texas, but it would have been just fine for my native Tennessee). There is an early scene at a classic roller rink, where the dough-faced, slack-jawed teens used as extras were just perfect for the parts.

As mentioned by other reviewers, the movie-within-the-movie, DISASTER '76, is a solid parody worth watching just by itself. If a DVD is ever made (unlikely, I'm sure), DISASTER '76 should be included by itself as an extra.

7 out of 10.

I could've sworn I had already written a comment on this flick, but guess I didn't. A shame, too. Because this is one of the few non-mainstream movies that I really think deserves a "10" on IMDb's scale.

All right. Call me a romantic blatherer, but no movie other than the first "American Graffiti" is still able--this long after its release, and noting how far cinema has come in the meantime--to transport the watcher to a specific time period in a specific place with so little effort. Rod Amateau deserves a place in cinematic history for that, if nothing else. And the amazing thing about it is that the specific time period--and place--to which it transports the watcher is none other than the very one in which it was filmed! Not something lovingly recreated, but fresh while it was happening! No nostalgic tweaking, just slice-of-life with a smile.

Perhaps I gush, but I remember very well the first time I saw "Drive-In." It was at a dollar-admission cinema and was a new release at the time. The movie house changed its movies every Friday, and for some reason I went to see this on opening night. I was back on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday--five shows in seven days, and if they hadn't changed the movie again on Friday, I would have been back for more the next week. And I brought people with me to every show after that first one, all of whom claimed to adore it as well. That was 30 years ago, and I can remember no other movie before or after for which I felt that kind of exhilaration with the exception of "O Lucky Man!".

What makes the movie so much fun? What makes it amazingly re-watchable? I haven't the slightest idea. It's just a bunch of kids doing what kids do, while the (few) adults around them remain largely clueless. That, and mentally filling in the blanks as to what happens during the unseen parts of "Disaster '76," the movie-within-a-movie on-screen at the drive-in, is always fun. And of course, just the plain old' down-home good humor and never-taking-itself-too-seriously writing doesn't hurt a bit. They pink, Orville...pink as bubblegum! Goodness knows several of the songs are used WAY too often (the Statler Brothers must have gotten GOBS of royalty payments from "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott" being used more times than I can count) and Enoch is just a little too over-the-top (as is his pseudo-demise) while still being a real character, and NOBODY is believable as being quite what they pretend (just like real life, except these are actors playing parts), so don't look for great performances or something that would make Stanislavski or Strasberg sit up and take notice. But if you're looking for 90 minutes worth of pure entertainment that NO ONE need take seriously but everyone can smile at, I highly recommend searching out a VHS copy of this flick or praying for its release on DVD.

Folks, it's a fantasy. Could it have happened? The odds AGAINST it are as high as the percent given in the Ronnie Milsap song on the soundtrack. But it's too pretty a fantasy to ignore. Give yourself over to it, and remember how life used to be, whether it ever really was or not.

This movie was made in 1976 on a micro budget that was augmented slightly by the Texas film commission. Although the plot is implausible, the over-the-top way it was performed made it very memorable and a treat to watch. What is amazing about this film is that there were virtually no recognizable actors among the cast. Almost all of the cast were comprised of people from Terrell, Texas, where the film was shot, and the surrounding area.

Despite the lack of professional talent among the cast members, the funny home-spun style of the plot and the excellent directing made this a surprise gem when it was released later in 1976. The film was picked up by HBO and played multiple times on that network during the summer of 1977 where it was an instant success with its national audience. This was no small accomplishment as HBO had, even back then, many prospective films to choose from for its summer line up.

Those who grew up during the 1970s or early 80s will appreciate Drive In the most. It was a time when we were still living in the shadow of Viet Nam and Watergate. This film was comedic respite involving the lives of young people in small town America during this period. Those who lived through the era will remember fondly the days of the local roller skating rink and drive in theater in their home towns.

Yet, no matter who you are, you just can't help but love this movie. The film reflects a much simpler time in America when the after shocks of America's 1960's cultural revolution had still not made their way to small town America.

Even some young people today still might find it interesting to see what life was like for those of us who lived our youth without the internet, faxes, cell phones, HD TV, or drive-by shootings. Back in those days, social networking was done at school dances, the drive-in, the skating rink and the mall.

The plot of this story unfolds in a multi-narrative style which is to say it tells the stories of several different people and groups of people all at once. All of these characters converge at the Alamo Drive-In in Terrell, Texas for the last half of the movie. I'd prefer not to say anymore about the plot and let you see it for yourself. You won't be sorry.

The film was a popular VHS rental in the 1980s. As a testament to the movies strength, you can now get it on DVD. However, you'll have to buy it online more than likely.

Once upon a time there were drive-in movies which provided double and even triple features.including cartoons,and endless intermission ads between the films,and snack bars which sold a coil shaped mosquito repellant called Pic.This film captures that time even though it features only one movie called Disaster 75 which beat airplane to the punch in parody of Airport and Posidion Adventure type movies.It does include one of those intermission ads {when it was shown on ABC-TV of course they took a commercial break}.The film includes as its characters a gang member,the good guy and the lady he defends,a pair of inept robbers,and many more who make this night in Texas a real fun night at the movies

This one of many very funny comedies of the 70's. It is one of my top 5 which is amazing as it has no big names or stars from comedy troupes. I never laughed so hard as when the inept robbers comment of "that gun ain't got no safety" or Orville's brother 'Little Bit' (Engleberg from Bad News Bears) saying "They're pink as bubble gum". The movie playing at the drive-in (Disaster 76) was hilarious in itself and scenes from it played right into some of the funniest scenes of the real movie such as the dam breaking and flooding the town on the screen at the same time as the flood from the van's punctured water bed coming down the drive-in lane causing the black doctor from out of town to wish he had not stopped for a movie in this southern town. There are just way to many funny moments to mention them all. I highly recommend this movie and put it right up there with Young Frankenstien and Monty Python's The Holy grail from the same time frame. Where is the DVD???

I had the privilege of viewing this comic gem in the summer of 1976 at a drive-in theater with my wife. We revisited our youth as we watched these small town Texas teens laugh it up. The town nice guy, Orville Hennigson, played by a very young Glenn Morshower in his movie debut, is so shy that it is ridiculous. That, of course, is all part of the fun. Our bad boy, Enoch(Billy Milliken), is trying to control the very sexy Glowie(Lisa LeMole), who has her eyes on someone more sincere. Meanwhile, Orville's younger brother Little Bit (Gary Cavagnaro) is trying to grow up all in one night. Would-be hold up man Will Henry (Gordon Hurst)steals the show with his hilarious bumbling. With two brothers, two love interests, two car crashes, two rival gangs, two fights,two goofball robbers, two hick cops, and two movies (the one you're watching, and a movie within the movie that is on the screen at the drive-in called "Disaster 76")this winner really gets the job done. I haven't laughed this hard since Jesse Jackson ran for President. The dialogue is simple yet clever. Lines like "he's busier than a man with his hat on fire" are uniquely Southern and perfectly suited to the feel of the film. Lets call it "American Graffiti" meets "The Dukes Of Hazzard". By the movie's end my comic belly was as full as a tick on a hound dog.

This enjoyably wacky and frantic film centers on a single wild'n'crazy night at a Texas drive-in theater called the Alamo. The interconnecting stories include nice, but shy guy Orville Hennigson (the supremely affable Glenn Morshower) taking sweet, yet sassy Glowie Hudson (adorable brunette spitfire Lisa Lemole) on a date, a couple of inept would-be big time thieves attempting to hold up the concession stand, two rival gangs confronting each other in the parking lot, and a henpecked dude sharing a joint with his unsuspecting nagging hag of a mother. Meanwhile, a hilarious mock disaster opus named -- what else? -- "Disaster '76" plays on the big screen; this honey pokes blithely silly fun at everything from "Airport '75" to "The Towering Inferno" to "Jaws." Director Rod Amateau, working from a colorful and eventful script by Bob Peete, does an expert job of maintaining both a nonstop snappy pace and amiably breezy tone throughout. Moreover, Amateau injects a positively infectious sense of zany and inspired good-natured fun that's impossible to either resist or dislike. The lively and enthusiastic acting from an appealing no-name cast rates as another major asset: Gary Lee Cavagnaro as Orville's precious and mischievous younger brother Little Bit, Billy Milliken as cocky jerk Enoch, Regan Kee as the geeky Spoon, Trey Wilson as bumbling crook Gifford, Gordon Hurst as Will's equally blundering partner Will Henry, Kent Perkins as swaggering local stud Bill Hill, the luscious Ashley Cox as Hill's fed-up girlfriend Mary Louise, Louis Zito as the cranky, no-nonsense drive-in manager, and Bill McGhee as an extremely antsy Dr. Demars. Granted, the characters are a bunch of broad Texas caricatures (the often witty dialogue in particular is peppered with a sidesplitting surplus of goofy good ol' boy expressions and the thick Lone Star state accents are simply great), but they are still amusing and likable just the same. Extra props are in order for Robert C. Jessup's polished cinematography and the first-rate soundtrack of tuneful country songs. A real delight.

I throw my hat in the ring with most of the other commenters here. This is a marvelous little film with a sly sense of humor, acted with gusto by (mostly) local nonprofessional actors. I doubt this movie would ever get made today. Who'd fund it? As an added bonus the passage of the years has turned it into a time capsule of both drive-ins and small-town life. "Drive-In" sets up several major plot threads - a holdup attempt, Glowie's plan to dump her gang-leader boyfriend for the nice and shy Orville, Bill Hill's proposal to his girlfriend - and then tosses in a few additional minor ones once the sun goes down and the action shifts to the theater. Everything collides in a cascade of hilarity. The feature film showing in the background, "Disaster '76," is a great sendup of seventies disaster movies and just adds to the fun.

I once saw Glenn Morshower in an interview ruefully recalling a review of "Drive-In" which stated "Gets better after twelve beers." You don't need even one to appreciate this flick. If you can find it, watch it.

If there had ever been a Golden Globe Award for B-movies,this one would definitely have been a nominee in the comedy category.I expected Glenn Morshower to become a breakout star from this,even though he did not,he has become a successful character actor.The nostalgia element is strong now for a couple of reasons;the home video market was around the corner,killing the B-movie market,(such movies are now made for home video),& escalating real estate values started bringing down drive-in theaters at a faster rate,in favor of Wal-Marts,strip malls,etc.I understand this movie is not on home video,which is a pity.If anyone involved with it is reading this,I urge you to put it out on VHS & DVD.

"Drive-In" is a B movie about a night out at the local drive-in. It's a comedy that isn't terribly funny with acting that is less than stellar. But there are two reasons to watch it anyway. One is the movie within the movie which is showing on the screen called "Disaster 76." It's a send up of all the disaster films of that era and is very funny. Maybe the filmmakers should have filmed that film instead. The other reason is if you are a fan of the drive-in which is all but dead in many areas now. It harkens back memories and is a true journey into nostalgia. If you are not a fan then you may want to skip it.

After a little more than three decades of only watching the last 30 or more minutes of this movie on the "ABC Friday Night Movie", I finally saw the whole thing on Google Video just now. Taking place on a day in a Texas town, Drive-In has an ensemble feel as we view many events like the opening of the drive-in theatre, a couple of men planning to rob it, a teenage girl breaking up with a gang leader, and a teenage boy and his little brother talking about the former's shyness around girls among other subplots. When we get to the scenes of the feature playing at the outdoor screen, it's filled with parodies of various popular disaster flicks like the Airport series, The Towering Inferno, The Poseiden Adventure, and Jaws (I loved when both TTI and Jaws got referenced). This was both a funny and touching take on the various characters' foibles especially that of the teen lead of Orville Hennigson who I just found out was played by actual teen of that time Glenn Morshower-the future Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce on "24"! Another scene of that film-within-film I thought was hilarious was the way many people in the water was just calm when that shark's tail was moving around just nonchalantly! And how about that model plane crashing into a model building (post-9/11 irony notwithstanding)? So on that note, I highly recommend Drive-In.

There are some movies that just stick in your head. I saw Drive-In when it came out in the 70s and a couple of times on TV in the 80s, and I just recall it being very likable. I tend to think of it along with Smile, which I recall being a similar movie from around the same time, although one that got far more attention.

The movie is a loving tribute to what was then a dying industry, the drive-in. Taking place in a small town in Texas, the movie follows the fortunes of a variety of characters whose fates will take decisive turns - or not - by the end of the movie, including a couple of thieves, a bland teen boy and his annoyingly precocious younger brother, the girl who inexplicably likes the bland teen boy, her ex and his gang of troublemakers, the only black guy in town and a few others. It's essentially the structure of American Graffiti, only the soundtrack for this one is sprightly country western music.

Once they all reach the drive-in the action flits from character to character, pausing in between to show the movie itself, a send-up of disaster movies seen in amusing snippets.

Drive-In is not quite as good as I recall, but then, I was 17 when I saw it the first time and 54 when I saw it most recently and I don't always agree with my younger self. But even though the acting is hit and miss, some of the story threads are weak, and the movie-within-a-movie didn't make me laugh nearly as much this time as it did in the '70s, I still found this movie charming and likable, an ode to a bygone era that probably never really existed. It's one of those little B movies you're glad you've seen.

I love just about anything drive-in related, but the flick was so so and the soundtrack made me wanna blow my brains out. Where talking about nerve shattering, hillbilly, nose pickn', inbred country noise from hell. It was like being trapped in Hee Haw Hell for an hour... not to mention a long pointless scene inside The Backwoods Hayseed Jamboree Roller Rink.

If you can make it though the almost endless redneck ear torture during the first 1/3 or so of the flick, then it's worth while..but it's almost too hard to take.

Other than that... The drive-in scenery was a joy to see, as was the take off flick in a flick "Disaster '76". The storyline itself plays out like a made for TV movie (really tame), but there was enough going on to keep my interest.