Tuesday 17 July 2007

Best Western Movie Manor

This morning I drove from Durango to Monte Vista. The latter is quite a small town about an hour from most of the surrounding National Parks. But what it does have is a drive in movie motel. Yes people this exists in America!
Originally opened as a one screen drive in cinema in the 1950's, the Kelloff family expanded the business to include a motel in 1964, so they would have a year round business.

The main drive in screen.
Since then the motel has been expanded and a second screen was added a few years ago. It's a typical drive in cinema, with listening posts (as well as the soundtrack broadcast on a radio frequency), a snack bar and a motel. Each room looks out onto the main screen and the sound is pumped into the room. Each room is named after a screen star, I'm in the Burt Reynolds room, well I suppose it's slightly more glamorous than the Sally Fields room.

Burt was very accommodating.

The view of the screen from my room.

The films start around 8.30 to 9 in the evening. I didn't expect many cars to pull up into the drive in, with the improvement in home entertainment systems. I think most of the 8 or so cars parked seemed to be here for novelty value, everyone was taking photographs. Although I assume some locals still use the cinema.
The main screen was showing Die Hard 4, while the second screen played 1408, a creepy Stephen King story about a reviewer of ghostly hotels who finally experiences something hellish in a hotel room. I think the latter would be pretty frightening to watch in a hotel room (with an over active imagination at least), but only the sound from the main screen is pumped into the motel rooms. However all guests are welcome to get into their cars and drive the 50ft to view the second screen. I declined. Instead I stayed in my room, it felt odd to be looking at a screen through a window. I also got to thinking, what happens when it rains? Do people watch the film with their window wipers going back and forth? I asked at reception if bad weather will stop a screening, but apparently not. I did notice before the end of Bruce Willis' latest battle with the bad guys, only one car remained, but maybe that had something to do with the plot?

The Line Up

Speakers for a car.
It's been a cool experience to stay in such a unique hotel, but I can see why Drive In cinemas are disappearing.

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