Moviegoers have been motoring to the Motor Vu Drive-In Theatre for five decades to enjoy that special motion-pictures-under-the-stars experience.
The theater, which is located at 5368 S. 1050 West in this Weber County town, celebrated its 50th birthday last month. It is Utah's second-oldest drive-in, Provo's Pioneer Drive-In being its senior by just a couple of months.The Motor Vu is also one of only eight drive-ins in the state to survive into the 1990s. Back in the 1960s-'80s heyday, there were at least 15 drive-ins in Utah between Logan and Mount Pleasant. While indoor theaters have multiplied dramatically throughout the state, drive-ins have decreased by some 50 percent in the past two decades.
Howard Coleman has been at the Motor Vu for 45 of its 50 years, beginning at age 15 in 1952 and working his way up to manager by 1963. Then in 1979 he purchased the twin-screen theater.
The Motor Vu has continued to prosper. "Last year was our biggest ever," Coleman said, with blockbuster movies like "Independence Day," which played for 16 weeks.
This summer has also been strong. "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" did big business for eight weeks, and there were solid grosses for "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Air Force One" and "Men in Black," along with the Disney combination of "George of the Jungle" and "Hercules."
The Motor Vu can accommodate 1,100 cars, and it almost hit capacity the weekend after the Fourth of July this year.
"Saturday night is the busiest," he said.
Other area drive-ins have not been so lucky. The Riverdale Drive-In, less than a mile away, closed about seven years ago and was replaced by apartments. Layton's Davis Drive-In closed down in 1991 for economic reasons.
Nationwide, drive-ins peaked at 4,087 in 1958. They cashed in on a combination of American loves - cars, films and fast food.
But by 1996, the number had dropped to about 800.
Since Davis County lacks a drive-in, Coleman said he gets a lot of patrons from that area. And Weber County has only one other drive-in, the North Star, a twin-screen operation in Harrisville, northwest of Ogden. (Salt Lake and Utah counties have two each.)
Coleman says new drive-in theaters are not likely to open in the country - or anywhere else, for that matter - but many have expanded. For example, he added a third screen to the Motor Vu in 1991, purchasing one from the defunct Riverdale Drive-In. Then he added a fourth screen a few years later. (Only Salt Lake's Redwood Drive-In is larger, with six screens.)
Today his theater boasts the state's largest single outdoor screen - his No. 1 is screen is 103 feet wide and 65 feet high.
Coleman doesn't foresee high-rise apartments bidding for his land, though he is landlocked now. "Very few drive-ins have reached the 50th year milestone," he said - and he expects to be around another 50 years, despite challenges from cable TV, VCRs, indoor theater stadium seating and real-estate pressure to use drive-in land for housing or other development projects.
He said the Motor Vu has attracted a lot of first-time drive-in moviegoers in the past couple of years, some of whom seem nervous about what they'll experience. But he tells them not to worry, to just come out and enjoy an evening in the open air.
Most satisfying for Coleman are the many families that frequent the Motor Vu, some of them repeat customers from years earlier (some are older moviegoers coming after a three-decade absence) - and some who came to the drive-in as youngsters and are now bringing their own children. And many of them remember Coleman.
"It's kind of like a family outing," he said, adding that parents and kids will lounge in truck beds, on mattresses, lawn chairs and some even hold barbecues with portable grills before the movies start. One group of kids even brought a trampoline into the Motor Vu earlier this year and then watched the movie on it. "I try to discourage that. It was a little much."
There's still a 10-15 minute intermission between movies, and, of course, weather is a big factor. And Coleman says the best innovation for drive-ins in the past couple of decades has been piping the movie soundtrack into the car through radios. No longer are cars stuck on the sides of poles with bulky, crackling speakers attached to their windows.
As a result, he notes, "A lot of cars can park in places where you couldn't before. It has opened up a whole new type of experience for drive-ins. It's better sound, (and) it's been the salvation of drive-ins."
He sees boom boxes and other portable radios come in, and he says he's seen kids drive in with a $500 car that has a $5,000 car stereo system.
The saddest memory Coleman has is the demise of his former theater playground/amusement area. There were swings, slides, a train, motorized cars and other rides adjacent to the screens until about 12 years ago. Kids loved to play on the equipment and rides before the sun set and the movies began.
"We had a neat playground," he said. "We lost all that. Insurance people didn't want to assume that kind of liability."
The Motor Vu express train is all that's left of the playground, which Coleman has preserved for parades and special occasions.
Another thing that hasn't been kind to drive-ins is delight-saving time. "You can't start a movie until 9:30 or 9:40 p.m., sometimes," Coleman said, which means that two movies may last until 1:30 or 2 a.m. - and that's pretty late for young families."
When the Motor Vu opened on June 22, 1947, admission was 50 cents for adults and 10 cents for kids, ages 6-11. Today it costs $5.50 for ages 12 and up.
However, most drive-ins offer first-run movies today, not the B-movies of the past. Coleman said he pairs family movies and never shows risque films. "I think our neighbors have been pretty satisfied over the years."
The Motor Vu sits in a pocket of country land in Riverdale. The city's largest commercial growth is located to the north, with a SuperTarget store less than 600 yards away. The Riverside Golf Course is to the south, and I-84 is eastward. A residential area sits to the west. "We're on the edge of growth but not in the middle of it. It's an ideal place."
Like most drive-in theaters, the Motor Vu holds swap meets on the weekends, a 25-year tradition. A very popular fixture, the swap meets start at 7 a.m on Saturdays and Sundays.
(As a footnote, Tooele County also has a drive-in theater called the "Motor Vu," although there is a slight difference in the full name. The Motor Vu "Theatre" is located in Erda, as opposed to Riverdale's Motor Vu "Drive-In Theater.")
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Utah's 10 drive-in theaters
Art City Drive-In, 720 N. Main, Springville (Utah County), one screen. Prices: ages 6-11, $1; 12 and up, $4.
- The Basin, 680 N. State Street, Mt. Pleasant (Sanpete County), one screen. Prices: $4 for adults. Children with parents are free, alone $2.50 each.
- Echo Drive-In, 35 S. 200 East, Roosevelt, one screen, $4 for adults, children $1.
- Motor Vu Drive-In, 5368 S. 1050 West, Riverdale (Weber County), four screens. Prices: $5.50 for ages 12 and up; under 12, free.
- Motor Vu Theatre, U-36 and Erda Way, Erda (Tooele County), one screen. Prices: $4.50 for adults, children under 12 free.
- North Star Drive-In, 2131 N. Highway 89, Harrisville (Weber County), two screens. Prices: $5 for ages 12 and up; under 11, free.
- Pioneer Twin Drive-In, 1225 S. State Street, Provo, two screens. Prices: ages 6-11, $1; 12 and up, $4.
- Redwood Drive-In, 3688 S. Redwood Road, West Valley City, six screens. Prices: $5, 11 and over.
- Sunset Drive-In, 1620 W. U.S. Highway 40, Vernal, one screen, $4 for adults, children $1.
- Valley Vu Drive-In, 3560 S. 4800 West, West Valley City, one screen, $5 for age 12 and up.