Going, going, but not gone: Drive-in movie theaters still thrive in NH
Learn about the two New Hampshire drive-in movie theaters still screening films this summer.
They give fresh air, dancing hot dogs, and a major nostalgia fix. While the numbers are shrinking in the country, there are still thriving drive-in theaters in New Hampshire showing family movies and blockbuster hits.
Outdoor theaters were a big part of New Hampshire summers for Bill Reed of Nashua. “Some of my most vivid memories are drive-in days with the family in the station wagon. I’m dating myself now but when we went to see ‘Planet of the Apes’ — the original — and ‘Jaws,’ there were not enough blankets to pull over our heads. Later on, I remember watching the Milford Drive-in’s James Bond double feature in the pouring rain. The show must go on. Those were the days.”
Milford Drive-In
Fortunately for Reed and other southern New Hampshire fans, the Milford Drive-in (located at 531 Elm Street) is still going strong after 66 summers. The outdoor theater is open Wednesday through Sunday and charges $33 per car for admission. Fridays and Saturdays the box office opens at 6:45 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. the rest of the week.
The drive-in began as a single, 84-foot wooden screen in 1958. It was built and owned by a group of area residents. Local contractors donated labor and materials and the plan was to share the theater’s profits. It was the heyday of outdoor theaters with 4,000 open across the United States. There are only 300 remaining today, fewer than 15 in New England.
In 1969, the Scharmett family bought the theater from the original owners and have run it ever since adding a second screen and making yearly improvements, including the conversion from film to digital projection.
In the 1980s, Milford was the first New Hampshire drive-in to switch from heavy, silver speakers that balanced on car windows letting in the mosquitoes and hot air to an AM/FM radio channel.
But some things have stayed the same over the years, including on-screen enticements to visit a stocked concession stand selling candy, ice cream, hot pretzels, popcorn, and soda, and nowadays, blankets, sweatshirts, transistor radios (for visitors who want to watch the movie outside their cars), insect repellent, hand wipes, ibuprofen, and Pepto Bismol. But it isn’t always about the good old days for everyone.
“It’s not a nostalgic thing for me, because I’m not 70 years old,” said S. Baker from Hudson. “When we were in high school we went to the Milford Drive-In because it was summer, we were teenagers and we needed something to do. It was more about that than it was about the movie although I can remember every film we saw there.”
Northfield Drive-In
The 15-acre Northfield Drive-in, 981 Northfield Rd, Hinsdale, is now the oldest in the state. The family-owned theater, on the border of Massachusetts, is celebrating its “76th year showing films under the stars.” They screen double features on Friday and Saturday nights. Admission is $13 for those 16 and older, $7 for children 7-15, and children 6 and under can watch for free. The parking lot and snack bar open at 6:30 and the movie starts when the sun goes down.
“This is a really cool place,” wrote Lindsey B. in an online review of the theater. “Great service, price, and feel-good nostalgia. … It’s a drive for us, and it was a late night getting back home, but so worth it for the price and experience! I particularly get a kick every time of the old 50s style ads for their food, and intermission, when the movie is starting.”
The fan was referring to the animated cartoon shorts like those showing a circus of juggling popcorn boxes, tight-rope walking ice cream sandwiches, and anthropomorphic hot dogs doing backflips into waiting buns.
Northfield has the distinction of being the only drive-in straddling two states. And it doesn’t just screen movies, it was also part of one. Three scenes from “The Cider House Rules” starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, and Michael Caine were shot there on Halloween in 1998.
Another one bites the dust
The success of the few drive-ins left in New England relies on drive-in nostalgia devotees and those who were newly introduced to the experience during Covid. Both the Milford and Northfield theaters stayed open during the pandemic — giving people a socially distant outlet to gather and to be entertained. Northfield went one step further, allowing local high schools a safe venue to hold graduation ceremonies.
It has to be mentioned that the state did lose an iconic drive-in this summer. After 70 years of operation in the Lakes Region, Pat Baldi, the 86-year-old owner of the Weirs Drive-in in Laconia decided to shut down the theater this year, leaving countless New Hampshire vacationers with just memories of the iconic theater and its neon arrow sign pointing to the entrance on Route 11.
In a Facebook post, she wrote, “We love the drive-in. It is a huge part of each of us, and we have loved being a part, in a small way, of your families and your family vacations … But Patti Cakes is out of steam …”
Here’s hoping the steam never completely runs out for the remaining New Hampshire drive-in movie theaters.
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