Coronavirus: Resurgence of Drive-In Theaters?

Above, the long-gone Van Nuys Drive-In, where I saw Godzilla 1985.

The last movie I saw at a drive-in movie theater was The Beverly Hillbillies at the Winnetka Drive-In in Chatsworth, California back in 1993.

Since then, that drive-in and many others in California and in other states closed up for good, allegedly due to high property values. The last drive-in theater in Gallup, New Mexico closed up years before I moved to the state.

The current coronavirus is making people take a second look at the drive-in theater.

Hagerty Drivers Club posted:

A nostalgic staple of 1950s–60s America might provide a valuable escape from the current stay-at-home situation if U.S. officials allow it. 

Drive-in theaters, once a common form of entertainment here and abroad—mostly in rural areas—are already experiencing a resurgence in some areas of Europe and Asia as people look for safe distractions from the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal guidelines do not specifically mention drive-in theaters, but state governments may choose to allow them to open since they are functionally so different from typical movie theaters. Drive-in movie-goers can easily maintain a safe distance from others outside of their own vehicle.

To read more, go here. 

Donna Douglas Dies At 82

Above, Donna Douglas and Elvis Presley in Frankie and Johnny (1966).

We've lost a television icon of our youth yesterday.

According to Japan Today:

NEW YORK —Donna Douglas, who played the buxom tomboy Elly May Clampett on the hit 1960s sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies,” has died. 

Her niece said Douglas died Thursday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, near her hometown of Zachary. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, Charlene Smith said. Douglas was 82. 

She was best known for her role in “The Beverly Hillbillies,” the CBS comedy about a backwoods Ozark family who moved to Beverly Hills after striking it rich from oil discovered on their land. 

The series, which ran from 1962 to 1971, also starred the late Buddy Ebsen and Irene Ryan as well as Max Baer Jr, who turns 77 on Sunday.

The passing of Donna Douglas is a reminder that we are fortunate, as fans of the Adventures of Superman, we still have Phyllis Coates, Noel Neill and Jack Larson with us.

To read more, go here.

UPDATE: Douglas was actually 81 when she died.