Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Other Diversions › After Hours Lounge › In Burlington, VT Cinemas - Summer 1981
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

In Burlington, VT Cinemas - Summer 1981

post #1 of 22
2/7/10 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 
My wife was cleaning out an old trunk today and found a copy of the Burlington Free Press from 8-23-81.

I just thought I'd share this particular snapshot of what was going on at the local filmhouses at that time.  Kind of fun to see.





Reply
post #2 of 22
2/7/10 at 1:29pm
Thread Starter 



Reply
post #3 of 22
2/7/10 at 3:20pm
I better hurry, The Empire Strikes Back positively ends on Thursday.

I think a Blow Out and Dressed To Kill double feature is the best way you could spend $3.

I love that I've now seen a newspaper ad for The Funhouse.
Reply
post #4 of 22
2/7/10 at 7:00pm
I grew up in St. Albans, VT so I have been to most of those theaters around that time, except for Mallets Bay Drive-in .
Reply
post #5 of 22
2/7/10 at 7:04pm
Thread Starter 
I hear Samantha Fox was quite "talented," Chuck. 
Reply
post #6 of 22
2/7/10 at 7:21pm
I believe I saw every one of those films except for Lunch Wagon that summer.  Far and away the worst was Tarzan the Ape Man, which may be the worst major Hollywood production I've ever scene.  IIRC, Samantha Fox was far better in her film than Bo Derek was in Tarzan.  (A pity they couldn't have swapped roles.  I would have paid double to see Bo doing some of Samantha's scenes.   )

Regards,

Joe
Reply
post #7 of 22
2/7/10 at 7:41pm

Unless Jessie St. James did some straight acting roles that I'm not aware of, I'm surprised to see that they played pornography at drive-ins. It truly was the golden age of the genre!

Reply
post #8 of 22
2/7/10 at 8:04pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post

Unless Jessie St. James did some straight acting roles that I'm not aware of, I'm surprised to see that they played pornography at drive-ins. It truly was the golden age of the genre!

The Mallets Bay Drive-in was(still is?) a porn theater and was quite (in)famous in the area.  The back and sides of the relatively tiny parking area were lined with very tall, thick trees and the sign out front made it quite clear that NO ONE under 18 was permitted inside.  I'm not sure if it is still operating.


Reply
post #9 of 22
2/7/10 at 8:20pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR View Post

I love that I've now seen a newspaper ad for The Funhouse.

For some reason, I always thought that "The Funhouse" was a direct to video release (no such thing at the time, I guess). But this clinches it.

I think the Welden Theatre in St. Albans is the only theater in those ads that still exists (and the Flynn, of course, but they don't show films anymore).  All the smaller theaters have now been replaced by a handful of multiplexes: The Majestic 10, The Palace 9, The Roxy (6 Screens), and the Essex Cinemas (8 screens).

Merrill's Showcase is now the Higher Ground nightclub, and the Century Plaza was torn down to make way for a Barnes & Noble. The Burlington Plaza 1-2-3 is still there, but is long abandoned (the only business in the plaza still operating is Kmart).


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon View Post

I hear Samantha Fox was quite "talented," Chuck. 

I just got her 2-CD Greatest Hits album.
Reply
post #10 of 22
2/8/10 at 6:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Anstey View Post

The Mallets Bay Drive-in was(still is?) a porn theater and was quite (in)famous in the area.  The back and sides of the relatively tiny parking area were lined with very tall, thick trees and the sign out front made it quite clear that NO ONE under 18 was permitted inside.  I'm not sure if it is still operating.

 


I figured that they had to cover the screen. Not to avoid offending people but so you couldn't get a free show from the street. Those trees probably helped to stop alot of car accidents that would have been caused by distracted drivers.

I still can't believe that there were drive-in porn theaters. I think if someone tried to do that today, people would burn down the theater.
Reply
post #11 of 22
2/8/10 at 11:07am
Great stuff, Mike!  Thanks for sharing. 
Reply
post #12 of 22
2/8/10 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 
I graduated college (Syracuse University) in 1981 and was courting my soon-to-be-wife (I proposed in December and we married in March 1982).

My wife grew up in South Burlington.  So I spent a fair amount of time there during the late '70s and early '80s.  The huge bridge over Lake Champlain that I've crossed countless times (at Crown Point) was just recently closed because of structural defects.  It won't re-open for nearly two years.  A ferry service has been hastily put in place.  I still get back there every so often to visit relatives and friends. 

In fact, I'm always PMing Malcolm to find out the latest hot spot for lunch or a film! 

It is amazing how many "classic" films were showing at the time.  "Classic" to my wife and I because they were so popular to us at the time.  We can both practically quote verbatim the scripts of both Stripes and Arthur.  While I still love Stripes (well, the first half of the film, at least), I cannot abide Arthur any more.  Something about the idea of a falling-down drunk just isn't appealing (or funny) to me any more.    I still find many moments of the film to be funny (most involving John Gielgud) but have a hard time with the film as a whole. 
Reply
post #13 of 22
2/8/10 at 1:35pm
Malletts Bay Drive-In is now closed, but the Sunset Drive-In is still open and has actually added a fourth screen in the years since this ad was published.

http://www.sunsetdrivein.com/
Reply
post #14 of 22
2/8/10 at 6:59pm
 I worked in a 4 plex in Anderson, SC. during the summers of '79 - ''82.  We had all these movie, and more people than I could imagine.  I don't think we will ever see summer movies like that ever again!
Reply
post #15 of 22
2/9/10 at 7:32am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck Anstey View Post

The Mallets Bay Drive-in was(still is?) a porn theater and was quite (in)famous in the area. 

When I told my wife about the drive-in porn theater, she recoiled in horror.  I wondered if they sold squeegees at the refreshment stand.  Or perhaps they'd make more money renting the squeegees.  Imagine the mark-up on the Kleenex!
Reply
post #16 of 22
2/10/10 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
I just realized that if you click on any of the images in the OPs, and then click on the "Original Image" link, you can magnify the image and see the fine print pretty clearly. 

A half-year later and I still don't get all the vagaries of the new forum software... 
Reply
post #17 of 22
3/3/10 at 2:37am
There was a porn drive-in on the outside of Davis, CA on the way to Sacramento- they went out of business because people were parking on a back road where they could see the screen without paying.  Of course I assume you all know that by the 1990s porno movies stopped being produced on 35mm film, the few remaining theaters have been showing video since then.

The problem with theaters around this time was a lot of them only had mono sound, and many of the 70s-era mall theaters were also built with fixed 2:1 screens, so you'd get the sides cropped on scope films and the top and bottom cropped on flat ones.  "Twin" cinemas usually meant they were an old single-screen theater with a wall put down the middle to split it into 2 smaller theaters, which should have always been illegal.  (I first saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back, and several others in such a theater- watching them on home video, even pan and scan VHS, is preferable!)  Thankfully theaters with mono sound are now very rare, but the problem now is many new theaters are just too small to justify the admission price.
Reply
post #18 of 22
3/7/10 at 3:38pm
Thread Starter 
An advertisement from that same edition of the 8-23-81 Burlington Free Press.  Makes you appreciate the prices of current HT gear:

Radio Shack 1.jpg

Radio Shack 2.jpg


Reply
post #19 of 22
3/8/10 at 8:25pm
Especially when you consider that in 2010 prices the Superb Hi-fi would cost $712.75, the 3-Head, Metal-Capable Deck would cost $667.34, the Finest Stereo Mike would cost $130.99, the Hi-Power Receiver With Most-Wanted Features would cost $858.05 and the 80 Watts! High-Power System would cost a whopping $1,713.95!

Reply
post #20 of 22
3/8/10 at 8:40pm
Thread Starter 

Reply
post #21 of 22
3/9/10 at 1:59pm
Walnut vinyl veneer audio rack! Classy! 
Reply
post #22 of 22
3/24/10 at 8:44am
Thank you so much for posting this stuff!  I


My parents have owned a summer cottage in Malletts Bay for the last 35 years.  I still remember driving by that XXX theatre and asking my Mom what "Debbie Does Dallas" was about.


I was 4 in 1981 but that place left an impression.


Would love to see more from that paper if you've still got it! 
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: After Hours Lounge
Home Theater Forum › Home Theater Forum › Other Diversions › After Hours Lounge › In Burlington, VT Cinemas - Summer 1981