Arguably, the Most Viewed Theater Film of All Time...

[ChiTownScion]

...... would be that "Let's All Go to the Lobby" trailer, made before yours truly was born. I always thought that the cake walking refreshments were very cute, and I especially enjoyed the version that 7-Up made as a TV commercial in the early 1970's.

The original trailer- and the minute countdown trailers made for drive ins, were produced by Filmack Studios of Glenview, Illinois. They're still in business. Here's a feature that I found on You Tube about it.
[video=youtube;9e1TlZL29dE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e1TlZL29dE[/video]

 

[ChiTownScion]

Here's the 7-Up version. I think that the animation is really outstanding. Note that it's "Go On Out to the Lobby"...


[video=youtube;2YllMVgHV80]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YllMVgHV80[/video]

 

[Edward]

I'm currently in Beijing and so unable to view Youtube videos, but I'm noting this thread to look up when I get home. I did wonder before I opened it what else could possibly have beaten Rocky Horror Picture Show to this title. I remember a few ads that I used to see in the cinema for years, ads that sweemed to be shown for years on end.... The Nestle Lion Bar (I think those are called a Big Cat in the US?) ad using The Troggs' Wild Thing was always a particular favourite.

There's another thing: I've never been to a drive-in cinema. I'd love to experience that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've always wanted to know who did the animation on this. I know Dave Fleischer has been credited with directing it, but the actual animation looks exactly like the stuff coming out of Famous Studios in New York in the late forties. I wonder if Dave farmed the work out to some of his old crew without Paramount knowing about it?

 

[ChiTownScion]

I think I read that production commenced in 1953 and release was about '56 or '57.

 

[2jakes]

I've always wanted to know who did the animation on this. I know Dave Fleischer has been credited with directing it, but the actual animation looks exactly like the stuff coming out of Famous Studios in New York in the late forties. I wonder if Dave farmed the work out to some of his old crew without Paramount knowing about it?

According to this link,
[video]https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CD4QFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcartoonresearch.com%2Findex.php%2 Fwhat-dave-fleischer-did-after-mr-bug-2%2F&ei=0_AuVcujOobCsAW8sIPgCw&usg=AFQjCNHMuQPYiyw0PUml7SxZ8UBZT73sTA&sig2=AJHa4EmHcSdyB8y0ss27zQ&bvm=bv.90790515,d.b2w[/video]
Dave Fleischer may have moonlighted as "animator" on the Refreshment Trailer.
The National Film registry puts it at 1957.
Yet here's a full-page inside cover of Inspiration's August, 1951 issue,
one of Filmack's first ads promoting their concessions snipes.
Note the images !

 

[tonyb]

Well I remember the ones at the drive-in theater.

I also recall the Buttercup (R) Popcorn spots. I can sing the jingle still.

And then there were those spots (again at the drive-in) for Vespa motor scooters. I'm talkin' early 1960s.

Oh, and Edward ... there are good reasons for the demise of the drive-in movie theater. A few still exist, and there have been efforts to save a few threatened ones in recent years. I'd like to see them survive through the indefinite future, but that's mostly for misty-eyed reasons. Truth is, it's a lousy way to take in a movie, and I'm of an age when other reasons for going to the drive-in aren't quite so alluring as they once were. I just don't contort so well anymore. Or, rather, I don't wish to. But the drive-in theater was a big part of my early years, up through my early adulthood. But then they started going the way of all things. One by one the drive-ins within a reasonably short drive dropped off and big-box stores and office buildings and whatnot took their places.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Did anyone else notice that Paul Frees did the narration on the 7-Up version? And, isn't the artwork in that one similar to some of the Robert Crumb underground comic stuff of the same time?

 

[tonyb]

Yes, dancing and singing foodstuffs. A veritable genre in and of itself.

 

[2jakes]

[video=youtube;Ws2FLu6P0Bk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws2FLu6P0Bk[/video]

 

[ChiTownScion]

Yes, dancing and singing foodstuffs. A veritable genre in and of itself.

Crumb didn't limit it to food items- but you could argue that in a lot of his works at the time that "it was the acid talking." Still, I can see how the theater trailer could have been an influence to that later artistic expression.


View attachment 28100

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, and Edward ... there are good reasons for the demise of the drive-in movie theater. A few still exist, and there have been efforts to save a few threatened ones in recent years. I'd like to see them survive through the indefinite future, but that's mostly for misty-eyed reasons. Truth is, it's a lousy way to take in a movie, and I'm of an age when other reasons for going to the drive-in aren't quite so alluring as they once were. I just don't contort so well anymore. Or, rather, I don't wish to. But the drive-in theater was a big part of my early years, up through my early adulthood. But then they started going the way of all things. One by one the drive-ins within a reasonably short drive dropped off and big-box stores and office buildings and whatnot took their places.

The biggest challenge facing drive-ins today is the digital conversion. A typical drive-in requires much greater light output from its projection system than a "hardtop" theatre, and digital projectors capable of providing such light output are terrifyingly expensive. A lot of the surviving drive ins have yet to convert and are still showing 35mm film -- but the studios are making it increasingly difficult to get film prints of popular titles. Very few prints are being made where there used to be hundreds of each title, meaning it's that much more difficult for the drive-in to get programming. Very soon, they'll have to either find a way to convert, or die.

This is what the industry calls "collateral damage" and what I call "the bunk." Digital Kills.

 

[sheeplady]

There is Project Drivein which helps to raise money for digital projectors with the help of Honda, but I'm not sure they have made much of a dent- if I remember correctly, they've converted 9 or so and there's 140 left in the US.

They have a website (Tumblr) you can contribute to.

 

[ChiTownScion]

The biggest challenge facing drive-ins today is the digital conversion. A typical drive-in requires much greater light output from its projection system than a "hardtop" theatre, and digital projectors capable of providing such light output are terrifyingly expensive. A lot of the surviving drive ins have yet to convert and are still showing 35mm film -- but the studios are making it increasingly difficult to get film prints of popular titles. Very few prints are being made where there used to be hundreds of each title, meaning it's that much more difficult for the drive-in to get programming. Very soon, they'll have to either find a way to convert, or die.

This is what the industry calls "collateral damage" and what I call "the bunk." Digital Kills.

Read your post and it got me to thinking of how, back in 1999, we took our then exchange student on a mini- vacation to Michigan, and found a delightful drive in. The facility was immaculately clean and it was a lot of fun to treat our German guest to his first drive-in movie.

So, I googled the theater, and it appears that they have faced the very challenge you mentioned regarding digital projection that you mentioned. Happy ending to the story: they had a fundraiser, and the local folks stepped up so that others will have the same delightful movie experience that we enjoyed for years to come.

http://www.cherrybowldrivein.com/

 

[HudsonHawk]

Truth is, it's a lousy way to take in a movie, and I'm of an age when other reasons for going to the drive-in aren't quite so alluring as they once were. I just don't contort so well anymore. .

I'm not sure what you mean by "contort". At worst, you're sitting in your car, at best, in a comfy chair outside of it. Plenty of room, bring your own refreshments, enjoying a nice evening under the stars...true you don't get the Dolby THX surround sound experience, but the open air experience more than makes up for it in my opinion. I still find it a very enjoyable experience.

 

[2jakes]

Well I remember the ones at the drive-in theater.
I'm of an age when other reasons for going to the drive-in aren't quite so alluring as they once were. I just don't contort so well anymore. Or, rather, I don't wish to. But the drive-in theater was a big part of my early years, up through my early adulthood.

I remember going to the drive-in . I drove a VW beetle. It was fun.
But I was Houdini back then... not now...

 

[tonyb]

Does anyone other than me recall the Vespa motor scooter spots? I clearly recall seeing them at the drive-in back in the early 1960s (or, rather, as clearly as any memory that old can be). I'm confident they weren't local productions -- they were way too well produced for anything coming out of the Upper Midwest back then.

Searching online has gotten me nowhere.

 

[2jakes]

Does anyone other than me recall the Vespa motor scooter spots? I clearly recall seeing them at the drive-in back in the early 1960s (or, rather, as clearly as any memory that old can be). I'm confident they weren't local productions -- they were way too well produced for anything coming out of the Upper Midwest back then.

Searching online has gotten me nowhere.

You can find some on "YouTube "

The first one is in black & white .
Second one is presented in 1960s color more or less, but looks mostly pinkish.
Towards the end of the commercial...it kinda goes to b&w...

 

[tonyb]

Thanks for posting those, 2jakes. I had already seen the ones on You Tube, none of which were the ad I recall from way back when. In my perhaps unreliable memory it featured a fairly nondescript American in early middle-age on the scooter, doing the sorts of Saturday afternoon running around a middle-aged American of that time would have done.

 

[2jakes]

Thanks for posting those, 2jakes. I had already seen the ones on You Tube, none of which were the ad I recall from way back when. In my perhaps unreliable memory it featured a fairly nondescript American in early middle-age on the scooter, doing the sorts of Saturday afternoon running around a middle-aged American of that time would have done.

You are quite welcome !

As for myself...I'm always in search of a radio jingle (in Spanish) of
the soap Palmolive that used to be wrapped in an "olive drab green".
I was 2 years old & living with my dear grandma. I would be sitting on the
front porch in the afternoons, feeling little homesick for my mom &
five sisters. I can still recall the tune, not sure what the lady was saying
other than Palmolive.
The other jingle or ad which I found was in a movie
"The Two jakes" (no relation to my username)
with Jack Nicholson. The ad is about "Ajax"...



[video=youtube;7rHkClc0QdI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rHkClc0QdI[/video]

My grandma had a pitbull named jake.
Everywhere I went jake was with me. Even slept with me.
If you have ever seen "The Little rascals dog Petey...that's what jake
looked like minus the circle in his eye.
(and yes jp, I know the history of Pete..thank you...)
He was my best pal. Folks would say...here comes 2jakes.
I miss jake .

jakes