[travel]
Get Outta Town: Drive-ins are great and all, but at Movie Manor, they come with a bed Motel was built as an add-on to a Monte Vista cinema in the 1960s
Courtesy of Best Western
»» Movie Manor, built adjacent to the Star Drive-In in Monte Vista, combines the drive-in movie experience with a motel stay.
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» The view of the first screen from Room 108.
There’s no way that anyone could have predicted it more than a few months in advance, but when it comes to movies, this was the summer of the drive-in. As naturally social-distanced pods, cars turned out to be the perfect way to watch films – albeit old classics – outside the house. Communities like Durango and Farmington that had drive-ins in the past found ways to improvise temporary new ones. But not terribly far away, drive-ins never really disappeared.
What’s nifty about watching a first-run from a motel room is that you can do whatever you want with complete privacy. Having an alcoholic drink that would get you in trouble if you were in a car, doing yoga, typing your own screenplay loudly on an old-fashioned typewriter ... you can do pretty much anything while mainNick Gonzales/DGO
Perhaps the most versatile »» The view of the second screen from Room 108. drive-in is located in Monte Vista. Mostly because it’s also a second movie screen that can also be a motel. seen from the rooms. Every room has a The Star Drive-In opened in 1955, built-in mono speaker that replicates the with spaces for 300 cars pointed at a sin- audio portion of the drive-in experience, gle screen. This wasn’t terribly notable but the audio tracks can also be found on in and of itself as that was the heyday the radios in the rooms. of drive-in theaters. But in 1964, owner The fact that there are two screens George Kelloff came up with a way to means that during the season from transform the summertime attraction mid-May through September, there are into a larger business opportunity — by usually two movies running — new ones building a semi-circular hotel with piceven, when Hollywood is churning them ture windows behind the parking spots. out. During our stay, they had “IncepThe Movie Manor motel has since tion” (2010) and “Unhinged” (2020). expanded, but in its original 14 rooms, They play on both screens at the same you can see the original screen from the bed. From the others, a bit of maneuver- time, not back-to-back like a double ing or repositioning of chairs is required. feature. And in response to the initial success of the inn/cinema combos, the Kelloffs built
In addition to the usual number, the rooms also bear the name of a famous
Nick Gonzales/DGO
»» “Attica! Attica!”
taining a full view of the
screen. (We’re assuming
actor. This doesn’t mean they’re themed, mind you. When we stayed there, we got room 108 ... the Al Pacino room. And yet inside we found neither guns nor a mountain of cocaine — just a Gideons bible, coffee, and the usual motel room stuff. That’s probably for the best. Instead, there were two identical paintings (you know, the kind you’d find at a mall kiosk about 15 years ago) with a bunch of early- to mid-20th century film stars hanging out on a patio. Entertainingly, a number of the celebrity names on the rooms and in the cement outside the lobby, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre-style, are misspelled. We like to think that “Arnold Schwartzennager” is the star of “The Terminater.”
nobody is going to come and stare into your window — if that’s happening, you’ve got bigger problems.) And if you want the usual popcorn and refreshments, you can walk out to the drive-in’s snack bar and back to your room. The Star Drive-In is now a Best Western, which makes it pretty easy to reserve a room, and the rates are typical for the area. Finding out what movies are showing is a pain on Best Western’s website for the motel, however they are listed on the website for the Star Drive-In. —— Nick Gonzales
Thursday, September 10, 2020 | 7
