The Drive-In

[Shifty]

Was talking to a mate the other day and we got on to the subject of drive-in cinemas. I know that there used to be two just outside Bulawayo.

One was the Skyview drive-in and I can't for the life of me, remember what the other was called. Not that it really matters because we always referred to both of them as "The Fingerbowl", for obvious or maybe not so obvious reasons.

I know that one of them closed down some years ago. I presume that the other might have gone the same way. I vaguely remember one in Harare but I was really, really young when I last went there.

Where am I going with this? Well, purely out of interest, I was wondering if Zimbabwe still had any drive-in cinemas. Anyone know?

[Chel]

na the only we one we had closed years ago

[Vee]

Shifty, the other one was called Nite Star.. or Night Star?... They both closed years ago - I think even before I left Zim. We always went every Sunday, a group of about 20+ of us, took the skottle and had a big party and annoyed everyone and then slept through the second session cos we'd had a big weekend and the beers/ sneakies/ spook & diesels we'd just had finished us off!!! :-)

[squeakyB]

oh the memories!!! used to be a typical sunday for us to spend the day at waterworld then off to the drive in afterwards despite what was on, we all used to go anyway - remember one sunday we went and ended up watching the local Zim film "JIT" which as the saying went in those days "jit is shit"...

[Nyala]

Oh the memories....we used to go to the drive-in at Mutare every Sunday night. They used to play 'Smokie' music through the speakers and the tape never changed in all the years we went there.

[Vee]

Oh the memories....we used to go to the drive-in at Mutare every Sunday night. They used to play 'Smokie' music through the speakers and the tape never changed in all the years we went there.


Haha.. that's so funny. I forgot about that awful cheesy music!! I think playing bad music through the speakers... or was it good music through bad speakers...? must have been country wide!

[tongtastic]

i do miss those days. i remember going to the one in harare a lot and one night there was a no under 12 movie on so my dad tucked us up in the back seat and told us to pretend to be asleep - if i remember correctly the movie was Leon Shouster (sp) Theres a zulu on my stoep. its sad to think that the nite star is now where jaggers is. like you all said - oh the memories.

[FerrariSucks]

What was the name of the one in Harare?

[Lindsey]

We went to the one in Mabelreign and the Nite Star. I can still smell the cafe's popcorn ... also remember the playground area well .... and how we used to have to run back to the car straight after interval... what fun!!! We were actually talking the other day and wondering if there was someway we could do a Zimbo 'drive in' midnight movie night sometime in the summer in the UK ... Logistics would be serious but I reckon we could do it!!

[dallas]

The one in kadoma is now a beerhall, but the screen is still there if I rememer correctly, I might be wrong tho. The last thing I watched on there was who framed roger rabbit.

[norns]

we use to go every sunday night to watch both movies as the new ones came out on the sunday . was great fun .

[norns]

going to the drive in was my first date ?

[Bianca]

I loved going to the drive in! My 1st movie at the drive in was Grease 2!

Loved it even more as a teenager - lol! ;)

[squeakyB]

I loved going to the drive in! My 1st movie at the drive in was Grease 2!

Loved it even more as a teenager - lol! ;)

was my first movie as well!!!

[Shifty]

Haha.. that's so funny. I forgot about that awful cheesy music!! I think playing bad music through the speakers... or was it good music through bad speakers...? must have been country wide!


I reckon we must have tried to drive off with the speaker still attached to the window on several occasions before jamming on the brakes. How the speaker remained attached to the speaker is still a complete mystery to me.

I'm sure that one of them also had a swimming pool.

I wonder how many people had their first kiss there? Guess they didn't call it the "Finger Bowl" for nothing. lol..

[sally]

finger bowl .......Me wonders

[Bolty]

finger bowl .......Me wonders

That was going to come up sooner or later!!

[Bolty]

We used to go to Nite Star( Where Jaggers was). A friend had a kombi van and the joke was to sneak up and tie tin cans to the car so they make a noise when the car started rocking!

[FerrariSucks]

We went to the one in Mabelreign and the Nite Star.

Nite Star, thats the name, thanks its been bugging me trying to remember:smiley32: :smiley32: :smiley32:

[sally]

The only drive in i went to was in SA

[Shayne]

I just remembered something. I used to love going to the drive in as a kid. Remember the sohws always used to started with a WArner Brothers cartoon like Bugs Bunny or something?

[Exzim]

I remember seeing Bambi (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034492/) at Nitestar as a kid. I think i was 5 or 6. Just looked it up on IMBD made in 1942.....




..And my first and last visit being licenced to drive....was Robin hood Prince of Thieves (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102798/), and I dont remember watching it either..

[Chick]

My folks used to make me take my younger brother with me on dates to the drive-in. I used to give him 25c to sit on the bench at the front.

[Chick]

Peri peri chips and cold coke in a bottle.

[Shayne]

They used to charge per car if i remember correctly. We used to squeeze hobo people in as teenagers. Hilarious memories.

[Armstrong-Abbott]

We used to go every Sunday night to the one out past Beverley Rocks (?). It had the cafe place bang in the middle of the carpark. My sister went in to get scoff and drinks one time but accidentally exitted to the other side and spent half the movie, which had started by now, wandering around the wrong side looking for our car ! LOL !

[Armstrong-Abbott]

They used to charge per car if i remember correctly. We used to squeeze hobo people in as teenagers. Hilarious memories.

Reminded me of the Cheech and Chong story when they squeeze extra ouens in the boot and then forget all about them till near the end of the movie. You can hear them in the boot, whispering, grunting and trying to thump loud enough over the noise of the movie !!! So funny.

[Belladonna]

My parents used to take myself and my friend to drive-inn every Sunday too. Went with friends as a teenager - ditto squishing as many people into the car as possible - and spent most of the time partying. Then when I had children, started the cycle again. My boys are teenagers now and they still have fond memories of Sunday night at the drive-inn.

[Chick]

As a teenager, if I went to the drive-in with a boy, my folks used to make me take my younger brother. I would give him money, buy him sweets and make him sit on the bench right at the front of the screen.