Goldfinger is the soundtrack for the 1964 film of the same name, the third film in the James Bond film series, directed by Guy Hamilton. The album was composed by John Barry and distributed by EMI. Two versions were released initially, one in the United States and the United Kingdom, which varied in terms of length and which tracks were within the soundtrack. Shirley Bassey was chosen to sing the title track.
The first time I went to a drive-in theater was in 1965. I was seven years old and my parents took me to the Hi-M Drive-in on Highway M in Springfield, MO. The featured movie was Goldfinger.
I remember dad pulling into the parking slot and rolling down the window in order to retrieve the speaker from the pole. I watched as he hung the speaker on the inside of the car window so we had audio for the action unfolding on the giant screen that loomed large into the night sky.
As far as the movie goes, I remember Sean Connery saying that famous line, “Bond. James Bond,” and thinking, Man, that guy is cool. I want to be like him. I also remember how scared my seven year old self was with the bad guy Oddjob who could throw his hat across the room like a frisbee and decapitate people.
Years later, Bert and I drove ourselves to the drive-in. I recall sitting in the driver’s seat of my 1962 Ford Galaxy, looking straight-faced at the ticket seller and asking for two tickets. Meanwhile, three or four people were stuffed in the full-sized trunk. When I began driving the Pinto station wagon this became a little trickier but nothing a blanket couldn’t camouflage. I suspect that it sounded a little bit like this episode from Cheech and Chong’s “Pedro and The Man At the Drive-In”
Once we reached our parking spot, we would unlock the trunk and our stowaways would pile out of their dark hiding place. We would spread the blanket on the ground, pull out our trusty cooler stocked with refreshments, and lean against the front of the car to watch whatever movie was being featured. One of the most memorable flicks we saw was in 1974, when Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles came to the big screen. The American satirical Western comedy was unlike anything we had ever seen before.
And who can forget the industrial grade metal speaker emitting LOW Fidelity quality sound that was WORSE than any current day fast food drive-through speaker. (another clip from Pedro and the Man At the Drive-In”)
Anyone out there have a drive-in movie memory they would like to share?
I’m smiling at the images you are conjuring up, Brad! I had a similar experience, but an earlier one. Mom and Dad would put the 3 of us kids in our pajamas, pile us into the Chrysler, along with a jug of ice water and a big container of popcorn, and take us to the Riverside Drive-in. We went at least a couple of times, every summer, fighting sleepiness and mosquitoes. I don’t remember any other film besides “Raintree County”, starring Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift. I do remember Dad being a bit shocked by that movie, and it may have actually been the last one. Now, high school was another story…..
I also remember the drive in although not with my parents as they weren’t movie people. I remember going to the Bandera Road drive in and the one at San Pedro and Bitters (when Bitters was a 2-lane road down to Blossom Stadium). I got in a tremendous amount of trouble when my parents figured out that I had gone there to see Poseidon Adventure on a date ; apparently they checked the paper and that was the only place it was showing. In the early years of marriage I recall seeing Star Wars and Smokey and the Bandit there. After the first child came along the drive in was the only way to see a movie. By then we had to switch to the Judson Road drive in as I think the SP/Bitters one had already yielded to the WalMart where Hobby Lobby now is located. It was a cheap evening and no, no one ever snuck in in the trunk on any of my visits! Great story Brad!
I remember going to the drive-in many times in Oklahoma before I could drive. Either my mom or my good friend’s mom would drive. On one hot evening occasion, my friend and I decided it would be cooler (in more ways than one) if we laid on our tummies on the front fenders of the car. That worked great until someone got out of the car to go get more popcorn and slammed the car door on my big toe which had been sticking up in the air! It wasn’t so cool after that since we had to go home and ice down my toe!