Five States Showcase Nostalgic Theaters, Escape Adventure

Several U.S. theaters preserve moviegoing as an old-fashioned event, from the Monetta Drive-In in South Carolina, where audiences watch films from their cars amid pine trees, to an Arkansas drive-in offering new releases beneath the night sky. In Birmingham, Alabama, the Alabama Theatre’s ornate movie-palace design makes the venue itself a spectacle. An Indiana theater that opened in 1922 as a silent-movie house and Vaudeville stage maintains traditions such as a national anthem, a classic cartoon and a prize for the visitor who traveled farthest. Together, these venues offer alternatives to routine modern screenings by emphasizing distinctive settings, architecture and community traditions.