The Everglow Drive-In still has an afterglow

Buddy Wood stands in front of the old drive-in movie
screen

by Brian Buckley

Wednesday, September 1, 2004

More than thirty years ago, Buddy Wood opened the Everglow Drive-In Theatre the Cayman Islands in Bodden Town, where the cement screen still stands in a grassy vacant field.

Advertised to residents with the slogan, “Come as you are, enjoy the movies in your car”, Mr Wood provided nights of drama, comedy, and horror for 19 years, from 1968 to 1987.

As a young man in Bodden Town, Buddy used to ride his bike from Bodden Town to George Town where he worked on the construction of the Pageant Beach Hotel. After work he would occasionally pop in the George Town Theatre run by Berkeley Bush.

The idea for building a drive-in theatre came to Buddy in the late 50’s when he was working as an engineer with the National Bulk Carriers. Some of his shipmates on the route carrying bauxite from Jamaica to Corpus Christi were Okinawans who were trying to learn English.

So with the Captain’s and the Chief’s permission, Buddy purchased a small film projector in Corpus Christi. “I would show educational films that I could get from the library for free in the mess hall. I showed films on topics like vegetation and agriculture. The films took off good. I charged everyone a dollar to help pay for the projector and the bulbs,” he said.

During one of his stays at home he went down to the docks in George Town where his dad worked as a Customs Officer. Buddy noticed that Corbin Thompson was picking up 10 cars to sell to people on the island. Soon thereafter when Buddy returned home from sea for good, he purchased a pick-up truck for himself from Capt Royal Bodden. “I knew then that these people driving were going to need a place to drive to,” he said.

During Buddy’s work with National Bulk Carriers he had seen drive-ins in Texas and Miami. “There was only one flight a week then from Miami to Grand Cayman. We had to do something while we waited for the flight so we would head to the drive-ins up there,” he said. When he told his dad he wanted to open a drive-in, his father’s first response was, “What the heck is that?”

Working hard through the years, Buddy was able to save his wages. His dad owned land that Buddy thought might give him the start he needed for his idea. “My father said Buddy, I’ll give you this piece of land. You can have it for your drive-in, but I think you’re crazy.”

The bank also thought he was crazy. “They told me there’s no way we could loan you any money because of all those mosquitoes.”

To overcome the mosquito problem, Buddy obtained some spray from the Mosquito Research Control Unit (MRCU), purchased a fogging machine, and lit some fires to draw the mosquitoes away.

The screen now visible from the roadside in Bodden Town was not the original screen. The original screen, built by Buddy and Wilfred Moore, was wooden and held up by poles. “We put on a coat of aluminium paint, then white paint and the screen made for beautiful pictures. It was so natural it was like you could pick people off the screen,” he said.

Then the bank stepped up. Buddy was given the green light to go to Miami and buy a projector valued at more than $5,000 dollars. “It was quite a projector. I wouldn’t have to change reels or anything. It was a big thing,” he said.

As opening night approached, a man from Miami came down to help Buddy with the projector and Buddy rented films outright from Premier Films in the US. “When opening night came, I couldn’t pack in any more cars. It was a blast. We had 300 cars. You have to remember that I had to rely on the same people to come every night in their cars for this to work. I had to show six different films a week,” Buddy said, noting that the drive-in was closed by law on Sundays.

Buddy knew people would want to see films on a Sunday so on occasion he had films at 12:01 am on Monday morning. “We had big crowds for those ones. Some folks built screens for their car windows so they could listen and not get bitten by the mosquitoes,” said Buddy

The biggest hits were Vincent Price and Bruce Lee movies. “I showed every film Vincent Price ever made. Cowboy movies were a big hit, too, but the Kung-Fu Bruce Lee movies were the biggest hits,” said Buddy.

The entry price when the drive-in opened in 1968 was five shillings.

As in the movie Cinema Paradiso, Buddy would cut out scenes containing profanity or nudity. One movie in particular did raise the ire of some in the community. “The most controversial film I ever showed was The Exorcist. We were packed with 500 cars for the first showing. The next day the Minister’s Association complained about what they thought were blasphemous scenes involving crosses.”

Buddy invited the ministers to a private screening in the projection booth in the back of the drive-in’s lot. Though the ministers saw nothing too offensive, they requested that Buddy not show the film out of respect to the complaints they had heard. Buddy agreed, but he then was presented with a 300-signature petition demanding the film be shown. Though the ministers threatened prosecution and Sybil McLaughlin from the Legislative Assembly requested to see the signatures, the show went on for three more nights.

Looking back on those years Buddy said: “I brought entertainment to the island and it was good clean fun. Even my dad started coming,” said Buddy. One of the biggest obstacles he eventually faced was keeping the mosquitoes off the glass in front of the camera lens. He had good help from Mr Moore and Albert Jackson who assisted with fogging the area. But what Mr Jackson remembers most is that Buddy had the best popcorn on the island.

These days, Buddy himself still goes to see movies. After the arrival of satellite dishes in the Cayman Islands, business at the drive-in dropped, until in 1987, Buddy made the decision to close the theatre.

Walking around the remnants of the old drive-in in Bodden Town, and seeing the ticket booth, the speaker poles and Family Lane, Buddy acknowledged it was a special, special time in his life. “It’s a bit sad thinking and talking about those days.”

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