In honor of Hal Drewek, whom I discussed in an earlier post, I thought I would share one of his more humorous stories.
Back in the 1980’s, Hal spent some time managing Jacksonville Florida’s Fox Drive-In. On one particular evening, there was an issue with a projector and the film cut out mid show. As the projectionist had already gone home for the night, Hal was left to deal with the problem himself. Utilizing the public announcement system, he calmly apologized for the interruption and informed those in attendance that their movie would be back up shortly. Then, he set to work.
Much to Hal’s chagrin, the task at hand proved to be more challenging than he had anticipated. For those who have never worked with 35mm film, suffice to say that the medium can be highly frustrating under the stress of show interruption conditions. Attempting to gain a handle on the coiling and tangled web of film, Hal’s growing irritation was soon voiced in an expletive laced rant. “Come on you stupid f*****! F*****g son of a b***h!” With each hurried movement, his effort was met with another tangle or twist of film, further fueling Hal’s verbal outrage. His symphony of profanity building to a crescendo, Hal suddenly noticed a man waving frantically outside the projection window. “Well, what the f*** does this idiot want?!” The moment he acknowledged the man, Hal realized that he had never turned off the address system’s microphone. For the past ten minutes, his profane narration had been blaring across the drive-in.
Returning to his normal calm and professional demeanor, Hal quickly acknowledged his lapse, to the likely stunned audience, and went back to work; making sure to turn off the PA system this time around. At the end of the night, a thoroughly embarrassed Hal made sure to position himself beside the lot’s exit so he could personally apologize to each guest as they departed. To the best of his recollection, most were quite understanding and even shared a quick laugh with him. His general summary of the night being “they may not have remembered the movie, but I guarantee they never forgot me.”
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