The Midcity Outdoor Theater on Highway 51 between Beloit and Janesville was an integral part of my teen years. One of my high school friends had a red Nash Rambler in which at least four of us girls clustered for a night out at the picture show. In case you're not familiar with Nash Ramblers, that's the model in which the seats reclined all the way down, creating a moble pit sofa. Going to an outdoor movie in the Nash was a lot like watching one at home, sitting on the floor. It was a blast.
Outdoor movies are almost extinct today.
One-theater movie houses are, too. Nice as the new movie complexes are, I wouldn't trade a single one for my memories of sitting in the dusky Majestic on a winter afternoon, screaming as the creature finally emerged from the Black Lagoon, hiding under my seat when the beast's enormous dinosaur head rose from the sea and towered above New York harbor, or singing along with Elvis. Communities of the Stateline September 2000 Go to the Main Index .