Published: June 08, 2008 11:13 pm         

SUNSET DRIVE-IN: The man behind the movies

Arnold Herdendorf can remember every movie played at Middleport’s Sunset Drive-In over the last decade — including the screen it ran on.

His passion for feature flicks began at an early age growing up in Albion. When he began hanging around the projector room at the Orleans Drive-In Theater, that love spread to film reels, as well.

When he’s looking to relax at the end of the day, nothing could please him more than popping a reel into his Simplex projector — circa 1927, he thinks — and settling down to a movie on his very own large screen.

“I like to listen to my movies in surround sound,” he jokes. The seven speakers surrounding his home TV accomplishes just that.

Something about the old time excitement of a Drive-In gives Herdendorf an extra spring in his step. He can talk for hours about his collection alone — and a few more quizzing you on movie trivia dating back to the silent era.

He’s a tough competitor, able to name the year a movie was made, the stars who played the main characters, and, occasionally, the musicians that pulled the scenes together.

“I started out here when I was a brat,” Herdendorf said Friday, busy rewinding a film reel of “Sex And The City.” He was on the second floor of the Sunset Drive-In bright and early preparing for the weekend’s new line up, despite the fact that he returned home from work shortly after 2 a.m. the night before.

“I have to check them when they’re running off the platter,” he explained. “I can have two movies off in probably 45 minutes.”

Greater than his love for movies is his passion for the Sunset Drive-In. He began apprenticing the former projectionist in 1983, taking over the job full-time in 1994. Before that, he spent a brief time at the Orleans Drive-In Theater, located on Route 31 just before the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

“Last time it ran was 1988,” Herdendorf said, the date etched in his mind. As part of his collection, he still has some of the cast aluminum speakers used there, years of lover’s initials carved into their sides. “The concession stand building is still there.”

As Sunset’s sole projectionist from the time they open in April until they close in October, Herdendorf works six to seven days a week. It’s worth it when he is able to “sneak preview” the movies before they are played for audiences, he said. He particularly can’t wait for “Kung Fu Panda” to arrive.

When the evening’s movies are rolling, he usually takes a quick breather or watches TV on a small set. When the old fashioned intermission credits begin, he knows its time to start preparing for the next feature.

In the winter months when the Drive-In is a sheet of snow and ice, Herdendorf often works at the Palace Theater in Lockport, running classic movie reels through the projector. The highlight was last December when he met Karolyn Grimes, the actress who played Zuzu Bailey in the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She was in town conducting an interview with LCTV, he said.

When he’s not showing interested customers the projector room, Herdendorf keeps busy collecting mementos from movies past. Parts of movies hang on the walls as decoration, in between old movie posters and what could only be termed as “Drive-In” paraphernalia. On his left wrist, he wears two watches — a digital and one that reads “It’s time to go to the Drive-In.”

The family owned Sunset Drive-In in Middleport, one of two remaining outdoor theaters in the area, started as a single screen in 1950, he said. Mary and Alex Stornelli built the playground under the first screen and opened a concession stand to provide patrons with a mid-movie snack.

Time passed and the Stornelli’s son, Mario, and his wife, Denise, eventually took over the business. As popularity for the theater increased, they added two screens 14 years ago to keep up with demands for additional movie choices.

The most recent addition to the complex was made when their grown son, Kris, opened the seasonal Sunset Twister ice cream stand.

“He has all kinds of knowledge,” Denise Stornelli said of Herdendorf’s dedication. “He’s always been there.”

Contact reporter Nicole Colemanat 798-1400, ext. 8227.