Virgil Cardamone’s 35mm Roadshow is a touring exhibition series produced by the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, in which the drive-in’s signature experience of vintage 35mm double features, intermission reels, snack-bar ads, and live introductions is transplanted into classic indoor movie houses across the northeastern United States. Launched with a soft run in 2024 and expanded into a full multi-venue tour in early 2025, the Road Show represents a deliberate effort to sustain 35mm film infrastructure and cross-pollinate drive-in and indoor cinema audiences.

The Mahoning Drive-In Theater and Its 35mm Identity

Virgil Cardamone is co-owner of the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, PA, a venue proud to be the only drive-in to play exclusively 35mm film, doing so on the original projector from when the theater first opened in 1949. That is not a misprint. The Mahoning offers an exclusively retro 35mm film program, presented reel-to-reel via original 1940s Simplex projectors.

When the current team came in, in 2014, the Mahoning was drawing roughly five cars a night, barely able to keep the lights on, and was definitively functioning at a loss. When studios pressured them to convert to digital or lose access to new releases, the team decided to stick with 35mm as their sole format, a choice made largely out of necessity, because they truly didn’t have an option to go digital. In my view, that cornered bet turned out to be the shrewdest programming decision any independent exhibitor has made in the last decade. It became their calling card.

Cardamone has said the drive-in business was sparked by a seemingly chance encounter with his business partners, Matt McClanahan and Jeff Mattox. According to Cinema Treasures, Cardamone and McClanahan are former Temple University film students who joined Mattox to embrace the 35mm nostalgia factor. Mattox was a veteran of the Air Force, where he first learned the art of 35mm film projection, a skill he carried on to numerous Pennsylvania indoor and outdoor theaters before coming to the Mahoning in 2001.

Jeff Mattox, the Mahoning’s Late Architect

Jeff Mattox passed away on April 13, 2024, at age 65. The Mahoning Drive-In staff announced that their “beloved leader, business owner, and master projectionist” had died suddenly due to complications from surgery. It was Mattox who made the fateful decision to keep the Mahoning a 35mm theater, one that “seemed foolhardy at first, but led to it becoming a world-renowned ‘living museum’ (as he often called it).”

In the wake of Mattox’s untimely death, Virgil Cardamone took the reins as owner and operator of the Mahoning. What strikes me is how Cardamone channeled his grief into forward motion. Rather than retreat, he expanded. Following a soft launch in 2024 with just a couple of gigs, the Mahoning rolled out its Drive-In Road Show series in 2025.

What the 35mm Roadshow Looks Like in Practice

“Part of the idea of the Road Show is to highlight theaters that still have 35mm capability, being that the Mahoning is the only all-35mm, all-retro Drive-In in the world,” explained Mahoning general manager Mark Nelson in a MovieJawn interview. For the 2025 tour, Nelson confirmed they hit eight theaters for nine shows in five states.

The Road Show is about more than just firing up a 35mm film on an indoor screen; the Mahoning aims to make it a true experience, with drive-in ads, an intermission reel, live introduction by Mahoning staff, vendors, and more. Once showtime rolls around, Cardamone and Nelson take the stage for a short introduction delving into drive-in history, then turn it over to the projectionist to fire up the preshow reel, prepared with vintage 35mm trailers and drive-in ads from their collection, followed by film one, a short intermission, a classic 35mm intermission countdown reel, and then film two.

Their target is “drive-in era” films from the glory days of ozoners (industry slang for drive-in theaters), so they look at titles from the 1950s through the 1980s that evoke that vibe. Nelson has explained that they try to build different double features for each venue, to make the shows more exclusive and create that “one night only” excitement.

In 2025, the Mahoning paired with eight classic movie houses, including Phoenixville’s Colonial Theatre, the Somerville Theatre in Massachusetts, and the Everett Theatre in Delaware. At the Philadelphia Film Society, for example, Cardamone and Nelson introduced a pair of early 1980s revenge movies: Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 (1981) and Gary Sherman’s Vice Squad (1983), along with vintage 35mm trailers, snack bar ads, and a classic intermission reel.

The 2026 Roadshow Expansion

For 2026, Virgil and Mark have expanded the Road Show, discussing venues and details for their February through March 35mm drive-in-style screenings at indoor theaters around the Northeast. The 2026 schedule includes stops at the Hiway Theatre in Jenkintown, PA, on February 21 with Switchblade Sisters (1975), and the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, NJ, on February 28 with a double feature of The Exorcist (1973) and Beyond the Door (1974). At the Everett Theatre in Middletown, Delaware, on March 21, 2026, the Road Show presented a “Kings of the Screen” double bill of Viva Las Vegas and King Kong vs. Godzilla on 35mm.

To me, the expanding scope of the Road Show suggests this isn’t a novelty act. It reads like a genuine exhibition circuit being built from scratch, one projector booth at a time.

Why Drive-In Culture Needs an Indoor Strategy

As of 2026, approximately 248 drive-in theaters are operating across 45 U.S. states, down from a peak of over 4,000 in the late 1950s. The math is unforgiving. By one recent count, only 282 drive-in theaters remain active in America as the 2026 summer movie season starts. Different directories give slightly different tallies, but the trend is clear: the outdoor screen is disappearing.

It feels like the Mahoning Road Show represents a practical answer to a seasonal problem that has always plagued drive-ins. The Mahoning opened in 1949 as one of many post-WWII drive-ins; its attendance waned by 2014, but the theater gained a resurgence in popularity due to management’s decision to screen primarily older cult films and B movies, making it the last remaining drive-in in the U.S. to screen films in 35mm every weekend. But even the Mahoning can’t project films year-round. Pennsylvania winters shut the lot down. The Road Show fills that gap, keeping the brand, the community, and the revenue alive through the cold months.

As Nelson told MovieJawn, “The more successful screenings of 35mm that happen, the more the infrastructure for film prints and exhibition gets supported, letting studios know that it’s worthwhile to maintain prints and access to them.” There’s a case to be made that every sold-out Road Show screening is a small vote in favor of the physical medium surviving another year.

VHS Fest, Exhumed Films, and the Mahoning Ecosystem

The Road Show doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Cardamone has noted that when the Mahoning held its first VHS Fest, showing films strictly from VHS format along with vendors selling rare VHS-related items, they sold 1,000 tickets. That event, produced in collaboration with Lunchmeat VHS and Saturn’s Core, has become an annual institution now in its tenth iteration.

Cardamone connected early on with Harry Guerrero at Exhumed Films, who at that point had been doing retro 35mm shows for about 20 years in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area. That partnership kicked off with once-a-month showings at the Mahoning, and the first year produced themed events like Zombie-Fest and Camp Blood, which are now approaching their tenth year. By our reckoning, the Mahoning has built a repertory ecosystem that most major metropolitan arthouse cinemas would envy, and they’ve done it from a gravel lot in Carbon County.

The Larger Question of 35mm Preservation

As John Vincent Jr., president of the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association, has noted, conversion to digital became the key to survival for most drive-ins, as studios phased out 35mm film prints and Hollywood moved toward all-digital distribution. The Mahoning went the other direction. My take is that their contrarian stance has inadvertently turned them into the most visible grassroots advocate for 35mm exhibition in the country.

Cardamone has drawn a parallel to the resurgence of vinyl records, noting that 35mm is something people look at as a special experience, much the way nothing sounds like a vinyl record with its lived-in feel. Reasonable people might disagree, but I think the comparison is apt. Both formats survived not because they were technically superior, but because the physical artifact carries an emotional charge that a file never will.

Nelson and Cardamone also host a podcast, Mahoning Drive-In Radio, where the two discuss everything from Mahoning history and behind-the-scenes stories to upcoming events and film tidbits. The theater also maintains a presence on Patreon, giving subscribers access to exclusive content and first dibs on announcements. It reads like a full-spectrum media operation wrapped around a single outdoor screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Virgil Cardamone’s 35mm Roadshow?

The Mahoning Drive-In Road Show takes the drive-in’s love of 35mm preservation to indoor movie houses. Each event features 35mm double features, drive-in ads, intermission reels, live introductions, and vendors, replicating the Mahoning experience indoors.

Where is the Mahoning Drive-In Theater located?

The Mahoning Drive-In Theater is located in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Nestled in the scenic Pocono Mountains, it has been presenting cinema under the stars since 1949.

Is the Mahoning Drive-In the only 35mm drive-in in the United States?

The Mahoning is the last remaining drive-in theater in the U.S. to screen films in 35mm every weekend. It is the only drive-in theater in the country still standing that shows classic films exclusively in the 35mm format.

What happened to Jeff Mattox?

Jeff Mattox passed away on April 13, 2024, at age 65. He died suddenly due to complications from surgery. A veteran of the Air Force, Mattox first learned 35mm film projection in the military and came to the Mahoning in 2001. Virgil Cardamone took the reins as owner and operator following Mattox’s death.

How many drive-in theaters are left in the United States?

As of 2026, approximately 248 drive-in theaters are operating across 45 U.S. states, down from a peak of over 4,000 in the late 1950s. Estimates vary by source, with some directories listing as many as 330.

What films does the 35mm Roadshow screen?

The Mahoning targets “drive-in era” films from the 1950s through the 1980s. Past screenings have included titles like The Exorcist, Dressed to Kill, Ms. 45, Vice Squad, Switchblade Sisters, and Viva Las Vegas, all presented on 35mm prints with vintage trailers and intermission reels.