Mad Max at the drive-in

This is a layout for a newspaper advertisement for Mad Max screenings at Birch, Carroll and Coyle drive-in theatres.

In the 1970s, drive-ins were a popular form of entertainment for families and young people with cars. When Mad Max was showing, it wasn't uncommon for patrons to perform burnouts in their cars following the screening.

Drive-ins usually screened double features. Here Mad Max is paired with Final Chapter: Walking Tall (Jack Starrett, USA, 1977), the true story of the last days of Buford Pusser, Sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee. Both movies share a similar theme of one man standing in the face of crime and injustice.

The other double features in this advertisement are: Papillon (Franklin J Schaffner, USA–France, 1973) and Grizzly (William Girdler, USA, 1976); and Love at First Bite (Stan Dragoti, USA, 1979) and Elvis the Movie (John Carpenter, USA, 1979).