Even factoring in gas money, it was no more expensive to make the 240-mile drive to Litchfield to see "Star Wars" on a recent windswept Friday night than it would have been to catch it at McClurg Court. And while car speakers and squawking metal boxes replace THX surround sound at the drive-in, can there be a better place to watch the Rebel armada approach the Death Star than at a theatre which expands the screen to infinite proportions with a backdrop of glittering stars?

Each of the twelve other drive-in theatres still operating in Illinois holds special charms. The Cascade in West Chicago unthaws earlier in the year than any of its counterparts and also holds the unique distinction of staying open seven nights a week with first-run movies all season long. Munching on corn dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and burgers from the Cascade's expanded-menu snackbar, my friends and I enjoyed a double date snuggled under blankets as Tommy Lee Jones dodged chunks of molten Los Angeles. By "Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag," we were as frozen as Joe Pesci's stiffs, but that's part of the drive-in adventure, too.

Showing up late at the Midway, some 130 miles into the western Illinois sticks near Dixon, we found no one at the ticket booth, the marquee dark, the snackbar closed and the playground vacant. But the second movie was still showing, and five minutes later we planted ourselves on the side of a country road a quarter-mile east of the theatre. The soundtrack came in on the AM band, and only a lone utility pole obstructed the climax of "Scream." Catching a drive-by glimpse of a prairie drive-in says "summer" in America like sneaking a rooftop peek at the Cubs in Wrigley Field.

But even the most prosaic of drive-in experiences can be transcendent. The Cicero Outdoor Theatre near Matteson, although staffed by friendly folk, is among the worst of its kind. The crater-pocked driveway looks like a scarred landscape after the Tet Offensive, the snackbar selection gives new meaning to the word sparse, there's a chunk missing from the side of one of the two screens and the sound is radio-only-the empty gallows of the speaker poles now serve only to remind patrons of the good old days. And then the movie started and I was lost in the glow of Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger inching their way toward love. Movies simply were meant to be seen on the biggest possible screen.

No Illinois drive-in trek would be complete without a stop at the 34 in west-suburban Earlville. In a life misspent seeking out drive-ins all over the country, I can say with conviction that the 34 is the best open-air theatre in operation anywhere. Owner Ron Magnoni Jr. operates the place with the same love that he puts into keeping his '75 drop-top Eldorado on the road. It's a living nostalgia trip for Magnoni, who used to tag along with his roving union projectionist father and started helping the old couple who owned the 34 in 1989. Later that year, the husband died and Magnoni began running the place for the wife. He bought the 34 a few years later for $70,000.

Now he spreads the gospel by inviting viewers into the projection room during the first feature. He'll show you machinery dating back to the thirties. How does he get such a bright picture? Instead of a bulb, the film is backlit by burning thirty-inch carbon rods, which have to be changed every hour. "The only thing brighter is the sun," Magnoni says. Every Thursday, he's here watching Must-See TV and running every inch of film through his hands, checking for splices and breaks, in a four-hour marathon that ensures each reel will run to perfection.

The snackbar is a museum piece straight out of the fifties, with vintage placards advertising such continuing faves as Green River soda, shrimp baskets, fried chicken and pork tenderloin sandwiches. While you wait for your meal, you can shoot a game of pool at a table in front of a floor-to-ceiling window that takes in the screen.

Arrive early enough Friday through Sunday and you'll be treated to a cartoon before the double-feature starts. Walk around the plush grounds-yes, the 34 is situated on a grassy field-and listen to the speaker-only soundtrack. Gaze up at the dome of stars, breathe in the crisp country air and smile. Picture perfect.