The first ones were built in Melbourne, but Sydney took longer because of problems with the planning laws. Frenchs Forest and Dundas were the first to open, in October 1956, followed quickly by the Metro Twin Drive-in at Chullora, which caused a sensation because nobody had ever envisaged such a thing. It was owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and given first release films.
More drive-ins were built, but it was not until late 1963 that Blacktown received its Skyline. Located at the intersection of Flushcombe Road and the Great Western Highway [now Cricketer’s Arms Road and Reservoir Road], it opened on 19 December 1963 with “State Fair” starring Pat Boone and Ann-Margret, and “Sea Wife”, with Richard Burton and Joan Collins, both in CinemaScope and De Luxe Colour, to showcase its immense 108 ft wide screen, which became a local landmark.
The screen had been built to withstand gales of 160 kmph [and did, on several occasions].
Away from the city lights, at night Blacktown Drive-in was a virtual fairyland, surrounded by tall trees and with the dark night sky above. Not to mention the magic of the movies on that giant screen.
Ironically the land was that of the Cricketer’s Arms Hotel, which had been used as a residence by the Posa family when the site was a market garden.
The old hotel now became the caretaker’s cottage for the drive-in and it was this that saved the Arms from demolition.
In those days there was no radio sound, so each car had to be hooked up to a speaker on a stand. There was no stereophonic sound, it was all mono. Outdoor staff wore white overalls with a white shirt, red bow tie and red cap.
The casual lifestyle which the drive-in represented made it an instant hit with the public. Children could come in their pyjamas, smoking was allowed, a playground was provided, a cafeteria cooking steaks and hamburgers and banana fritters, and themed nights were common.
Blacktown was the first drive-in theatre in NSW to be equipped with high-definition big screen 70mm projection.
Such systems were usually reserved only for the prestigious city theatres. he car capacity was 720 and it was the largest single screen drive-in theatre built in NSW at that time.
It also led to some strange behaviours. It was not uncommon to see people get out of their cars and stand for the National Anthem.
The back rows, down towards the trees, were popular with vans, or sin-bins, as they were known, and their mysterious rocking motions.
Children would go to the cafeteria, and on their return, lose their bearings, and sometimes get into the wrong vehicle or wander around crying. Many adults were often seen, melting ice creams in hand, wandering around aimlessly looking for their cars in the dark.
And of course, at the end of the programme some people drove away with the speaker still attached to their window, causing the speaker lead to snap and sometimes the car window to shatter as well.
Staff had to keep an eye out for people who had fallen asleep in their vehicles and remind them it was time to leave before locking the gates.
Staff also had to watch for car boots crammed with non-paying teenagers, or others hiding under blankets inside the car. But rainy nights were a problem, trying to see out a wet windscreen was near impossible.
In 1979 the Skyline was equipped with Cine-fi car sound, and from 30 March 1979 it operated under Greater Union control after the Skyline circuit was carved up between that company and Hoyts.
In keeping with efforts to keep it viable during the era of video recorders and multiple cinemas, the screen from the closed Skyline at Parklea was dismantled and re-erected at Blacktown as the new Field 2.
The capacity of the original field was halved and the bio box was altered to enable it to project in opposite directions to both screens.
The new screen opened 13 December 1984 and Blacktown Skyline was now a twin, and a very popular one. Bass Hill Skyline was also twinned, and the earlier Metro at Chullora was the first twin drive-in in NSW.
On Sundays, the drive-in is used for open air markets. In March 2009 it became the first drive-in theatre in NSW to be Listed by the National Trust, which stated that its significance was that it represented a way of life that epitomised the changing mood of the post World War II, when car culture, combined with teenage independence, provided the foundation for a unique entertainment experience.
In August 2012, the original big screen on Field 1 was demolished to allow for re-positioning of the field so that a new hotel could be built facing Cricketer’s Arms Road. This hotel, the Atura, was to be part of the Rydge’s group.
The new field was re-aligned and a new, smaller screen opened in March 2013 to serve it. The entire drive-in closed in August 2013 for general refurbishment, landscaping, and the remodelling of the diner into a 1950s Happy Days style theme.
However this means that the two existing screens are not original, but the café and projection box above are as built.
The drive-in owners, Amalgamated Holdings, took over the lease on the run-down Royal Cricketer’s Arms Inn – which ironically had once been the drive-in’s caretaker’s cottage – and refurbished it, and with the opening of the Atura Hotel, completed a tourist destination site with the inn, hotel and twin drive-in. The drive-in reverted to its original name, Skyline, and reopened on Friday, 25 October 2013.
Since then, it has featured many special retro themed nights, often based on vintage cars of the 50s rock era, the film “Grease” being very popular and “The Love Bug” with Volkswagen owners. A retro screening of “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” caused traffic jams on adjacent roads, as did “Titanic”
It remained open during much of the covid-19 pandemic, being open air, causing many medias to appeal for more drive-ins to be built, with several “pop up” drive-ins appearing in various localities from time to time; but they are not the real thing.
Several years ago a pop up drive-in opened within Randwick Racecourse for several weeks, and much fuss was made about it being Sydney’s only drive-in, which was patently false and once again ignored the western suburbs.
Only one other drive-in remains in NSW, at Heddon Greta, near Cessnock, and is slated for redevelopment for a housing estate.
Blacktown is the only one of the fourteen drive-ins in the Sydney metropolitan area to survive and will soon be the only one left in NSW.
