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The skeptics and naysayers were
proved wrong on that first night. Cars
were banked up along the Burwood
Highway in both directions.
The drive-in’s entrance was located
along a residential side-street,
McComas Grove. It was blocked for
hours, not just on this first night, but
for years afterwards.
The exit was on the Highway
alongside a modest illuminated sign.
The 652 car positions on the field
became the hottest tickets in town.
A simple stick figure known as the
Skyline man or Skyline Sam welcomed
patrons at the ticket box, in newspaper
ads, general advertising and in the black
and white instructional film run at
Burwood. This 60-second film showed
customers how to attach the speaker to
their car and how to operate it.

Car-hops, the drive-in equivalent of
ushers, sold tickets in the driveway,
directed cars on the ramps and
performed general security duties.
Concessions staff attended to
customer food orders at the various
counters and could be summonsed by a
switch on the top of each speaker to
deliver food direct to cars.
Roaming vendors with pie carts and
Coca~Cola coolers also sold direct to
cars. The food business in drive-ins
turned out to be a much larger
contributor to the bottom line than at
their hardtop cousins.
The drive-in was almost too
popular. The numbers of cars
congregating and moving on gravel
surfaces in and around the facility soon
revealed design inadequacies.
Congestion and dust were the main
complaints taken up by the Country
Roads Board and the City of Box Hill.
Police were placed on point duty on the
Highway.
Two sessions per night were run to
satisfy the audience, yet it took 31
minutes to clear a full field of cars. Two From the top: The Skyline stick-men welcome patrons of all nations during the 1956
sessions simply caused traffic jams Melbourne Olympics.
twice as often! Confident of a full house, car-hops guide patrons to their places.
Classic 1950s décor - the candy bar, complete with jukebox. The jukebox played 78rpm
records and was later converted for 45s.

CINEMARECORD 2007 17