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Above: Member Tim Armstrong inspects one of the projectors during a CATHS visit in the late 1990s.
companies concentrating on making TV
programmes to the detriment of quality
movies, and cars being produced with tinted
windscreens all had a detrimental effect on
drive-in theatre patronage. However, the
biggest killer was the introduction of daylight
saving - screenings at the peak of summer not
able to begin until almost 9 o'clock, which
meant double feature programmes didn't end
until the wee hours of the morning - too late
for workers.

Some movie directors used gimmicks like
“smell-a-vision”, where cards were issued to
customers and spots were scratched during the
movie to release smells (often foul) but, as
they were B grade movies, the impact was
minimal.

To combat loss of patronage at the Lakeside,
I ran campaigns where nightly giveaways
were won by a lucky customer. The biggest
competition was giving away a Ford Cortina,
bought at cost from my local dealer.
Pamphlets with keys attached were sent out to
all homes within a fifty mile radius, and
people had to attend a screening to try their
luck in opening the lock. Mum, my sister and
I hand-addressed around 10,000 envelopes - a
job I wouldn't like to repeat. I recouped the
cost of the car twice over, along with using up
the tail-end of movie contracts. ¬

(Look for the next part of this article about
David’s Stargazer Drive-in, Thurgoona, NSW
in a future issue of CinemaRecord).
Images:
From the Steve McDonnell collection.

CINEMARECORD # 91 21