| The Australian Journal of Media & Culture vol. 1 no 1 (1987) ContentsAustralian Film in the 1950sEdited by Tom O'Regan |
John Richardson
Drive-ins had arrived in style, in less than two years they reached a combined capacity of 6000 cars, more than doubling the city's cinema accommodation. 3 Although drive-in managers reported that "the first wild enthusiasm of unhooking the speaker had slowed" they were nevertheless full on Friday and Saturday nights with two thirds to half capacity houses during the week, no mean achievement at the standard two sessions per night.
Who were the drive-in patrons of the 50s? According to The West Australian2 they were: "Parents with young children", and the Highway stressed that "motion picture programs will be selected from the most outstanding features of the year and no film will be screened which is unsuitable for children", rather, programs were selected for their "family interest". Also they were - "invalids or old people who do not like climbing stairs; young people who wanted to swim, play tennis or golf until a late hour, then have a leisurely dinner and go to the 9.30 session instead of racing to be ready by 8.00; people who did not want to go straight home after a cocktail or dinner party"; or finally "the wife whose husband tries to get out of taking her to the pictures with the excuse that he is wearing his dirty garden clothes and has no time to change".
Once at the drive-in "the man in his dirty garden clothes" could expect much more than a mere motion picture programme. A trip to "the drives" meant a variety of dining options, the patron could select from restaurant, BBQ or snack bar facilities, then, while the kids romped in the fully equipped playground under the watchful eye of the staff matron, the adults could, if they chose, engage in "that very popular Eastern States sport - crazy golf". 3
The emphasis throughout was on creature comfort. The drive-in's well drilled staff of between twenty and thirty; car hops, marshals, guides, waiters, chefs, children's nurses and mechanics were there to minister to the patron's slightest whim. Diners could remain in the comfort of their car if they so desired, car to car waiters could be summoned by activating a flashing red light on the speaker pole. In the event of rain, car hops were on hand to treat wind-screens with a water repellent solution which prevented the adhesion of raindrops. Attendants were on the look out for dirty screens at all times. A fully equipped "nappy station" was provided, with nappy washing and drying nooks and facilities for heating baby foods to the optimum temperatures. Patrons were, of course, free to smoke at will.
There was no need for formality at "the drives"; slacks, open necked shirts and, for the kids, PJ's were the order of the day. The most formally dressed people were likely to be the attendants themselves, outfitted by Cecil Gould or Boans of Perth in hand-tailored uniforms which, for the convenience of the patrons, were coded according to their function. The Highway car marshals, for instance, were "smart in tailored white drill sports shirts and trousers, with navy blue berets, polka dot ties and belts". 4
All of this points towards the secret of "the drives" remarkable success during those heady days of the fifties. What I would like to suggest is that the drive-in, with its twin imperatives of consumption and creature comfort, entered the public imagination as a signifier of modernity. I would contend that the drive-in prefigured and overlapped with television as modernity's "quintessential image". 5
It may well be argued that in Western countries as a whole, capitalist over-production, with its demands on the consumption of an excess of labour saving devices, created a popular fetish for creature comfort. But here in Western Australia, this had, as Hartley and O'Regan point out, been one feature of our life style for many decades. 6 What the drive-in did was to take on board the American stylistic features which provided a "vocabulary" for the modernist "comfort culture" which was already a part of the Western Australian scene.
The very fibres from which the drive-in was constructed spoke the language of modernity: "The Highway drive-in has installed a most modern fluorescent sign... this uses, for the first time in Western Australia, a new type of white lighting recently developed in the United States." 7 "A modern neon sign obviates any necessity to disfigure the highway with advertising matter which is not in keeping with the surroundings." 8 "The screen is 116 ft x 51 ft and made of asbestos cement sheeting painted with special Poly-vinyl acetate paint." 9 "Formica has been used extensively in the decorative scheme." 10 "The(restaurant) floor is paved with gay vinyl tiles." 11" There is a modern tiled kitchen fitted with stainless steel work surfaces and all-electric equipment." 12
In keeping with the laws of consumption, modernity came to be measured in terms of sheer quantity. Drive-ins had: "no less than 10 miles of (termite resistant) low tension PVC cable" 13, "14 inch mirrors using 120 amps in each arc" 14, "25 gallon plated water boilers" 15 "the largest operating box in the state". 16
Screens were huge, enormous or gigantic, they soared into the sky, they were "the biggest in the Southern hemisphere", one of the two biggest in Australia" or merely "the biggest in Western Australia". Their footings (incidentally) "took no less than 240 tons of reinforced concrete to complete". "Nearly 20,000 tons of fill plus 8,000 tons of gravel and about 3,000 tons of blue metal were needed... as it was essential that each motor car, no matter where positioned upon the ramps, should give its passengers a full view of the screen without any necessity to sit uncomfortably or to crane their necks." 17
Perth drive-in patrons would, of course, be expected to travel the ten or so miles from home in the family car, a V8 Customline, or at the very least, an FJ with bench seats, but for those who still clung to the old imperialist ideology, the Hillman Minx or Morris 1000. The "U-Drive-U" car hire ad was pointedly juxtaposed with the Starline promo in the pages of The West. The preoccupation of all Australians with the sanctity of the car and its unique delineation of personal space complemented the drive-ins' appeal to instincts of modernity. As The West Australian proudly announced in August 1955: "within a few weeks West Australian motorists will be able to enjoy films from the comfort and seclusion of their cars." 18
As competition with Perth's garden cinemas intensified, ownership of an appropriate style of car, or indeed any car at all, became less of a pre-requisite for viewing pleasure, both the small car owner and the walk-in local could avail themselves of one of the hundred or more deck chairs positioned around the projection box. The drive-in, now poised for a rapid expansion into country towns, was the "end of the road" for both the garden cinema and most of the suburban hard tops.
The drive-in was not adversely affected by the introduction of TV in 1959- indeed its popularity grew throughout the 1960s. But with changes in car design making it difficult to watch from the back seat; with the advent of colour TV in the mid-1970s; with the rise in property values of now centrally located sites; with increases in ambient light and noise; city drive-ins went into decline. A decline that was exacerbated by the advent of video and its extensive library structure. Video has put city and country drive-ins alike under severe pressure - time will tell whether or not they can rise to this new challenge of modernity.
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