This is topic Drive-ins in the South Pacific in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-07-2001, 04:02 AM:
Hi allI have a web page that might interest you all. It is called Drive-ins Of The South Pacific. It is still under construction but I think you will find the Singapore and PNG pages fairly complete.
See how the other half go to the drive-in!
http://members.optushome.com.au/pberrett/drivein/index.html
Incidentally I am keen to hear from anyone who may have any information or photos of relevant drive-ins.
Thanks
Peter
ps check out the other countries links - there are some very interesting worldwide drive-ins in there.
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 05-07-2001, 08:38 AM:
Some great stuff there Peter. If I may echo your suggestion to all, check out the other countries, and in particular if you want to see the drive-in with perhaps the most atmosphere you've ever seen, click on Belgium. It will help if you read a little French, but here's a "temporary" festival drive-in set in a spectacular square in Brussels (L'esplanade du Cinquantenaire). There is room for 300 cars + walk-ins. They have a "perfect image" with their 7K projector, a 370 square metre screen and FM sound. Cartoons, shorts, and current features, spectacular!
Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 05-07-2001, 01:53 PM:
Boy, I'm glad I registered my www.stardustdrivein.com domain name when I did! Who would've guessed that there's a Stardust Drive-In Theatre in JAPAN ??
The "flash screen" intro was pretty cool, but everything after that was written in Japanese. Great info on the web page Peter
Hey Dave... looks like we're closing in on another site!! With the help of a local realtor I've found a 15.12 acre parcel of perfectly flat and level farm land about 30 miles outside of Nashville. We've been through the preliminary stuff (perk test for the septic systems PASSED) and lot survey looks good. Price and zoning are next.
Wish us luck !
------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 05-07-2001, 10:24 PM:
Drive-Ins are booming in parts of the world, here's an article from the Korea Times, profiling one the new drive-ins there. Wonder if Filmack has a trailer for this: "Parking Lights Only Please, When Exiting The Theatre, Step On It Grandma!">>>What's good about the theater in Jayuro is that the entrance road offers a good chance for those who want to drive at full speed, a rare thing in congested Seoul where cars in most cases are bumper to bumper and crawl their way to get to their destination.<<<
A website for another DI in South Africa reminds patrons "not to drive over the speaker posts as it may damage your vehicle and it IRRITATES the manager"!!!! Thanks Peter, neat stuff. Best of luck Barry!
Posted by Bill Carter (Member # 156) on 05-08-2001, 06:17 PM:
Barry, I wish you the best of luck. I've spent the last year and a half trying to survive "zoning hell", and reopen a drive-in site in western Wisconsin. I hope the Tennessee folks will be a little friendlier toward drive-ins than they have been here.
Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-12-2001, 03:57 AM:
Hi againMy site was inspired by the following site which I also recommend that you check out.
http://www.drive-insdownunder.com.au
Our local drive-in in Melbourne is the Coburg Drive-in. There is also one at Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula.
I have one small complaint with our local drive-ins. They both serve the usual donuts, hot dogs, hamburgers etc etc etc
This is the new millenium. Patrons these days expect souvlaki, debreciner sausages, salad and a variety of tasty inetrnational foods. I wish drive-ins could offer a better selection of tasty foods along with the old standards.
In the future I hope to visit the drive-in in Mont Dore, New Caledonia. I suspect they will have good food there. It will probably cost the earth and be served as small parcels on large white plates but the food should be outstandingly good. That's the French for you!
cheers Peter
Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-12-2001, 04:14 AM:
Oh and for those of you with fast connections, did you like the nostalgic PIC advertisment? (Click on the mosquito link)cheers Peter
Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-12-2001, 05:14 AM:
BarryAccording to the following page there were 7 drive-ins with the name 'Stardust' in 1955!
http://www.driveinworkshop.com/1955stats/stats.htm
There is one in Canada
http://www.driveinmovie.com/Canada/
One in Ohio
http://www.driveinmovie.com/OH.htm
One in Indiana (closed)
http://www.drive-ins.com/rtlhoc05.htm
One in Missouri (closed)
http://www.members.accessus.net/~tmcdonld/pistonp/drive-in/local2.htm
One in Ayr, Queensland, Australia
One in Kentucky (closed)
http://www.driveintheater.com/list/kentucky.htm
One in Nevada (closed)
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/1998/Aug-23-Sun-1998/lifestyles/7860874.html
One in Michigan (closed)
http://www.geocities.com/driveintheater/guide.html
cheers peter
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 05-12-2001, 07:11 AM:
The Stardust in Edmonton, Alberta Canada is closed. Not sure if it's still there. I know the "Twin" is, for sale, also closed. An interesting note: As far north and west as Edmonton is, mid-summer movies could not start until 10:30pm, yet Edmonton was once the centre of the drive-in universe, boasting more screens per capita than anywhere else. I'm told the "Twin" there would still be thriving but the land owners are demanding a huge rent, which seems silly as they are unable to sell the land.....There's probably a million or so people in Edmonton now.
Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-12-2001, 08:21 PM:
More screens per capita?Are you sure Dave?
When I used to live in Perth in Australia many years ago they had at one time about 22 drive-in theatres. (Perth then had a population of somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million.)
I think you may find that on a per capita basis Perth had the most drive-in theatres. (By the way there is only one left now - the Galaxy In Kingsley).
cheers Peter
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 05-12-2001, 09:03 PM:
I went and checked my source, "Drive-In Theaters, A History Since Their Inception in 1933 - Kerry Segrave", and I'll have to correct and qualify a couple things that I probably didn't pay attention to or had forgotten. What they say is that Edmonton had the most DI's of any city in CANADA in the early 50's, and that the city had MORE AUTOMOBILES PER CAPITA than anywhere else. Now, having the most DI's of any city in the 50's probably puts it at least 10 to 12 and population then was about 180,000. All the more impressive as films couldn't go until 10:30! I'll take Perth's weather with a couple dozen options anyday!
Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-13-2001, 07:22 AM:
Thansk DaveHow many Drive-ins does it have open today?
cheers Peter
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 05-13-2001, 01:04 PM:
Sadly Peter, NIL! I'm not from that part of the country, but as far as I've been able to find out, only 2 locations in Edmonton held on into the '90's, both Twin theatres run by Cineplex Odeon. At least one still stands, the "Twin". I believe it ran until a couple years back, again amazing as since daylight savings, apparently 11pm or later is start time late June. They apparently still drew alright being the only one, but the privateers couldn't make it add up with suffocating rent. Sad because the land hasn't sold either. Edmonton is now about 650,000+. This isn't a direct link, but here's a site where you can see some (dead and alive) in Western Canada:
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/rockyv/drive-in.htm Click on memories to see the "Twin". There are some Montana and Dakotas here as well....
Posted by Peter Berrett (Member # 672) on 05-14-2001, 03:57 AM:
I did a bit of hunting around on the InternetSeveral sites seem to suggest that the Stardust is still open?
http://www.driveintheater.com/list/canada.htm
http://www.cinematour.com/location/canada/ab/locateab.htm
http://www.filmnacht.de/cinema/ca/CA--5.htm
http://www.albertadirectory.com/edmonton/typelist/entertainment/theatres.htm
Do we have any readers in Edmonton who can confirm either way?
cheers Peter