Starline Drive-In

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Starline Drive-In 360 Glynburn Road, Hectorville, SA. 1956 Artists impression.

In 1956, at the height of the drive-in theatre craze in Australia, a new drive-in known as the Starline was opened at the junction of Glynburn Road (formerly Glynde Road) and Hectorville Road, Hectorville.

Designed by architects Lawson, Cheesman and Doley, it had spaces for 273 cars, with films projected on to an 80-foot (24m) CinemaScope screen. One new innovation was that unlike previous drive-in theatres, the projection box was located behind the cars rather than in the middle of them, on the second-storey of the concessions building. Other family friendly features included a barbecue area and children’s playground beneath the screen.

Opening night was Tuesday 18th December 1956. The gates were opened at 6.30pm and parents were invited to bring their children along to see Father Christmas. There were two sessions, one at 7.50pm, featuring “Susan slept here” (1954) starring Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds, and a second session at 9.50pm, featuring “Sea Devils” (1953) starring Rock Hudson and Yvonne de Carlo. These movies set the scene for the kind of family friendly ‘B’ Movies that were to follow for the next decade.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -