I forgot to mention, that when this site was a movie theatre, instead of an elongated movie poster above the entrance to the theatre to advertise the current attraction, it used movable letters which were in front of a translucent white background. Behind the translucent background were lights (fluoro).
I stand to be corrected on this mainly in respect of year. The supermarket or “Ashfield Fruit World” was demolished about 2015 for a ground floor mixed retail (Chemist Warehouse, ANZ bank) and home units…oops sorry, apartment block.
Putting the red circle in perspective, this marks the location of the entrance of the Chullora Marketplace. If you ever visit the Chullora Marketplace, there is a sign with historic photographs of the site for industrial use. Before the drive-in in 1956, the site was the site of the Cumberland Pottery works owned by the Liebentritt family. More information is available at https://collection.maas.museum/object/133214. Click “full description” tab to reveal more historical information.
The top of the picture is field 1 and the bottom of the picture is field 2. Behind field 2’s screen are houses in Norfolk st.
In the centre of the picture is the “Dine Inn”. To the left of the ‘Dine Inn’ is the covered seating area with several loudspeakers. In the direction of the left is the ‘amusement’ section with swings, merry-go-round.
Above and below the centre of the picture are the projection booths. One wonders why the architects didn’t integrate the booths into one booth and make adjustments for focussing. That’s how multiplex cinemas organise their projection equipment;
To the left of field 1’s screen is the entrance. Observe the number of lanes. After the motorist paid for admission, a person dressed in a white coat (looked like a lab coat) and holding a torch would guide the motorist to the large field to the right of field 1’s screen and eventually to the correct field. The person in the white coat knew which field to direct the motorist because after you paid admission price, the booth person would place a round white circle sticker which indicated that the motorist go to field 1.
Further perspective:
The road to the left of the drive-in is Waterloo Rd. In the direction of field 1, if you continue to go beyond field 1, you hit the Hume Highway. If you go in the direction (as the bird flies) you go in the direction of the rail maintenance yards, Rookwood, Homebush, Ryde, Eastwood.
In the opposite direction, you go in the direction towards Greenacre, Punchbowl and Bankstown.
Other aspects:
In the early 1970s, behind field 1’s screen a large cardboard factory was built.
To the right of the screen and to the right of the large field was the government bus repair and maintenance depot. It was a large expanse of land on the corner of Norfolk Rd and Roberts Rd Greenacre.
When the drive-in’s site was redeveloped, the land was subdivided into about 1/3 for the high school and 2/3 for the marketplace. The high school was not developed till the 1990s. Until the start of construction of the high school, all the speaker poles and bases were piled up in a heap.
The sign at Chullora Marketplace entrance:
The aerial photo is sourced by the Bankstown Council archives. Other photos on the sign such as a photos of Field 2 during the screening of “Love Bug” and the tall towering sign are at Mr Joe Simiana’s page, about one third down this page at https://joesimiana.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/history-of-the-panania-star-cinema/.
I want to add to this discussion by mentioning that the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS)(Sydney) have an article and some more photos of the drive in at https://maas.museum/inside-the-collection/2016/02/09/remembering-australias-drive-ins/. Some of the commentary have a comprehensive discussion of the drive in. The person called Anthony, the first comment is Anthony. That’s me.
Another source about Chullora drive in is in the Sydney Morning Herald, archived at archive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20160213133540/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19561023&id=-NRYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4546,1887794&hl=en or at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19561023&id=-NRYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4546,1887794&hl=en (remember to copy for first reference from “https” to “hl=en” and paste in browser and for the second reference copy from “https:” to “hl=en” and paste in browser.
In essence each screen measured 116 x 49 feet giving it an aspect ratio of 2.20:1.
In about 1979, I was a student in the Strathfield area. Our school participated in a walkathon. Part of the route was to walk along the Hume Highway in the direction of Brunker Rd. When walking past the intersection of Waterloo Rd and the Hume Highway, I noticed a large bonfire in the middle of field 1. The huge sign with “Metro Twin Drive In” said where normally the features were advertised, “this theatre is closed”. All left of the screen was a skeleton of steel tubing. Given that the screen sheeting was made of asbestos sheeting, one wonders if the workers demolishing the site took precautions in disassembling the screens. Note that the Skyline drive ins, their screen for example typically used at Bass Hill, North Ryde, Carringbah and Dundas were made of concrete.
Hope that adds a little to the picture of Chullora drive in,
The above photo is before the cinema was remodelled at the time of the construction of the former Westfield at the time of 1966.
As far as I recall:
The proscenium was wider and taller than the above depicted photo. It was wider to the extend of the width of the wall, and taller to the extent of the ceiling limit. This allowed for the presentation of widescreen movies with an aspect ratio of 2.40/2.35/2.2/1.66:1 as well as the original ratio of 4:3.
There was black-velvet masking used to change the screen size according to the exhibited movie’s aspect ratio.
There was only one set of curtains. It was honey/peanut butter-coloured. At the end of each corner of the auditorium, the curtains went in a 90 degree degree direction.
The curtains were lit by fluorescent lights covered by a diffuser.
The prism lights in the ceiling depicted above were replaced by a series of hanging gooseneck(s) light fittings.
The auditorium was two levels. One for the stalls and one for the dress circle. Unlike the Hoyts Paris at Hyde Park, in which the stalls went underneath the dress circle, the Burwood auditorium’s dress circle only extended to the end of the dress circle. You could say that this auditorium had staggered stadium seating unlike the continuous stadium seating of the Star Panania and Star Padstow.
There were three projectors; two for the movie projectors and one for the slide. The Roselands Theatre Beautiful had four. Given that most cinemas had their projection boxes at the back of the dress circle (upper) such as the Hoyts Burwood, the other Burwood cinema, Palatial had its projection box at the stalls. Unusual.
The auditorium was surrounded by small wall-mounted speakers for surround sound.
The external appearance of the theatre was that it incorporated the yellow brickwork of the new (1966) Westfield shopping complex. If you observed carefully, the cinemas’s brickwork extended out slightly out with the rest of the shopping complex.
The outside sign was the name “Hoyts” arranged vertically.
Though the replacement Event Cinemas have better sound, larger screens and more comfortable seats, I miss the brightly lit former Hoyts (Astor) and the presentation with curtains.
I forgot to mention, that when this site was a movie theatre, instead of an elongated movie poster above the entrance to the theatre to advertise the current attraction, it used movable letters which were in front of a translucent white background. Behind the translucent background were lights (fluoro).
I stand to be corrected on this mainly in respect of year. The supermarket or “Ashfield Fruit World” was demolished about 2015 for a ground floor mixed retail (Chemist Warehouse, ANZ bank) and home units…oops sorry, apartment block.
Putting the red circle in perspective, this marks the location of the entrance of the Chullora Marketplace. If you ever visit the Chullora Marketplace, there is a sign with historic photographs of the site for industrial use. Before the drive-in in 1956, the site was the site of the Cumberland Pottery works owned by the Liebentritt family. More information is available at https://collection.maas.museum/object/133214. Click “full description” tab to reveal more historical information.
The top of the picture is field 1 and the bottom of the picture is field 2. Behind field 2’s screen are houses in Norfolk st.
In the centre of the picture is the “Dine Inn”. To the left of the ‘Dine Inn’ is the covered seating area with several loudspeakers. In the direction of the left is the ‘amusement’ section with swings, merry-go-round.
Above and below the centre of the picture are the projection booths. One wonders why the architects didn’t integrate the booths into one booth and make adjustments for focussing. That’s how multiplex cinemas organise their projection equipment;
To the left of field 1’s screen is the entrance. Observe the number of lanes. After the motorist paid for admission, a person dressed in a white coat (looked like a lab coat) and holding a torch would guide the motorist to the large field to the right of field 1’s screen and eventually to the correct field. The person in the white coat knew which field to direct the motorist because after you paid admission price, the booth person would place a round white circle sticker which indicated that the motorist go to field 1.
Further perspective:
The road to the left of the drive-in is Waterloo Rd. In the direction of field 1, if you continue to go beyond field 1, you hit the Hume Highway. If you go in the direction (as the bird flies) you go in the direction of the rail maintenance yards, Rookwood, Homebush, Ryde, Eastwood.
In the opposite direction, you go in the direction towards Greenacre, Punchbowl and Bankstown.
Other aspects: In the early 1970s, behind field 1’s screen a large cardboard factory was built.
To the right of the screen and to the right of the large field was the government bus repair and maintenance depot. It was a large expanse of land on the corner of Norfolk Rd and Roberts Rd Greenacre.
When the drive-in’s site was redeveloped, the land was subdivided into about 1/3 for the high school and 2/3 for the marketplace. The high school was not developed till the 1990s. Until the start of construction of the high school, all the speaker poles and bases were piled up in a heap.
The sign at Chullora Marketplace entrance: The aerial photo is sourced by the Bankstown Council archives. Other photos on the sign such as a photos of Field 2 during the screening of “Love Bug” and the tall towering sign are at Mr Joe Simiana’s page, about one third down this page at https://joesimiana.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/history-of-the-panania-star-cinema/.
Source: Bankstown Council archives. Author/photographer: Unknown
I want to add to this discussion by mentioning that the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS)(Sydney) have an article and some more photos of the drive in at https://maas.museum/inside-the-collection/2016/02/09/remembering-australias-drive-ins/. Some of the commentary have a comprehensive discussion of the drive in. The person called Anthony, the first comment is Anthony. That’s me.
Another source about Chullora drive in is in the Sydney Morning Herald, archived at archive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20160213133540/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19561023&id=-NRYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4546,1887794&hl=en or at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19561023&id=-NRYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4546,1887794&hl=en (remember to copy for first reference from “https” to “hl=en” and paste in browser and for the second reference copy from “https:” to “hl=en” and paste in browser.
In essence each screen measured 116 x 49 feet giving it an aspect ratio of 2.20:1.
In about 1979, I was a student in the Strathfield area. Our school participated in a walkathon. Part of the route was to walk along the Hume Highway in the direction of Brunker Rd. When walking past the intersection of Waterloo Rd and the Hume Highway, I noticed a large bonfire in the middle of field 1. The huge sign with “Metro Twin Drive In” said where normally the features were advertised, “this theatre is closed”. All left of the screen was a skeleton of steel tubing. Given that the screen sheeting was made of asbestos sheeting, one wonders if the workers demolishing the site took precautions in disassembling the screens. Note that the Skyline drive ins, their screen for example typically used at Bass Hill, North Ryde, Carringbah and Dundas were made of concrete.
Hope that adds a little to the picture of Chullora drive in,
Regards
Anthony
The above photo is before the cinema was remodelled at the time of the construction of the former Westfield at the time of 1966.
As far as I recall: The proscenium was wider and taller than the above depicted photo. It was wider to the extend of the width of the wall, and taller to the extent of the ceiling limit. This allowed for the presentation of widescreen movies with an aspect ratio of 2.40/2.35/2.2/1.66:1 as well as the original ratio of 4:3.
There was black-velvet masking used to change the screen size according to the exhibited movie’s aspect ratio.
There was only one set of curtains. It was honey/peanut butter-coloured. At the end of each corner of the auditorium, the curtains went in a 90 degree degree direction.
The curtains were lit by fluorescent lights covered by a diffuser.
The prism lights in the ceiling depicted above were replaced by a series of hanging gooseneck(s) light fittings.
The auditorium was two levels. One for the stalls and one for the dress circle. Unlike the Hoyts Paris at Hyde Park, in which the stalls went underneath the dress circle, the Burwood auditorium’s dress circle only extended to the end of the dress circle. You could say that this auditorium had staggered stadium seating unlike the continuous stadium seating of the Star Panania and Star Padstow.
There were three projectors; two for the movie projectors and one for the slide. The Roselands Theatre Beautiful had four. Given that most cinemas had their projection boxes at the back of the dress circle (upper) such as the Hoyts Burwood, the other Burwood cinema, Palatial had its projection box at the stalls. Unusual.
The auditorium was surrounded by small wall-mounted speakers for surround sound.
The external appearance of the theatre was that it incorporated the yellow brickwork of the new (1966) Westfield shopping complex. If you observed carefully, the cinemas’s brickwork extended out slightly out with the rest of the shopping complex.
The outside sign was the name “Hoyts” arranged vertically.
Though the replacement Event Cinemas have better sound, larger screens and more comfortable seats, I miss the brightly lit former Hoyts (Astor) and the presentation with curtains.
Regards
Anthony