The first drive-in movie theater was opened on June 6, 1933, by salesman Richard M. Hollingshead in Camden, N.J. On the bill was a twilight showing of the British comedy Wife Beware. Hollingshead had worked out the technology with a 1928 Kodak projector that he mounted on the hood of his car and aimed at a sheet. The film was a little-known second-run feature, and the neighbors complained about the noise.
From those decidedly humble beginnings, a U.S. institution was born, one that exploded in the post--World War II automobile culture. The drive-in era peaked in 1958, with nearly 5,000 theaters...
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