As a young boy my Mother worked in the Paspalis drive-in located in Nightcliff, where the current day Nightcliff Woolworths shopping centre exists. We saw films there until after I had completed high school.
The advent of video tapes and the cost of land began to put an end to drive in theatres. In the current Netflix generation, the notion of video tape contributing to the demise of drive ins may seem far-fetched but it was true.
Cinemas faired better, although the theatre where I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a young boy was not the victim of technological advancement, but rather the fury of Cyclone Tracy which destroyed most of Darwin in the wee hours of Christmas Day 1974.