<P> Seven hundred people may be comfortably seated in the auditorium . Automobile entrances and places for 40 or more cars within the theater grounds and in - line position to see the pictures and witness all performances on the stage is a feature of the place that will please car owners . </P> <P> The first movie shown by the Theatre de Guadalupe was Bags of Gold, produced by Siegmund Lubin . Theatre de Guadalupe soon was renamed De Lux Theater before closing in July 1916 . </P> <P> In 1921, a drive - in was opened by Claude V. Caver in Comanche, Texas . Caver obtained a permit from the city to project films downtown . With cars parked bumper - to - bumper, patrons witnessed the screening of silent films from their vehicles . In the 1920s, "outdoor movies" became a popular summer entertainment, but relatively few "drive - in" experiments were made due to logistical difficulties . </P> <P> The drive - in theater was patented in Camden, New Jersey by chemical company magnate Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., whose family owned and operated the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation chemical plant in Camden . In 1932, Hollingshead conducted outdoor theater tests in his driveway at 212 Thomas Avenue in Riverton . After nailing a screen to trees in his backyard, he set a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car and put a radio behind the screen, testing different sound levels with his car windows down and up . Blocks under vehicles in the driveway enabled him to determine the size and spacing of ramps so all automobiles could have a clear view of the screen . Hollingshead applied for a patent of his invention on August 6, 1932, and he was given U.S. Patent 1,909,537 on May 16, 1933 . </P>

When was the first drive in movie theater opened