During the war the cinema was experiencing a boom.  In Brandon every viewing would attract hundred's of people, with queues stretching over 100 yards down the Avenue.  While metal railings and fixtures were being dismantled across the nation for salvage, as demanded by the Government, to aid the war effort, the local council took the extraordinary decision to erect new iron railings on the steps of the Avenue Cinema in Brandon in an attempt to file the people in through the doors as a safety measure.  When you consider that there was just the one screen, multiplexes were unheard of in wartime, this illustrates the Brandon public's interest in going to the cinema.

Here you could imagine you were Errol Flynn or Joan Blondell.  If you wanted laughs then Bob Hope or George Formby would entertain you.  But for some going to the movies was a means to catch up with the latest news from the war fronts and the Pathe News showed pictures of war from across the globe.

Most towns had at least one cinema and many were described by locals as 'flea pits' because they were old, dark and smelly.  But not The Avenue in Brandon, this was a state-of-the-art building and would attract bus loads of people from the surrounding villages.

Many of it's Art Decor features still exist, although it's use has since changed to a modern Bingo Hall.  The Bingo hall still attracts bus loads of people from the neighbouring villages albeit for a different type of entertainment

1940s Cinema in 20th Century Brandon

Personal recollections
Here I have included some references to the Brandon cinema as told to me by Brandon residents who visited, or worked, there during the war.

"As a kid I used to work as an assistant in the Cinema.  My jobs included spraying scent in the cinema, playing records, fading the music, opening the curtains and to make sure the exit lights were working.  The Commissionaire was a man named Bert Talbot and he wore a maroon coat until I think Bob Cole took that job over.
The most expensive seats cost 2s 9d, I think that's about 13½p in modern money.  Next in price the seats cost 2s 3d, 1s 6d and the cheapest were the front ones at 3d.  Right at the back of the cinema there were double seats for 'courting couples'." - Hilary Elmer

"The cinema was our only entertainment. They used to queue up and I have seen them queue way, way, past the Church Institute. Just imagine 100s of people trying to get in through the doors. Then they had the bright idea of putting those railings up to ‘funnel’ you in.
Every now and then there would be a big bang, or the siren would go. The film would still carry on. I can’t remember them ever stopping the show. There used to be an ol’ girl there, named Tilly Underwood, she would be the usherette with her torch." - Charlie Wharf

"We used to cheer when we saw, say, the British tanks rolling across the desert and boo-hiss when we saw the Germans." - Dick Norton

This website was designed and developed by Darren Norton, Brandon, Suffolk