The Cinema was opened on August 26th 1936 with a black-tie gala performance of ‘Follow The Fleet’ starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
The choice of films not only brought a bit of Hollywood glamour to the Garden City but also demonstrated the auditorium’s near-perfect acoustics.
There was an octagonal foyer with free cloakrooms and an astonishing ventilation system, which purified and temperature-controlled air drawn in from outside. In these innovations The Broadway outshone even some new London cinemas.