Our Group have chosen to look at the “Mayor of Exeter’s Welcome to the Boys”. It shows us a variety of ways in which cinema was used in wartime Exeter. The article also shows us how the Odeon put on a free show for the troops as a form of escapism and to show respect and thank them for their service.

Cinemas during wartime were often a safe place for people especially during bombing raids, as they provided a large, stable building in which people would be protected from all but a direct hit from a bomb. There was also a sense of community, as people could group together and so find comfort in each other, rather than experiencing the war by themselves. While cinemagoing changed, it was not the only part of film history which was affected by the war. The films themselves were often heavily influenced by the war, from propaganda films intended to raise morale and show the strength of Britain (such as Listen to Britain) and dramas which focused on the troops and war’s effect on them (such as A Matter of Life and Death).

The free screening hosted by the Odeon was in 1940, and so was towards the beginning of the war when most people expected it to be fairly short. This means that the free show would have been intended as a morale booster for troops who were about to go back into war, as evidenced by the Mayor saying “may we wish you the best of luck in the hope that this terrible war will not be long”. The manager of the Odeon also thanked the men during an interval, showing the gratitude that the Exeter community had for the soldiers.

To take a more cynical view, the Odeon may also have intended this free showing as a publicity stunt, to gain favour with the public. The article states that the manager and staff have given up their Sunday evening and even names the manager, which is likely not the kind of publicity that the manager of a cinema would be used to. Sunday evenings were a relatively precious time in 1940s Britain as they were seen as a holy day, and so the article making note of the fact that the manager and staff have given up their Sunday evening for free to support the troops would show the Odeon in a good light.

This extract therefore depicts one of the ways cinema was used during the war, as it tells us about the cinema’s function as a morale booster and how it was a form of escapism, for both civilians and troops.