In 1933, the cinema was adapted for sound. The first sound film was "Monte Carlo". Milner died in 1940, and Knight returned to Perth. Milner's wife continued to run the cinema on her own until Broome was evacuated in 1942, just two days before a Japanese air raid. During or after the evacuation (no one is certain) projection equipment was vandalised. Army officers repaired it and used the cinema for themselves, but had difficulty changing reels, sometimes taking up to forty minutes to do so. During the change over, a record called "You Look Like a Monkey When you Grow Old" was played over and over until the projector was reloaded.