Cinemas of Leyton & Walthamstow   Return to main page St James Electric Picture Palace The above picture was very kindly supplied by Simon Lowne. His grandfather Herb(ert) Lown is the one sitting on top of the carriage holding the posthorn. It may have been taken at the opening of the St James Electric Picture Palace in 1911. Herb was a piano player at local silent cinemas prior to the First World War. It is remarkably similar to a picture taken of Alfred Hitchcock (or perhaps his brother) on a horse taken outside the Hitchcock family greengrocery business in Leytonstone. At the time there was a film called Cain and Abel. This may be the name of the film on the poster draped across the horse, but it's very hard to read. Could the man sitting next to the driver be the person whose photo is in the poster on the side of the carriage? Tickets cost 2d, 3d, 4d & 6d. Sixpence (or 6d) is worth 2 ½p in decimal currency. At the time this was quite a large amount of money, but if you went to the cinema it saved you putting coins into your gas meter to keep your home warm in the winter! Almost everyone in the picture was wearing a hat and some have heavy coats so it may well have been taken in winter. St James Electric Picture Palace AKA Electric Theatre AKA Super AKA Regent 25 St James Street Built in 1911 as a 480 seater. Had various ownerships and closures until 1939. Now a dentists.