A history of HPPH DRAFTWRONG

Leeds has a rich film history which precedes the birth of our beloved cinema.

It was in Leeds, in 1888, that Louis Le Prince is thought to have shot the world’s first motion picture sequence using a single-lens camera with a strip of film. First, he captured what is now known as the Roundhay Garden Scene, a few seconds of moving people. Next, he filmed pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages crossing Leeds Bridge.

Early cinema was dangerous!

Nitrate film, which was used at the time, is highly flammable and caused serious fires when handled and stored incorrectly. So, just after a decade of film screenings in Britain, the government introduced the first legislation to cover cinemas. The 1909 Cinematograph Act required cinemas to be licensed and follow safety regulations enforced by local authorities. This led to guidelines beyond physical safety as local authorities, to varying degrees, began to dictate which films were acceptable to screen and which weren't. To introduce more standardised rules nationwide, the British Board of Film Censors was established in 1912.

The story of the Hyde Park Picture House began as far back as 1899, when Harry Child purchased the little corner we now call home.

Child’s family were well-known in the Leeds pub and hotel sector; the Mitre Hotel, Central Station Hotel and the Packhorse were all in the family. Child announced his plans to build ‘The Paragon’ and applied for a provisional alcohol licence, which raised suspicions that this was going to be a pub rather than Child’s claimed ‘palatial hotel’. Locals vehemently opposed his plans and Child’s many license applications were refused by Leeds Corporation Licensing.

In 1907, Child settled for the next best thing – a private club – as registered clubs were allowed to sell alcohol to members. He recruited Thomas Winn & Sons, who had also worked on the Mitre Hotel and the Adelphi, to build the Brudenell Road Social and Recreation Club, which opened in 1908.

HPPH opened its doors on Monday 2nd November 1914.  

The Picture House was lauded by local press as the ‘cosiest in Leeds’ and praised for its ‘decorations […] on a most beautiful and lavish scale’. The manager, Joe Hardy, who lived next door to the cinema at 75 Brudenell Road, always greeted guests in evening dress. If he was late back to say farewell after sneaking out for a drink, the projection speed was slowed down. According to a young projectionist at the time, Harry Child took great pride in his cinema. When he visited once or twice a week, he would ask that the large crystal chandelier in the entrance hall be cleaned regularly and that the brass rods on the stairs and the glass in the projector ports be cleaned daily, even using his own handkerchief to clean on occasion.