The story of the elephant at the Picture House

At the time, the Picture House was screening The Big Hunt, a 1959 documentary about capturing wild animals, including elephants, in India and Pakistan, and then training them to do manual labour or live in zoos. So, it was perfect timing that our local park, Woodhouse Moor, had a circus on at the time featuring the full-sized elephant, Burma. The cinema borrowed Burma the elephant from Billy Smart’s Circus for photographs in front of the cinema, drawing a crowd for which it performed. Our current marketing looks a little measly in comparison, even if more ethical.

Just as cinemas now struggle with competition from streaming and the many other forms of entertainment people might choose to spend their money on, the late-50s was a challenging time to get people through the doors. In fact, not long before the elephant’s visit, in January 1958, HPPH closed due to the crippling impact of rising interest in TV and larger city centre cinemas. Thankfully, the cinema reopened after two months. By 1960, though, almost three-quarters of homes in the UK had televisions (increasing from 350,000 households with TVs in 1950). So, the cinema management at the time had to get creative with their publicity. Even more dramatically than an elephant parading out front, the nephew of former manager Len Thompson re-mortgaged his home to save the cinema!

Just like today, when one film is struggling, we might put some extra focus into the promotion of another film to help build a busier week. Former manager Arthur Riley notes in this letter about the elephant at the cinema that The Wreck of the Mary Deare was the main feature showing at the time of The Big Hunt. Mary Deare had the apparent star power but was not Gary Cooper’s best film and was struggling to garner an audience, so bigger, elephantine weight had to be put behind the documentary, The Big Hunt, to try and boost the cinema’s business that week.

So, while the earlier years of the Picture House boasted odd tales of elephants and staff commitment to keep us open, more recently, ardent supporters of the cinema have played an important role in our survival. When HPPH was at risk of closure in the 1980s, passionate supporters of the cinema formed the charity the Friends of Hyde Park Picture House in 1984. It was the Friends, alongside the brilliant Manager of the time Liz Rymer, who made sure our building and lamppost became listed, and still today the Friends support us by sponsoring some screenings and advocating for us.

In a later period of peril in 1989, the Friends again put their weight behind the cinema and were vital in helping encourage Leeds City Council to step in and move the cinema out of private hands and into the charity Leeds Heritage Theatres. We remain part of Leeds Heritage Theatres today with our sister venues, Leeds Grand Theatre and City Varieties Music Hall, which is a big part of what helps us through the pressures of being an independent cinema. Another huge factor in staying open now that we don’t rely on elephants is you – our lovely audience! So, thank you! Every ticket or tiffin you buy is a massive help, and if you would like to donate to help us keep our “homely friendly gates open to all who want a happy movie house”, you can do so here.