This is a striking grade II listed building. Above the first floor windows on the left (as you face the building) are the words Art Pictures and on the right Art Cafe. The word ART could once be seen, in red letters, high up on the central pediment. The three-storey building is the former Art Picture House, described by The Theatres Trust as ‘a fine example of an early 1920s cinema, exceptionally theatrical in its plan and decoration’. It was completed in 1923.
Throughout the pub, there is a selection of prints taken from famous films.
Sherlock Holmes.
Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson, in Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman, 1944.
Sing As We Go, 1934.
The adventures of a Lancashire mill-worker in Blackpool. Scripted by JB Priestley and starring Gracie Fields in her best-loved movie.
James Bond.
Sean Connery as 007 in Diamonds Are Forever, 1971.
The Saint.
George Sanders as Simon Templar in The Saint’s Double Trouble, 1940.
Through the Clouds, 1913.
Villainy confronted by true British grit.
Room at the Top, 1959.
Laurence Harvey learns about love French-style from Simone Signoret.
I’m All Right Jack, 1959.
Peter Sellers as the epitome of Trade Union bloody mindedness.
Internal photographs of the pub, showing some of the original cinema design features.
External photograph of the building – main entrance.
If you have information on the history of this pub, then we’d like you to share it with us. Please e-mail all information to: pubhistories@jdwetherspoon.co.uk