Plaque Wording: London Coliseum
Home of English National Opera since 1968, The London Coliseum, opened in 1904, was originally conceived as a variety theatre, Sir Oswald Stoll wanted a revolving dome to top his sumptuous theatre, but this being deemed illegal, he settled instead for the flashing electric lights familiar today. Theatreland - Heart of the Performing Arts in London A joint venture by the City of Westminster and the Society of West End Theatre

Plaque Wording: Lyric Theatre Built by C.J. Phipps, the Lyric Theatre opened in 1888, with the comic opera 'Dorothy' and has since developed a tradition of drama, light comedy and popular musicals, the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse made her debut here in 'Camille' in 1893

Plaque Wording: On this site stood The Pandora Gallery where films were first shown to the public outside London. 25th March 1896

Plaque Wording: Plaque missing but wording was:
This building was erected in 1936 as the People's Palace. It was opened by King George VI on February 13, 1937, being His Majesty's first public engagement as King. It replaced the former Queen's Hall of the People's Palace, which was opened by Queen Victoria on May 14, 1887 and was destroyed by fire in 1931.
The People's Palace became part of Queen Mary College in 1954 and was named the Queens' Building by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Chancellor of the University of London, on June 5, 1956. It now contains the Great Hall of Queen Mary and Westfield College.
The original People's Palace, built between 1887 and 1892, provided facilities for recreation, culture, amusement, sport, training and education for the people of East London.
The panels in low relief on the front of the building are by Eric Gill and depict Drama, Music, Fellowship, Dance, Sport and Recreation.

Plaque Wording: British Broadcasting Corporation 1942-1957
From June 1942 for fifteen years this building was the headquarters of the B.B.C. Overseas Services. During the war direct broadcasts were made to America from the roof while air-raids were in progress. The B.B.C. vacated the premises in November 1957

Plaque Wording: Hitchcock and Dietrich - Marlene Dietrich, star of his 1950 thriller Stage Fright, relaxes with Hitchcock off set.
"Marlene was a professional star - she was also a professional cameraman, art director, editor, costume designer, hairdresser, make-up woman, composer, producer and director." - Alfred Hitchcock.

Plaque Wording: Hitchcock at Work - In a directorial pose from the Skin Game of 1931 Hitchcock is imagined directing some of his stars, including Margaret Lockwood, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre and Cyril Richard.
"In Hitchcock's eyes the movement was dramatic, not the acting. When he wanted the audience to be moved, he moved the camera. He was a subtle human being, and he was also the best director I have ever worked with." - Bruce Dern, actor.

Plaque Wording: North by Northwest, 1959 - Hitchcock's supreme chase comedy-thriller in which Cary Grant, as urbane businessman Roger Thornhill, is mistaken for a spy and is pursued across the country by both enemy agents and the police. In this famous scene his life is threatened by, of all things, a crop-dusting aeroplane.
"It is only when you adopt the basic premise that Cary Grant could not possibly come to harm that the tongue in Hitchcock's cheek becomes plainly visible." - Hollis Alpert, Saturday Review.

Plaque Wording: Number 17, 1932 - Jewel thieves Brant and Sheldrake - played by Donald Calthrop and Garry Marsh - attempt a getaway to the coast on a stolen train, moments before their high speed chase ends in disaster.
"A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake". - Alfred Hitchcock

Plaque Wording: Young Alfred outside his fathers shop Alfred Hitchcock as a boy on a horse outside his father's greengrocers shop at 517 The High Road, Leytonstone (circa 1906).

Plaque Wording: Psycho, 1960 - Hitchcock directs Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, who "goes a little mad sometimes", and Janet Leigh as the unfortunate Marion Crane before the infamous shower scene.
"At the end of Psycho, I realised I'd worked with the director who'd been more open to the actor's suggestions and ideas than any I'd worked with" - Anthony Perkins.
"Psycho gave me very wrinkled skin. I was in that shower for seven days... At least he made sure the water was warm." - Janet Leigh.

Plaque Wording: Rear Window, 1954 - James Stewart as action photographer LB Jefferies is confined to his apartment by a broken leg. With the help of fiancé Lisa Freemont, played by Grace Kelly, he begins to suspect a murder has occurred and sets out to resolve the crime.
"I've never seen Hitchcock look through a camera - some directors never stop." - James Stewart.
Stella (Thelma Ritter): "We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes sir. How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy."

Plaque Wording: Rebecca, 1940 - Joan Fontaine as the new Mrs De Winter struggling to escape the memory of her husband's first wife, Rebecca. Here, Mrs Danvers (Judith Anderson) wills her to suicide. In the background, St John's Church, Leytonstone, as it was in Hitchcock's childhood.
Mrs Danvers (Judith Anderson): "You're overwrought, madam. I've opened a window for you. A little air will do you good. Why don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley? He doesn't need you. He's got his memories. He doesn't love you - he wants to be alone again with her. You've nothing to stay for. You've got nothing to live for have you, really? Look down there. It's easy, isn't it? Why don't you? Go on, go on. Don't be afraid..."

Plaque Wording: Strangers On a Train, 1951 - Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith and co-scripted by Raymond Chandler, this is the story of the psychotic Bruno, brilliantly played by Robert Walker, who suggests exchanging murder victims with Guy, played by Farley Granger, a stranger that happens by chance to share the same train.
Bruno (Robert Walker): "Some people are better off dead - like your wife and my father, for instance."

Plaque Wording: Suspicion, 1941 - Cary Grant as dubitable playboy Johnny Aysgarth bringing to his young, new wife a drink, which she suspects to be poisoned.
Johnnie Aysgarth: "If you're going to kill someone, do it simply."

Plaque Wording: The Birds, 1963 - Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels, one of the Bodega Bay residents inexplicably attacked by ever increasing flocks of birds, in Hitchcock's apocalyptic allegory.
"Hitchcock captures the subtleties of females warring with each other; all those nuances of knives and guns conducted in looks and body language. He sculpts the human body in space." - Camilla Paglia.

Plaque Wording: The Pleasure Garden, 1926 - A good old-fashioned melodrama, full of life, death and passion, this was Hitchcock's first feature as sole director and conveys his enthusiasm for the theatre and the music hall.
"Once a man commits himself to murder, he will soon find himself stealing. The next step will be alcoholism, disrespect for the Sabbath and from there on it will lead to rude behaviour. As soon as you set the first steps on the path to destruction you never know where you will end. Lots of people owe their downfall to a murder they once committed and weren't too pleased with at the time" - Alfred Hitchcock.

Plaque Wording: The Skin Game, 1932 - Based on a play by John Galsworthy, the story is about the struggle between the old English way of life and the advance of the factories into the countryside and explores how the country people and the nouveau riche can be equally unscrupulous where property is the goal.
"Hitchcock loves to be misunderstood, because he has based his whole life around misunderstandings." - Francois Truffaut.

Plaque Wording: The Wrong Man, 1956 - Hitchcock's bleakly realistic account of a real-life story has Henry Fonda as New York musician Christopher Emmanuel Ballestrero mistakenly identified by the police as an armed robber.
"When I was no more than six years of age, I did something my father considered worthy of reprimand. He sent me to the local police station with a note. The officer on duty read it and locked me in a jail cell for five minutes, saying, 'This is what we do to naughty boys.' I have, ever since, gone to any lengths to avoid arrest and confinement. To you young people my message is - Stay out of jail!" - Alfred Hitchcock

Plaque Wording: To Catch a Thief, 1955 - High on a roof, reformed cat-burglar John Robie, played by Cary Grant, is caught against a sky illuminated by fireworks as he attempts to capture the impostor who has been giving him a bad name.
"Hitchcock couldn't have been a nicer fellow. I whistled coming to work on his films." - Cary Grant.

Plaque Wording: Vertigo, 1958 - Tom Helmore as Gavin Elster and Kim Novak as Madeline in Hitchcock's masterly study of love and obsession.
"Hitchcock knew exactly what he wanted to do in this film, exactly what he wanted to say, and how it should be seen and told. And anyone who saw him during the making of the film could see, as I did, that he felt it very deeply indeed." - Samuel Taylor, screenwriter.

Plaque Wording: Saboteur, 1942 - Handcuffed together, Robert Cummings as Barry Kane and Priscilla Lane as Patricia Martin escape from a gang of enemy saboteurs. In the background is the old Leytonstone High Road.
"The drama of a nation stirred to action, of a people's growing realisation of themselves and their responsibilities" - Motion Picture Herald.