Born in 1841, James was a successful photographer specialising in magic lantern slides. It was his work with sequential lantern slides that influenced his movie making. In 1913, Bamforth and Co of Holmfirth made films produced by Cecil Birch and featuring some well-known actors including Baby Langley, Lily Ward and Alf Scottie. Between 1913 and 1918 they were one of the major producers of films in the UK and around the world, mainly comic films that echoed their work with seaside postcards.