Big screen classics

A collection of the best the big screen has to offer.

Tickets for these screenings are only £8

January 2022

The Films in Truffaut’s Life

A lifelong cinephile, François Truffaut first attracted attention as a critic. Besides writing reviews for Cahiers du cinéma and Arts-Lettres-Spectacles, he famously attacked le cinéma de papa, developed la politique des auteurs and, after turning to filmmaking, produced a book of his interviews with Alfred Hitchcock. This month’s daily screenings of classics feature some of the films and directors he particularly admired.
Geoff Andrew, season programmer

La Grande Illusion

Renoir’s classic about WWI prisoners of war repeatedly trying to escape boasts an extraordinary cast.
Citizen Kane

Welles’ masterpiece about the complex contradictions in the life and character of a controversial media tycoon.
Shadow of a Doubt

Hitchcock’s tale of a young woman beginning to wonder whether her favourite uncle might have a dark side…
Rome, Open City

Rossellini’s powerful drama about resistance, resignation and betrayal in Rome under the German Occupation.
Rome, Open City + intro by lecturer and writer Dr Julia Wagner

Rossellini’s powerful drama about resistance, resignation and betrayal in Rome under the German Occupation.
Letter from an Unknown Woman

Max Ophuls’ brilliant, bittersweet film about a young woman’s misbegotten infatuation with a concert pianist.
Les Enfants terribles

Melville’s meticulous adaptation of Cocteau’s novel about siblings retreating into a private world of erotically charged games.
Casque d’or

Simone Signoret is courted by rival suitors in Becker’s classic blend of crime movie and romance.
Casque d’or + pre-recorded intro by film critic and historian Pamela Hutchinson

Simone Signoret is courted by rival suitors in Becker’s classic blend of crime movie and romance.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Monroe and Russell star as gold-digging cabaret artists attracting widespread attention on a transatlantic liner.
Smiles of a Summer Night

Bergman’s acerbic comedy brings together several couples at a country house in 1900 for a roundelay of sexual intrigue and discovery.
Ordet

A supremely beautiful and profoundly moving portrait of a rural family riven by religious differences and illness.
Bigger Than Life

James Mason is excellent as a mild-mannered teacher monstrously transformed by his addiction to cortisone.
Bigger Than Life + intro by Geoff Andrew, Programmer-at-Large

James Mason is excellent as a mild-mannered teacher monstrously transformed by his addiction to cortisone.
Twelve Angry Men

Henry Fonda heads a remarkable cast in Lumet’s single-set drama about jurors debating the evidence of a murder trial.