Tag: David Lean

BLITHE SPIRIT DF

BLITHE SPIRIT
1945 | Dir David Lean | 96m | UK

Stars: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford

Blithe Spirit, directed by David Lean and narrated by Noel Coward, is a 1945 supernatural comedy based on Noël Coward’s play. Charles Condomine, a novelist, holds a séance with Madame Arcati, accidentally summoning his deceased wife, Elvira. Visible only to Charles, Elvira causes chaos, and his second wife, Ruth, starts questioning his sanity and where his affections lie. Coward wrote the play in an attempt to bring laughter and a bit of joy to a nation that had little to laugh about at the end of the war. It is a whimsical exploration of love, marriage, and the supernatural.
Dementia Friendly Screening.

We do not show adverts – please arrive to take your allocated seat by the time shown.
Trailer below.

Tuesday 06 May 2025 at 11.00am

TICKETS - Choose date and times here

BLITHE SPIRIT

BLITHE SPIRIT (1945)
Monday 03 March 2025 at 7.30pm Sold Out
A few tickets may be available at short notice  – see waiting list form below

1945 | Dir David Lean | 96m | UK
Stars: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford

Blithe Spirit, directed by David Lean and narrated by Noel Coward, is a 1945 supernatural comedy based on Noël Coward’s play. Charles Condomine, a novelist, holds a séance with Madame Arcati, accidentally summoning his deceased wife Elvira. Visible only to Charles, Elvira causes chaos, and his second wife, Ruth, starts questioning his sanity and where his affections lie. Charles tries to send Elvira back to the afterlife with unexpected effect. The story was written by Coward near the end of wartime in an attempt to give something to bring laughter and a bit of joy to a nation that had little to laugh about. It is a whimsical exploration of love, marriage, and the supernatural.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the opening of the David Lean Cinema. Croydon’s Civic Mayor and Deputy Civic Mayor hope to attend. Please join us for a glass of sparkling wine beforehand.

We do not show adverts. Please arrive to take your seat by the time shown.
Trailer below

Tickets - Mon 03 Mar at 7.30pm
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A PASSAGE TO INDIA (PG) plus Q&A – 1984 UK/USA 164 min

Director: David Lean
Stars: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox

Still from the filmA special ‘reunion’ featuring a Q&A with actor James Fox and assistant director Patrick Cadell (subject to professional commitments). David Lean Foundation trustees Anthony Reeves and Sally Beard will also attend.

Still from the filmE.M. Forster’s novel of clashing cultures, set against the backdrop of the British Raj in the 1920s, is vividly brought to the screen in David Lean’s final triumph. It gained the most Academy Award nominations (11) of any Lean film, and Croydon-born Peggy Ashcroft won Best Supporting Actress. “A priceless work of vision, beauty and substance” (New York Times).

Still from the filmPlease note that the Arts Bar will be open before this screening, and will reopen briefly directly afterwards, in order to offer refreshments before the Q&A begins. Some patrons may wish to have lunch in the Clocktower Café earlier, and from 12 noon the options will include Indian dishes provided by manager Mariusz to complement the occasion!

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David Lean Cinema, Croydon on Saturday 13 October 2018

Show starts at 2.00 pm, ticket prices £8.50 & £7.00 (concessions).
Click on time to make a booking.

Brief Encounter (1945 UK) Cert. PG – Croydon Heritage Festival screening

Director: David Lean
Stars: : Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway
The film will be followed by a panel discussion examining what’s distinctive and influential about David Lean’s films. Guests will include Patrick Cadell, Assistant Director on A Passage to India.

This web-page is a work in progress.  Content will be added in the next few days

In association with the Croydon Heritage Festival, we celebrate David Lean with this early classic – “the best romantic film of all time” (The Guardian).

A bored housewife (Johnson) is helped out by an idealistic doctor (Howard) when she gets a smut in her eye at a railway station.  Arranging to meet again at the same station they find that their innocent friendship is quickly developing into something deeper.

Developed for the cinema by Noel Coward from his own one-act play ‘Still Life’, it is interesting to note that most publicity material from the time of its first release refer to the film as ‘Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter’. 

David Lean?  Who’s he?

 

Unsurprisingly, the Reviews of the original critics are no longer available, but here is a link to that (2010) Guardian article cited above.

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David Lean Cinema, Croydon on Saturday 24th June 2017

Show starts at 2.30PM, Ticket prices: £8.00 & £6.50 (concessions)

– click on the time to make a booking Cookie Error? See here…….

The Passionate Friends (1949, UK) 95 mins, cert. PG

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Director: David Lean
Stars: Ann Todd, Trevor Howard, Claude Rains

To celebrate the anticipated completion of our seat refurbishment project, and with thanks to the David Lean Foundation, we present one of the maestro’s early features in a restored 35mm print.

In this adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel, Mary (Todd) longs for Steven (Howard), a lover she turned down years ago. Mary, now married, meets up with Steven while on vacation in the Swiss Alps.

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Passionate friends column 200

 

 

Their pent-up passion leads to an affair, and Mary must choose between two men – the husband who loves her (Rains) and the now-married man she once rejected.

 

 

Unsurprisingly, for a film first released in 1949, on-line Reviews are a bit thin on the ground, but here is a link to the BFI page on this film for a deeper discussion of the movie.

 

 

David Lean Cinema, Croydon on Tuesday 13th September 2016

Show starts at 7.30PM, Ticket prices: £8.00 & £6.50 (concessions)

– click on the time to make a booking