Films normally start at 7.30pm in The Guildhall of St George, King Street. Members and their guests can sign in from approx 7pm.
Forthcoming Film Dates for your Diary
▓ Special Events
▓ We are delighted to once again be working in partnership with the King’s Lynn Festival and have arranged these films as part of the Festival. Tickets for these films will be £4 for members and £5 for the public and will be available from the Corn Exchange. Details will be sent to you on how to purchase at the reduced rate.
▓ Thursday 22nd August — THE PRODUCERS
Thursday 12th September — GREEN BOOK
▓ Sunday 6th October 2.30pm — LIVE JAZZ WITH JOHN PETTERS & THE GATSBY FIVE
▓ Sunday 6th October 6pm — PARIS BLUES
Thursday 10th October — GREAT EXPECTATIONS
▓ Thursday 31st October — CRAZY RICH ASIANS
▓ Saturday 16th November 2.30pm — WOMAN AT WAR
Thursday 22ndAugust 7.30pm
THE PRODUCERS
Comedy musical — (1967) — 85 mins — Cert PG
mild sex references, violence, language, discriminatory terms
Director: Mel Brooks
Cast includes Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Kenneth Mars, Dick Shawn, Lee Meredith, Estelle Winwood
Max Bialystock is a washed up Broadway producer. Leo Bloom is a mousy public accountant. When the two meet, their combined expertise points them toward the ultimate scam: Raise more money than you need for a sure-fire flop Broadway Show. No one will expect anything back and you can pocket the difference. They need the worst play to do this. They find it in the musical “Springtime for Hitler”.
TRIVIA
Mel Brooks cannot read music. “Springtime for Hitler” and “Prisoners of Love” (as were all the songs Brooks writes for his films) were hummed into a tape recorder and transcribed by an expert. When Brooks adapted the movie into a stage musical, he wrote the entire score by himself using the same method.
Roger Ebert recounted how he was in an elevator with Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft in New York City after the film premiered. A woman got onto the elevator, recognised him and said, “I have to tell you, Mr. Brooks, that your movie is vulgar.” Brooks replied, “Lady”, he said, “it rose below vulgarity.”
Gene Wilder said in an interview on TCM that at the first reading of the script, he excused himself to leave for a dentist appointment he could not miss, when in fact he had to go to the unemployment office to collect a cheque for $55 he desperately needed at the time.
Thursday 12thSeptember 6.30pm
Annual Birthday Party
Members are invited to enjoy some cake and a glass of fizz to toast our ninth successful year of film-going.
Thursday 12thSeptember 7.30pm
GREEN BOOK
Drama, Comedy — (1967) — 127 mins — Cert 12A
infrequent strong language, moderate violence, discriminatory behaviour
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast includes Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Dimeter Marinov, Mike Hatton, Iqbal Theba
In 1962, Tony “Tony Lip” Vallelonga, a tough bouncer, is looking for work when his nightclub is closed for renovations. The most promising offer turns out to be the driver for the African-American classical pianist Don Shirley for a concert tour into the Deep South states. Although hardly enthused at working for a black man, Tony accepts the job and they begin their trek armed with The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide for safe travel through America’s racial segregation. Together, the snobbishly erudite pianist and the crudely practical bouncer can barely get along with their clashing attitudes to life and ideals. However, as the disparate pair witness and endure America’s appalling injustices on the road, they find a newfound respect for each other’s talents and start to face them together. In doing so, they would nurture a friendship and understanding that would change both their lives.
TRIVIA
The pizza scene is drawn from real life: Nick Vallelonga said Tony Lip used to order a whole, unsliced pizza pie, fold it and eat it. Upon hearing the anecdote, Viggo Mortensen insisted they try to fit it into the movie. Peter Farrelly protested, saying there were enough funny eating scenes, but agreed to try it. When the crew burst out laughing, he agreed to leave the scene in.
Nick Vallelonga pulled a fast one in hiring his real life family members to play the onscreen family members. He let Viggo Mortensen believe Peter Farrelly had cast them, but suggested to Farrelly that Viggo had vouched for them as actors. The two only figured out the truth a month into the press tour.
The title and subject matter are a reference to “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” also known as “The Negro Travellers’ Green Book.” Published from 1936-1966, the guide helped African-American travellers find lodging, restaurants, and other businesses that would serve them. It eventually covered most of North America, plus Bermuda and the Caribbean.
Shakespeare’s Guildhall Trust Event
John Petters and the Gatsby Five
Live Jazz at 2.30pm
Film ‘Paris Blues’ 6pm
This will be a Roaring 20’s theme with music played by some of the top jazz players in the Country. Jazz aficionados will recognise these names, Ace Drummer and band leader John Petters, Simon Nelson on Trumpet, Pete Oxborough on Clarinet, Mike Pointon on Trombone, Sean Moyses (The Banjo Man) on the Banjo and Keith Donald on Bass.
Dress in 1920’s style, go back in time and indulge in the excitement of an age when many rejected traditional moral standards! Don’t go home after this but pop into Crofters for a drink and some refreshments and then watch The Jazz film Paris Blues being screened by the King’s Lynn Community Cinema Club.
SGT is really excited to be hosting top-notch Jazz musicians back at the Guildhall! See you all there!
Live Jazz Tickets £12 Concs. £10 Students, Unemployed & Disabled £8
Film £5 — KLCCC members with password £4
Book both events with full price tickets and save £2.
Sunday 6thOctober 6pm
PARIS BLUES
Feature — (1961) — 95 mins — Cert 12
Contains implied hard drug use
Director: Martin Ritt
Cast includes Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong, Diahann Carroll, Barbara Laage, André Luguet, Marie Versini, Moustache, Serge Reggiani, Roger Blin, Aaron Bridgers, Françoise Brion, Hélène Dieudonné, Guy Pederson
Set in a city that has long been a haven for black musicians eager to escape the racism of the U.S. Newman is Ram Bowen, a trombone player who makes his living in a jazz group, which also includes tenor man Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier), while studying music and aspiring to a career as a “serious” composer. Eddie stays in Paris to bask in the respect that its people feel for his music, a respect rarely accorded him in the States. A pair of tourists, Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) and Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward) arrive in the city for a two-week vacation, and the two musicians lose no time in hooking up. Soon both relationships take a serious turn and the musicians are forced to make some important decisions about the possibility of returning to their native soil.
Thursday 10thOctober 7.30pm
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Feature — (1946) — 118 mins — Cert PG
Contains mild violence and scary moments
Director: David Lean
Cast includes John Mills, Anthony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt, Alec Guinness, Ivor Barnard, Freda Jackson, Eileen Erskine, George Hayes, Hay Petrie, John Forrest, Torin Thatcher, O.B. Clarence, John Burch, Richard George, Grace Denbigh-Russell
As a young orphan boy, Pip lives with Joe Gargery, the local blacksmith, and his shrewish wife. He’s not yet fourteen-years-old, at which point he will begin his apprenticeship as a blacksmith, so he lives a carefree life. He meets two people who will have a great impact on his future: an escaped convict from a prison ship destined to Australia, and Estella, a young girl who lives with Miss Havisham in a dusty falling down old mansion. After several years, Pip receives tremendous news: a secret benefactor has decided to fund his becoming a gentleman, and Pip promptly moves to London, where he shares rooms with Mr. Pocket and learns to become a man of great expectations, all on the two hundred fifty pounds per year he receives from his benefactor. He also becomes a snob however, something that shames him later on. As he learns the identity of his secret benefactor, he also learns the true meaning of joy and life.
TRIVIA
John Mills, playing Pip from the age of nineteen to twenty-five, was thirty-eight at the time of filming.
David Lean wanted his movie to have a feeling of heightened realism. Working closely in conjunction with Art Director John Bryan and Cinematographer Guy Green, he employed several tricks, such as forced perspective, to achieve this effect. The famous opening shot in the graveyard, for instance, features a brooding church in the background, which, in reality, was only 10 feet high.
David Lean was not a particularly well-read man, and only became aware of the power of Charles Dickens’ story when his wife Kay Walsh dragged him along to a stage production of “Great Expectations” in 1939. Incidentally, playing Herbert Pocket in that production, was a young Alec Guinness, whom Lean subsequently cast in the same role in the movie version. Aside from bit parts, it was Guinness’ first major screen role, and was also the first of six movies he made with Lean. Martita Hunt was also in the stage production, playing Miss Havisham, a role she reprised in this movie.
During one scene where she had to carry a candle while walking up the stairs, Jean Simmons’ apron caught on fire.
Thursday 31stOctober 7.30pm
CRAZY RICH ASIANS
Feature — (2018) — 118 mins — Cert 12
infrequent strong language, moderate sex references
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast includes Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong
The story follows native New Yorker Rachel Chu (Wu) as she accompanies her boyfriend, Nick Young (Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the son of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can’t buy love, it can definitely complicate things.
TRIVIA
Director Jon M. Chu revealed that Michelle Yeoh was dissatisfied with the mock-up ring that her character, Eleanor, was going to wear. She showed him a ring from her personal collection and this eventually became the emerald and diamond ring Eleanor wears in the movie.
Netflix wanted to produce the film and offered a much bigger budget, but Kevin Kwan deliberately turned down the offer in favour of a modest $30-million budget from Warner Bros. This was done to send a message that Asian-American studio movies are commercially viable.
In the book, one of Goh’s three dogs is named after Donald Trump. In the film, the name is changed to Rockefeller.
That amazing 3-tower hotel featured in the movie is very real and is called the Marina Bay Sands. It is famous for having the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool.
Partnership with The King’s Lynn Festival
This film is in partnership with the King’s Lynn Winter Festival. Tickets are £5 but film club members and their guests can purchase them for £4 through the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange Box Office using the password which has been sent to all our members.
Saturday 16thNovember 2.30pm
WOMAN AT WAR
Comedy Eco-Thriller — (2018) — 100 mins — Cert 12A
infrequent moderate injury detail
Director: Benedikt Erlingsson
Cast includes Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson, Juan Camillo Roman Estrada, Jörundur Ragnarsson, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Gunnar Bersi Björnsson
Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) is angry. Angry at Rio Tinto whose smelter is damaging the pristine environment of Iceland. So she takes direct action, sabotaging electricity pylons, cutting off power to the smelter. There is more than just the smelter involved though. Halla’s actions are putting at stake a resources exploitation deal between China and Iceland. Halla’s gets inside information from a senior civil servant, Baldvin (Jörundur Ragnarsson), Baldvin is now worried that Halla will be caught, a satellite will be used to track her, and tries to persuade her to just issue a manifesto. Halaa gas another reason to reconsider her actions: she has been approved to adopt a girl.
