Past Events Archive

This new film documents the life of Wee Willie Harris in his own words, lavishly illustrated with photos, home movies and performance footage from his personal archive. Known as ‘Britain’s Wild Man of Rock’, Willie has topped the bill all over the world and performed with such legendary artists as Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and the Big Bopper. A regular on Britain’s first TV pop programme Six-Five Special, he is still performing today. Willie will be joining us in person for a Q&A.

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David Robinson talks about his fascinating career and collaborations in the world of film. Best known as author of the definitive biography Chaplin: His Life and Art, he was film critic for the Financial Times and then the Times for nearly 40 years, had a big hand in the creation of the Museum of the Moving Image on the South Bank, and is the Director of the annual Giornate del Cinema Muto silent film festival in Pordenone, Italy.

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This great British eccentric was established as a star in such comedies as The Happiest Days of Your Life and The Belles of St Trinian's. Clips from the Quota Quickie films of the 1930s/40s illustrate his early career, and his life outside film is explored, including his 'adoption' of George Cole.

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This special event is an affectionate portrait of the life of director and comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, presented by much-loved comedy writer and broadcaster Barry Cryer. He will be joined onstage by renowned investigative writer David Yallop, who uncovered the incredible facts of the scandal that unjustly ruined Arbuckle's career in his book "The Day The Laughter Stopped". The ban on Arbuckle’s films has never been lifted in this country – so enjoy the illicit entertainment of some seldom-seen shorts and clips!

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"The British Monroe" Vera Day talks to Steve Chibnall about her glamorous career, from early success in Carol Reed's A Kid for Two Farthings (1955) to a memorable performance in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), with cult films such as Quatermass 2 and The Woman-Eater along the way.

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To commemorate the disaster, a hundred years ago to this very day, film historian Luke McKernan presents films and extracts, fiction and non-fiction, genuine and fake, made at the time and in the years since, including a surviving non-fiction film from 1912. Plus Valentine Palmer talks about his book investigating the circumstances of the disaster, "Titanic … And the Strange Case of Great Uncle Bertie".

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British actress Sylvia Syms made her name in such film dramas as Ice-Cold in Alex (1958), Victim (1961) and The Tamarind Seed (1974) with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif, with comedy roles including Tony Hancock’s wife in The Punch and Judy Man (1963). Still acting in films and television, she recently co-starred as the Queen Mother in the 2006 film The Queen.

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Feldman’s biographer Robert Ross treats us to a fascinating illustrated portrait of this architect of British comedy. Regarded by John Cleese as “a true cultural icon”, he paved the way for Monty Python, before going on to become a Hollywood star, forever remembered as Igor in Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein.

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