Alhambra Centenary
On Thursday 22nd January 1914, the Keswick Alhambra Cinema opened its doors for the first time.
An 'excellent audience' arrived for a screening of Quo Vadis; however all did not go according to plan. Due to 'some slight defect in the apparatus' the screening was abandoned and with Keswick still served by the railway, the necessary part was secured, post-haste, later that day.
On the afternoon of Friday 24th, the picture was shown with "a fair amount of success. The last three parts - which are superb from a spectacular point of view - being shown with capital clearness" according to the West Cumberland Times that weekend.
No doubt the proprietor, Mr H T Pape was suitably relieved but cannot have imagined that after this inauspicious beginning, the Alhambra Cinema would survive for the next century. During that time it has continued to entertain local people and provide a warm, dry refuge for visitors when the rains came.
It has adapted to keep pace with technological change – silent to sound, black and white to colour, to cinemascope and latterly to digital.
It has seen off the bingo revolution, the rise of multiplexes, Videos, DVDs and Film on Demand and still brings the best of commercial and independent cinema to the town and its visitors.
To celebrate this marvellous centenary, the Keswick Film Club and the Alhambra are screening the best films of each decade during the Festival and following week. But how to choose one film to represent an entire decade? Chaplin or Keaton? Citizen Kane or Casablanca?
We will never all agree but over the course of the Festival and the following week, you will have the opportunity to see some iconic films on the big screen - as they were meant to be seen!
Films showing after the Festival are: Vertigo ( Monday 17.00); Lawrence of Arabia (Monday 19.30); The Godfather parts 1 & 2 (Tuesday 16.30 and 20.00); Cinema Paradiso (Wednesday 17.00); Jurassic Park (Wednesday 20.15); Shrek (Thursday 17.00) and to finish, the film that launched the new era in the Alhambra’s ownership, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Thursday 20.00) All at the Alhambra, -naturally!
Over the course of the Festival look out for screenings of the documentary, produced by the Film Club and the Alhambra, which tells the tale of 100 years of cinema in Keswick.
Featuring
It may be the remake but the original version of Quo Vadis was the first film screened at the Alhambra. An opportunity then to see one of the true milestones of the cinema.
At the time he was arguably the world's best known and loved actor. This is cinematic gold from beginning to end. And, seeing it on the big screen is a rare opportunity not to be missed.
Dominated the 1939 Oscars, winning 8, and has become a thing of legend. 1939 is now seen as the year Hollywood peaked. Just research the other films that were made that year and you can see why; and this is the best. Your chance to relive the spectacle as it was meant to be seen.
There will be an interval.
Chosen ahead of Citizen Kane to represent the '40s. Why? Many would argue quite simply because this is the better film. If you think you have seen it all by watching it on television do yourself a favour and come to see the true magical spectacle that is Casablanca.
And continuing at The Alhambra until Thursday 6th March.
From the 2010s
British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.
From the 1980s
A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
After leaving the British Secret Service, David Somers (played by Trevor Howard) finds work cataloging butterflies at the country house of Nicholas and Jess Fenton. After the murder of a local gamekeeper, suspicion falls on their niece, Sophie Malraux (Jean Simmons). Somers helps Sophie to escape arrest and they go on the run together.
Much of it was filmed in the Lakes and the rushes were shown to Jean Simmons at the Alhambra.
From the 1970s
The story spans the years from 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael, steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
Followed by Part 2 at 8pm
From the 1970s
The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family tells the story of a young Vito Corleone growing up in Sicily and in 1910s New York; and follows Michael Corleone in the 1950s as he attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba
From the 1990s
A wealthy entrepreneur secretly creates a theme park featuring living dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric DNA. Before opening day, he invites a team of experts and his two eager grandchildren to experience the park and help calm anxious investors. However, the park is anything but amusing as the security systems go off-line and the dinosaurs escape.
From the 1960s
Lawrence of Arabia is the classic film from David Lean starring Peter O’Toole and based on the autobiography from Thomas Edward Lawrence who during the first World War was on assignment by the British Empire in Arabia. The film would become a cult classic and is known today as a masterpiece.
From the 2000s
It ain't easy bein' green -- especially if you're a likable (albeit smelly) ogre named Shrek. On a mission to retrieve a gorgeous princess from the clutches of a fire-breathing dragon, Shrek teams up with an unlikely compatriot -- a wisecracking donkey.
On holiday with their mother in the Lake District in 1929 four children are allowed to sail over to the nearby island in their boat Swallow and set up camp for a few days. They soon realise this has been the territory of two other girls who sail the Amazon, and the scene is set for serious rivalry.
From the 1950s
An ex-police officer is asked to follow an old friends wife who thinks she is being followed by ghosts. A classic Hitchcock about a man who’s afraid of heights and a woman he must unfortunately follow to great heights.
Explore KFC
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Revisit 2015 Festival
16th Keswick Film Festival
Take a look back as we celebrated Dogme, told you to Get On Yer Bike and welcomed the makers of the Cumbrian-based film Radiator, plus much more...
Revisit 2013 Festival
14th Keswick Film Festival
We welcomed John Hurt back as our patron, enjoyed lots of films and much more...
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