The Clocktower is presenting some classic films in the run-up to Christmas:

Vertigo

Sunday, December 2; director Alfred Hitchcock (1958) US; 128 mins; stars James Stewart, Kim Novak.

Detective Scottie (Stewart) discovers he has vertigo while chasing a criminal across the rooftops of San Francisco, in the process causing the death of a policeman. Now retired, he is given a job of following a friend's wife, Madeline, but falls in love with her.

When she throws herself from the top of a church tower he is devastated - his vertigo stopped him from saving her.

Then one day he notices a woman who looks like Madeline and proceeds to change her into the woman he loved but a cycle is repeating itself and it can only end in tragedy.

Night of the Hunter

Sunday, December 2 and Thursday, December 6; director Charles Laughton (1955) US; 92 mins; stars Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish.

Ben Harper has committed murder for $10,000. He hides the money and makes his daughter Pearl and son John promise not to tell anyone where it is hidden, not even their mother Willa. In prison and awaiting hanging, Ben meets his cellmate Preacher, who tries unsuccessfully to get Ben to reveal where he stashed the money.

When Preacher is released from prison he heads for the Harper home, intent on finding the money.

Preacher charms Willa and wins her hand in marriage, only to kill her when she learns what he is really like.

With only Pearl and John separating him from a small fortune, Preacher unleashes the full force of his true, evil self.

Tickets for both films are £6. Each film is introduced by a Pocket Essentials' Author.

November 28, 2001 16:00