Six of the movie industry's all-time greats are coming to the Centre during 2012.
The films will be shown on the second Thursday of every second month, starting in February. They will all screen at 10am with everyone invited to morning tea at 9.30am.
What better way to start any season of classic cinematic hits than to screen the 1952 American musical comedy Singin' in the Rain starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.
Kelly's wonderful choreography is reason alone to want to see this multi-award winning film, which has been acclaimed by many critics to be the best film ever made.
It offers a comic depiction of Hollywood through it transition from silent films to talkies. The date for Singin’ in the Rain is 9 February.
Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn hit the screen on 12 April for their hilarious, John Huston-directed film, The African Queen where Hepburn is a strait-laced missionary who convinces Bogart, a gin-swilling riverboat owner, to attack an enemy warship during World War 1.
Ginger Rogers is another all-time favourite of the silver screen and in the comedy The Major and the Minor, she plays Susan Applegate. Because she can’t afford the full fare, she disguises herself as a child (the minor) to get a discounted rail ticket. Enroute she runs into an Army major, played by Ray Milland and that's when the fun begins. 14 June is the date for this film.
No classic cinema season could possibly exclude Fred Astaire dancing his way onto the screen. This he does in Top Hat with Ginger Rogers which screens 9 August. Astaire plays Jerry Travers whose dancing in a hotel room annoys the sleeping Dale Tremont (Rogers) below. When she goes to complain the two are immediately attracted to each other.
On 11 October, Some Like It Hot comes to town. When two musicians witness a mob hit, they decide the best way to flee the state is to disguise themselves as women but hilarious complications set in.
This laugh-a-minute comedy directed by Billy Wilder stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. It is also considered one of the best comedies in the history of cinema.
The season will finish in a festive spirit with Miracle on 34th Street on 13 December. Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and Natalie Wood star in this delightful film in which a nice old man claims to be Santa Claus. He is institutionalised as insane but a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing.
Tickets can be bought at the door on the day and the admission for each film is $5 which includes morning tea.