Old Hollywood at Bay City Cinemas

The chance to relive your youth or catch a glimpse of a bygone era begins at Bay City Cinemas tomorrow when the first of five classic films from the 1960s to 80s hits the big screen.
The Classic Film Festival kicks off with the 1963 movie Charade, described as a thriller, comedy and romance, starring icons of the silver screen, Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.
Bay City Cinemas manager Justin Chaney said when the film became available the Tauranga cinema took the opportunity to add it to a collection of classics by British filmmaker Sir David Lean touring the country.
Mr Chaney said the cinema had shown the odd classic film before but this was the first time a mini festival had come and he was hoping the classic films would attract a good crowd.
"We expect it to be relatively busy.
"If it turns out to be fairly successful then it's something at hat we're going to carry on, especially during the winter months.
"When it's raining outside people like to come to the movies. There's definitely an audience out there that want to see old, retro films."
The four Lean films - Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984) are making their way up the country having recently screened in Palmerston North and Rotorua.
Mr Chaney expected Lawrence of Arabia, an epic drama loosely based on the life of TE Lawrence and his role in fermenting rebellion among the tribes of Arabia during World War I, to be "the pick of the lot".
The film, ranked by the Australian Film Industry as one of the 10 greatest ever made, collected seven Oscars, five Golden Globes and four Baftas.
Mr Chaney said the roadshow was sourced and compiled by Kiwi film industry buff Richard Weatherly.
The 35mm films are all re-mastered prints taken from an original.
"So they'll be very good quality," Mr Chaney said.
Mr Chaney said the cinema had received requests for a return of classic films and expected strong interest from the cinema's more mature patrons.
"If it's a movie that they know of or love I'm sure they'd be keen to come and see it again."
Two of the films are more than three hours long, with Lawrence of Arabia closer to four, sparking the return of the cinema interval which went out with the creation of multiplex cinemas.
The films will only screen at Bay City Cinemas in Tauranga, not Mount Maunganui. Tickets for all five films are available now at normal admission prices.