The Prince Charles Cinema

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ShowingThursday 4th December
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The Shop Around the Corner
1940 98mins USA (PG) Romance/Comedy

Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) and Klara Novak (Margaret Sullavan) are employees at Matuschek and Company, a general store in Budapest. Klara and Alfred are constantly at odds with each other, butting heads and disagreeing on almost everything. Both are enamored of their respective pen pals, who serve as welcome distractions in their lives. Little do they know, they are each the other's pen pal and, despite outward differences, have unwittingly fallen in love through their letters.

The French Connection
1971 104mins USA (18) Neo Noir

New York Detective "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner (Roy Scheider) chase a French heroin smuggler.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
1983 123mins Japan, New Zealand, UK (15) War

Set in a POW camp in Japanese-occupied Java circa 1942, the film explores the relationship between British prisoners and their captors. Lt. Col. John Lawrence (Tom Conti), the lone Japanese speaker among the interned British, tries to negotiate an uneasy equilibrium within the camp, which is overseen by the vicious Capt. Yanoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). An ardent follower of the Bushido moral code, his eye is unexpectedly caught by the arrival Maj. Jack “Strafer” Celliers (David Bowie), an insolent and rabble-rousing new prisoner. Could Yanoi’s fascination with Celliers change everything? Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence has endured as a deeply moving anti-war statement, as well as a thoughtful exploration of national and sexual identity.

The Silent Partner
1978 103mins USA (18) Neo Noir

A masterpiece of cunning and suspense… Miles Cullen (Elliott Gould, The Long Goodbye) discovers how interesting life can be when he is transformed from mild-mannered bank teller into daring, ingenious bank robber in a matter of seconds. Held up at the bank by the criminal Reikle (Christopher Plummer, Ordeal by Innocence), Miles manages to stash most of the money in a deposit box first. When Reikle realizes he’s been shortchanged, he plans to take revenge—and a great battle of wits ensues.

To keep the money, Miles reaches new heights of courage, seducing the robber’s girlfriend (Céline Lomez, Plague) and his boss’s mistress (Susannah York, The Killing of Sister George). Filled with equal parts intrigue, romance and unexpected twists, this chilling psychological thriller also features comedy legend John Candy (Delirious) in an early film role. The screenplay by future filmmaker extraordinaire Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) was based on the book Think of a Number by Anders Bodelsen. Wonderfully directed by Daryl Duke (Payday).