Film fans gather at Harrogate Odeon for landmark event with a 'surprise twist'
There was an impressive turnout for Harrogate Film Society's 70th anniversary event on a night of nostalgia where a surprise was revealed - the group may be older than anyone thought.
One of the biggest and most progressive film societies in the entire North, the members of the HFS gathered last week at the Harrogate Odeon to celebrate the milestone of their birth.
As well as moving and witty speeches from Paula Stott, HFS Chair, and David Ince, co-curator of HFS's annual Classics Season of vintage films, two legendary movies were screened.
Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s Singing in the Rain hails from 1952, while silent classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, which received a stunning live musical accompaniment from Jonny Best and a fellow musician from Northern Silents, was first released in 1920.
It’s the latter which proved significant in more ways than one.
Nothing beats the joy of watching great films together with a community of people who share that passion and Harrogate Film Society has been bringing the best in world cinema to Harrogate since 1955.
Or so everyone thought.
But thanks to new research by Amanda Hitchborn, HFS's historian, who bravely took a deep dive into vintage newspapers, including the Harrogate Advertiser, it can now be revealed that the first film ever screened by the original version of Harrogate Film Society was The Cabinet of Dr Caligari - and that took place in 1946.
From its earliest days in a humble basement on Victoria Avenue to its current impressive home at the Harrogate Odeon, this long-standing film club has gone through as many changes as cinema itself in the last seven decades.
The HFS is still run entirely by volunteers and has a strongly committed core membership in excess of 250.
It’s never been afraid of taking risks with a reputation for screening controversial films, most notably Bernardo Bertolucci’s sexually explicit Last Tango in Paris, starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider.
Even so, the discovery that it may actually be 80 years old has come as surprise, albeit a pleasant one.
More information on HFS: https://www.harrogatefilmsociety.org/