WELCOME to Britain (1943) and Billy Liar (1963) make an attractive bill for the Wymondham Regal Experience's next classic film screening on Sunday, November 16, at 2.

WELCOME to Britain (1943) and Billy Liar (1963) make an attractive bill for the Wymondham Regal Experience's next classic film screening on Sunday, November 16, at 2.30pm.

The show will be at the old Wymondham Regal, now part of the local Ex-Services Club.

Welcome to Britain had been scheduled to be screened in September, but in the event was not shown. Rarely seen, the movie was produced by the Ministry of Information in 1943 and directed by the acclaimed Anthony Asquith.

It was specifically made to show US service personnel arriving in this country the quirky customs of the Brits - like playing darts in the pub and drinking tea or warm beer!

It features American movie star Burgess Meredith visiting the homes, schools, places of work and pubs of the natives. Endeavouring to explain the local currency, the legendary Bob Hope makes a humorous cameo appearance. Nowadays, the movie is a nostalgic and amusing documentary.

Billy Liar is probably one of the funniest of the new wave “kitchen sink” films made in the 1960s.

Set in a northern town, it stars Tom Courtenay as a lowly mixed-up undertaker's clerk, who is bored with his lot and lives in a world of fantasy.

One of Tom's girlfriends in the film is Julie Christie, who was playing her first important screen role. In the part of Liz, Julie said she was realising her ambition because the movie was a reaction against the status quo and she saw herself as a bit of a rebel. Among other familiar faces are Wilfred (Have a Go) Pickles, Finlay Currie and Rodney Bewes.

Helen Fraser, another of the girlfriends, was planning to attend the screening, but the Bad Girls actress (Sylvia “Bodybag” Hollamby) has had to withdraw as she is filming in Manchester for a TV programme to be aired on Christmas Day.

Tickets are available from Maureen Dodman on 01953 605593, Michael Armstrong on 01953 603246 and at the Wymondham Heritage Museum. They are priced at £4.50 (£3.50 concessions).