Get out of the house on the third Wednesday evening of each month and enjoy films on the big screen with us!

The Drill Hall Film Society screens classic films at an affordable price in comfortable tiered seating in our air-conditioned theatre. Grab a delicious snack and beverage from the bar, and be part of our lively film discussions after each show.

Become a Film Society subscriber for just $60 and gain entry to 11 films/year (or $50 if you’re a Drill Hall Theatre Company associate member). Casual guest rates cost $10/film.

Renewals due in July.

Contact Sonia on 0406 090 260 or email on [email protected] for more information or to become a member.

Wednesday 20th November @ 7pm

One of the all-time favourite World War I films is, without doubt, John Huston’s 1951 The African Queen. The gripping adventure not only created a truly memorable on-screen couple in majestic Bogart and Hepburn, but also managed to secure the 52-year-old actor his one and only Academy Award. The chemistry and tension between the two protagonists, accompanied by enthralling visuals and a model example of a proficiently composed screenplay, all pitched in to create one of the most adorable mid-century classics.

After religious spinster Hepburn’s missionary brother is killed in WWI Africa, dissolute steamer captain Bogart offers her safe passage. She’s not satisfied so she persuades him to destroy a German gunboat. The two spend most of their time fighting with each other rather than the Germans. During the location shooting of the film in Uganda and The Congo there were tales of dysentery, diarrhoea and other tropical ailments, not to mention soldier ants, hippos, black mambas and crocodiles. But in the finished film time alone on the river leads to love.

The screenplay, written by Huston himself, is based on C.S. Forester’s 1935 novel of the same name. All bow to the Queen!

Wednesday 18th December @ 7pm

The last of the great Ealing Comedies, The Ladykillers is a wonderfully macabre black comedy that really does improve with age.

Ealing stalwart Alec Guinness delivers a typically mesmerising performance as a criminal mastermind whose brain should have been displaying an ‘Out of Order sign’ for some time.

His latest plan is to dupe a sweet old lady into picking up the loot for him and his mismatched gang after they rob a security van. The gang consists of a genial bruiser; Jack-the-lad rogue; doddery old army type; and cold-hearted assassin. Under the guise of playing string quintets, all five meet at her house to plan the robbery and the fun and games all follow after the heist.

One can see The Ladykillers as a series of metaphors for the state of post-war Britain as it’s set in a dilapidated house which lists precariously due to heavy war damage. Or it’s also easy to see it as a deliciously black comedy in which five supposedly hardened criminals go weak at the knees at the thought of doing-in a little old lady. Every performance shines through in a smog-filled London.

This is a superbly elegant comedy and even after nearly 70 years, it still kills.