This film is part of Rentals
Piccadilly
The glitter of Jazz Age clubland meets the Far East (of London) in this stunningly restored silent classic, starring Anna May Wong.
Crime 1929 109 mins Silent
Director: E.A. Dupont
Overview
Stunningly designed and photographed, Piccadilly brings a sparkling cocktail of influences to its presentation of 20s London, from West End glitter to a seedy dive bar in cosmopolitan Limehouse. Tragic heroine Shosho (Chinese-American star Anna May Wong) beguiles her way from lowly nightclub kitchen hand to the star attraction; but will a love tryst with her boss be this deco diva's undoing?
Director E.A. Dupont was a German émigré who brought an international flair to late-1920s British cinema. Shosho's dance routines exploit the contemporary fad for eastern exoticism, but Dupont also offers a rare depiction of London's Chinese community and tackles the then risqué subject of interracial sex - though the censors ruled out an actual kiss between Anna May Wong and co-star Jameson Thomas. Piccadilly was restored by the BFI National Archive and is presented here with a specially commissioned score by Neil Brand.
Contains mild violenceRelated
Crime
First Love First Love
Comedy 2019 108 mins Director: Takashi Miike
A terminally-ill boxer, a runaway call girl, a double-crossing drugs heist and a gang war; Takashi Miike doesn’t do things by halves.
Out of Blue Out of Blue
Crime 2018 109 mins Director: Carol Morley
Carol Morley (Dreams of a Life, The Falling) returns with a wonderfully stylised, offbeat noir thriller about a murder investigation and multiple realities.
Dragged Across Concrete Dragged Across Concrete
Crime 2018 159 mins Director: S. Craig Zahler
As brutal and uncompromising as its title would suggest, the third feature from S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99) is another instant classic crime drama.
Destroyer Destroyer
Thriller 2018 121 mins Director: Karyn Kusama
Nicole Kidman is astonishing – and almost unrecognisable – as a jaded police detective haunted by her past in Karyn Kusama’s brooding thriller.
My Death Is a Mockery My Death Is a Mockery
Crime 1952 69 mins Director: Tony Young
Hop aboard for a choppy Channel crossing with this bleak, bullet-spattered sea-smuggling crime drama.
A Clockwork Orange A Clockwork Orange
Crime 1971 137 mins Director: Stanley Kubrick
Malcolm McDowell stars in Kubrick’s chilling, thrilling and unsettling cinematic vision of nihilistic violence and social control.
Soho Stories
The Small World of Sammy Lee The Small World of Sammy Lee
Drama 1962 107 mins Director: Ken Hughes
Seedy Soho strip-club compere Sammy (Anthony Newley) races to escape the heavies who hunt him in this gritty, engrossing 1960s London thriller.
Design for Loving Design for Loving
Comedy 1962 69 mins Silent Director: Godfrey Grayson
A grubby Soho beatnik becomes a fuzz-faced fashionista for a leading London fashion house in this 1960s rom com.
The Green Cockatoo The Green Cockatoo
Action and Adventure 1940 64 mins Director: William Cameron Menzies
From an original scenario by Graham Greene, this is a neat crime thriller about a girl (René Ray) who witnesses a murder, becomes a suspect herself, and gets mixed up with a sleazy Soho gangster (John Mills).
All Night Long All Night Long
Drama 1962 91 mins Director: Basil Dearden
Othello is transposed to the 1960s Soho jazz scene as a malevolent drummer sows mistrust between husband-and-wife jazz luminaries.
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Biopic 1998 87 mins Director: John Maybury
Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig star as artist Francis Bacon and his muse George Dyer in John Maybury’s darkly exquisite biopic.
Where Has Poor Mickey Gone Where Has Poor Mickey Gone
56 mins Director: Gerry Levy
A fairground showman (Warren Mitchell) exacts a terrible revenge upon the hooligans who terrorise him in this haunting tale of mystery and magic
Featuring Anna May Wong
The Flame of Love The Flame of Love
Melodrama 1930 75 mins Director: Richard Eichberg
Chinese-American star Anna May Wong dazzles as a Chinese dancer forced to give herself to a Russian General in order to save her brother.
Directed by E.A. Dupont
Two Worlds Two Worlds
War 1931 89 mins Director: E.A. Dupont
An Austrian officer falls in love with a Jewish villager in this early sound epic set during WWI
Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge
Drama 1928 127 mins Silent Director: E.A. Dupont
E. A Dupont’s (Piccadlly, Variete) tale of intrigue amid the famous dance-halls of Paris was one of the most lavish British films of the silent era.
New
Pink Wall Pink Wall
Drama 2019 81 mins Director: Tom Cullen
Six scenes, six years: from first sparks to the fading embers of a love affair, in this intense relationship study by British actor-turned-director Tom Cullen.
Ordinary Love Ordinary Love
Drama 2018 92 mins Director: Lisa Barros D'Sa
Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville star in this intimate and sensitively-handled drama about a couple dealing with breast cancer.
Harriet Harriet
Drama 2019 125 mins Director: Kasi Lemmons
Cynthia Erivo gives a show-stopping turn as the American revolutionary anti-slavery heroine Harriet Tubman in Kasi Lemmons' biopic.
Knives Out Knives Out
Thriller 2019 130 mins Director: Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig is the Kentucky Fried Poirot with all-star suspects - Chris Evans, Ana de Armas and Toni Collette among them - in this nimble and brilliant crime caper.
2040 2040
Documentary 2019 92 mins Director: Damon Gameau
Award-winning director Damon Gameau embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like if we embraced the best solutions to improve our planet.
The Perfect Candidate The Perfect Candidate
Drama 2019 105 mins Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Celebrated Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda) returns with an inspiring drama about a young doctor unexpectedly becoming an electoral candidate.