Ealing studios, famed for quirky English comedies and genteel thrillers, are celebrating a hundred years of film making history by re-releasing a clutch of classic titles.

Today's movie-goers will now get the chance to peer into the recent past with films like The Lavender Hill Mob and The Ladykillers, in which a gang of scheming thugs led by Alec Guinness are undone by a little old lady and her parrot.

Alec Guinness in a scene from The Ladykillers

The reissues follow hard on the heels of the release of the first Ealing film for 40 years: Oliver Parker's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and the announcement of an exclusive two year co-production deal with American movie giant Miramax.

Boost

The deal is a boost to Ealing's planned £50 million site makeover, which will re-establish it as Europe's largest studio complex.

New offices housing state-of-the-art animation facilities are currently under construction and Shrek producer John Williams is about to begin shooting a $40 million animated feature entitled Valiant, described as Top Gun with cartoon pidgeons.

Also in the pipeline are new production and digital facilities and an apartment complex which will be built on-site, allowing prospective purchasers the chance to rub shoulders with major celebrities.

Proud history

Ealing studios have a proud history dating back to the turn of the last century:

"We were founded in 1902, when black-and-white films were made on the surrounding orchards," said Sean Hinton, MD of Ealing studios (pictured).

"Then we had the coming of the talkies, television and video and colour. At each stage people said that filmmaking was dead. The reality is that the studios have survived and thrived."

Asked about the slate of re-releases which will be going into cinemas from this week, Hinton revealed that The Ladykillers and The Lavender Hill Mob would be joined by The Man In The White Suit, Whisky Galore!, Passport to Pimlico and Kind Hearts and Coronets.

"They are all classics and in the 40s and 50s they became global box office successes. These films are important for defining what Britain was at that time and communicating it to the rest of the world."

All six are being re-issued in digitally remastered prints. and will be showing in London's West End from Friday and will then tour the UK.

Take a Thames Tour of Rotherhithe including the home of London's whaling and timber trades

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