The Reel McCoy Film Group
Screening world cinema and forgotten gems since 1990
Screening world cinema and forgotten gems since 1990
|
The Reel McCoy Film Group is a not-for-profit film society that since 1990 has been catering for people interested in cinema, particularly those who like to see timeless classics and overlooked gems at low cost. Our membership fees are:
$50 for 12 months
Membership runs from the date of joining.
$35 for 6 months $20 for 3 months
With very grateful support from
 Canberra Museum and Gallery Members of CMAG are welcome to join the Reel McCoy at a substantial discount: membership for a year for only $20. Screenings are held in the Theatre of Canberra Museum and Gallery (on the corner of London Circuit and City Square, Canberra City) at 12:30 pm, usually on the last Sunday of each month. Next screening: Sunday, 29 March 2026 at 12:30 pm
A TOWN LIKE ALICE
A beautifully acted and moving World War 2 film based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Nevil Shute, who was born in England but based in Australia after the war. The film tells the story of Jean Paget, exquisitely played by Virginia McKenna, a young English woman who becomes a prisoner of war in Malaya. Along the way, she is helped by an Australian soldier, played by the great actor Peter Finch. The book is also known as The Legacy, which refers to the heartfelt dreams they have for a world of peace following the war.
For more information, e-mail us or come along to a screening The Reel McCoy Film Group is a member of the Australian Film Societies Federation. Contact them to learn how to start and run a film society or group of your own. Programme for 2026:
Sunday 15 February 2026
FANFARE Netherlands · 1958 · 94 min. Director Bert Haanstra Cast Hans Kaart, Ineke Brinkman, Bernard Droog After a quarrel within the brass band in Brederwiede, Holland, the village finds itself with two brass bands. Each is determined to win an upcoming musical tournament; each is even more determined that the other should not win; and each approach the same composer to write a piece that will secure victory. Meanwhile, neither bandleader realises that their offspring have fallen in love with one another. Haanstra, the director, was most acclaimed for his short documentaries, but the mix of irreverence and affection he brought to those hit the right note in his first, and by far most successful, fictional work.
Sunday 22 February 2026
DAWSON CITY: FROZEN TIME USA · 2016 · 120 min. Director Bill Morrison Dawson City, in the Yukon Territory, was a remote but flourishing gold mining town in the early years of the 20th century. As the entertainment hub for the region it also had several cinemas showing silent films, delivered there at great cost. The cost of return was unfeasible so many of the films were simply buried. During later construction work the films were unearthed, including many that were thought lost forever. This documentary explores the history of the town, the dangerously flammable nature of the nitrate film stock used, and the ultimate restoration of the films.
Sunday 29 March 2026
A TOWN LIKE ALICE UK / Australia · 1956 · 107 min. Director Jack Lee Cast Virginia McKenna, Peter Finch, Maureen Swanson, Vincent Ball A beautifully acted and moving World War 2 film based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Nevil Shute, who was born in England but based in Australia after the war. The film tells the story of Jean Paget, exquisitely played by Virginia McKenna, a young English woman who becomes a prisoner of war in Malaya. Along the way, she is helped by an Australian soldier, played by the great actor Peter Finch. The book is also known as The Legacy, which refers to the heartfelt dreams they have for a world of peace following the war.
Sunday 26 April 2026
HARAKIRI Japan · 1962 · 133 min. Director Masaki Kobayashi Cast Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Tetsuro Tanba In 17th-century Japan, a destitute samurai arrives at the estate of a powerful clan requesting permission to commit ritual suicide. Expecting a bluff, the clan elders recount a recent case intended as a warning. As the man calmly insists on proceeding, his story unfolds, revealing a far more disturbing truth. Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri is a devastating critique of the samurai code and the cruelty hidden beneath rigid ideas of honour and obedience. Told through controlled performances, stark black-and-white cinematography, and an exacting narrative structure, the film strips away romantic myths to deliver one of the most powerful moral statements in Japanese cinema.
Sunday 31 May 2026
MON ONCLE France · 1958 · 116 min. Director Jacques Tati Cast Jacques Tati, Alain Bécourt, Jean-Pierre Zola, Adrienne Servantie Jacques Tati was born a little too late for the era of silent films, but he reinvented a version of them when he created the iconic character of Monsieur Hulot in the mid-1950s. There is room for debate as to which of the four Hulot films is the best; but this, the second, best defines the character: fully at home in his own world, hopelessly out of place in the chic, automated modern world which his relatives have taken to. But with misplaced confidence, they believe they can convert him to their way of life.
Sunday 28 June 2026
THE BANK Australia · 2001 · 106 min. Director Robert Connolly Cast David Wenham, Anthony LaPaglia, Sibylla Budd, Steve Rodgers, Mandy McElhinney This is an Australian thriller/drama, and is director Robert Connolly’s first film. The story starts in the 1970s and moves to the late '90s and early 2000s. Set in Victoria, some scenes were filmed in the headquarters of a major bank in Melbourne. Jim Doyle (Wenham) is a brilliant mathematician who has designed a computer program to predict stock market direction. He is hired by Simon O’Reilly (LaPaglia), CEO of a large bank. The themes include: the loss of compassion in banking, genius, greed, corruption, intrigue, imagination, bankruptcy, suicide, court cases, and revenge.
Sunday 26 July 2026
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS USA · 1951 · 115 min. Director Vincente Minnelli Cast Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guetary, Nina Foch The story goes that ace MGM producer Alan Freed approached Ira Gershwin seeking permission to use his late brother’s concert piece An American in Paris in a movie. When he came away, he had permission to make a movie full of George’s songs. The result was six Oscar®s: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Music, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and a special citation for Gene Kelly. A demobbed WW2 American soldier returns to Paris to make his way as a painter. Of course, he spends more time dancing, singing, and romancing Leslie Caron and Nina Foch. A gloriously filmed, joyous musical.
Sunday 30 August 2026
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER USA · 1955 · 92 min. Director Charles Laughton Cast Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish The film of Davis Grubb's novel The Night of the Hunter received scathing critical responses upon its first release. The film has, however, grown in stature since then and is now considered a classic with its expressionistic, dark, fairy tale evocation of the struggle of good against evil. The film's star, Robert Mitchum, released from a gaol sentence for drug possession, was blacklisted by the studios till Charles Laughton brilliantly cast him as the murderous preacher. This film, Laughton's only directorial production, is considered one of the archetypes of the Southern Gothic genre and its haunting dreamlike imagery is unequalled.
Sunday 27 September 2026
NINE QUEENS Argentina · 2000 · 114 min. Director Fabián Bielinsky Cast Ricardo Darín, Gastón Pauls, Leticia Brédice, Tomás Fonzi, Graciela Tenenbaum Two con artists, one smoothly experienced, the other incompetent, join forces and become involved in a complex scam involving forged copies of rare stamps. The story is set over the course of a single day in Buenos Aires. Nine Queens trusts its audience and rewards attentiveness, and shows how a modestly budgeted film can create suspense through an intelligent script and terrific performances. The film is often cited as one of the defining films of modern Argentinian cinema and it also revived the con film for a modern audience.
Sunday 25 October 2026
THE DEVILS
Father Urbain Grandier (Reed) champions the rights of the people of Loudun against Cardinal Richelieu who wants to tear down the town’s defences. Local nuns, led by Sister Jeanne (Redgrave), accuse Grandier of witchcraft. The trial and the exorcisms of the nuns involved were sensational. Based on a true story written up as a novel by Aldous Huxley. Sets by Derek Jarman. The Devils was banned in several countries, but it remains a visually striking, distinctive milestone of British historical drama, with traces of black humour. Not as shocking today as it was on release, it remains unforgettable.
Sunday 29 November 2026
1945 Hungary · 2017 · 91 min. Director Ferenc Török Cast Péter Rudolf, Tamás Szabó Kimmel, Dóra Sztarenki Two Orthodox Jews arrive in a small remote rural Hungarian village which is getting ready for the wedding of the magistrate's son. They're accompanied by two coffin-like wooden crates supposedly filled with perfumes and soaps. Is this the start of a Jewish influx, reclaiming properties? Histories resurface, rumours spread wildly, paranoia reigns, and the villagers behave accordingly. This subtle and nuanced film is atmospherically shot in black and white with the mood of the film ably enhanced by Tibor Szemzö's soundtrack. The filmmaker has sensitively examined the European war's postscript, a period of history that everyone quickly wanted to forget.
Sunday 13 December 2026
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT USA · 1934 · 105 min. Director Frank Capra Cast Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Walter Connelly An heiress is trying to run away and elope, and a newspaper reporter offers to help her in exchange for a story; what follows may be the single most influential film of the 1930s – after, perhaps, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Both films defined a genre: in one case, animated features; in the other, romantic comedies, as we know them today. It scarcely matters that neither was technically the first. Made in a Poverty Row studio which had low expectations for it, the film swept the Oscar®s: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay; a feat equalled only twice since. Please note that programme details are subject to change without notice
List of films screened by Reel McCoy Film Group and
Big House Film Society, |