The films that helped to shape cinema as we know it today.

There’s no time like the present to enjoy some of cinema’s finest. Each of our picks delivers a heavy dose of nostalgia and are definitely some of the best classic movies to grace our screens. Expect heart-warming comfort, big laughs, and pulse-pounding suspense. These films helped to shape cinema as we know it today.

Casablanca

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains Year: 1942

A love story you will never forget. Set in the early years of World War II in Casablanca, this tale follows an American living in the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city. Rick Blaine’s nightclub is an oasis for refugees despite continuous warnings from local authorities. When his former love begs him for help to escape to the US with her fugitive Resistance leader husband, Blaine must decide which will win: his heart or his head. There’s a reason this is still touted as Hollywood’s greatest romance. The Wizard of Oz Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr Year: 1939

There’s no place like home, and there is no classic quite like Dorothy’s adventures in Oz. An absolute masterpiece, The Wizard of Oz, follows Dorothy Gale as she is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home. Joined by Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion on an epic adventure, the three find themselves on the run from the Wicked Witch of the West and all her schemes. Described as ‘the most influential movie of all time’, this fantastical tale will win over even the most cynical of viewers.

Gone with the Wind

Starring: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel Year: 1939

Adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell and set against the backdrop of the Civil War, this award-winning classic focuses on the indomitable Southern Belle, Scarlett O’Hara. Whilst containing some problematic themes and images, it was one of a kind in its day in terms of scale and the vast number of people involved in the production. Winner of the Best Picture Academy Award as well as first Academy Award to be given to an African American for Hattie McDaniel’s best supporting role, Mammy.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Mickey Rooney Year: 1961

Possibly Audrey Hepburn’s most famous movie, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, sees the iconic starlet play Holly Golightly. Based on the book by Truman Capote, the film follows Holly, working as a high-end escort and in search of a wealthy man to marry but when she meets an aspiring writer, her plans begin to change before her eyes.

West Side Story Starring: Rita Moreno, Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris Year: 1961 Directed by choreographer Jerome Robbins and Sound of Music director, Robert Wise. Capturing the racial tensions of the time, West Side Story follows The Sharks and The Jets battle it out on our screens in this modernised take on Romeo and Juliet. In the middle of the chaos, Tony and Maria meet and fall in love and force everyone to reconsider what all the fighting is for. With some of the best music and lyrics of the era, this musical is one to enjoy over and over again.

The Godfather Starring: Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, Diane Keaton Year: 1972

There’s really nothing quite like Francis Ford Coppola’s portrayal of the mob family of Don Vito Corleone. A chilling to the bone, action-packed story that’s you can watch time and time again. Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone, the head of a crime dynasty, is grooming his hesitant son to take over the family business in a study of morality, loyalty and honour. It’s a fascinating saga that will impress every audience.

Nothing beats a GOOD BOOK

The season of reading is upon us. There is nothing quite like enjoying a good read en plein air. From emerging to established authors and from short stories to politics, we’ve got you covered. So, if you’re in the market for your next book, here’s our selection of the best page-turners. Sit back, relax, and get stuck in.

Little Wing by Freya North

Little Wing is a powerful story spanning multiple generations. In the 1960s, a pregnant 16-year-old Florence Lawson is banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK. Years later, Nell Hartley and Dougie Munro are both at critical moments in their lives when their three paths cross. Between Camden, Colchester and the Outer Hebrides, the three story lines collide when secrets are uncovered and answers sought. Little Wing is a novel about resilience, forgiveness and the true meaning of family, about finding one’s place in the world and discovering how we all have a purpose. By the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers, for the first time, Lily King shares ten of her finest short stories exploring desire and heartache, loss and discovery. A bookseller’s undeclared love for his worker rises to the surface, a neglected teenage boy finds much-needed support from an unlikely pair of college students, a girl’s loss of innocence at the hands of her employer’s son becomes a catalyst for strength and confidence, and a proud nonagenarian rages helplessly in his granddaughter’s hospital room. Romantic, optimistic, viciously raw, and scathingly honest, these stories all relate to King’s enduring subject of love.

Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King

The Last Suspicious Holdout by Ladee Hubbard

This collection of stories about the black residents in an unnamed “sliver of Southern suburbia” in the years between the beginning of the Clinton administration and Obama’s election. It’s about racism, the war on drugs, class and struggle, but at its heart, it’s a portrait of a community. In this fearless and, at times, funny collection, Ladee Hubbard transcends stereotypes to provide a fuller portrait of black American life and its undercurrents. Though their finances, occupations, and businesses may be vulnerable to forces they cannot control, the neighbours in these tales bravely confront the realities of their lives and firmly believe that hope is not a promise but a choice.

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

Turning the serial killer narrative on its head, this irresistible intense thriller, Notes on an Execution, is a poignant, profoundly compassionate tale of resilience. On Death Row, murderer Ansel Packer contemplates his last hours, but we learn about what kind of man he really is from three women pivotal in his life. His mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old runaway, his wife’s twin Hazel who watches Ansel steal her sister away, and Saffy, the detective, brings him to justice

Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver

This is a collection of delicately fashioned, comical and heartfelt essays, described as a ‘tell-most’, in which Minnie Driver uses her formidable storytelling skills to examine and understand her lessthan-ordinary life. Minnie shares poignant, candid and honest stories of her unconventional childhood, the shock of fame, motherhood, love, success, failure, the power of sisterly love, and the loss of her beloved mother. In her own words, it’s about how things not working out actually worked out in the end and how reaching for the dream is easily more interesting, expansive, sad and funny than the dream itself coming true.

Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

Twenty-five years after the release of Rachel’s Holiday, Marian Keyes has returned with Rachel in this hilarious and touching sequel, Again, Rachel. In her 20’s, Rachel Walsh was a total mess. Now, after a spell in rehab; she is living her best life! She has found love, has a family, the picture-perfect job as an addiction counsellor and life couldn’t be any better. That is until an old flame rears his head and throws her perfect existence into disarray. She is about to discover that things can change no matter how old you are, and perhaps it’s time to think again.