The Rio’s monthly Classic Matinees take place on the first or second Wednesday of the month. There is an interval for every film, and extra seating is provided in the foyer. We are delighted that thanks to funding from the City Bridge Trust we are able to offer free admission. We are also able to offer free tea and cake! Please come along and enjoy a film and a chat!

These screenings are also open to everyone else at normal weekday matinee ticket prices.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (U) 3.20

(US 1946) dir. Frank Capra 130m. Digital.
James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi.

1940's Christmas optimism. George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all even though it's the season to be jolly. Will Clarence, a down-to-earth guardian angel from up there, be able to convince George that he's had a wonderful life? Nominated for numerous Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director), Frank Capra's initial box office flop has become the quintessential Yuletide classic.

• Wed 13 Jan 2.30

THE RED SHOES (U)

(UK 1948) dirs. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger 135m. Digital.
Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Leonide Massine, Robert Helpmann, Ludmilla Tcherina.

Another exuberant, spectacular Technicolor fantasy now restored to its original brilliance, Powell and Pressburger's tale of the ballerina (Shearer) torn between the career created by a manipulative impresario (Walbrook) and her love of a young composer (Goring) is cinema at its most sublime. The combination of dance and drama is still moving, vibrant, surreal, exhilarating and inspirational. Quite simply a masterpiece.