ABOUT THE FECKENODEON
An experimental showing of "Some Like it Hot" enticed over a hundred locals of all ages to Feckenham Village Hall and the atmosphere was magic. We had another go a few months later with "The Lavender Hill Mob" and "Oh! Mr Porter!". The fact that Will Hay could still captivate a full house sixty years after his film was made convinced us that the idea of a rural Picture Palace was an idea worth following up. We gathered redundant equipment from helpful and enthusiastic independent cinema owners and we spent the summer of 2001 installing the screen, a new sound system, motorized festoon drop tabs and new lighting. All our films are shown on traditional film projectors on a proper cinema screen - a brand new Harkness-Hall screen was installed in April 2006. Comfortable fully upholstered red plush seating has now replaced the hard plastic chairs - regulars can leave the cushions at home! We wanted to provide a real cinema experience - not just a filmshow in a village hall. Seven seasons of full houses seems to say that we had the right idea!
The FeckenOdeon opened on September 29th, 2001 with a gala showing to a packed house of "The Smallest Show on Earth" and "Duck Soup". The Society can accommodate 120 Full Members and welcomes an additional 20 Guest Members to each show. Scroll down for a list of films we've already shown. Our eighth season of classic films (starting in September) is now booking - click HERE for the programme.
For the technically minded the FeckenOdeon's films are shown on a Westar 2001a 35mm projector with a Xenon Arc lamphouse and stereo soundhead. We use a Westrex tower system for continuous running of films up to 2 hours 45 minutes duration. Newer films are shown with full Dolby Stereo SR surround sound using our CP55 and SRA-5 processors, Yamaha 4 channel amplifier and Peavey loudspeakers. Care is taken to show films in their original formats - we can cope with Academy Standard, American and European WideScreen and all CinemaScope type formats. Occasional films are operated on two Bell & Howell 16mm projectors with changeovers. Some trailers and shorts are shown in projected DVD format. The 20 ft (7 mtr) wide screen has a Harkness Hall perforated, high gain, matt white surface.
| November 1999 | Some Like it Hot |
| January 2001 | The Lavender Hill Mob + Oh, Mr Porter |
| September 2001 | The Smallest Show on Earth + Duck Soup |
| October 2001 | The Third Man + Carry On Spying |
| November 2001 | M.Hulot's Holiday + Le Balon Rouge |
| December 2001 | The Boyfriend |
| January 2002 | A Private Function + The 39 Steps |
| February 2002 | The Son of the Sheik + The Two Tars |
| March 2002 | Cinema Paradiso + Sherlock Junior |
| April 2002 | Kind Hearts & Coronets + The Titfield Thunderbolt |
| June 2002 | The Man in the White Suit - Special Show for Redditch Cafe Arts Festival |
| Second Season | |
| September 2002 | The Happiest Days of Your Life + Two Way Stretch |
| October 2002 | Little Shop of Horrors + Son of Frankenstein |
| November 2002 | Blazing Saddles + The Man from Laramie |
| December 2002 | Singing in the Rain + St Louis Blues |
| January 2003 | Brassed Off + The Lady Vanishes |
| February 2003 | The Gold Rush + The Baloonatic |
| March 2003 | Mon Oncle |
| April 2003 | Gone with the Wind |
| Third Season | |
| September 2003 | Whisky Galore + Murder Most Foul |
| October 2003 | North by Northwest + Night Mail |
| November 2003 | Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring |
| Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | |
| The Return of the Pink Panther | |
| December 2003 | An American in Paris |
| January 2004 | Waking Ned + Saturday Night & Sunday Morning |
| February 2004 | The General + Boobs in the Wood |
| March 2004 | Doctor Zhivago |
| April 2004 | The Ladykillers (1955) + Brief Encounter |
| Fourth Season | |
| September 2004 | Blithe Spirit + A Night at the Opera |
| October 2004 | Shrek 2 |
| Vertigo | |
| November 2004 | Calendar Girls + Belleville Rendez-vous |
| December 2004 | Top Hat |
| January 2005 | The Dish + Genevieve |
| Don Giovanni (1979) | |
| February 2005 | Shooting Stars |
| March 2005 | Cabaret |
| April 2005 | The Adventures of Robin Hood + Passport to Pimlico |
| Fifth Season | |
| September 2005 | The Wrong Arm of the Law + Ask a Policeman |
| October 2005 | Charlie & the Chocolate Factory |
| Rebel Without a Cause + Animal Farm | |
| November 2005 | Hear My Song + The Million Pound Note |
| December 2005 | Gigi |
| January 2006 | Rabbit-proof Fence + The Chorus |
| February 2006 | Wallace & Gromit : The Curse of the Were-rabbit |
| Great Expectations (1946) | |
| March 2006 | The Blues Brothers + The Wrong Trousers |
| April 2006 | Arsenic & Old Lace |
| June 2006 | Carry On Cleo (Charity Show) |
| Sixth Season | |
| September 2006 | Kinky Boots + Hue & Cry |
| October 2006 | Cars |
| Amadeus - The Director's Cut | |
| November 2006 | The Big Sleep (1946) |
| December 2006 | West Side Story |
| January 2007 | Catch Me if you Can |
| February 2007 | Flushed Away |
| Dead of Night + The Card | |
| March 2007 | Master & Commander. The Far Side of the World |
| April 2007 | Heavens Above! + Radio Days |
| May 2007 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Charity Show) |
| June 2007 | The General (Open air show for Feckenham Wake) |
| Seventh Season | |
| September 2007 | Mrs Henderson Presents + Fires Were Started |
| October 2007 | Shrek the Third |
| Casablanca | |
| November 2007 | High Spirits + Good Night, and Good Luck |
| December 2007 | The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) + The Ghost Train |
| January 2008 | The Prestige |
| February 2008 | Ratatouille |
| The Italian Job (1969) + The Castle | |
| March 2008 | Topsy-Turvy |
| April 2008 | Our Man in Havana + The Cameraman |
