By Stephen Lewis

ROLL UP! Roll up! ... for the ultimate silver screen experience.

Fairfax House, formerly the St George's Cinema, is holding its fifth Silver Screen Festival from Friday (February 3).

The house's grand salon will be converted into a cinema for the week, with projector at one end of the room, big screen at the other, and usherettes with torches in period costume to show you to your seat.

Staff have lined up a series of genuine silver screen classics for your delight and delectation during the week-long festival.

There's Hitchcock's North By Northwest, with Cary Grant's suave Roger Thornhill trying to evade capture by a sinister spy gang with the help of blonde bombshell Eva Kendall; and Humphrey Bogart at his cynical, laconic best as Sam Spade in 1941's The Maltese Falcon. Or how about Brando standing up to the mob in On The Waterfront, or Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, fleeing the Nazis in Hitchcock's first and best 1935 version of The 39 Steps?

A total of 11 classic films on the theme of 'Heroes &Villains' have been lined up for this year's festival. "And a lot of people will never have seen them before on the big screen," says Fairfax House director Hannah Phillip.

Fairfax House's silver screen film festival, held every other year, is a homage to the Georgian mansion’s former incarnation as a cinema and dance hall.

According to the Cinema Treasures website the house, built in 1732 for Viscount Fairfax and designed by York architect John Carr, opened as a cinema on March 7, 1921, with Three Men in a Boat. Seating was provided in stalls and circle levels, with the projection box located at the rear of the stalls, under the circle.

It was taken over by the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (PCT) chain in 1922 then, in 1929, by the Gaumont British Theatres chain. It was closed by Rank on November 6, 1965. The last film screened there was the Elizabeth Taylor blockbuster Cleopatra.

For a week from this Friday, however, it will recapture a little of its lost silver screen magic. Don't miss out...

BLOB Heroes & Villains, the Fairfax House 2017 Silver Screen Festival, runs from Friday February 3 to Saturday February 11. Ticket prices range from £11-00 (concessions £10-00) to £16-00 (concessions £15-00) depending on the film. There's a red carpet gala opening night on Friday at 7pm, followed by a screening of North by Northwest.

For more information visit fairfaxhouse.co.uk or email info@fairfaxhouse.co.uk