Exclusive: Film festival to celebrate David Lean centenary

Ten of David Lean's films from the 1940s and 1950s have been faithfully restored to coincide with the centenary of the film-maker's birth in March and some of those are being screened at the Clocktower's cinema, named after him.

The David Lean Foundation has funded the £1million restoration project, which is being undertaken by the British Film Institute's (BFI) National Archive in partnership with Granada International.

With films such as Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage To India and Bridge On The River Kwai under his belt, David Lean is widely acknowledged as one of the world's most accomplished film directors.

However, his gift for film-making may never have been realised had his parents not banned him from visiting the cinema.

Lean's strict Quaker parents regarded cinemas as "dens of vice" and forbade their son from visiting them.

David was born to Frank and Helena Lean in 1908 and the family lived first in Blenheim Crescent and later Warham Road, South Croydon.

Ironically, when David first attended nursery he was labelled backward and his parents worried he would never be able to read or write.

His mum knew he secretly visited the cinema but never told his dad and the youngster regularly escaped the confines of his life to lose himself in the world of moving pictures.

He is reported to have said: "I had suddenly discovered life through the movies. Intercut that with Croydon and you have an idea of how exciting it was."

His artistically celebrated films, which also include Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations, won 26 Oscars and he was made a CBE in 1953.

He died on April 16, 1991, at his London home aged 83. One of his biggest regrets was that he was never able to persuade his dad to see one of his films.

The David Lean cinema, in the Croydon Clocktower, will be screening some of the director's restored films in March.

For further information, contact the box office on 020 8253 1030.