Pensioners left shocked by cinema mix-up

A cinema apologised today for showing hundreds of pensioners a foul-mouthed Hollywood film instead of a screen classic.

More than 650 had packed out the cinema on Tyneside to see the Alec Guinness comedy The Ladykillers.

But about half of the audience were soon queuing to get out of the Whitley Bay Playhouse after being shown a Hollywood remake of the movie, which is littered with foul language.

Staff at the theatre have apologised, and admitted that they had made a "mistake" in their choice of film for the over-50s event.

Among the upset moviegoers was pensioner Shirley Hewison, 70, of Whitley Bay, who told The Journal: "It was just disgusting, utterly awful.

"People were queuing to get out. There was a mass exodus."

Catherine Barlow, 81, of Whitley Bay, added: "There were hundreds of f--words. They were swearing every second word."

Cinema general manager Tim Flood said: "This was a mistake.

"Even though the film was a 15 certificate, I did not think there would be such strong language.

"It became abundantly clear after the first five minutes that there was a problem.

"Around half the audience decided this was not to their taste and they voted with their feet.

"I held my hands up and apologised as they filed out."

The event was part of Whitley Bay's Age Takes Centre Stage festival - a range of activities and entertainment for the over-50s.

The 1955 original starred Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers and Frankie Howerd in a tale of a hapless bunch of crooks renting a house in London from a meddlesome old landlady.

The updated version transported the story to the American Deep South, and has Tom Hanks as an eccentric professor who gathers a motley crew who pose as a band in order to rob a New Orleans riverboat casino under the nose of a sharp old woman.