Don't miss this golden oldie

I can watch my favourite films whenever I want, and it’s very relaxing when you unexpectedly find yourself with a spare couple of hours to be able to lose yourself in the familiar.

But despite the fact these films are sitting there on a shelf, I still get a little thrill when I see one listed in the TV guide.

I’m not sure why. After all, it’s far nicer to watch a film that isn’t interrupted by adverts every five minutes, and to be able to choose when you watch it rather than zooming around Tesco at the pace of a Formula 1 driver so you’ll be back in time.

Maybe it’s a holdover from childhood when the likelihood of a good film popping up on one of the four available channels was remote, and the chances of Dad being able to accurately set the timer on the “new-fangled” video recorder when you were out even remoter.

Back then, it really was a treat to find a vaguely watchable film on the box and, in the absence of much choice, I developed a liking for the BBC2 offerings on wet Sunday afternoons.

They tended to do them in series. I’ve seen every film George Formby ever made, and a fair few of Elvis’ efforts.

Sometimes, though, they’d venture over into a better class of film, leaving me with a lifelong appreciation of Cary Grant, James Stewart, Katharine Hepburn and the like. I still get a bit excited when I spot one of theirs on the telly.

Even more of a treat is seeing one of these old classics on the big screen.

But one film I never managed to catch as a kid was Casablanca.

I finally saw in my university days when it was shown at the campus arts centre. My friends and I decided that instead of guzzling pints for a £1 in the union, we'd spend an evening being cultural - then go to the pub afterwards.

Watching a film on TV is all very well, but seeing Casablanca in a cinema, like the first audiences did 70 years ago, is really something. It’s not a chance you get often either, so it’s well worth grabbing the opportunity at Salisbury Arts Centre next month.

I would say if you don’t you’ll regret it…but that would be clichéd in the extreme.

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