Shirley Anne Field was a pin-up turned actress who become one of Michael Caine's 'girls' in Alfie, while Rita Tushingham won an Oscar for her debut performance in A Taste of Honey and also appeared Doctor Zhivago. Now they are due to make an appearance at Wymondham, at screenings of two of their movies being shown as part of a programme of British film comedy.

They starred in some of the best known films of the 1960s.

Shirley Anne Field was a pin-up turned actress who become one of Michael Caine's 'girls' in Alfie, while Rita Tushingham won an Oscar for her debut performance in A Taste of Honey and also appeared in the epic version of Doctor Zhivago.

Now the women are due to make an appearance at Wymondham, at screenings of two of their movies being shown as part of a programme of British film comedy.

It is being organised by the Regal Experience group and Cinema City, a collaboration which has seen other stars of stage, screen and television make the trip to the Ex-Servicemen's Club, which used to be the town's Regal Cinema.

They include Jean Kent, Dora Bryan and Muriel Pavlow.

Secretary of the Regal group, Maureen Dodman, said the annual programme of films have proved so popular they were adding shows to meet demand.

“It's really the nostalgia and the atmosphere. The original part of the cinema is just as it was,” said Mrs Dodman,

On April 2 the 1961 satirical comedy Man in the Moon will be screened. It stars Miss Field and Kenneth More in a plot about looking for a astronaut to go on a first lunar mission.

Miss Field's other credits include Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Entertainer and My Beautiful Launderette. She has continued to appear on the small-screen, including episodes of The Bill, Where the Heart Is and Monarch of the Glen.

Also showing on that day will be The Intrepid Mr Twigg, featuring Roy Castle, about the misadventures of an accident-prone motorist.

On June 4, the mods and rockers of the swinging Sixties feature in The Knack, starring Miss Tushingham and Michael Crawford.

In Doctor Zhivago, Tushingham was cast as a girl who is believed to be the daughter of Omar Sharif and Julie Christie.

It is Mrs Dodman's job to track down the stars and persuade them to visit the town.

“We've become friends with them all and the ones that can't come have been very helpful and we have visited them and got a photograph. It's lovely.”

People they have visited include, most recently, Miss Christie and Railway Children star Dinah Sheridan, while Donald Sinden is on the 'to do' list.

The Cliff Richard film the Young Ones will be shown on July 2.

t The screenings on April 2 start at 2.30pm, with tickets at £4.50 (concs £3.50). Telephone 01953 605593 or 01953 603246 for further details.