For many, Annabelle Heath will always be a schoolgirl.

The 67-year-old appeared as scheming Maudie in the original 1954 The Belles of St Trinian’s film.

Today, more than 57 years after its release, the film retains a fond place in many cinema-goers’ hearts.

Mrs Heath, from Chanctonbury Drive, Shoreham, joined eight other cast members to watch a special screening of the film and take part in a question and answer session with fans.

The iconic schoolgirls had not met for almost 50 years until the filming of a TV show of 100 greatest family films brought her back into contact with fellow St Trinian Polly Baber.

They were then brought together in greater numbers for a festival celebrating the film’s composer Malcolm Arnold last November and now Mrs Heath hopes they will meet up at least once a year.

She said: “The new remakes are great fun but you can’t beat that first one, it’s just a very special little film.

“Even now people still have a great interest in it.

“It was a wonderful event, it was very emotional because I hadn’t seen the film on the big screen for many years.”

Mrs Heath returned to St Trinian’s for the most recent re-incarnation of the famous series released in 2009.

During filming outside Liverpool Street Station in London, hundreds of schoolgirls and even burly male actors playing the film’s villains wanted Mrs Heath’s autograph on paper cups and napkins or anything they had to hand.

She has also been invited to the red carpet premieres of the two most recent adaptations of the series, rubbing shoulders with the film’s stars Colin Firth and Gemma Arterton.

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