BOLTON author Bill Naughton's best-known work "Alfie" is to be introduced to a whole new generation of film fans.

Nearly 10 years after Bill's death, the famous film which reflected the freewheeling Sixties is being reprinted and relaunched at a special premiere at the London Plaza on May 1 -- where it had a star-studded launch nearly 30 years ago.

The British Film Institute, sponsored by business Accenture, has reprinted four classic British-made films for limited distribution.

The three others are "Some Like It Hot", "Don't Look Now" and "Breakfast At Tiffany's".

The project gives particular pleasure to Bill's widow, Erna, who lives in the Isle of Man. The couple made their home there before Bill's death in 1992 following a stroke.

Erna said: "It's wonderful to think of all the younger people who now get the chance to appreciate Bill's work, hopefully including many more in Bolton."

And she revealed that, far from "Alfie" starting life as a book and then becoming a play and a blockbuster film, the story of the Cockney romeo and his many conquests actually started life as a Radio 3 play.

"Bill had already written plays for Radio 3 and he was asked to write another," explained Erna. "He told me he had an idea for one and we chatted about it. "He had come to London from Lancashire during the war. He was a Conscientious Objector because he didn't want to kill anyone. But he would do anything else he could to help the war effort.

"He got a job delivering school meals and met many wised-up Cockneys during his work. He based the character of Alfie on them.

"The play was a hit, and Bill was asked to write the screenplay for the film. Then he was asked to write the book to coincide with it and, because he knew the story so well, he finished it in only six weeks."

"Alfie" is an ironic tale about a brash young Londoner, played in the film by Michael Caine, who fancies himself as a ladykiller.

He delivers a runing commentary to camera on his tawdry sexual conquests and tinpot criminal ambitions. But the combination of Bill Naughton's strong script and the disarming naivety that Caine's Alfie exhibits immediately made it a hit and the film earned a clutch of Academy Award Nominations.

When it was released, it was praised for its sexual frankness and the way it portrayed Swinging London, and was also a big hit in America.

Although times have moved on and the tone may not now be politically correct, the central character Bill Naughton created stands the test of time.

Director Lewis Gilbert -- a veteran of 40 films and currently making "Memory of Water" -- recalls the making of "Alfie" as "great fun".

"It was great working with Bill and, of course, a very young Michael Caine," he told the BEN from his London home.

"It's wonderful to know that classics like this will be enjoyed again on the big screen. I think that 'Alfie' is a good portrait of the Sixties -- although times are very different now, it's marvellous to be able to have this kind of social history to look at." Both Mr Gilbert and Erna Naughton will be at the premiere, although Michael Caine will not be able to attend as he is in Vietnam making a film.

The British Film Institute says that local fans can expect to view the reprinted "Alfie" in Manchester sometime this summer.