Scottish set movies

[stuart.uk]

I was just thinking about movies set in my home Country Scotland

The 39 Steps-1935 was a classic Hitchcock thriller, though it was for most part studio shot. An the other hand the less famous Robert Powell version was shot a lot on location in the beautiful Scottish country-side.

The same could be said of MGM musical Brigadoon, a film about a Scottish village trapped in a time warp, each day taking 100-yrs. There are as far as I can tell mixed views about the film, some saying it's a classic and others not. I think it's a minor classic, but I wonder if the film might have been better if some of it could have been shot at MGM British with locations shots of the scottish countryside with native actors like Duncan Mcrae or Renee Houston supporting the films 3 stars Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Van Johnson

Though not set in Scotland, The Kidknappers featured a group of Scottish imigrants in Canada. Duncan Mcrae and Jean Anderson starred. In a remake, Charlton Heston played the Mcrae role.

Whisky Galore with Basil Radford and Gordon Jackson

Rich Business American man Paul Douglas fell foul of a crew of a puffer called The Maggie. I wonder to if the film helped inspire the two hit tv versions of The Vital Spark with Roddy MacMillian and Gregor Fisher in the main role of ships Captain Para Handy

Local Hero, filmed in a beautiful Scottish location starred Burt Lancaster. The main character was played by an American actor, whose name escapes me, but the film is rich in up and coming British actors, who have had successful careers like Denis Lawson, Jenny Seagrove and Peter Garabaldi, not to mention the much loved Fulton Mackay as a beachcomber.

I'll leave the rest to you in naming some more, but i have another underneath


Two soccer movies, the well known school kids film Gregory's Girl with John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Claire Grogan and the lesser What Price Glory with Robert Duval, Michael Keaton and former Rangers and Scotland striker Ally McCiost in film about a small football team that reaches The Scottish Cup Final

[ChiO]

My favorite involving Scotland (albeit not the main mainland) and one of my favorites ever: THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (Michael Powell, 1937)

[markfp]

BRIGADOON is one of my very favorite musicals, however MGM was very shortsighted in shooting the whole film on a sound stage. Even if they didn't want to spend the money actually shooting it in Scotland, there are locations in California could have passed for it and would have been been an improvement.

[klondike]

Great films all, Stu!
Might I add one of my big-time, alltime faves, The Wicker Man (1973) ?
Have you seen the mid-90's remake of Stevenson's Kidnapped? Armand Assante really hit the mark as Alan Breck, and Brian Blessed, as usual, nearly stole the proverbial show with his brief, lusty portrayal of the bandit-chief Cluny MacPherson; I believe this version was shot entirely in Scotland.
I understand about half of my beloved I Know Where I'm Going was shot where it was set, in Argyll (from whence my progenitors sprang), and I recall reading somewhere that about a third of the scenery for Quest for Fire was shot up in the Trossachs.
Brigadoon is OK, I reckon; besides the oft-annoying silliness of the plotline, I guess my only grump is how nearly every "native" male's kilt is inaccurately short.

[mrsl]

.
I have to admit I've never actively looked for movies filmed in Scotland, so I can't give any examples except one. Was Braveheart filmed in Scotland? It looked like it was a location film in some of the outdoor scenes. I can't take the ending, so I've never seen the credits, but Klondike, you would probably know.

Although not about or filmed in Scotland, I love the way Brian Keith introduced us to his character in The Rare Breed. He was almost the best part of that movie, with his long red beard and hair, and later when he cleaned up and strutted around in his kilt - He was fantastic.
.

[stuart.uk]

Anne

keith wore tartan trousers rather than a kilt, but you're right he was great. I liked Richard Chamberlin's moutain man Alexander McGeag in Centenial

I could be wrong, but I think Braveheart was shot in Ireland

Other movies

The Prime Of Miss. Jean Brodie

Tunes Of Glory

Lassie Comes Home

Pal, Son Of Lassie

Greyfriars Bobby

The begining of A Man Called Peter

[klondike]

Anne

I could be wrong, but I think Braveheart was shot in Ireland

I think you're right, Stu; but wherever it was shot, Stirling Bridge was nowhere to be seen.
This past Summer, at one of the Highland Games I attended, when Clan Wallace's name was called during the Clan Roll, they replaced their usual war cry ("For Freedom!") with the thundering roar of: "Mel, Mel, Where's the River?!!"
An inside joke, I grant you, but believe me, a hundred or so Scots hearing it nearly collapsed with laughter!

[sandykaypax]

Gregory's Girl--I would LOVE to see that film again! Has it ever been released on dvd?

I saw The 39 Steps this summer on the big screen. Lovely Scotland scenery. My hubby's family is originally from Scotland. They came to the States in the 1700's and settled in the Catskill mountains in New York state because it reminded them of the HIghlands of Scotland.

Sandy K

[sandykaypax]

Ok, replying to my own post here---Gregory's Girl was released on dvd in 2001. Sadly, it is out of print. At least here in the US. Fortunately, my local library branch has a copy! Going to revist this one soon! I remember liking it so much when it was first released.

Sandy K

[JackFavell]

Weel, you have mentioned the really great I Know Where I'm Going, and The Edge of the World. And I love Whisky Galore and Tunes of Glory. You also beat me to all the Bill Forsyth films, EXCEPT my very favorite - COMFORT AND JOY.

Comfort and Joy takes place in Glasgow, and has the wonderful Bill Paterson playing a morning disc jockey named Dickie Bird (I'm not kidding) who is incredibly depressed over the recent departure of his adventuress girlfriend, Maddie. Somehow, he gets involved in an ice cream truck war. It is a perfect film to watch during the Christmas season.

it is a slow starter.... but if you can get through the first half hour it is well worth it.

Of course there is the ridiculous but fun Highlander.... with Sean Connery as a Spaniard?

There is Breaking the Waves, with the great Emily Watson. I don't remember it too well, but she was super. Another Watson film, The Water Horse, I found to be a very good story about the Loch Ness monster, and about some men's desire for warfare....but my daughter was terrified by the ending, which took place during a bombardment test in the middle of WWII.

[ChiO]

For whatever reason, the mention of Forsyth reminded me of one of my favorites of the 21st century, MORVERN CALLAR (Lynne Ramsey, 2002). Not certain that filming of the scenes based in Scotland were actually filmed there, but Ramsey is a Scot.

[klondike]

Of course there is the ridiculous but fun Highlander.... with Sean Connery as a Spaniard?

It gets even better, depending on how often you've watched it/how much dialogue you remember: Connery's character was called "the Spaniard", because none of his fellow Immortals could seem to remember that he came from Egypt!
Again, a Highland Games' anecdote: members of Clan MacLeod are all really great folks, and they always host a great tent in all the Clan Villages, but I've noted that they tend to cringe a bit when cinema-savvy tourists stop by and loudly proclaim to them, in their cheesiest Christophe Lambert accents: "In de and, dair can be only WAHN!!"

[charliechaplinfan]

I love all these films but especially Whisky Galore, I know Where I'm Going and The 39 Steps.

[stuart.uk]

Mrs. Brown with Queen Victoria visting Balmoral with Judi Dench and one of Scotland's greats Billy Connelly. Come to think of it Helen Mirren, James Cromwell and Sylvia Syms in The Queen were also at Balmoral

[klondike]

IMO, Mrs. Brown is own of the most underappreciated of all historical period biopics, bar none, if for no other reason than the palpable chemistry between Judi Densch & Billy Connolly.
Grand stuff, and so finely tuned in dialogue, direction & editing that you almost feel like they made it just for you!