PETER USTINOV IN THE NETHERGATE

Here's a fine shot of Peter Ustinov having a wee chuckle to himself in the Nethergate.
The 2 shops in the background are the Civil Service Stores and Patterson's shoe shop.
Peter Ustinov was rector at University of Dundee from 1968 to 1974, the era the photograph was taken.
It's quite an amusing image because Peter was really world famous at the time, what with his numerous film awards, his plays, books, his witty one-man shows etc etc etc - a gigantic list of achievements and a colossal all-round entertainer - and here he is in the city centre with a bench all to himself, none of the locals aware of his presence!
Photo by DC Thomson.

WELLGATE LIBRARY IN THE 80'S

No idea if the Wellgate Library still looks the same these days, but this is how things were back in the 1980's.

Top image is of the Childrens Library - and judging by the pencil case setting, I think the kids may have been having "The Borrowers" read out to them at the time!

The other photo is a view of the general lending area, which I remember had a brilliant book of Picasso Linocuts that I kept going back to over and over again. Must see if I can buy a copy now that this has jogged my memory.

The advert is dated 1988 and is for the Video Libary, located in the main foyer.

Membership was free and for over 18's only. The content consisted of Hollywood blockbusters, TV shows, music, documentary, old Dundee and hobbies, with prices ranging from 50p to £2 per night.

THE PRIMITIVES ON FILM - 1969

Elsewhere on Retro Dundee I have mentioned the various musical escapades of 2 local musicians who often worked together - keyboard player, Mike Fraser, and drummer Robbie McIntosh.

Well R&B pop outfit, The Primitives, was one such band in which Mike & Robbie teamed up with, this being after their stint in The Senate. Although The Primitives were a British act, it was in Italy where they were best known and where oor twa spent their time with them, the band having an alternating residency at the fab & famous Piper Club in Rome, a venue visited by top name bands.

It was during this groovy time in their life that Mike & Robbie ended up in a movie, an Italian film made in 1969 called "Pensiero d'amore", footage of which I have below.

But before that, a quick word on the above photos...

Top one is a film shot of The Primitives.

Next one down with all the dancers is another film shot.

Third image was taken at a live gig.

And the last picture is a general publicity shot.

So, settle down, cut yourself a slice of pizza and enjoy this rare movie scene below.

To see Mike on keyboards and Robbie on drums, you'll need to ignore singer Mal, all the dolly birds, as well as the Mafia, and just concentrate on the background action!

I don't recall this movie showing at The Gaumont!!

Big thanks to Mike Fraser and Mac.

VIEW DOWN LOGIE STREET

I don't have the exact year this scene was captured but this is what the view down Logie Street was like around the late 60s-early 70s, a lot of which has since disappeared.

The car in shot is a Ford Escort which were introduced in 1968 so the picture wouldn't be any earlier than that.

The Astoria Theatre can be seen in the middle of the photo but it's difficult to make out if it is still open for business or closed down. According to the Tele supplement I posted up 2 days ago, the Astoria shut its doors in 1971.

Ach well, at least the Logie Bar is still in the same spot today, so that's something that hasn't changed!

Photo from Gordon C.

THE PLAZA - HILLTOWN - 80'S

The Plaza up the Hilltown was not a picture house I went to very often, once or twice in the late 60's/early 70's and that was about it.

In fact it had a rather patchy life after that, with it closing down in 1972, reopening in 1975 for around a year or so and closing down again - then like a lot of cinema buildings it changed over to being a bingo hall in the 80's before eventually closing for good in the 90's, leading ultimately to it's demolition.

This shot of the Plaza building was taken sometime in the 80's.

Photo by The Bear.

DUNDEE CINEMAS FEATURE - 1989

This page here is from a Tele dated May 1989 and is a feature about the history of Dundee's cinemas.

It coincided with the 10th Anniversary of the Steps Film Theatre who put on an exhibition to mark the occasion.

There are over 40 cinemas listed in the index panel, complete with addresses and dates, and there are also plenty of facts & figures in the main feature itself, some of which are quite amusing.

You don't need to be a serious film buff to enjoy the article, so if you fancy a wee read I've scanned it in large sized.

Just give it a click to bring it up.

2 OLD LOCHEE RAIL STATIONS

Lochee by rail? Well you could once upon a time.

The top picture is Lochee Station, taken around 1970-ish.

It had been closed down for quite a while by then, but the station itself was saved and converted in 1972 into the Lochee Burns Club.

I really like the patchwork quilt stonework. You'd think Gaudi had paid a visit.

The other one, a bit further along the line, is Lochee West Station.

This outpost was flattened rather than rescued, but just before it disappeared it was filmed for posterity in the late 60's.

The footage below doesn't last long, but it lingers long enough to notice that it had separate waiting rooms for the Gentlemen and the Ladies!

FILMING IN DUNDEE - EARLY 80'S - #3

1. KENNEDYS CATERING TRUCK OUTSIDE CAIRD HALL.

2. FILMING ALAN BATES.

3. SCHLESINGER WITH RUSSIAN CAR.

4. CORAL BROWNE CROSSES WINTRY STREET.

5. THE CREW READ DURING A BREAK.

6. CORAL BROWNE BETWEEN FILMING.

--------------------------------------------
 

A big avalanche of photos to finish the sequence.

So, 1st photo - February 1983 and the film crew roll into the city centre to paint the town red, Kennedys Caterers providing the vodka no doubt!

Picture 2 I think may be in Commercial Street. 87 is on the door, which was insurance & finance offices at the time. Alan Bates with the brolly is being filmed in his role as spy, Guy Burgess. Director John Schlesinger is the guy in the furry hat & chunky anorak standing at the back of the car. Playwright, Alan Bennett, is the specky chap in front of the window, to the left of Schlesinger.

The 3rd image was taken in Euclid Crescent with DC Thomsons in the background. Schlesinger rehearsing a scene with a camera clamped to a Russian car.

4 is Coral Browne who portrayed herself in the film, she being the woman who met Guy Burgess in Moscow for real in 1958. Your guess is as good as mine as to which snowy (salty) corner it is.

Take 5 - the team catch up with some reading during a break. Alan Bates on the right. Possibly Exchange Street wall?

Finally, Coral Browne gets a bit of embroidery done during a rest between filming. Alan Bennett's face reflected artistically (or by fluke) in the car window.

THE END.

 

FILMING IN DUNDEE - EARLY 80'S - #2

Brrrrrrrr - all that salt!
Dundee High School became a 1950's Russian barracks in this short scene below.
This was just a panning background shot. The building didn't feature in the storyline.

FILMING IN DUNDEE - EARLY 80'S - #1

I put a few items up in 2008 relating to the time when the BBC filmed the Alan Bennett play "An Englishman Abroad" in the early 80's, with Dundee being transformed into Moscow.

Well I have a really good bundle of photos which were taken behind the scenes when all this was taking place.

So, in the 2 pictures above, we have shoe shop Peter Lord, on the Murraygate/Commercial Street corner, being modified into it's Russian equivalent.

Across the road on the other corner was John Menzies, who also got the Moscow name change treatment.

It was actually forecast for snow around the time of filming but only a tiny flurry dropped, not nearly enough for what the director, John Schlesinger, had in mind. So the decision was made at 4am to use salt instead. 14 council workers were brought down to the city centre to spread 80 tons of the stuff around town in order that filming could commence at 8:30am pronto.

I was there. They did a really convincing job.

Below is the part of the film where you see the Commercial Street scene.

The actress is trying to find someone who could give her directions to an address she had been given. She then ends up searching around Exchange Street.

 

A SIGN O' THE TIMES

Here's a quirky (or arty) wee bit of footage shot in the late 60's.

It's quite unusual because it has the word "Dundee" as it's main feature. So it crops up on things like road signs, shop fronts, work premises and so on.

See how many you are familiar with.

I only got 4...(hangs head in shame!!)

 

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW - 1988

This ad for The Rocky Horror Picture Show was in Dundee's Street Life mag.
The late showings took place at the Cannon in the Seagate in November 1988.
There was a large turnout for this charity event, and as well as the main feature film, there was live cabaret on stage. The added attraction was the appearance of the shows creator, the entertaining and all-round good guy, Richard O'Brien.
Somewhere in the crowd there would have been the winning ticket holders of the Street Life competition too!
And a good time was had by all.
Click image to enlarge.

FILMS ON SCREEN - APRIL 1970

This instantly recognisable layout comes from the what's on section in the Courier. The one here dating from April 1970.
The choice of Dundee cinemas to pick from are - ABC - GAUMONT - ODEON - PLAZA - RITZ - ROYALTY - TIVOLI - VICTORIA and the REGAL in the Ferry.
Quite funny to see that all the films have family rated U & A certificates, except for the Tiv, who typically is showing X's..!!
Despite the Royalty being located at my end of town, I don't think I was ever at this picture house. No memory of that one at all.
Click image to enlarge.

FILMS ON SCREEN - OCTOBER 1988

Not so many cinemas in town by the time we reach the late 80's, but here's what films were on offer in October 1988, published in Dundee's what's on guide, Street Life.
If I only had to pick one movie, I think I'd opt for "A Fish Called Wanda".
Picture houses mentioned are - STEPS - CANNON 1 & 2 - VICTORIA.
Click image to read large version.

AT THE MOVIES IN 1981

From the pages of Cranked Up comes this round-up of 1981's best movies, written by their critic, Fabian Bell.
I remember going to quite a few of the ones mentioned, but for some reason I never went to see the winner, Raging Bull.
One of the films I noticed in the write-up but not in the top 10 was "Clash Of The Titans". I just thought I'd remind you that this featured the brilliant stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen. This actually turned out to be his final piece of work, and although this type of film was a bit played out by the 80's, RH's contribution in the Titans was still pretty amazing.
Click image to enlarge.

GAUMONT QUEUE - 1973

The film causing all the commotion at the Gaumont was "Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs".

These pictures were taken on the 5th April 1973, so the movie would have been on it's umpteenth re-release by then.

I too saw this classic animation at the Gaumont, but that was in the mid 60's. For some reason, I always remember Dopey's drum solo sequence!

I also have a hazy memory of singing a rude version of "Hi Ho Hi Ho" in the school playground, but can't recall how it went now. Probably just as well!

If you want to have a closer look at the faces in the crowd to see if ye ken anybody, just click onto the images to enlarge.

Photos by DC Thomson.

STEPS FILMS - APRIL 1989

A little glimpse at what was showing at the Steps in April 1989.

Not much in the way of family films, but looking through the list it reminded me that I bought the COLORS soundtrack on vinyl back then. I had a look to see if I still had the album in my collection and I do, so I plucked it out to get a reminder of the content. If there are any old b-boys & fly-girls out there, then here's the tracklist lowdown...

ICE T "Colors" - DECADENT DUB TEAM "Six Guns" - SALT 'N' PEPA "Let The Rhythm Run" - BIG DADDY KANE "Raw" - ERIC B & RAKIM "Paid In Full" - KOOL G RAP "Butcher Shop" - 7A3 "Mad Mad World" - ROXANNE SHANTE "Go On Girl" - MC SHAN "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Waste" - RICK JAMES "Everywhere I Go".

Some classic old school hip hop in there... and this was around the time the word "Yo" started to infiltrate our language.

Yo...I'm outta here!!

THE VIC - VICTORIA ROAD

Call it the Victoria, Vicky, Vic or flea-pit, but as picture house's go, it was quite low down in the pecking order of cinema's to visit.

It couldn't really compete with the blockbusters the ABC and Odeon screened regularly and so would often show movies that were on their 2nd or 3rd outing. Having said that, I did go there quite a lot in the 60's & 70's.

I have 2 not so good memories of the Vic...

Once, on a visit as a schoolkid in the 60's, me & my wee brother came back from a show with our heads covered in lice! Yep, the flea-pit tag struck with a vengeance that day. We had to use "special shampoo" and a nit comb for a few days afterwards!!

The other Vic nightmare was in the early 80's, when during a film, a huge chunk of plaster came crashing down off the ceiling. Luckily it landed around an empty area of seats beside the aisle rather than on someones noggin, but I clearly remember saying after the show - "That's the last time I'll be in this place" - and indeed it was.

Amazingly though, the Vic was the 2nd longest running cinema in Scotland, so I can only assume it's heyday was pre 60's.

The place was closed/condemned at the end of the 80's.

THE TIVOLI - BONNYBANK ROAD

This ad for the Tivoli dates from the late 60's.
It was a place I never went to, so don't know much about it other than the thing everyone knows, it was the place to go see X-rated blue movies!
In fact I didn't even realise it was licensed until I saw this ad. If I had known you could get a pint, I may have visited it out of curiosity!
Below is a very short clip of film, also from the late 60's, showing the Tivoli's position in Bonnybank Road.
The cinema closed down around the mid/late 70's, and lay empty for a while before it changed into a snooker hall.

HEATHER RIPLEY IN CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

This is Dundee lass, Heather Ripley, on set for the filming of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She was one of the main characters in the movie, alongside the likes of Dick Van Dyke.

This was a one-off film for Heather as she didn't take up acting as a career, choosing instead, a life of an artist and eco warrior.

The film had a royal premier in London in December 1968 and I saw the film in the Gaumont when it went national in 1969.

The ad above is dated June 1969.

It was quite a lengthy film and I recall it having an interlude halfway through, during an exciting bit too - just as the car drove off the edge of a cliff and was falling towards the sea, the screen suddenly went blank, and the word INTERMISSION popped up. Once everyone had expressed their annoyance, there was a mad dash down the aisles to grab a choc ice before it restarted.!!
Not only that, but I also had the Corgi model of the car hanging by 2 strings from the ceiling above my bed. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in full flight!