It starred Hollywood actor Harvey Keitel and gave young Robbie Coltrane his cinematic debut.
Dystopian thriller Death Watch! was filmed in Glasgow in 1979, and featured a host of city landmarks.
Westbourne Gardens in the West End, Glasgow Necropolis, Glasgow Cathedral, the former Queen's Dock on the River Clyde (now The Clydeside Distillery), and the Glasgow City Chambers all starred.
Now the film is being screened as part of a mini-season of open-air movies in the Botanic Gardens this week.
And organisers are offering free tickets to the screening of Death Watch! on Sunday August 19 for anyone who was involved with the film production.
Watch the trailer and see if you recognise any film locations:
https://youtu.be/r28jOeDbLgU
When French director Bertrand Tavernier was searching for a city in which to film his highly prescient vision of the future, he settled on Glasgow.
At the behest of his boss (Harry Dean Stanton), Roddy (Harvey Keitel) has a TV camera implanted in his head, so that he can befriend Katherine (Romy Schneider), who is dying, and unbeknown to her, broadcast her last days to the TV audience.
Max von Sydow plays Katherine’s estranged husband, and the film affords a young Robbie Coltrane his cinematic debut.
Glaswegians though will relish not just the high-powered cast and wonderful cinematography, but also the use of their city (including the West End) as the backdrop for this extraordinary film, which predicted, in 1980, our current obsession with reality TV.
More information about Back to the Botanics: Four evenings of 80s sci-fi fan favourites in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens open air cinema can be found on the Visit West End website:
https://www.facebook.com/VisitWestEndGlasgow
Film fans can see the following Sci-Fi favourites:
- Thursday 16 August - Blade Runner
- Friday 17 August - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Saturday 18 August - Back the Future*
- Sunday 19 August - Death Watch (1980)
Entrance from 8.30pm. Screening starts 9pm for all films.
* On Saturday 18 August 2-5pm there will be a DeLorean in the Botanic Gardens and a look-alike contest for the Back to the Future characters including the dog Einstein.
DeLorean Hire Scotland will be bringing the DeLorean to the Botanic Gardens and dressing up like Doc Brown and Marty.
The DeLorean will also be available to take a photo with 8.30-9pm before the film.
Everyone who buys a film ticket by Monday 20 August midnight BST will be automatically be entered to win a free night at the Hilton Grosvenor!
Everyone who has already purchased tickets for any of the Back to the Botanics films is already automatically entered.
Tickets are available now for only £3: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/byresroadlanesbidcompanyltd/
