The Empire Exhibition 1938 The Empire Exhibition ran from May to October 1938 at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. King George VI with Queen Mary officially opened the Exhibition on the 3rd of May 1938 2017 marks seventy-nine years since the Exhibition. Reflecting on current political and social economic trends perhaps we can identify, more than […]
Category: Film
Don’t forget to unpack the film catalogue!
The National Library of Scotland’s moving image archive moved to Kelvin Hall recently and one of the first things we unpacked was the catalogue. The new interactive space offers a unique opportunity for people to engage with a vast range of film, video and digital content. This catalogue is the key to unlocking a vast treasure trove of moving […]
Sausages, steam trains and biplanes : Showcasing 100 years of Scotland on film
Most people when they think of films probably think of the latest blockbusters showing at the cinema; fantastic stories far removed from everyday life, and rarely showing anything of Scotland. What many people don’t realise is that for four decades the National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive has been collecting and preserving all kinds […]
Catching the eye of Martin Scorsese
You’re not quite sure what to expect when you seal an envelope addressed to Hollywood film director, Martin Scorsese in New York. Enclosed was a letter from the National Library of Scotland asking him to support our Moving Image Archive campaign. I wasn’t too hopeful but you just never know so I posted it and […]
Have yourself a very cine Christmas – the power of Frank Marshall’s family films
Only two more sleeps! As children across the land excitedly prepare for Christmas, we unwrap some festive films in the National Library of Scotland’s Moving Image Archive. Not only made for fun and entertainment, they also offer evidence of a thriving amateur film-making culture and an emotionally charged record of Scotland’s past. Here are four […]
Sunset Song on screen
Film adaptations of Scottish literature have been very much in my mind recently. In November we celebrated Stevenson on screen for RLS Day, and last week I was in Inverness talking about the Hitchcock film version of John Buchan’s The thirty-nine steps – now many of us are catching up with the long-awaited film of Sunset song
Stevenson on screen
This week we are celebrating Robert Louis Stevenson’s contribution to cinema with a display highlighting film versions of his most famous novels. Although he died in 1894, a couple of years before the birth of cinema, RLS made an impact on films all the same. He is one of the most adapted writers for the […]
Happy Birthday RLS
November 13 was R.L.S Day, celebrating the life and work of our great writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson has been in my mind recently as I re-read Kidnapped – still exciting – and did research on the various film versions of his books for our cinema exhibition.
Going to the Pictures – Dr.Cronin’s Casebook
BBC Alba is currently showing the fondly remembered 1960s television version of Dr Finlay’s Casebook based on the short stories of Scotland’s best-selling author of yesteryear – A.J. Cronin, 1896-1981.
Happy Birthday Hugh MacDiarmid!
This weekend sees the 120th anniversary of the birth of one of our most famous Scottish poets – widely known as Hugh MacDiarmid, the author of A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle.