THE year is 1981. The venue is the County Cinema in Cumbernauld.
In the packed, subterraneous picture house, which hunkered in the concrete depths of the town centre’s morose and sprawling shopping arcade alongside its sister bingo hall, my 12-year-old self and her pals clutch their sweaty bags of kola kubes in eager anticipation of a newly released film.
But this was no ordinary movie. Gregory’s Girl was set in our hometown.
One of our gang had even been captured on film, albeit somewhere in the background of a scene from Abronhill High School.
Excitement, fuelled by the sugar rush of our quarters of sweets, was stratospheric.
We were not disappointed.
Our after-show critique and analysis of the film did, however, call into question the integrity and credibility of some scenes. There’s no way, we observed, you could get from the chippie in Abronhill to Ravenswood THAT quickly! And Gregory lived in Westfield, at the opposite end of the town from where he went to school. That makes NO sense, we posited. Surely he would have gone to Cumbernauld High instead.
We hadn’t quite honed our ability to suspend disbelief, but we were enthusiastic movie critics.
So it was with some nostalgia and many fond memories that I noted the 40th anniversary on Friday of the film’s first release.
The synopsis for the now classic Bill Forsyth film, which was made for buttons and starred nobody famous, goes like this …
Gregory Underwood (John Gordon Sinclair) is an awkward teenager who plays in his school football team. They are not doing very well, so the coach (Jake D’Arcy) holds a trial to find new players. Dorothy (Dee Hepburn) shows up and, despite the coach’s sexist misgivings, proves to be a very good player. She subsequently takes Gregory’s place as centre forward, and Gregory in turn replaces his friend Andy (Robert Buchanan) as goalkeeper.
The ensuing romance is, as they say, history.
Half tomboy, half teen, I approached this film with curiosity. There was the heady mix of the boy-girl stuff … and the acknowledgement that lassies really could play football.
After a childhood stuck in goals growing up with a predominantly male cohort of pals, this was a refreshing revelation.
We’ve come a long way from skint knees on blaes pitches. It’s just sad it’s taken so long for women’s football to become mainstream in Scotland (albeit, only if you watch Alba).
Looking back on new town life back in the day, there’s one detail of the plot that chimes quietly but with resonance.
The fact that Gregory’s dad is a driving instructor takes me back to 17-year-old me and Charlie the driving instructor, who always needed a toilet break when we passed the bookie’s.
The thing is, learning to drive in a new town is tricky. You quickly become adept at roundabouts and Bennett junctions, but to this day I struggle with parallel parking. It’s a tough one to learn when there are no real streets.
Which gives me an excuse to revive one of the best lines in the film …
Carol: “Can you drive?”
Gregory: “No, but it runs in the family.”
Happy birthday, Gregory’s Girl! You’ve worn well.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here