On piping at the movies

As a kid growing up in Manteca, CA, the movie theatre our family went to was the El Rey Theatre located downtown on Yosemite Ave. at Main St. The classic movies of the 1960’s played on our local Art Deco screen. Ben Hur, Bridge Over the River Kwai, Operation Petticoat, Camelot and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were among the many we watched there. My folks would pay a little extra for loge seating while my sister, brother and I sat in the regular seats below. It was at the El Rey that my Dad took the family to see Disney’s The Three Lives of Thomasina, and is the first film I recall seeing bagpipes played in. That I was probably just a little younger than the character playing the pipes helped my fascination, but I thought his playing was very good (not knowing about movie magic of dubbing in music over a pretending player).

A great site for is called Bagpipes Go to the Movies: http://fraser.cc/pipes/movies.html Compiled by: Scott Williams & Alistair B. Fraser this site is a work of pretty amazing scope and an obvious errand of love of all things bagpipes. Well worth bookmarking, the site offers some interesting comments about a great range of movies. For example, I looked up “Thomasina” and they have the following description, ”1963 This Disney film has a little boy playing the pipes at a cat's funeral. Thomasina is the cat and the boy plays Macintosh's Lament (very only a few mistakes) and Loch Lomond. He's obviously not really playing and his hands are reversed on the chanter. At one point he drops the pipes but the bag remains fully inflated.” Looking for bagpipes at the movies? Here’s a few of my favorites:


The Quiet Man - with John Wayne.

Kidnapped – Bagpipe dual instead of swords

Wee Willie Winkie – with Shirley Temple

Brigadoon – with Gene Kelly

The Longest Day – star cast with Bill Millin portrayed

The Fugitive – with Harrison Ford

Joyous Noel – Christmas ceasefire in WWI

My Bunny Lies Over the Seas – Bugs Bunny cartoon classic

Over the years the list of bagpiping in movies, and television, has grown. Ask a piper and he may recall a film immediately, as I have. A more recent movie featuring bagpipes was Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes, A Games of Shadows, released in 2011. Bagpipes play for Dr. Watson’s wedding. Also, my wife and I just finished watching the online streaming of the British TV series Outlander with opening credits played to Skye Boat Song with a singer and bagpipes. The series also features highland pipes in a couple of episodes. And thanks to the ever expanding work on the internet, you may see a movie, hearing the pipes and wonder what tune you heard. First go to the site above, or do a Bing or Google search and you are likely to find your answer. Finding the music may be a little more challenging, but that’s just half the fun. Enjoy going to the movies. Or pop some popcorn, rent a movie and you may be surprised at the pipes you hear.