Jonathan Geddes
BBC Glasgow and West reporter
BBC
Angela Freeman has retired after 34 years at the Glasgow Film Theatre
With surreal films like Blue Velvet and his mind-bending TV series Twin Peaks, David Lynch often left audiences scratching their heads.
However the legendary director, who died earlier this year, was left bemused himself on a visit to Glasgow in 2007.
“He was bewildered by the smoking ban,” recalls Angela Freeman, the front of house manager at the GFT cinema that hosted the American filmmaker.
“He chain smoked, so I had to walk him and his main personal assistant round the block, past what was C & A at the time, so he could smoke a bit – I was thinking I can’t believe I’m walking down the road with David Lynch!”
An encounter with Lynch – one of Angela’s favourite directors of all time – was just one of many celebrity encounters during a 34 year career at Glasgow’s main independent cinema.
Angela finally stepped down from her role last week, having started at the film house at the tail end of the 1980s.
David Grinly
David Lynch attracted a huge crowd when he appeared in Glasgow in 2007
It was three decades that saw massive change to both the city and the cinema itself, as well as an array of A-list names visiting the cinema to promote their work.
And it often fell to Angela to look after them when they arrived – even if that meant finding a sandwich for a singing legend.
“Shirley Bassey came in with Sean Connery once. They’d been involved in a children’s film and they came in to watch a test screening together.
“That was surreal – my mum absolutely adored her, but I remember someone had to go out and get a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich for her during it!”
Alan Wylie
Quentin Tarantino at the GFT to promote his breakthrough film Reservoir Dogs
Then there were the names who arrived as bright young things, before going on to achieve huge fame and fortune in later years.
Angela recalls the GFT scoring a huge hit in 1992 by showing a brash, violent crime thriller, and securing a visit from its director to promote it.
The film was Reservoir Dogs and the director was Quentin Tarantino.
“He was quite young, and just delighted audiences were loving it so much. Several years later he came back, and that was a completely different experience – him coming in to do this red carpet experience, with all this security.
“Reservoir Dogs was unique for us. It shocked audiences at the time in a way they hadn’t experienced before – it was a real coup, but I know the council got a lot of complaints over us even showing it because of the violence.
“It made me feel that every young director we have come in here could go on to be a Tarantino.”
It wasn’t all glamour though. When Angela joined the staff the cinema had only just opened a second screen, and buckets were deployed across parts of the Rose Street building because of water leaking in constantly.
Angela moved from her native Liverpool to study at Edinburgh College of Art in 1985, and four years later headed west to Glasgow, going on to take a job at the GFT box office.
“All the ticketing was done manually, so you were stamping up tickets using the old fashioned ticket machines.
“I still remember the two ladies training me up with the box office floor just £10 or £20 notes as everyone paid cash – no-one used credit cards then. It was an amazing place.”
Reuters
Angela once served Willem Defoe as he popped into the cinema while passing by
It could be amazing in other ways, given you never quite knew who would walk in off the street.
“I was once working at the box office and Willem Defoe walked in. He was at the Tramway I think with his theatre group and he just walked in, full-length black coat on and soaking.
“He just wanted to see what was on. I was quite respectful, and didn’t want him to feel like I was starstruck. But I did acknowledge who he was and said it was amazing to meet them.
“There was a few like that, Ralph Fiennes and Neil Sedaka both just wandered in. Gillian Anderson came in regularly when filming House of Mirth, and Hugo Weaving was another one.”
GFT
The GFT is the main venue for the Glasgow Film Festival
Angela is proud of the cinema’s charitable status, and of special screenings for people with dementia and children with autism.
The biggest challenge came when managing the expansion of the building, as the famed Cafe Cosmo closed and a third screen was added.
“It was a big ask to try and remain open during the building phases”, she recalls.
“Every day I had to do a handover with the building manager, walk through it to know where the fire exits were and make sure everything was safe for the public.
“At the end of the day we went though it, and came out the other side.”
Getty Images
A special screening of Withnail & I will mark Angela’s retirement
She is more circumspect when asked if any guests posed any particular challenges – though one actor, unidentified beyond the clue they starred in a massive 70s blockbuster, did give some headaches.
“You occasionally get diva behaviour. We had a film festival guest wanting the hotel switched as it was too hot, then he wanted to fly out a day early, which would have cost us something like eight grand.”
However, most of Angela’s memories are of the sweeter kind, while her retirement is being marked with the GFT screening one of her favourite films – Withnail & I – on Sunday.
She estimates she helped organise 12 weddings at the cinema over the years, including one with a theme based around the films of quirky director Wes Anderson.
The last nuptials she helped organise also proved poignant.
“There was a couple last year who had a video played on the big screen with various memories of their relationship, and the GFT featured a few times.
“I was sitting watching it getting emotional. It was lovely to see the impact the cinema has on people – it’s still all about bringing a group of individuals together to share in an experience.”